CathyKelly

Hi, Am arriving in Washington in the middle of August, having never been, and would appreciate any advice regards schools. Have a 12 yr old son and 9yr old daughter. Have heard of the British School of Washington - is it any good?
Thanks
Cathy

avanutria

Hi Cathy, welcome. Could you answer a couple of clarifying questions? This will help us help you.

Do you mean Washington DC or Washington state; and if the state, what city?

How long are you going to be in the US, and what visa are you on?

Do you want a British school because you want to keep your kids on the UK curriculum for their eventual return to the UK, or is it just more familiar to you?

penguinsix

If DC check out http://dcurbanmom.com. they have forums dealing with all types of schools.

For government funded schools there are many areas you will need to avoid living so you don't get sent to a rundown school. There are quite a few private schools, even a couple of international ones as well.

Here is our basic primer on US schools. Where you live EXACTLY down to which street is very important.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/What_d...s_in_school%3F

CathyKelly

Hi Cathy, welcome. Could you answer a couple of clarifying questions? This will help us help you.

Do you mean Washington DC or Washington state; and if the state, what city?

How long are you going to be in the US, and what visa are you on?

Do you want a British school because you want to keep your kids on the UK curriculum for their eventual return to the UK, or is it just more familiar to you?

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.We're moving to Washington DC for a minimum of 3 years on a G4 visa. We're an English (London) family although we have been living in Frankfurt, Germany for the last four years and the children have attended the European School, following the UK curriculum with addtional language tuition (German). As we don't know where we will be in four years time. I would like some continuity with regard to curriculum, hence my interest in the British School of Washington.
Cathy

penguinsix

There is the British School as you are probably noticing. I don't know much about it other than it is just a bit outside of Georgetown in the core of the city. It's not far from the Embassy if you are in the main building.

The major international school is Washington International School.

http://www.wis.edu/

Many of the folks working for the World Bank, IMF or other diplomatic missions end up at this school. WIS also offers immersion languages but your kids might be a bit too old to start (unless they want to keep up with what German they have learned thus far).

Interesting discussion here:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/38683.page

Some DC Charter schools (publicly funded, privately run) are using the IB program which might be something you want to consider as well. I think WIS is IB as well. For more on the IB program you can look here:

http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/c21984.htm

There is also a French International School and a German International School in Washington.

Are you planning on living in the city proper or in the suburbs? The NW sections of Washington (zip 20016) is probably where you will find yourself and colleagues, though it is a bit pricey.

CathyKelly

Hi,
Thanks for the info. I think the International school only offers Dutch and French so I don't think it's suitable for my children, as I can't expect them to do 50% of the day in Dutch/French when they have never studied it.
Also the British School offers a similar curriculum to the only they have been studying and they offer German.
Not sure where we will stay, the school being the determining factor, but I suspect it will be the suburbs.
Regards
Catherine

penguinsix

I think WIS is English, Dutch, French and Spanish, but Mandarin appears in Grade 6 for those who want to learn Chinese. They have different rules for older kids I think but I haven't investigated it lately.

If you think your next posting will be in a country that continues to offer a British curriculum, then I'd probably stay with the British school. Keeping in the same curriculum was a big factor in our recent school choice (I'm stationed in Hong Kong at the moment) as we were trying to plan 'four years down the road' rather than right here and now.

If you are at the embassy it's an easy drive over. Heck if you are anywhere in NW DC (i.e Embassy Row or IMF/World Bank) then the British School is pretty centrally located. If someone else is paying for your housing you might even consider the Georgetown neighborhood nearby everything.

We also have a general DC information guide in the wiki:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Catego...bia_City_Guide

Good luck.

CathyKelly

Thanks for your time and the information.
Regards
Catherine