Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 16:53     Subject: Bullis ?
Anonymous wrote:The admissions associate told us that it has grown from 800 in 2020 to approximately 1090 next year, that it is capped by the county at that number and is not allowed and doesn't want to grow beyond that. What's that, about 5% per year for five straight years? That's extraordinary growth for a school of that size. We are applying for a Lower School spot, and a lot of that growth has been in the Lower School because that has been an area of recent focus. The new K-5 building that is under construction looks as if it will be amazing from the outside, but we have asked to tour it before we make a final decision.


We’re a lower school family and I can assure you that the new lower school will be very nice.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 16:44     Subject: Bullis ?
The admissions associate told us that it has grown from 800 in 2020 to approximately 1090 next year, that it is capped by the county at that number and is not allowed and doesn't want to grow beyond that. What's that, about 5% per year for five straight years? That's extraordinary growth for a school of that size. We are applying for a Lower School spot, and a lot of that growth has been in the Lower School because that has been an area of recent focus. The new K-5 building that is under construction looks as if it will be amazing from the outside, but we have asked to tour it before we make a final decision.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 08:50     Subject: Bullis ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It was obvious during the admissions process that Bullis was too overwhelmed with applications given their current staffing and/or the school is in such high demand that they feel they can basically ignore applicants and still fill a class. Never once did anyone pick up the phone in the admissions office or return our voicemails. Emails regarding scheduling tours and interviews took 10 days to get a response. If that's a preview of what going there would be like, be glad you aren't paying huge money for that kind of experience.


Our child applied for HS last year, and we had the opposite experience. I was particularly impressed that the (then) Director of Admissions (Matt) knew each student and which school they were coming from on our tour. Our inquiries were answered immediately both by phone and email. They seemed like a well-oiled machine.

That said, PP’s experience above is similar to what I heard from some of the parents at our K-8 whose kids were applying this year in terms of lack of responsiveness by admissions staff. I know that there is a new Director of Admissions, and perhaps there was some staff turnover as well.


Our admissions experience gave us the impression the school has grown too much too quickly and did not have the systems and infrastructure to support the growth. It's possible it's limited to admissions but I would be surprised if there aren't growing pains in other aspects. A school can't grow 50+% in a couple of years and still provide the same type of experience.


FWIW, we are a new family at Bullis and are having a great experience. The community and joy of learning has been felt. Our child has integrated well with their peers and now friends. The school is reaching capacity and have considered increased number of students with the changes they are making on campus (new LS, renovations and expansion for MS).


Agreed. We’re a new LS family and we love the school. It’s very well run and our child is loving it.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 08:48     Subject: Bullis ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Bullis is one of the few non religious coed schools in the county. We need more privates. More parents are going toward private given the state of mcps.

I would like more coed options with a lower price point. We can swing K-8 but I don't know what to do about high school. We may go back to public.


I think we all would love more options that were less expensive, PP! And that goes double for those of us who aren’t Catholic. That said, it is VERY expensive to run a private school. Catholic schools are able to charge lower tuitions because they get assistance from the archdiocese to offset costs, etc. Independent, non religious schools do not.


Privates—like Pingry in NJ are not nearly as expensive as the DC schools.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 08:47     Subject: Bullis ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Bullis is one of the few non religious coed schools in the county. We need more privates. More parents are going toward private given the state of mcps.

I would like more coed options with a lower price point. We can swing K-8 but I don't know what to do about high school. We may go back to public.


I think we all would love more options that were less expensive, PP! And that goes double for those of us who aren’t Catholic. That said, it is VERY expensive to run a private school. Catholic schools are able to charge lower tuitions because they get assistance from the archdiocese to offset costs, etc. Independent, non religious schools do not.


Many privates have long owned their land and overspend. A new private would struggle with rent, etc. there is a new charter opening.


Not sure what you mean by overspending. But I think land/ facilities is a huge barrier to starting a new school. Can you imagine what the land Bullis owns is worth? 100 acres in prime Potomac? Even just a 5 acre campus with no room for athletic fields would cost millions. And then you need buildings.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 08:46     Subject: Bullis ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It was obvious during the admissions process that Bullis was too overwhelmed with applications given their current staffing and/or the school is in such high demand that they feel they can basically ignore applicants and still fill a class. Never once did anyone pick up the phone in the admissions office or return our voicemails. Emails regarding scheduling tours and interviews took 10 days to get a response. If that's a preview of what going there would be like, be glad you aren't paying huge money for that kind of experience.


Our child applied for HS last year, and we had the opposite experience. I was particularly impressed that the (then) Director of Admissions (Matt) knew each student and which school they were coming from on our tour. Our inquiries were answered immediately both by phone and email. They seemed like a well-oiled machine.

That said, PP’s experience above is similar to what I heard from some of the parents at our K-8 whose kids were applying this year in terms of lack of responsiveness by admissions staff. I know that there is a new Director of Admissions, and perhaps there was some staff turnover as well.


Our admissions experience gave us the impression the school has grown too much too quickly and did not have the systems and infrastructure to support the growth. It's possible it's limited to admissions but I would be surprised if there aren't growing pains in other aspects. A school can't grow 50+% in a couple of years and still provide the same type of experience.


