Lower School: At A Glance

• Class Size Limit: 8 (grades 1st-3rd), 12 (grades 4th-6th)
• Cognia School of Distinction: 2023 (one of only 33 worldwide)
• Faculty with Masters or higher: 53%
• Faculty with PhDs: 29%
• School Enrollment (1st-12th): 80

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​Overall Rankings

We are proud to have earned global, national, state, and regional recognition:

In Niche's 2027 rankings, Ideaventions was named:

• Best Elementary School in the Washington, D.C. area
• Best Middle School in the Washington, D.C. area
• Best Private High School in the Washington, D.C. area
• #3 for STEM in the Washington, D.C. area
• #12 Best Elementary Schools in America
• #14 Best Middle Schools in America
• #36 STEM School in America
• #29 Best Private High Schools in America​

Washington Parent magazine ranked Ideaventions:

• #1 Best Private School in Virginia
• #1 STEM School in Virginia
• #1 STEM School in Virginia 

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Iowa Assessments (Grades 1-8)

Each year, we use the Iowa Exams to measure progress towards college and career readiness. Compared to national grade-level (GL) peers, our students score, on average, as follows:

• Reading: +3.80 years above grade level (92nd percentile)
• ELA (Language Arts): +3.96 years above GL (98th percentile)
• Math: +3.47 years above GL (96th percentile)
• Social Studies: +3.59 years above GL (91st percentile)
• Science: +4.03 years above GL (highest domain)
• Complete Composite: +3.69 years above GL in all subjects (96th percentile)

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Science

Northern Virginia Regional Science Fair

• 2025-26: 12 awards, including Young Einstein, Science Citizen, Everyday Materials, Wow Factor, and Overall in 4 divisions.
• 2024-25: 11 awards
• ​2023-24: 6 awards

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6th-grade won the national Planting Science Award and was commended for “serving as an example to future participants."​​

Engineering

Students begin Engineering & Computer Science in 1st grade. In Middle School, they progress to Python. 
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Aquatics Drone team (Middle School) in Sea Perch International

• Top 1% Worldwide (2024-25) - 2 teams
• Top 3% Worldwide  (2023-24) - 2 teams​

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Sports

Our students are great teammates! They participate in the Independent Small Schools Athletic Conference (ISSAC League) in:​

• Cross-Country
• Golf
• Basketball
• Volleyball
• Flag Football
• Ultimate Frisbee

​Mathematics

3rd-8th grade students have a grade equivalency 3.9 years above grade level in Math (based on Iowa Assessment) on average. Students complete Algebra by 8th grade (many in 6th or 7th grade or earlier), and most take a Post-AP Calculus level course before graduating our high school.

100% of 4th-8th grade students participate in Math Olympiad, MATHCOUNTS, and AMCs with outstanding results:

Math Kangaroo

• 2025-26
  • National Teams:
    • 11th grade Team: 2nd Place
    • 4 teams for Top 20% (5th, 6th, and 8th grades)​
    • 6 Certificates of Excellence (5th, 6th, and 8th grade teams)
  • Individuals:
    • Nationals:
      • ​​#3 5th grader
      • Four students top 10 
      • Nine students top 20 
    • ​State:​
      • #1 8th grader
      • #2 5th grader
      • Four students top 5
      • Eight students top 10 
• 2024-25
  • National ranked 1st, 14th, and 17th​

​Bebras Math Challenge:

• 2 students had perfect scores
• 76% achieved Scores of Distinction

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MATHCOUNTS Silver Level Club for many years

• 2025-26:
  • Ray Powell Award (Fairfax)
  • 4 students in Top 40 
  • 5th Place Team
• 2024-25:
  • 2 students finished top 25 Chapters
  • 89% earned highly commendable score
• 2022-23:
  • ​2nd Place, Individual Chapter Competition
  • 3rd Place, Individual Chapter Countdown
  • 3rd Place, Team Chapter Competition

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Math Olympiad (MOEMS):

• 2025-26
  • Elementary ​Top 100 school worldwide (​​Top 10% worldwide)
  • 6 students placed in top 2% worldwide 
  • 75% of elementary students received an award
• 2024-25:
  • Perfect score achieved
  • Top 12% worldwide Middle School

AMC 8

• Honor Roll winner: top 5%
• Six students in 6th grade and below earned Achievement Roll

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Lower elementary - curriculum

Upper elementary - Curriculum

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