Private school is a terrible ROI for middle class people

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 15k. A bargain! You need to find the no frills ones that provide a strong academic foundation at a reasonable cost.

I think that thing doesn’t exist.

Yeah, I think most parochial schools are pretty meh. If you're interested in the religious foundation, that's one thing (although couldn't you just use free Sunday school)?

For many, the religious aspect is secondary to the MUCH higher expectations that Catholic schools have for their students. That's mostly what I was paying for. My son (called a loser previously) gave exactly what was expected and got straight As in public school. The work he handed in was most definitely not A work. He coasted through school thinking the work he was doing was fantastic when it wasn't. The straight As disappeared when he got to Catholic school. He had to work MUCH harder to get Bs. He developed an actual work ethic. The public school policies of retakes and no late penalties are awful for developing actual EF skills.

This was our experience going from public middle school to Catholic HS. Our son was very strong in math but his writing skills were horrendous despite getting As on all his writing projects. In HS he actually learned how to write. My younger one went to Catholic throughout elementary into HS and she is a great writer by comparison. Aced the ACT english and reading sections with a 36 with no prep.

This is not common. Many of the private schools I looked at had worse test results than our assigned public school. College admission results were also not that impressive. And that's after cherry picking the kids they accept. I couldn't find much justification.

Sounds like bs. You have no idea what outplacement results kids from the whole public and whole private have. Even if you did, enhanced college placement isn’t the point of private.

Oh please. A lot of these privates list acceptances, not just outplacements. And it was a bunch of mediocre schools, which shouldn't be surprising when the test scores are also mediocre. If you're there for something other than academics, that's one thing, but academically it was not impressive.

LOL again very uninformed comment here. The middle to most elite private schools have matriculations that put even the best public schools to shame. Only 5% of matriculations at the strongest high schools in Bethesda area end up in T20 schools. It is 20 percent in my daughter's Catholic HS and 30% in some of the more elite high schools in the area. You should educate yourself before you chime in. And I am talking enrollment, not acceptances, so don't try to use that narrative with me. And I have no idea what kind of test scores you are trying to push here. No private school student takes any of the tests that public students take beyond the SAT/ACT. And those are self reported stats, which is not good data.

The top privates, yes. The middle? No. And you know why that is? Because there is a concentration among the top privates of Ivy alumni and wealthy parents who can pay to package their kids' applications.

Don't lie to yourself, PP. If you don't have money to burn, and did not attend XYZ yourself, your kid has a better chance at getting into a top college from public, not a top private. Maybe yours was the exception.

Most Elite (~30% matriculate to T20 universities):
Georgetown Day School
Sidwell Friends
St. Albans
NCS
Maret
Potomac
Holton Arms

Mid (~15-20% to top 20 universities):
Georgetown Prep
Gonzaga
Georgetown Visitation
Stone Ridge
Landon
St. Anselms
Bullis
St. Andrews
The Heights
SJC

Lower Tier (<5% top 20-most are athletic recruits):
Holy Child
Holy Cross
Good Council
Bishop Ireton
Paul VI
Burke
DeMatha

Top MCPS high schools in Bethesda area (~5% to top 20 schools)
Bethesda Chevy Chase
Wootton
Winston Churchill
Walt Whitman
Walter Johnson
Richard Montgomery (magnet)
Blair (magnet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 15k. A bargain! You need to find the no frills ones that provide a strong academic foundation at a reasonable cost.

I think that thing doesn’t exist.

Yeah, I think most parochial schools are pretty meh. If you're interested in the religious foundation, that's one thing (although couldn't you just use free Sunday school)?

For many, the religious aspect is secondary to the MUCH higher expectations that Catholic schools have for their students. That's mostly what I was paying for. My son (called a loser previously) gave exactly what was expected and got straight As in public school. The work he handed in was most definitely not A work. He coasted through school thinking the work he was doing was fantastic when it wasn't. The straight As disappeared when he got to Catholic school. He had to work MUCH harder to get Bs. He developed an actual work ethic. The public school policies of retakes and no late penalties are awful for developing actual EF skills.

This was our experience going from public middle school to Catholic HS. Our son was very strong in math but his writing skills were horrendous despite getting As on all his writing projects. In HS he actually learned how to write. My younger one went to Catholic throughout elementary into HS and she is a great writer by comparison. Aced the ACT english and reading sections with a 36 with no prep.

This is not common. Many of the private schools I looked at had worse test results than our assigned public school. College admission results were also not that impressive. And that's after cherry picking the kids they accept. I couldn't find much justification.

Sounds like bs. You have no idea what outplacement results kids from the whole public and whole private have. Even if you did, enhanced college placement isn’t the point of private.

Oh please. A lot of these privates list acceptances, not just outplacements. And it was a bunch of mediocre schools, which shouldn't be surprising when the test scores are also mediocre. If you're there for something other than academics, that's one thing, but academically it was not impressive.

