The Langley School

1411 Balls Hill Road

Mclean, VA 22101

25 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-8
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by other on January 21, 2025

I went to this school so I think I am one of the most qualified to rate this school. I went to Langley for all of middle school, and after a while I realized that if you were anything other then you were going to be ostracized. All throughout school, my friend group was struggling with bullying and the school counselor, while kind, did nothing noteworthy to help. This school appears to be good at safety, but I frequently ditched lunches, when the most security was present, and no one noticed. The teachers are very unwilling to compromise and meet students in the middle, even if they have disabilities, and a lot of the kids are very exclusive to new students once they identify anything different (straight white neurotypical male). Don’t go here, don’t send your children here, because it is not a good school.
Submitted by other on May 07, 2024

Hi, I am a recent Langley graduate and I went to The Langley School since preschool. I am in high school now and all I can say is that Langley prepared me so well academically. Now, I can’t promise you that your child will not experience bullying because like any school there will be some rude kids. All I can say is that these things are not tolerated. This school has an amazing guidance counselor who supported me through all of my rough times and I know she will do the same for your child. I have had some bad experiences, but the kids who have done terrible things have either gotten suspended or expelled. The administration makes sure they hear everyone out and they don’t just go around disciplining people. Back to academics. I am taking many honors classes and I could not have been in this place without Langley. My bio class in 8th grade had me going into honors bio feeling like I knew what I was doing. These teachers recommend you for high school classes and I was told by my teachers what my strengths and weaknesses are. All of their comments were true because I have seen nothing but success in high school. I am still in contact with my Langley friends and I am so grateful for this school for teaching me many interesting things and for friendships that will last a lifetime. Lastly, see how this review is written? You can thank Langley language arts classes for that :)
Submitted by other on November 22, 2023

Awful and appalling are the only words that come to mind when describing The Langley School. All good reviews you see are from the parents of younger children who still like Langley before the teachers become under qualified, bullying isn’t punished, and a horrible school community forms in later elementary and middle school. I am a recent alum, now attending a college preparatory high school, and I can say almost anything is better than Langley. Whether the academics were challenging varied from class to class, and over half of the teachers seemed SERIOUSLY under qualified for their positions. Parents, DO NOT fall for the claims that this school will prepare your child for high school. I am only prepared regarding work load, not content, so I suppose Langley did a good job overworking us! The absolutely appalling part about this school is the punitive system. When students are bullied or racial slurs are said, absolutely nothing is done by admin. If anything, you’ll be sat down in an office with the persons and both given a discussion about dropping the issue and getting along better with Langleys so called “core values”, values that they refuse to reinforce and are only a marketing tactic. All middle school students hate the school and cannot wait to get out for a good reason. The drama and toxic culture is beyond what anybody would be prepared for, and this is not just regular middle school drama. Admin is never aware of the Middle school issues, and they don’t care about anything going on with older students. The school sports are below average, average at best, and there is no school spirit or enthusiasm. The school enforces very specific political values on students and ideologies during “REACH” class and do not inform parents about what they are teaching their children. Lastly, the school only cares about money, and hounds you with emails about making donations the second you graduate. This school prepared me workload wise, and I become more socially intelligent due to the amounts of drama and bullying at this school. Overall, I would not recommend for the varying academics and horrible school community. DO. NOT. SEND. YOUR. CHILD. HERE!!!!!!!!!!!
Submitted by parent on October 11, 2023

I have three children at The Langley School and this is our 6th year at the school. It a wonderful community of parents, administrators and teachers that all care deeply about the children. The curriculum in engaging and challenging and the environment fosters a culture of curious children that care deeply about one another and the broader world around them. My oldest son is now in 5th grade and I've been so impressed by the way Langley has intentionally developed not only the curriculum since his start in Kindergarten, but his ability to work through conflict, manage competing priorities and deal with a stressful situation.
Submitted by parent on October 06, 2023

Our family has been at Langley for two years and we have been very impressed with the teachers and administration. They are attentive, caring, and experts in the classroom. My child jumps out of the car every morning and can’t wait to go to school. If the teaching teams continue to be this strong then I imagine we will be a part of the community for years to come.
Submitted by parent on June 02, 2022

