MYSA School

The people who run the school are top notch education professionals who care deeply for the children and focus on helping them become the best person they can be.

Our son is in his second year at Mysa's upper school, and we couldn't be more pleased. After several years in a large local public school system in Northern VA and a year of homeschooling, we can attest that Mysa offers the best of both worlds. Because of its small size, the teachers have the time to get to know each student well, both as a learner and as a person. Any time we have a parent-teacher conference or read a written report from his teachers, we're amazed at how thoroughly they understand our son's strengths, areas of need, and overall growth. As parents, we value that Mysa's curriculum focuses on educating the whole student, fostering thoughtful and respectful conversations about real-world, relevant topics, as well as guiding students through the complexities of growing up and having friends in a diverse community. The opportunity to interact with a variety of peers from 6th to 12th grade throughout the day also means that students have a more natural community experience, rather than one in which a child spends 7 hours a day interacting only with people born within 9 months of him or herself. As a result, our son has made important strides in his personal and academic development. As educators ourselves, we appreciate that Mysa also offers a rigorous, mastery-based education that is both relevant and student driven. The cross-curricular Connect units challenge students to think about a topic through the lens of many school subjects, and also provide opportunities for real world, hands-on experiences through weekly field trips. In following MD state standards for learning, we also appreciate that we've never gotten a sense that the calendar dictates the curriculum -- rather, our son can move as fast or as slow as he needs to in order to truly understand the material and to feel challenged. One of the aspects of Mysa's one room schoolhouse style learning that our son most appreciates is that he can choose how and where to work. From a cozy corner with bean bag chairs to a living room setting to a more formal set up with tables and chairs, each student is allowed to find the learning environment that works best for him or her during individual work time. Since he gets a menu of work at the beginning of each week, he can choose which subjects to work on depending on his level of focus and energy. And, like in the real world, if he needs to take a short break, he can do that. Of course, when he over-indulges in break time, the natural consequence of school work rolling over into the weekend has been an important lesson in itself. The kind of self-reflection on his own work habits and needs is just not possible in most highly-structured, teacher-driven classrooms, and it's a skill that will serve him well throughout his life. Mysa has been a wonderful place for our bright, unique child. We have seen him grown in curiosity and confidence since joining the community, and we look forward to seeing his continued growth.

Our two kids (3rd grade and K) love Mysa Georgetown! The school is very well staffed and children get a lot of individual attention. Overall, we have been impressed by the quality of teachers. The Principal of the Lower school and the Head Teacher, Ms. Trish is absolutely wonderful. She is very experienced and creates a nurturing, calm and stimulating environment in the classroom. The head of the school, Siri Fiske, knows all of her students and families very well, and she deeply cares about children getting a world class education in a fun and enjoyable way. She is fantastic with kids and always available for parents (or children) to talk. The Mysa School program really agrees with our kids. The school uses the mastery based model that allows our kids to progress through a subject at their own pace and not be held back by their peers. While our older son is already way ahead in his 3rd grade math, this individualized approach also allows the teacher to focus on areas that are more problematic for him to make sure that nothing "falls through the cracks." Aside from rigorous academics, our kids also enjoy the experiential learning that creates an important part of the program. They work on a variety of projects, experiments and take field trips that allow the kids to experience in the real world what they have been studying in the classroom. Another bonus is that the kids have about 45 minute to 1 hour of PE every day of the week, in addition to about 15 minute outdoor recess every mid-morning. Overall we are very happy with the school.