Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Barnesville. Main knock on it is the distance, which is (IMHO) a mistake because there's no traffic in that direction. Not sure where you're coming from but from Rockville it's about the same amount of driving time as St. Andrews, McLean etc, probably a bit less than Norwood. Wish we'd figured this out a lot earlier.

pIt is 16 miles from Rockville to the Barnesville School. It is 5-7 miles to St. Andrews from Rockville deoneding on where you live.For norwood 9-10 miles. from Rockville.

Not sure how 16 equals 5-7. That is 32 miles of driving a day compared to 10-14. Add in a special event at night and that is a lot of driving every week.

I'm not the previous poster and I'm not affiliated in any way with Barnesville, except that I know someone who drives there from Rockville (very northern end of Rockville). They love it, they said their commute is always the same (because it's against traffic), and it's about 20 minutes door to door.

So I do see how the driving time could be the same, even if the distance is shorter, because traffic closer in to the city is much heavier and more unpredictable.

Anonymous wrote:Barnesville. Main knock on it is the distance, which is (IMHO) a mistake because there's no traffic in that direction. Not sure where you're coming from but from Rockville it's about the same amount of driving time as St. Andrews, McLean etc, probably a bit less than Norwood. Wish we'd figured this out a lot earlier.

pIt is 16 miles from Rockville to the Barnesville School. It is 5-7 miles to St. Andrews from Rockville deoneding on where you live.For norwood 9-10 miles. from Rockville.

Not sure how 16 equals 5-7. That is 32 miles of driving a day compared to 10-14. Add in a special event at night and that is a lot of driving every week.

Where did you end up?

Barnesville. Main knock on it is the distance, which is (IMHO) a mistake because there's no traffic in that direction. Not sure where you're coming from but from Rockville it's about the same amount of driving time as St. Andrews, McLean etc, probably a bit less than Norwood. Wish we'd figured this out a lot earlier.

Feynman School

Anonymous wrote:Lots of the schools mentioned here are warm, nice communities with good specials, but they are not necessarility "academically rigorous" in the sense that you mean. Parents need to be aware of and manage their expectations, especially when they move from paying nothing for school to $21,000 or more. In most private elementary schools you are usually paying for more/better specials and a nice community, not for a more rigorous education or better teachers.

If you are using "academic rigor" as the guidestar, you would preclude all expensive privates. Beauvoir, Maret, GDS, etc., are not known for their rigorous program. It is more the environment that is created. Generally, frequent testing and "rigor" is what you get in public school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of the schools mentioned here are warm, nice communities with good specials, but they are not necessarility "academically rigorous" in the sense that you mean. Parents need to be aware of and manage their expectations, especially when they move from paying nothing for school to $21,000 or more. In most private elementary schools you are usually paying for more/better specials and a nice community, not for a more rigorous education or better teachers.

You're also getting smaller class sizes, teachers who are not beholden to test prep all the time, and better differentiation. Academic rigor is in the eye of the beholder.

Sure, in some cases, but we need to be honest. I like our private school, but I acknowledge that teacher quality varies, students take ERBs so there is test prep, and there is no math differentiation. Parents' expectations around these things varies. Take math, for example. Some parents who supplement in math because of the lack of differentiation or because they think the curriculum is generally weak, and those parents would say good differentiated math instruction is part of what "rigor" means to them. So it's important to examine your expectations going in or you may set yourself up for disappointment. So using the math example, if you want a private elementary school in MD that can match what an HGC offers in terms of math acceleration and differentiation, you need to be specific about that when you look at schools.

Anonymous wrote:Lots of the schools mentioned here are warm, nice communities with good specials, but they are not necessarility "academically rigorous" in the sense that you mean. Parents need to be aware of and manage their expectations, especially when they move from paying nothing for school to $21,000 or more. In most private elementary schools you are usually paying for more/better specials and a nice community, not for a more rigorous education or better teachers.

You're also getting smaller class sizes, teachers who are not beholden to test prep all the time, and better differentiation. Academic rigor is in the eye of the beholder.

Lots of the schools mentioned here are warm, nice communities with good specials, but they are not necessarility "academically rigorous" in the sense that you mean. Parents need to be aware of and manage their expectations, especially when they move from paying nothing for school to $21,000 or more. In most private elementary schools you are usually paying for more/better specials and a nice community, not for a more rigorous education or better teachers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avalon

Another poster. Visited there last week and had a horrible experience observing a priest shouting at a young boy to get out of the classroom. The boy ran out into the hall crying and fell to the floor in a heap. I was appalled. When I questioned the head of admissions, I was told it can get loud there sometimes. This was done in front of the entire class. I later heard same priest talking the boy loudly telling him to calm down and breathe. The kid was calm, but upset. Would NEVER consider this school for my child.

That sounds awful. If I were the parent of that child, I would be outraged. We attend another private and I can't imagine anyone at our school treating any of the kids this way. Ever.

I can't imagine this child's parents are aware he is being treated this way. The situation was a shaming experience for the child. Nothing uplifting at all, which school needs to be. The behavior was so inappropriate.

SSFS

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avalon

Another poster. Visited there last week and had a horrible experience observing a priest shouting at a young boy to get out of the classroom. The boy ran out into the hall crying and fell to the floor in a heap. I was appalled. When I questioned the head of admissions, I was told it can get loud there sometimes. This was done in front of the entire class. I later heard same priest talking the boy loudly telling him to calm down and breathe. The kid was calm, but upset. Would NEVER consider this school for my child.

That sounds awful. If I were the parent of that child, I would be outraged. We attend another private and I can't imagine anyone at our school treating any of the kids this way. Ever.

This is horrifying. My son is in a small private upcounty, and several of the older boys end up at Avalon. I had it on a list to consider if I felt my son needed private school beyond elementary. But this is completely unacceptable.

OP here: Thank you all so much for the recommendations. Looks like we have busy weeks ahead!

Maybe try Norwood, St. Andrews, Washington Episcopal School.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avalon

Another poster. Visited there last week and had a horrible experience observing a priest shouting at a young boy to get out of the classroom. The boy ran out into the hall crying and fell to the floor in a heap. I was appalled. When I questioned the head of admissions, I was told it can get loud there sometimes. This was done in front of the entire class. I later heard same priest talking the boy loudly telling him to calm down and breathe. The kid was calm, but upset. Would NEVER consider this school for my child.

That sounds awful. If I were the parent of that child, I would be outraged. We attend another private and I can't imagine anyone at our school treating any of the kids this way. Ever.