We have been at Langley for a few years, and our experience from year to year has varied greatly depending on the teacher. JK was ok, Kindergarten was fantastic with Miss E, and first grade was slightly worse than JK - and we don't even have the "worst" teacher. I have wanted to love this school, but time and again they fall short of their own core values, especially as it relates to kindness and more specifically bullying. They say it is not accepted, but when it occurs little if anything is done, especially when the bully is the child of a teacher, or in more than one instance when the teacher is the one doing the bullying (name calling, including racial slurs have been overheard). We chose this school because of the Social Emotional Learning philosophy, but have been incredibly disappointed by how lacking it is in practice. The turnover at the admin level has no doubt allowed some of this behavior to occur, but it was happening under the prior admin too, and it isn't getting better under this one. We don't want our child to be in an environment where bullying is ok, or even tolerated. We had hoped better for this school and if things don't change next year, we will be leaving the school like many other families already have.
Submitted by other on January 01, 2022

Nothing is done when kids bully, many teachers seem under qualified, others only have time for their favorites. The academics are meh, and not what one would expect with the tuition rates. Their sports and clubs are average or below average.
Submitted by parent on September 30, 2021

Our experience with the Langley School has been excellent!! Our children love to go every day to school. The teachers and administrative staff are great and care about our children not just academically but also socially and emotionally. There is a great sense of community and collaboration. Love the school and everything we have seen since we moved to the area!
Submitted by parent on September 27, 2021

We switched our kids over from public school a few years ago and couldn't be happier with The Langley School. From the amazing teachers to the caring and responsive administrative team - our kids are engaged, stimulated and motivated to learn. The teachers are creative and think outside the box when creating fun and interesting lessons. The community is warm, friendly and our transition from APS to Langley has been nothing but positive!
Submitted by other on August 18, 2020

0/5 because they did nothing about bullies and made my life miserable
Submitted by parent on July 10, 2020

My son attended for 4years. And memories are not good. I cannot forget Music teacher did discriminate during musical performances to my son and other Asian kids. She always put my son backside of stage or corner of stage .And other white kids are always in the center of stage. I mean "always".
Submitted by parent on March 07, 2018

We have been at The Langley School for 4 years, and it has been an amazing experience for our kids and family. I have 2 completely different children, both in personality and learning styles. Largely has been able to create a safe learning environment for both of my children, that is uniquely tailored to their needs. But the educational experience is not what makes Langley so wonderful. Langley creates curious children, eager to learn. My kids are constantly asking questions, tackling obstacles in multiple directions, and finding creative methods to solve problems. Creating critical thinkers is the most important tool an early education can provide a student. In addition, my young kids are exposed to so many things: performing in front of large audiences, learning about community service, technology, etc. Also, Langley kids have so much confidence. My kids can talk to anyone - kids or adults. Other adults are always commenting how at easy my youngsters are with speaking and having real conversations with them. Last, but certainly not least, Langley is a family. Parents are actively involved both in and out of school. The parents form incredible friendships and are always there to help you out. It takes a village they say, and at Langley you will find that village - loving and qualified teachers, caring administration, kids you wants your kids to be friends with, and amazing families.
Submitted by parent on February 04, 2016

I have been disappointed with school policies, how the school handles bullying, etc. Teachers are great, however.
Submitted by parent on January 02, 2016

We have been at Langley for 2 years now. JK & K. We have an older son in Arlington Public Schools and so we frequently compare our sons' experiences. Langley has strong resources to tailor the learning needs to the student. In addition, we've been very impressed with our son's teachers both years. But true proof of Langley's value is the development and growth we see in our son. He was always social and outgoing. Langley is accentuating those characteristics in a positive way while also growing his cognition. It is hard to write a review that is not shaped by your own child's academic and social performance and, thus, it is difficult to tell how much is the school vs. how much is the kid. But if it is not broken don't fix it and we plan to keep our son there for the foreseeable future. Further, while we remain pleased with our older son's experience in APS, there are certain things we believe Langley could offer him and, thus, may move him to Langley in 1-2 years.
Submitted by parent on November 12, 2015

