We have a lot of great options in DC, but if you are searching for Alexandria, call BI. Bishop Ireton is a welcoming community with friendly students, opportunities for rigorous academics in a TON of classes, sports, fine arts, caring teachers, and a responsive admissions office. Bonus: your DC’s new friends will all be within 20 min of your house!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If kids are in a private elsewhere, ask your current school if they could reach out to SSSAS as a referral on your behalf. Privates often cooperate in situations as OP describes.

This.

People don’t want to hear it, but BI is as good as SSSAS.

If you’re okay with a Catholic school, which not everyone is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If kids are in a private elsewhere, ask your current school if they could reach out to SSSAS as a referral on your behalf. Privates often cooperate in situations as OP describes.

This.

People don’t want to hear it, but BI is as good as SSSAS.

Anonymous wrote:If kids are in a private elsewhere, ask your current school if they could reach out to SSSAS as a referral on your behalf. Privates often cooperate in situations as OP describes.

This.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They would be entering 10 and 11. Yeah, those are the school options I saw (was hoping maybe I missed something). Discouraging about St Stephen’s. Would Ireton take non-Catholic transfers (and are they also over/full)?

You can also look into Episcopal HS, but it is boarding only; not sure if students can go home on the weekends. Episcopal is an excellent option so don't dismiss it outright.

If none of the privates work out, Alexandria City High School is now organized by subject academies. I'm not sure how transfers would work there, since 9th graders declare a focus.

While I realize that ACHS is likely not under real consideration, just wanted to address the comment about academies. Obviously, as a public school they accept kids who transfer in the middle of high school (and in the middle of the year.) The academies are really more about clustering smaller groups of kids together, it doesn't change the classes you take, just the group of kids you're taking most of them with. My kid is in 9th grade on the stem academy and she takes the 4 core classes, PE, a language, and a music elective. Which is what pretty much all of her friends who span all of the academies are taking (obviously some are doing a non-music elective). This isn't an impediment to transferring.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t see if OP wrote whether the kids are girls or boys but if they’re boys Gonzaga could be an option at least from a transportation aspect. There is a large group of Gonzaga boys who commute to Union station via the VRE (plus VRE is free for students) plus there is also metro. VRE ride is 20 min max. Then it’s a 4 block walk to campus. Very easy for my kid.

Good luck getting in. Over enrolled for class of 2029.

Someone already pointed that out upthread.

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t see if OP wrote whether the kids are girls or boys but if they’re boys Gonzaga could be an option at least from a transportation aspect. There is a large group of Gonzaga boys who commute to Union station via the VRE (plus VRE is free for students) plus there is also metro. VRE ride is 20 min max. Then it’s a 4 block walk to campus. Very easy for my kid.

Good luck getting in. Over enrolled for class of 2029.

Anonymous wrote:If kids are in a private elsewhere, ask your current school if they could reach out to SSSAS as a referral on your behalf. Privates often cooperate in situations as OP describes.

Not worth the $55k/year price tag.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We’re definitely hoping for something smaller than Alexandria City, but recognize that might be our only option. (I don’t think boarding is right for us.). Any advice as to whether it might be worth applying to either St Stephen’s or Ireton would be much appreciated! (Sounds like maybe the former is not worth it.)

The other diocesan schools are Bishop O’Connell in Arlington and St John Paul the Great in Dumfries. O’Connell is a bit bigger than Ireton and might have more room for your grades. JPG is a bit of a commute, but it’s a newer school and probably has room in the class. Really nice kids there.

I don’t know if Gonzaga takes transfers in the upper grades. That’s a boys school in DC. St John’s is another one to look at.

O'connell does not provide busses for students, but it is a short walk to the Orange Line Metro Station for student commuters. It would however be a very far drive from Alexandria.

Someone mentioned West Potomac High School in the Belle Haven section of Alexandria that is not part of the city itself. That’s a public high school administered by Fairfax County schools. If the private school search doesn’t work out, there are other pubic school options besides Alexandria City HS.

In Fairfax county part of Alexandria, but in Alexandria city ACHS is the only public option.

If you are at a private school now, have your school reach out on your behalf.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BI and SSSAS and if they are closed, Bishop OConnell with the bus from Old Town.

There's an O'connell-specific student bus from Old Town?

DP. Here's the bus stop list.

https://www.bishopoconnell.org/admissions/transportation

Anonymous wrote:BI and SSSAS and if they are closed, Bishop OConnell with the bus from Old Town.

There's an O'connell-specific student bus from Old Town?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t you just move to Arlington and go to public school? Neither of those privates are that strong.

Because the public schools are awful, even in N. Arlington, relative to what you get at any half decent private.

You're out of your mind. Both Yorktown and W-L are better than any of the Catholic schools in NOVA and are on par with St Stephen's St Agnes.