I have identical twin goddaughters who are in 4th grade this year in a top DC public school. Prior to this year, they attended a private day school in Northern Virginia with heavy fin aid. Their mother immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador and is an esthetician. The girls are bi-lingual and absolutely wonderful human beings and students. They would be a huge plus for any school. Their single mother is moving to NYC next Spring to help some people start a new business and I am helping her identify a Tier 1 day school and navigate the admissions process. We are trying to find a school that might be open to admitting twins into 5th grade with lots of aid. Typically, the entry points are K, 6th, and 9th. We are looking at Chapin, Spence, Ethical Culture, Calhoun and Avenues but are very much open to other options. Other than knowing that it’s a dog eat dog world in NYC day school admissions, and hoping that my goddaughters’ URM status might be useful, I simply don’t know enough about the terrain. I would be grateful for any feedback or suggestions via PM if possible.
I would take Calhoun out. Not a good choice
Our list has been materially revised after wonderful feedback from several long time CC friends. Calhoun is not on it.
With twins that need heavy FA, entering in a non traditional year, I wouldnt rule any school from the list, even Avenues. I will sound parochial NY/right now, but quite honestly the top tier NY schools are much more rigourous than any other in the nation, and would compare to Andover/Exetor. If they are used to a non NY environment, it may be a better fit for them to be in a lower tier school such as Ethical or Calhoun
While I’d agree in general with what you say, Avenues isn’t known for granting all that much FA - the older, more established schools will have a larger budget. Calhoun isn’t a bad choice, it’s just a very progressive program so it will appeal to a “narrower band” of people.
What about Dalton? I had friends who went there and loved it. Same with Trinity. There’s also Brearley, if you’re looking at Spence and Chapin.