Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best private schools in the DMV for academics:

1) Sidwell: K-12 Coed
2) Cathedral schools: (Beauvoir for elementary coed, NCS 4th-12th girls only, St Albans 4th-12th boys only)
3) GDS: K-12 Coed (most liberal/alternative with strong academics)

Probably in this order.

These 3 if you are looking for the strongest academics… otherwise there are many other good schools that are less intense.

GDS starts PreK but does expand in K

Intense?! Do not conflate an academic upper school perceived reputation with how that same place may run its lower school.

GdS and Beauvoir are quite play based in Pk-3. No graded word, no grades, no testing. GdS doesn’t even having reading groups in K, they wait until 1st, and even then nothing level appropriate comes home from class or library. It also has massively changed its student/teacher ratio with the new building change. It went from 2 teachers and 20-22 students to 1 teacher and 15-19 students per homeroom. They say specialists come in to help but that never happened unless you kid has a Dx and pullout.

Ok, you are right. My kids are at BVR and it’s not super academic either. I guess I meant that those schools become very academic in middle school. So if OP Is planning to stay in DC, I would choose one of those schools for academics.

Do people really game plan this far ahead?

Yes, many do.

We started in a small private school, but due to relocation our son attended 2nd grade in a public school. By the second half of the year, we noticed that he wasn’t gaining new knowledge and was relying mostly on what he had learned in previous years. He also began to struggle with new material. Unfortunately, he experienced harassment because of his “non-American” name, and his teacher wasn’t able to resolve it. We reported the situation to the principal, but nothing was done.
Our son told us that when he tried to inform the teacher at the moment he was being bullied, the teacher responded that she “did not hear anything.” We don’t blame the teacher—there were 27 children in the class—but it still left him without support. Despite our desire to give public school a second chance, since we thought the academic difficulties might have been related to the stress of relocation, we were fortunate to find an opening in a private school near the end of the school year.
After spending just one day there, our son couldn’t stop talking about how much nicer and more polite the kids were, and how the teachers paid attention because the classes were smaller. We transferred him, and now he’s in his third year there. We had considered returning to public school for high school—possibly 3W—but we realized we have not prepared him well to deal with the kinds of issues he faced earlier. Now we are considering a private high school instead, and eventually a smaller private college (not Ivy League). than to be overwhelmed by the challenges of a large public setting—especially when adults may overlook things happening around them. If a child feels confident, grounded, and “like a fish in water,” and has the maturity to navigate a larger environment, then a public school can work very well. It’s not really about academic competition or differences. What truly matters is whether the child feels safe and welcomed, because only then can they absorb all that knowledge and make the most of the experience.

Anonymous wrote:How is outplacement at these schools that end in 2nd or 3rd? Hearing very mixed things…

There are great options for 3rd or 4th grade.
3rd - Holton, Landon, Sidwell, GDS, Norwood, Stone Ridge, St. Andrew’s, Bullis, St. Pats, or WES. These are schools where kids go after leaving Primary Day which ends in 2nd grade.

4th grade - All of the above schools with the addition of NCS and St. Alban’s. These are where kids from Beauvoir and Concord Hill attend (which both end in 3rd).

Anonymous wrote:If I’m new coming to the area, what are some recommendations for a quality education? Private schools only….
Moving to Bethesda so close by or easily accessible. This would be for PreK and Kindergarten.

If your in the Woodacres zone then go to public.

Anonymous wrote:If I’m new coming to the area, what are some recommendations for a quality education? Private schools only….
Moving to Bethesda so close by or easily accessible. This would be for PreK and Kindergarten.

This is easy; Saint Andrew's Episcopal School in Potomac. Great for preK and K.

River is an easy commute from Bethesda. Ends in 6th

Oneness family Montessori school is a hidden gem in Bethesda

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a single school mentioned in this thread recognizes the science of reading. They bleed Lucy Calkins and Fountes & Pinell in reading and writing. So if you are concerned about paying for curriculum and teaching styles proven to harm children then don’t waste your money or time at these schools.

NPS uses Orton Gillingham.

And Lucy Calkins. Almost exclusively in the upper grades.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In Bethesda I’d recommend Chevy Chase- Bethesda Community (CCBC) for Pre-K, Oneness Family School (Pre-K and Higher), Concord Hill (Pre-k & Up) and maybe Washington Episcopal or Stone Ridge (which is co-Ed in the early years).

None of this is a top school though… as long as OP knows, that’s great! We heard great things about WES

I'd agree they are not top schools - a lot of the top schools don't do anything special for early education though. Whereas a lot of the non top schools, that's their focus. All of these schools have interesting things about their programs. WES does great trips in Middle School. Stone Ridge ranks very high locally and nationally for Catholic Schools.

Sorry, I should have said "before High School education", not "early"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In Bethesda I’d recommend Chevy Chase- Bethesda Community (CCBC) for Pre-K, Oneness Family School (Pre-K and Higher), Concord Hill (Pre-k & Up) and maybe Washington Episcopal or Stone Ridge (which is co-Ed in the early years).

None of this is a top school though… as long as OP knows, that’s great! We heard great things about WES

I'd agree they are not top schools - a lot of the top schools don't do anything special for early education though. Whereas a lot of the non top schools, that's their focus. All of these schools have interesting things about their programs. WES does great trips in Middle School. Stone Ridge ranks very high locally and nationally for Catholic Schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best private schools in the DMV for academics:

1) Sidwell: K-12 Coed
2) Cathedral schools: (Beauvoir for elementary coed, NCS 4th-12th girls only, St Albans 4th-12th boys only)
3) GDS: K-12 Coed (most liberal/alternative with strong academics)

Probably in this order.

These 3 if you are looking for the strongest academics… otherwise there are many other good schools that are less intense.

GDS starts PreK but does expand in K

Intense?! Do not conflate an academic upper school perceived reputation with how that same place may run its lower school.

GdS and Beauvoir are quite play based in Pk-3. No graded word, no grades, no testing. GdS doesn’t even having reading groups in K, they wait until 1st, and even then nothing level appropriate comes home from class or library. It also has massively changed its student/teacher ratio with the new building change. It went from 2 teachers and 20-22 students to 1 teacher and 15-19 students per homeroom. They say specialists come in to help but that never happened unless you kid has a Dx and pullout.

Ok, you are right. My kids are at BVR and it’s not super academic either. I guess I meant that those schools become very academic in middle school. So if OP Is planning to stay in DC, I would choose one of those schools for academics.

Do people really game plan this far ahead?

How is outplacement at these schools that end in 2nd or 3rd? Hearing very mixed things…

Concord Hill is a great school that goes through 3rd grade.

Westbrook and Westland do acceleration. The kids in that track have to mind their ECs and time commitments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I’m new coming to the area, what are some recommendations for a quality education? Private schools only….
Moving to Bethesda so close by or easily accessible. This would be for PreK and Kindergarten.

MCPS elementary schools (k-5) in Bethesda are quite academic and can be intense. The reading groups definitely accelerate or at least teach many kid groups to be above grade level readers. Tracking starts in math and reading and a couple other subjects in 4th grade onward. There can be a lot of work if in the higher group.
This is of course great for a high achiever that has decent executive functioning skills and is self-motivated.

There is nothing about our Bethesda ES W feeder school that I would call “intense” at all. They’re good schools, but for most accelerated learners, it’s a breeze.