LOL again very uninformed comment here. The middle to most elite private schools have matriculations that put even the best public schools to shame. Only 5% of matriculations at the strongest high schools in Bethesda area end up in T20 schools. It is 20 percent in my daughter's Catholic HS and 30% in some of the more elite high schools in the area. You should educate yourself before you chime in. And I am talking enrollment, not acceptances, so don't try to use that narrative with me. And I have no idea what kind of test scores you are trying to push here. No private school student takes any of the tests that public students take beyond the SAT/ACT. And those are self reported stats, which is not good data.

The top privates, yes. The middle? No. And you know why that is? Because there is a concentration among the top privates of Ivy alumni and wealthy parents who can pay to package their kids' applications.

Don't lie to yourself, PP. If you don't have money to burn, and did not attend XYZ yourself, your kid has a better chance at getting into a top college from public, not a top private. Maybe yours was the exception.

Most Elite (~30% matriculate to T20 universities):
Georgetown Day School
Sidwell Friends
St. Albans
NCS
Maret
Potomac
Holton Arms

Mid (~15-20% to top 20 universities):
Georgetown Prep
Gonzaga
Georgetown Visitation
Stone Ridge
Landon
St. Anselms
Bullis
St. Andrews
The Heights
SJC

Lower Tier (<5% top 20-most are athletic recruits):
Holy Child
Holy Cross
Good Council
Bishop Ireton
Paul VI
Burke
DeMatha

Top MCPS high schools in Bethesda area (~5% to top 20 schools)
Bethesda Chevy Chase
Wootton
Winston Churchill
Walt Whitman
Walter Johnson
Richard Montgomery (magnet)
Blair (magnet

This thread is specifically about middle class people, who generally don't have a shot being admitted and/or can't afford anything in the top or middle tier. Then once you get into your lower tier, the results don't appear to significantly different from good publics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 15k. A bargain! You need to find the no frills ones that provide a strong academic foundation at a reasonable cost.

I think that thing doesn’t exist.

Yeah, I think most parochial schools are pretty meh. If you're interested in the religious foundation, that's one thing (although couldn't you just use free Sunday school)?

For many, the religious aspect is secondary to the MUCH higher expectations that Catholic schools have for their students. That's mostly what I was paying for. My son (called a loser previously) gave exactly what was expected and got straight As in public school. The work he handed in was most definitely not A work. He coasted through school thinking the work he was doing was fantastic when it wasn't. The straight As disappeared when he got to Catholic school. He had to work MUCH harder to get Bs. He developed an actual work ethic. The public school policies of retakes and no late penalties are awful for developing actual EF skills.

This was our experience going from public middle school to Catholic HS. Our son was very strong in math but his writing skills were horrendous despite getting As on all his writing projects. In HS he actually learned how to write. My younger one went to Catholic throughout elementary into HS and she is a great writer by comparison. Aced the ACT english and reading sections with a 36 with no prep.

This is not common. Many of the private schools I looked at had worse test results than our assigned public school. College admission results were also not that impressive. And that's after cherry picking the kids they accept. I couldn't find much justification.

Sounds like bs. You have no idea what outplacement results kids from the whole public and whole private have. Even if you did, enhanced college placement isn’t the point of private.

Oh please. A lot of these privates list acceptances, not just outplacements. And it was a bunch of mediocre schools, which shouldn't be surprising when the test scores are also mediocre. If you're there for something other than academics, that's one thing, but academically it was not impressive.

LOL again very uninformed comment here. The middle to most elite private schools have matriculations that put even the best public schools to shame. Only 5% of matriculations at the strongest high schools in Bethesda area end up in T20 schools. It is 20 percent in my daughter's Catholic HS and 30% in some of the more elite high schools in the area. You should educate yourself before you chime in. And I am talking enrollment, not acceptances, so don't try to use that narrative with me. And I have no idea what kind of test scores you are trying to push here. No private school student takes any of the tests that public students take beyond the SAT/ACT. And those are self reported stats, which is not good data.

The top privates, yes. The middle? No. And you know why that is? Because there is a concentration among the top privates of Ivy alumni and wealthy parents who can pay to package their kids' applications.

Don't lie to yourself, PP. If you don't have money to burn, and did not attend XYZ yourself, your kid has a better chance at getting into a top college from public, not a top private. Maybe yours was the exception.

Most Elite (~30% matriculate to T20 universities):
Georgetown Day School
Sidwell Friends
St. Albans
NCS
Maret
Potomac
Holton Arms

Mid (~15-20% to top 20 universities):
Georgetown Prep
Gonzaga
Georgetown Visitation
Stone Ridge
Landon
St. Anselms
Bullis
St. Andrews
The Heights
SJC

Lower Tier (<5% top 20-most are athletic recruits):
Holy Child
Holy Cross
Good Council
Bishop Ireton
Paul VI
Burke
DeMatha

Top MCPS high schools in Bethesda area (~5% to top 20 schools)
Bethesda Chevy Chase
Wootton
Winston Churchill
Walt Whitman
Walter Johnson
Richard Montgomery (magnet)
Blair (magnet

This thread is specifically about middle class people, who generally don't have a shot being admitted and/or can't afford anything in the top or middle tier. Then once you get into your lower tier, the results don't appear to significantly different from good publics.

