We are at 460k and 3 kids in private since PK (currently in elementary and middle school).
We have a low mortgage (3k) and are very careful about every $ we spend. We don’t go on expensive vacations and (almost) never eat out. It’s worth it to us. Our kids are all in top schools (Cathedrals, Sidwell, etc.)… not sure we would do it for less academic schools. Kids are happy and thriving and doing many activities outside of school. |
A lot more competitive if you wait past PK or K. |
We have a $2.5m HHI and our kids go to public. Considering switching our younger kids. Oldest applied, got in and decided to stay at his local public. |
It's never a no-brainer.
Find the right school for the child at the time. It's great that you have the money to have options - but explore ALL your options, including public. As a dear friend said about considering schools: "take it one kid at a time, one year at a time" |
This. |
This is such great advice. |
+1. My parents did this with my brother and I, and it was such a great way to get an education honestly. Admittedly we moved a lot because my dad was in the military, so we were regularly switching schools no matter what, but the flexible attitude provided a lot of comfort and freedom. |
How secure are your jobs? What would happen if your kids got enmeshed in their school and then you could no longer afford it? |
For me, it was always a no-one brainer...even when I had no $...city girl...city ( lousy public schools). |
As someone who’s done both l agree with this. In your shoes l would give public a chance. |
We are slightly below your HHI - income is 1.2/1.3M a year, and even if private was what we thought was best for all three of our kids (1, 3, and 5), we don't view it as an easy decision. As a pp said, our take-home income is 600-700k (most is taxed in multiple jurisdictions including major amounts due in DC, NY, & CA). Our friends at Cathedral/Sidwell say annual school payments are well over 60k with technology fees, trip fees, etc., and we aren't comfortable with 1/3 of our income going to schools. The biggest unknown is whether our incomes will keep up with annual 4-5% tuition hikes, because that 1/3 could quickly get worse. We are starting our kids at our public elementary and then re-assessing in a few years. |
It has nothing to do with income. Private does not mean better. This post is stupid. |
What is stupid: generalizing. Privates are better for some students, and are not for others... |
+1. Our HHI is $3.5 million and our three kids go to public school. The oldest (an eighth grader) will be switching to private for high school. We LOVE our public elementary school and think the benefits of having friends nearby, walking to school, a great sense of community, etc. outweighed private elementary for our kids. We were less impressed with the middle school, so we started looking when our oldest was in 7th. We took our time, found a great fit and applied for 9th. We’ll eventually switch our other two but not for elementary. |
I've thought about this in the case where we win the lottery or something, lol, and I think no matter what we would keep our kid in public. I agree with many of the above posters, do what's right for your kids, not your income. |