Langley has been wonderful for my two children, who are very different learners. The school is able to tailor the curriculum to fit both of their learning styles. It's a small, but not too small, , cozy environment where teachers and admin get to know your children on a first name basis. The school is transparent with issues that arise and is always open to new ideas and methods. We find Dr Scully and the division heads to be sharp, focused, committed and willing to tackle tough issues. I also love that the Langley community is diverse in so many ways- ethnically, racially, religiously, ideologically. Diversity of thought in this day and age in a learning institution is rarely found, especially in the DC area. I am a strong proponent of the k-8 model and I love all of the incredible opportunities the middle school students experience at Langley. My two kids will no doubt go on to different high schools and Langley's outplacement program has the experience and relationships to get them into the right high schools. Overall we are very happy at Langley and we look forward to many years at the school.
Submitted by parent on November 12, 2015

My son has been at the school since kindergarten and is now in 7th grade. From the beginning I have felt that the teachers he has had "got" my son. As a middle schooler he has the opportunity to be in the play, student government, sports, science fair and soon to be a big buddy to younger students. The new middle school is state of the art with respect to science labs and a classroom in the sky. Teachers are challenging but caring too. I highly recommend Langley.
Submitted by parent on November 11, 2015

We are in the middle of our third year at Langley, having started when my oldest child entered Kindergarten. We LOVE the school. Though we live in a county that has good schools, we chose Langley for its smaller class sizes, engaged faculty and staff, and focus on building emotional intelligence alongside strong academics. In addition, we got the sense that our local school district was really struggling to maintain standards in light of serious budget constraints and regulations relating to standardized testing. I had very little faith that my daughter would get through elementary school without those challenges effecting the quality of her education. At Langley, the Head of School and Board of Trustees have a strategic vision for the school that is formulated with parent input and revisited regularly. There is an attitude of continually seeking to improve upon the model and the teachers and staff are given lots of training and exposure to the latest and greatest research about how children learn and how best to strengthen the community of learners. One initial concern we had in sending our child to private school was the diversity of the community. Happily, we have found the student body (and parent group) to be at least as diverse - if not more so - than public schools in our area. We have been very happy at Langley!
Submitted by parent on November 10, 2015

This is our third year at Langley and we have 2 daughters. This school has exceeded our expectations in nearly every way. While we had initially chosen this school for the smaller class size, this school offers so much more than we ever had access to in FFX county public schools. The teachers, faculty and Head of School really are experts on child development for PK-8th grade, and truly partner with parents in giving their students the best academic and emotional support a child could need. These children are not only developing academically, they are receiving guidance on their behavior and social development as well. They really nurture the WHOLE child at this school, and our family has loved this experience.
Submitted by parent on October 27, 2015

We have had an amazing experience at Langley with our 4 and 5 year old. My son started in to the JK class with a lot of anxiety and the teachers worked so hard to help him feel comfortable and confident. They even came to his soccer game on a Saturday! The small class sizes and outstanding teaching staff make this well worth every cent. Both kids are so excited to go to school every day and they love to learn. I also really love the fact that they emphasize community service and social responsibility, as well as education. It was hard to make the initial decision to go private since we live in Fairfax County, but we are so glad we did. We hear stories from our neighbors about classes of 25-30 kindergarteners in our local public school and most of them feel their kids are just stuck in the middle of the pack and not getting any personal attention. We feel so fortunate to have a class size of 14 kids with two highly qualified teachers, as well as specialized teachers in music, PE, science, math, reading and art. We have also been incredibly impressed with the parental involvement and the overall sense of community. We are so happy at Langley!
Submitted by teacher on December 17, 2014

I have worked at Langley for over 10 years and although not a teacher, I have come to appreciate that there is no more exciting goal of any organization/institution than to prepare children to confidently take their place in the global community and do it with confidence, empathy and enthusiasm. Observing my colleagues work with their students is remarkable. Their commitment to the individual child is unwavering and their ability to interact with their students so that the children learn, explore, and grow intellectually, emotionally and socially is so exciting to see. The curriculum is rigorous, but the support is nurturing and constant. Langley is an employer of choice for those who work here, but more than that it is a school that gives children an exceptional springboard into the world.