Where Will Barron Trump Go to School?
Update: On May 15, the first lady's office confirmed that Barron Trump will attend St. Andrew's School in Potomac, Maryland. School consultant Susan Jones mentioned it as a potential choice for the first son in the story below, which was first published on December 12, 2016.
Original: When President-elect Donald Trump and his family move to D.C. - Melania and Barron are planning to stay in New York City through the end of the school year - Barron Trump will be the first First Son since John F. Kennedy, Jr. to live there.
And where he ends up in school is a big question. In 35 years, no First Kid has gone to a school other than Sidwell Friends, the private Quaker school where Sasha Obama is currently enrolled and from which both Malia Obama and Chelsea Clinton graduated. But educational consultants say that despite Sidwell Friends's history of accommodating burly Secret Service agents and other security concerns that accompany presidential children, it's highly unlikely the young Trump will end up there.
Why?
"It's not Republican-friendly," says Susan Jones of Dunbar Educational Consultants, which advises students and families on school placement. "He just wouldn't feel good about himself there."
St. Albans School, the all-boys institution associated with the National Cathedral School and the Episcopal Church, is the most "Republican-tolerant" school in Washington, D.C., says Jones, who sent one of her sons there. While presidents' children have not attended, other political scions have: Marion Christopher Barry, whose father Marion Barry was mayor of the District of Columbia; Justin Rockefeller and John D. Rockefeller V, whose father Jay is a former U.S. senator from West Virginia; and Jesse Jackson, Jr.
Barron, who appeared exhausted but still sported a suit and tie when he stood by his father's side on election night, likely wouldn't take issue with St. Albans's jacket-and-tie dress code.
There's also the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, which School Choice International CEO Timothy Dwyer says is the one that jumps out to him.
"It's popular with the country club set and it has a very strong code of civility, which is something that might be very attractive to the Trump family," says Dwyer, whose education advisory company is based in New York. (Could Barron teach his father a thing or two about civil discourse? One only hopes.) It's also "jockier" than St. Albans, perhaps a boon to Barron's reported penchant for golf. Plus, it doesn't have the religious association of a school affiliated with the National Cathedral.
Barron's current school, the co-ed Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Dwyer says, is known for helping a child thrive. "Rather than the environment of survival of the fittest, here maybe they're saying. 'Let's make sure once the children are admitted they have what it takes to succeed' and 'we're going to be fully committed to providing the academic support and psychological support' [that can improve] those awful middle years which can be so tough," he says.
Two Washington schools known for providing students with extra support, Jones says, are the Edmund Burke School and St. Andrew's, in Potomac. But she says she's betting on St. Albans or Landon, which she says would bring in tutors to add support if they couldn't provide it.
Dwyer also suggested that Melania Trump's Slovenian background and Barron's multilingual skills could prompt them to consider the Washington International School, which would put him in an environment with other parents of multiple nationalities.
In addition, home schooling or distance learning (in which students are enrolled in virtual classes and follow lessons remotely) could be "an interesting thing for the Trumps to explore depending on how concerned they are with privacy and all the things that go along with being a presidential child," says Dwyer, who is also a historian with published work on presidential families.
There's also boarding school. Barron's older siblings Ivanka, Donald Jr., and Eric all went away to school (Ivanka went to Choate Rosemary Hall and her brothers attended the Hill School), as did the Donald himself. Boarding schools that start in the sixth grade (a year or two away for Barron) like Eaglebrook, in Deerfield, Massachusetts, are another option.
Wherever Barron ends up, it's safe to say he doesn't have an easy path ahead. Here's hoping the atmosphere at whatever middle school he joins doesn't make it even harder.
You Might Also Like
