artsmart

i heard the national cathedral school is good for girls, and then there's a brother school. but that's just what i heard.

scrocks3

Are they hugely diffrent from DC area boarding schools like Episcopal in academics, athletics, etc.?

MomtoanUndecided

And Georgetown Visitation (all girls) is a great school as well.

myb

I have a kid at Washington International (WIS). I've always been a proponent of their "raising an international child" approach and their immersion programs. However, I am now wondering if their mission may be a little too ill defined (trial and error). I sometimes feel as though my child is a 'guinea pig' for some of their idealogy. Do you have suggestions for other private schools in the DC Metro Area - one that shares WIS idealogy but has a better formed platform and support for implementing it.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

cameliasinensis

i'm not sure about other private schools, but i went to wis from 7th to 12th grade and had a pretty good experience. extracurricular options aren't that great, and you have to be pretty self-directed to accomplish anything beyond the actual ib diploma (i did a lot of art outside of school, for instance; sports aren't that good, and many of the extracurriculars are fairly useless "culture clubs").

however, the academics on the language/humanities/social science side are excellent, somewhat less so on the science side, at least in my experience. in particular, my teachers in english, french, theory of knowledge (an ib requirement), and math were extraordinary. though i certainly complained about the work required for the ib at the time that i was doing it, the writing, analysis, and "critical thinking" skills that wis emphasizes so much have definitely served me well in college (i'm at dartmouth). the french bilingual program (where history and geography are taught in french, in addition to the language/literature classes) at the middle school level is also outstanding.

those are just some thoughts off the top of my head... if you have any other questions about the school, feel free to ask. i don't know what grade your child is in; i only attended in middle and high school, so obviously i can't speak for the primary school, which is on a different campus and totally separate. in retrospect i would say i had a mostly positive experience, but that's not to say that there's nothing about it i would change. wis also has a considerably smaller endowment than other comparably-priced dc-area private schools, and it shows (my sister went to ncs for three years, so i have some basis for comparison).

LoanRanger

Hi. I just enrolled my daughters (K and 2nd grade) at Westminster in Virginia (outside DC). Wanted to get folks opinions on it. I want them to go to a brand name school for 9th grade as this school is K to 8. Do you think they will have a better chance getting into Sidwell, Holton, NCS, Visitation, or Gtown Day, coming from a private school?

Related: What is the top private school for girls, coed or all girls, in DC area.

verona2

My 6th grader is applying to GDS, Maret & WIS. We ARE liberal people and don't mind that bent at all. He's been in public school to date and ready to break out, we care about great academics but we care about school culture more. He is absolutely qualified and competitive to be offered a spot in any of the above privates. Any thoughts? Also we're in boundary for Deal MS and and wonder if he would thrive here and save private school for HS. He's also fluent in a second language.