Debating where to send your kid to school next year? Luckily for you, Washington, DC, and the surrounding areas in Maryland and Northern Virginia feature several private day and boarding schools that are worth a closer look.  Of course, while having tons of choices is a “good problem to have”, it doesn’t make your decision any easier — but don’t worry, we’re here to help. Keep scrolling to get a glimpse into some of the private schools across the DMV you should know about!

St. Albans

Located in Washington DC, St. Albans School is a private, all boys day & boarding school. For more than a century, St. Albans has offered a distinctive educational experience for young men in grades 4 through 12. While students reach exceptional academic goals and exhibit first-rate athletic and artistic achievements, as an Episcopal school they place equal emphasis upon moral and spiritual education.

BASIS Independent McLean

BASIS Independent McLean is a school community in a setting that fuels discovery and connectivity between students, teachers, and ideas. The 11-acre campus is located in Tysons Corner in Northern Virginia. Our Fairfax County school is conveniently located less than 15 miles outside of Washington DC, giving students and teachers easy access to all of the cultural offerings of our nation’s capital.

Designed with their content-rich, interactive curriculum in mind, the campus features specially-outfitted classrooms and wings for the sciences, early learning, performing arts, and more. The school’s atrium-style great hall offers a literal window into their program, as a great deal of the learning spaces are visible from this central point in the school.

Looking to call Washington D.C. home? Explore these other posts from our blog.

• Best DC Suburbs For Families
• Best Neighborhoods In DC For Buying A Condo
• Things To Know About Living In Truxton Circle, DC

Georgetown Day School

Georgetown Day School is a Washington, DC preK-12 independent school with an enrollment of 1,075 students, a city campus, and a comprehensive, innovative curriculum. Founded in 1945 as the first integrated school in Washington, DC, GDS maintains a diverse student body as well as a diverse faculty and Board. The High School is college preparatory, sending 100% of its graduates to colleges and universities throughout the world. For the 2023-24 school year, GDS allocated $9.2 million in financial aid to 23.9% of students with an average award of $34,800.

Are you planning to buy or sell a home during the school year? Read our guide to help make the process easier here.

Holton-Arms School

Founded more than a century ago, Holton-Arms School encourages young women to approach the world with a thirst for challenge, unflinching curiosity, and a sense of responsibility to use what they learn for the greatest good.

Holton-Arms cherishes the uniqueness of each of the members of our community including current and former students, faculty, and staff. They seek to create an inclusive environment that sees, values, and supports diverse identities and experiences, cultivates engaging discourse, and empowers every student to be a thriving member of the global community.

National Cathedral School

An independent girls’ school for grades 4-12, NCS believes in the power of young women. NCS is more than a place for skill-based learning, it’s a place where students will also uncover and shape who they are, what they need, how they relate to others, and so much more.

Set on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral, a calm space of green within our bustling and busy Nation’s Capital, NCS’s highly curated environment helps each student believe in her individual power and learn to use it to actively engage in any pursuit with excellence, service, courage, and conscience.

Learn more about some of DC’s fantastic neighborhoods with these posts next:

• What’s it Really Like Living in Georgetown, DC
• How to Spend a Day in Friendship Heights
• Your Guide to Shaw, DC
• Your Guide to Dupont Circle, DC

Sidwell Friends

Sidwell Friends School is a dynamic educational community grounded in the belief that differences among us enhance intellectual inquiry, expand understanding, and deepen empathy. Individually and collectively, the Sidwell community challenges themselves to pursue excellence in academic, athletic, and artistic realms.

They are committed to the joys of exploration and discovery. The Quaker pillars of the School inspire active engagement in environmental stewardship, global citizenship, and service. Sidwell encourages its students to find strength in reflection and shared silence, and to discern deeper truths about themselves and their common humanity, preparing students and adults to “let their lives speak.”

Georgetown Visitation

This illustrious all-girls institution believes that one’s high school years are a time of discovery — not just of knowledge and skills, but also of yourself and your potential. For that reason, they seek to provide the spiritual grounding, challenging academics, plentiful opportunities, and supportive, joyous community that enable their students to cultivate their God-given gifts.

Maret

Maret School is an independent, college-preparatory day school in Washington, DC with 650 students in grades K-12. There is a palpable sense of energy and purpose at Maret. From kindergarten to high school, students delve into their studies under the guidance of experienced and inspired teachers. With the school’s core values providing a firm foundation, students have every opportunity to learn, grow, and find their path to success.

The Field School

The Field School is a preparatory school in Washington, DC, located in the old Cafritz mansion on Foxhall Road. The school teaches 6th-12th grade, with inspiring educators guiding students to discover their authentic selves and distinctive paths to becoming empathetic, creative thinkers.

Washington International School

WIS prides itself on being a welcoming community of individuals whose diverse cultures are united in a shared vision: to be an exemplary learning community enriched by differences, informed through inquiry, and global in reach. They offer their 900 students in Preschool through Grade 12 an education grounded in curiosity and complemented by the beliefs that international-awareness is an essential mindset and that the ability to communicate in more than one language offers a considerable advantage in life.

Do you have kids in school? Here are a few more posts that might interest you!

• How to Get Ready for Back to School in DC
• The Best After-School Activities in and Around DC
• Best Public Parks in DC

The Lab School

Powered by a different approach to learning, The Lab School’s progressive teaching model puts the arts front and center for a reason. For one, the visual and performing arts are fun, engaging, and can serve as an outlet for self-expression. But it’s more than that: art education trains the brain. Through art, students engage in brainstorming, organizing, designing, sequencing, and critiquing. They make connections between seemingly unrelated subjects, and they make sense of the human experience.

Edmund Burke School

Burke consciously brings together students who are different from one another in many ways, actively engages them in their own education, holds them to high expectations, gives them power and responsibility, and supports & advances their growth as skilled and independent thinkers who step forward to make positive contributions to the world in which they live.

Want to find a home to suits the whole family? Get in touch with our team directly by calling us at 202.280.2060 or emailing us at jsmira@jennsmira.com.