FWIW, we are a new family at Bullis and are having a great experience. The community and joy of learning has been felt. Our child has integrated well with their peers and now friends. The school is reaching capacity and have considered increased number of students with the changes they are making on campus (new LS, renovations and expansion for MS).
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 08:45     Subject: Bullis ?
Our admissions experience gave us the impression the school has grown too much too quickly and did not have the systems and infrastructure to support the growth. It's possible it's limited to admissions but I would be surprised if there aren't growing pains in other aspects. A school can't grow 50+% in a couple of years and still provide the same type of experience.


FWIW, we are a new family at Bullis and are having a great experience. The community and joy of learning has been felt. Our child has integrated well with their peers and now friends. The school is reaching capacity and have considered increased number of students with the changes they are making on campus (new LS, renovations and expansion for MS).
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 08:37     Subject: Bullis ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It was obvious during the admissions process that Bullis was too overwhelmed with applications given their current staffing and/or the school is in such high demand that they feel they can basically ignore applicants and still fill a class. Never once did anyone pick up the phone in the admissions office or return our voicemails. Emails regarding scheduling tours and interviews took 10 days to get a response. If that's a preview of what going there would be like, be glad you aren't paying huge money for that kind of experience.


Our child applied for HS last year, and we had the opposite experience. I was particularly impressed that the (then) Director of Admissions (Matt) knew each student and which school they were coming from on our tour. Our inquiries were answered immediately both by phone and email. They seemed like a well-oiled machine.

That said, PP’s experience above is similar to what I heard from some of the parents at our K-8 whose kids were applying this year in terms of lack of responsiveness by admissions staff. I know that there is a new Director of Admissions, and perhaps there was some staff turnover as well.


Our admissions experience gave us the impression the school has grown too much too quickly and did not have the systems and infrastructure to support the growth. It's possible it's limited to admissions but I would be surprised if there aren't growing pains in other aspects. A school can't grow 50+% in a couple of years and still provide the same type of experience.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 08:12     Subject: Bullis ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Bullis is one of the few non religious coed schools in the county. We need more privates. More parents are going toward private given the state of mcps.

I would like more coed options with a lower price point. We can swing K-8 but I don't know what to do about high school. We may go back to public.


I think we all would love more options that were less expensive, PP! And that goes double for those of us who aren’t Catholic. That said, it is VERY expensive to run a private school. Catholic schools are able to charge lower tuitions because they get assistance from the archdiocese to offset costs, etc. Independent, non religious schools do not.


Many privates have long owned their land and overspend. A new private would struggle with rent, etc. there is a new charter opening.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 08:11     Subject: Bullis ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Bullis is one of the few non religious coed schools in the county. We need more privates. More parents are going toward private given the state of mcps.

I would like more coed options with a lower price point. We can swing K-8 but I don't know what to do about high school. We may go back to public.


Agree. I looked at Catholics and all but one was clear we were not welcomed as a mixed family and I was worried how cliquish it would be with one class per grade. We stayed public after doing a few years at a private that went through 2nd. MCPS is hit or miss. Be prepared to supplement with tutors.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 07:57     Subject: Bullis ?
Anonymous wrote:I thought I saw somewhere in the flurry of acceptance threads that accepted students received packages from Bullis—was that for this year? We were accepted and obviously that’s more important than swag box, but just curious if our box was lost in the mail or if this was a policy change up this year.

We haven’t received anything either
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 07:19     Subject: Bullis ?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Bullis is one of the few non religious coed schools in the county. We need more privates. More parents are going toward private given the state of mcps.

I would like more coed options with a lower price point. We can swing K-8 but I don't know what to do about high school. We may go back to public.


I think we all would love more options that were less expensive, PP! And that goes double for those of us who aren’t Catholic. That said, it is VERY expensive to run a private school. Catholic schools are able to charge lower tuitions because they get assistance from the archdiocese to offset costs, etc. Independent, non religious schools do not.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 07:14     Subject: Bullis ?
Anonymous wrote:Bullis is one of the few non religious coed schools in the county. We need more privates. More parents are going toward private given the state of mcps.

I would like more coed options with a lower price point. We can swing K-8 but I don't know what to do about high school. We may go back to public.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2025 07:04     Subject: Bullis ?
I thought I saw somewhere in the flurry of acceptance threads that accepted students received packages from Bullis—was that for this year? We were accepted and obviously that’s more important than swag box, but just curious if our box was lost in the mail or if this was a policy change up this year.

Anonymous
Post 03/01/2025 21:45     Subject: Bullis ?
Anonymous wrote:It was obvious during the admissions process that Bullis was too overwhelmed with applications given their current staffing and/or the school is in such high demand that they feel they can basically ignore applicants and still fill a class. Never once did anyone pick up the phone in the admissions office or return our voicemails. Emails regarding scheduling tours and interviews took 10 days to get a response. If that's a preview of what going there would be like, be glad you aren't paying huge money for that kind of experience.


Our child applied for HS last year, and we had the opposite experience. I was particularly impressed that the (then) Director of Admissions (Matt) knew each student and which school they were coming from on our tour. Our inquiries were answered immediately both by phone and email. They seemed like a well-oiled machine.

That said, PP’s experience above is similar to what I heard from some of the parents at our K-8 whose kids were applying this year in terms of lack of responsiveness by admissions staff. I know that there is a new Director of Admissions, and perhaps there was some staff turnover as well.