Anonymous wrote:
Was shocked at the HS and MS CAMPUS for WIS

Shocked how?

Anonymous wrote:We toured NCS and Maret within the same week. NCS was gorgeous and Maret seemed grungy and cramped in comparison. However, the student tour guides were impressive at both!

FWIW, Maret's tuition is about $7,000/year less than NCS and $9,000/year less than STA. For the super wealthy, that may not matter. But for those of us who are not on financial aid and struggle to send our kids to private school, I am totally fine with buildings not being "gorgeous" so the education is a bit more affordable.

I haven’t been in a few years but thought Maret was fine in both appearance and was very welcoming.
I was not a Maret fan but became enamored mid tour.

Was shocked at the HS and MS CAMPUS for WIS

PLeasantly surprised by the warmth and welcoming vibe of NCS

DIsappointed in appearance of GDS and how rude much of the admissions staff was. I’ve since talked to others who had a different experience but would love to re-tour to have the experience of others.

Disappointed at Sidwell as well. Not sure if we visited during a bad week, but our tour was so underwhelming. The precious interactions w personnel left me w very high hopes. The kids just didn’t seem happy to be there.

We toured NCS and Maret within the same week. NCS was gorgeous and Maret seemed grungy and cramped in comparison. However, the student tour guides were impressive at both!

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Anonymous wrote:In Big 3 since K. Decided to look around for hs. Attend one of the schools listed below but don’t want to blow our cover:

GDS - facilities were fine but culture, especially for hs, not was DC looking for.

Did Maret and St. Andrews back to back. Maret wouldn’t have looked so bad but St. Andrews is amazing facility wise. Culture better for DC at Maret.

Sidwell - college campus weird kids (per my DC).

WIS - well taken care of but tired facility. Best culture of the lot. Really enjoyed kids and teachers.

Looked at single sex Catholic schools too. Most had really nice facilities and kids were happy.

Having been at Maret, I am surprised it would be a fit if you are even willing to consider singlensex Catholics. Each DC is different of course but suggest more diligence might be due.

I don't understand this comment. There are certainly Catholics at Maret, even ones who are practicing. Why would this surprise you? These schools are not one-size fits all. A kid who does well at Maret could also thrive at, say, Gonzaga or Stone Ridge. I am surprised that you think these schools are monolithic.

A good teacher can teach kids in a shed. Nice facilities are great and all but I really didn’t care as much about the facilities as much as the teachers and faculty. However I do love a good playground but the school building and classrooms... not so important to me. I love a classroom that looks lived in and loved- lots of the children’s work displayed etc. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Shiny facility doesn’t always mean it’s the best.

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Anonymous wrote:Plus those fancy facilities do not get you into top colleges. You just end up paying more tuition for the same college result.

Please, there's more to life than where you go to college! I am happy to pay more and have better facilities- that only means my kids will bbe more comfortable when in school. Making everyday life count- not only in school.

Your kids will be comfortable without fancy facilities.

We are public school parents and were surprised to see that the River school -- where we went for a friend's event -- was dark (so much of it half underground) and shabby. Given the location and price tag we expected something far nicer than our DCPS.

We really liked Holton’s building. The Bullis campus was gorgeous. We were unimpressed with McLean’s campus until we returned and the beautiful new building had been opened.

Langley was not as nice as I thought it would be.

Anonymous wrote:Plus those fancy facilities do not get you into top colleges. You just end up paying more tuition for the same college result.

Please, there's more to life than where you go to college! I am happy to pay more and have better facilities- that only means my kids will bbe more comfortable when in school. Making everyday life count- not only in school.

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Anonymous wrote:Sidwell. Culture was completely not what I expected. Declined admission.

+1! I totally agree

Would love to hear elaboration on this.

Why does Sidwell seem like it’s on a downhill trajectory? Concerning.

They definitely lost track.

-signed a parent whose child chose Potomac over Sidwell.

Can you please explain what that means? Lovely that your child chose P over S; mine chose S over P so I guess not everyone agrees with you. I can see how suburban minded people would like the country club campus at Potomac, but that doesn't mean that Sidwell has "lost track."

Your thinly veiled snarkiness is a great example of a culture losing track....

+1 Suburban minded people? Is this really a Sidwell parent spouting this nonsense?

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Anonymous wrote:Sidwell. Culture was completely not what I expected. Declined admission.

+1! I totally agree

Would love to hear elaboration on this.

Why does Sidwell seem like it’s on a downhill trajectory? Concerning.

They definitely lost track.

-signed a parent whose child chose Potomac over Sidwell.

Can you please explain what that means? Lovely that your child chose P over S; mine chose S over P so I guess not everyone agrees with you. I can see how suburban minded people would like the country club campus at Potomac, but that doesn't mean that Sidwell has "lost track."

Your thinly veiled snarkiness is a great example of a culture losing track....

Omg rich people fighting. All these schools are good.

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Anonymous wrote:Sidwell. Culture was completely not what I expected. Declined admission.

+1! I totally agree

Would love to hear elaboration on this.

Why does Sidwell seem like it’s on a downhill trajectory? Concerning.

They definitely lost track.

-signed a parent whose child chose Potomac over Sidwell.

Can you please explain what that means? Lovely that your child chose P over S; mine chose S over P so I guess not everyone agrees with you. I can see how suburban minded people would like the country club campus at Potomac, but that doesn't mean that Sidwell has "lost track."