<p>i had a friend who applied for junior year and didnt get in. shes the one who told me about the legacy thing. who knows? </p>
<p>thats cool though. i <3 DC.</p>
<p>Our daughter has been accepted at Sidwell Friends, Georgetown Day School, and potentially Thomas Jefferson. She likes Math and Science, but she also likes Spanish, art and music. Without considering cost or convenience issues, what advice would you give us in helping to choose one? Where are the best teachers and the best and friendliest students? We want her to love school!</p>
<p>David Wallace,</p>
<p>Do you already live in the D.C. area or are you relocating there?</p>
<p>Also, what grade is your daughter entering?</p>
<p>My husband (who does college admissions) says TJ is the best school, arguably, in the nation. Just the very very top students get admitted there, so her peer group would be amazing.</p>
<p>I actually know a graduate from Thomas Jefferson and in my opinion, the school is really really small (they have like 80 in all) and only the best of the best go there</p>
<p>No, they are much larger than 80 students. Wikipedia says 1800 students. But they are incredibly bright kids and yes, the best of the best get in there, and usually go if accepted.</p>
<p>Thomas</a> Jefferson High School for Science and Technology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
<p>TJHSST</a> News - Main</p>
<p>wow, that's really big for a prep school. I guess I was off by a lot</p>
<p>It's a public prep. That's why it's so big.</p>
<p>I would cross of GDS immediately and choose between TJ and Sidwell. Both are a step above GDS from a purely academic standpoint. At this point your daughter needs to consider what her interests are--does she want to go up against the best and brightest in math/sci and get a passing education in the humanities? Or does she want to have a solid education in both categories. Then again, if her interests are Spanish and art as you said, TJ has great programs in both. But then so does Sidwell. </p>
<p>Environment should also be considered. TJ is huge, nerdy, homogenous, and a little cutthroat. Sidwell is extremely wealthy, filled with foreign diplomats. Take a look around both schools, go to the revisit days. See kids who are there right now. Would she rather spend four years with the kids at Sidwell? Or the kids at TJ?</p>
<p>I work in Bethesda and have been in the DC area 20 years. The only 2 public schools that my colleagues use are TJ and Walt Whitman. As you probably remember Chelsea Clinton attended Sidwell which is known for strong humanities courses but best for liberal,
more laid back students, like most Friends Schools. This works well for some students but many need either even more structure or prefer a competitive math-science environment. Your child probably can guide you best of all.</p>
<p>I work in Bethesda and have been in the DC area 20 years. The only 2 public schools that my colleagues use are TJ and Walt Whitman. As you probably remember Chelsea Clinton attended Sidwell which is known for strong humanities courses but best for liberal,
more laid back students, like most Friends Schools. This works well for some students but many need either even more structure or prefer a competitive math-science environment. For catholic boys Georgetown Prep is well -regarded. In this decision your
child can guide you best of all.</p>
<p>My personal choice for my child would be Sidwell. But it is hardly laid back, at least not academically. I personally know students and families who are very happy with GDS, so I would keep it in the running. I would imagine your daughter has a preference. She can study the curriculum online and get a sense of the school's culture on her visit. I would let her choose and only override her only if you had solid "adult" reasons to do so. Good luck!</p>
<p>P.S. Sidwell and GDS attract very liberal types, as you probably know. Democrats consistently best Republicans in mock elections!</p>
<p>Are these all day schools(Sidwell, Georgetown prep,TJ)?</p>
<p>Yes. The school mentioned in recent posts is Georgetown Day. Georgetown Prep, mentioned in earlier posts, is also day. TJ is a public school for gifted and talented with stringent tested admissions.</p>
<p>i heard the national cathedral school is good for girls, and then there's a brother school. but that's just what i heard.</p>
<p>Are they hugely diffrent from DC area boarding schools like Episcopal in academics, athletics, etc.?</p>
<p>And Georgetown Visitation (all girls) is a great school as well.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Any thoughts will be appreciated.</p>
<p>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"). </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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).</p>