Any other private school parents considering switching to public school?

[Anonymous]

I love everything about my children's school, and my kids are really happy there. But with the economy going down the toilet, the nearly $60k in after tax dollars we pay for tuition is starting to feel pretty decadent. I live in Montgomery County, in one of the "best" public school districts, DH and I would transfer our active involvement (coaching, volunteering, donating) and education focus, and I'm confident my kids would get a good education and do well academically in our local public school if we went that route.
We are fortunate NOT to be in any dire financial situation...but economic turmoil is causing us to reflect and think about the other ways we can contribute to our kids' education (travel, donating services and/or resources and other experiential learning).

BUT, both kids are exceptionally happy at their present school, and we've made great friends among the other school families (a very diverse, well-educated, interesting and cosmopolitan crowd). Would switching schools traumatize our kids? Anyone else in this situation?

[Anonymous]

We just aren't sending child number two to private. I will let the oldest stay.

[Anonymous]

I think a lot of it would depend on their ages. If they are middle school or above, I'd let them stay.

However, why did you choose private school in the first place, if the public schools are good where you live? You don't have to answer that here, but obviously it was worth the $60K before. Is it not worth it now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of it would depend on their ages. If they are middle school or above, I'd let them stay.

However, why did you choose private school in the first place, if the public schools are good where you live? You don't have to answer that here, but obviously it was worth the $60K before. Is it not worth it now?

I always consider it. Our public school is supposed to be one of the best but even now many parents are trying to get their children out even for junior year.

[Anonymous]

We switched from private for public, not for financial reasons, for educational ones. We are also in MoCo in one of the "best" districts and cannot believe how well the transition has gone. DH and I were very nervous about taking our children off the private school track and all the advantages that can have, but felt for our family, that having a public school experience also offered many advantages. So we switched and have been overwhelmed with how much it has exceeded our expectations. We love the parent community, the diverse student community, the differentiated instruction, the large facilities, PTA projects and volunteering without parent competitiveness, and my kids LOVE the bus, their teachers, seeing kids they know from the neighborhood, after school activities right at the school, and the school calendar (lots of days off throughout the year as opposed to huge stretches every once in a while). We feel it has taken a lot of pressure off all of us. HTH, FWIW.

[Anonymous]

It was very encouraging to read pp's response. We are also close to making a decision on whether to switch out of private into public (it really hangs on the upcoming financial aid decision). Our dd will be entering middle school next year, and our other dd will still be in elementary. We are also very nervous about making the switch, but it's good to hear about positive experiences.

[Anonymous]

I am the one who said that we would send one to public and the other to private. When our younger child goes to public Kindergarten, we will decide whether or not to remove the other child and put her in public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We switched from private for public, not for financial reasons, for educational ones. We are also in MoCo in one of the "best" districts and cannot believe how well the transition has gone. DH and I were very nervous about taking our children off the private school track and all the advantages that can have, but felt for our family, that having a public school experience also offered many advantages. So we switched and have been overwhelmed with how much it has exceeded our expectations. We love the parent community, the diverse student community, the differentiated instruction, the large facilities, PTA projects and volunteering without parent competitiveness, and my kids LOVE the bus, their teachers, seeing kids they know from the neighborhood, after school activities right at the school, and the school calendar (lots of days off throughout the year as opposed to huge stretches every once in a while). We feel it has taken a lot of pressure off all of us. HTH, FWIW.

Would you mind describing the type of private school that you were in? For example, traditional, parochial, ...

[Anonymous]

8:40 here. We commuted to a traditional private school with smaller class sizes, lots of structure, lots of art and music, lots of legacy and sibling admissions and not a very diverse student or parent body despite having been touted as such during our admissions process -- this was very disappointing to us, there was very little racial, economic, religious or ability diversity. Consequently, it all seemed so same, same, same to us as both parents within the parent community and to our children who did not seem to get the exposure to what our entire society has to offer, especially given where we live (I mean in WDC as a whole). Our children have really taken to all the differences in the public school and I really think it has opened up their world even more -- seeing all kinds of children and family structures, being exposed to so many more kinds of activities, seeing moms and dads who are not just doctors, lawyers or entrepreneurs, etc. And I have not heard once this year a question or complaint or comparison about money (so-and-so has another house in X, so-and-so has X number of wii games, so-and-so just got *insert designer item here*, why can't we do X despite the fact that my kids want for nothing). This might just be our experience with switching, but it seems that we are all enjoying being at school and around the community so much more. After all, there is a reason we live in our neighborhood -- we like it here, we like the people, we like its values and it is nice to walk the halls of a school that reflects its neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

We are definitely interested in switching back to public from private for many of the reasons already provided by PPs. We love our DC's private school and the small class size has been incredibly helpful for our child's particular learning differences. However, despite the school's sincere efforts at diversity, it is incredibly homogenous because there is almost no socioeconomic diversity. A wealthy minority brings roughly the same life experiences and outlook at wealthy white kids ... no surprise, really. And the sense of entitlement or materialism seems to grow with each year. It is a pk-8 school, so high school provides a natural opportunity to make the change. But yes, we do sometimes wonder if the tuition could not be better spent and we revisity the decision OFTEN!! Inertia is a powerful thing ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of it would depend on their ages. If they are middle school or above, I'd let them stay.

However, why did you choose private school in the first place, if the public schools are good where you live? You don't have to answer that here, but obviously it was worth the $60K before. Is it not worth it now?

OP here. Great question. My kids are elementary aged.

We chose private in large part because of class size and diversity. At the time, DC was shy, quiet & we were concerned our huge, neighborhood public school would push her further into wallflower status--quiet, follows directions, stays below the radar screen, etc. The small, nurturing environment at her private school has allowed her to shine, and I'm confident she could thrive in any school environment at this point--which makes me wonder when is the right time to make the transition to public school.

On the diversity front, the school feels diverse racially and ethnically, but there is zero economic diversity. On the one hand, I wish there was more economic diversity. On the other hand, the school environment doesn't propel any stereotypes. That is, it's hard for the children to connect race or ethnicity with class/sociooeconomic status because everyone is quite rich--there are surgeons, lobbyists and law partners of all colors. (PS I'm a person of color, too)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are definitely interested in switching back to public from private for many of the reasons already provided by PPs. We love our DC's private school and the small class size has been incredibly helpful for our child's particular learning differences. However, despite the school's sincere efforts at diversity, it is incredibly homogenous because there is almost no socioeconomic diversity. A wealthy minority brings roughly the same life experiences and outlook at wealthy white kids ... no surprise, really. And the sense of entitlement or materialism seems to grow with each year. It is a pk-8 school, so high school provides a natural opportunity to make the change. But yes, we do sometimes wonder if the tuition could not be better spent and we revisity the decision OFTEN!! Inertia is a powerful thing ...

Low income White kids would also bring some diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of it would depend on their ages. If they are middle school or above, I'd let them stay.

However, why did you choose private school in the first place, if the public schools are good where you live? You don't have to answer that here, but obviously it was worth the $60K before. Is it not worth it now?

OP here. Great question. My kids are elementary aged.

We chose private in large part because of class size and diversity. At the time, DC was shy, quiet & we were concerned our huge, neighborhood public school would push her further into wallflower status--quiet, follows directions, stays below the radar screen, etc. The small, nurturing environment at her private school has allowed her to shine, and I'm confident she could thrive in any school environment at this point--which makes me wonder when is the right time to make the transition to public school.

On the diversity front, the school feels diverse racially and ethnically, but there is zero economic diversity. On the one hand, I wish there was more economic diversity. On the other hand, the school environment doesn't propel any stereotypes. That is, it's hard for the children to connect race or ethnicity with class/sociooeconomic status because everyone is quite rich--there are surgeons, lobbyists and law partners of all colors. (PS I'm a person of color, too)

Education comes first for me, and diversity a very close second. If you can get both at a public school, I'd steer in that direction. Have you discussed it with your kids? Are they up for it?

[Anonymous]

OP here. I have not mentioned it to my kids. I suspect DH and I would need to do a lot of preparation to talk to DCs about it...if we decide to go that route. DH is adamant that DC stay in their current private school. I am growing more convinced that we should move to public but am struggling with how to "make it happen". How to discuss with the kids, how to discuss with other parents at the school we're leaving...
Any ideas?

[Anonymous]

Yes, and we are heartbroken about it. We absolutely love our children's private school, and it is providing them with an excellent, truly enriched education, but it's just getting too expensive for us to pay two private school tuitions. My kids love their school too, and I know that it will be very difficult for them to leave and transition to public. DH is self-employed and his income has fallen a lot in the last two years. We have too much in assets to qualify for financial aid, and would even feel badly applying, but we won't take out a home equity loan (and probably couldn't even get one these days, with credit as tight as it is and falling home prices). We need to think about our financial security and DH's ability to retire in 10 years or so when he reaches retirement age.

We live in Fairfax County, but our local public schools are among the weakest in the County. We have begun actively attending open houses in the better school pyramids, just to get a sense of the neighborhoods and type/price of housing available in each. We are going to liquidate some assets to send the kids to their private school for one more year, but in the next year we will probably move and send them to public school starting in Fall 2010.