Schools in the top and middle tier absolutely do admit middle class students and have robust financial aid opportunities. Clearly you know little about the private school landscape.

In fact I would go so far to mention that many mcps teachers send their kids to the mid tier schools with the help of financial aid or a high earning spouse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 15k. A bargain! You need to find the no frills ones that provide a strong academic foundation at a reasonable cost.

I think that thing doesn’t exist.

Yeah, I think most parochial schools are pretty meh. If you're interested in the religious foundation, that's one thing (although couldn't you just use free Sunday school)?

For many, the religious aspect is secondary to the MUCH higher expectations that Catholic schools have for their students. That's mostly what I was paying for. My son (called a loser previously) gave exactly what was expected and got straight As in public school. The work he handed in was most definitely not A work. He coasted through school thinking the work he was doing was fantastic when it wasn't. The straight As disappeared when he got to Catholic school. He had to work MUCH harder to get Bs. He developed an actual work ethic. The public school policies of retakes and no late penalties are awful for developing actual EF skills.

This was our experience going from public middle school to Catholic HS. Our son was very strong in math but his writing skills were horrendous despite getting As on all his writing projects. In HS he actually learned how to write. My younger one went to Catholic throughout elementary into HS and she is a great writer by comparison. Aced the ACT english and reading sections with a 36 with no prep.

This is not common. Many of the private schools I looked at had worse test results than our assigned public school. College admission results were also not that impressive. And that's after cherry picking the kids they accept. I couldn't find much justification.

Sounds like bs. You have no idea what outplacement results kids from the whole public and whole private have. Even if you did, enhanced college placement isn’t the point of private.

Oh please. A lot of these privates list acceptances, not just outplacements. And it was a bunch of mediocre schools, which shouldn't be surprising when the test scores are also mediocre. If you're there for something other than academics, that's one thing, but academically it was not impressive.

LOL again very uninformed comment here. The middle to most elite private schools have matriculations that put even the best public schools to shame. Only 5% of matriculations at the strongest high schools in Bethesda area end up in T20 schools. It is 20 percent in my daughter's Catholic HS and 30% in some of the more elite high schools in the area. You should educate yourself before you chime in. And I am talking enrollment, not acceptances, so don't try to use that narrative with me. And I have no idea what kind of test scores you are trying to push here. No private school student takes any of the tests that public students take beyond the SAT/ACT. And those are self reported stats, which is not good data.

The top privates, yes. The middle? No. And you know why that is? Because there is a concentration among the top privates of Ivy alumni and wealthy parents who can pay to package their kids' applications.

Don't lie to yourself, PP. If you don't have money to burn, and did not attend XYZ yourself, your kid has a better chance at getting into a top college from public, not a top private. Maybe yours was the exception.

Most Elite (~30% matriculate to T20 universities):
Georgetown Day School
Sidwell Friends
St. Albans
NCS
Maret
Potomac
Holton Arms

Mid (~15-20% to top 20 universities):
Georgetown Prep
Gonzaga
Georgetown Visitation
Stone Ridge
Landon
St. Anselms
Bullis
St. Andrews
The Heights
SJC

Lower Tier (<5% top 20-most are athletic recruits):
Holy Child
Holy Cross
Good Council
Bishop Ireton
Paul VI
Burke
DeMatha

Top MCPS high schools in Bethesda area (~5% to top 20 schools)
Bethesda Chevy Chase
Wootton
Winston Churchill
Walt Whitman
Walter Johnson
Richard Montgomery (magnet)
Blair (magnet

You pulled much of this completely out of your ass. No way in hell, not even remotely close does a school like SJC send 15% - 20% of the class to Top 20 universities.

First, many athletes aren't going to a Top 20 academic school...but even remove those...and you won't see anything approaching this.

With respect to Blair Magnet, we have data on where kids were accepted...where they ultimately choose to attend we don't know.

Just one example, 25% of the Blair kids that applied to CalTech were accepted...a school with a 3% acceptance rate. I would wager not a single private school on the list above had even 1 CalTech acceptance. 19% of the kids that applied to MIT were accepted...a school with a 4.7% acceptance rate.

[Anonymous]

Top privates get their kids in because they are full pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 15k. A bargain! You need to find the no frills ones that provide a strong academic foundation at a reasonable cost.

I think that thing doesn’t exist.

Yeah, I think most parochial schools are pretty meh. If you're interested in the religious foundation, that's one thing (although couldn't you just use free Sunday school)?

For many, the religious aspect is secondary to the MUCH higher expectations that Catholic schools have for their students. That's mostly what I was paying for. My son (called a loser previously) gave exactly what was expected and got straight As in public school. The work he handed in was most definitely not A work. He coasted through school thinking the work he was doing was fantastic when it wasn't. The straight As disappeared when he got to Catholic school. He had to work MUCH harder to get Bs. He developed an actual work ethic. The public school policies of retakes and no late penalties are awful for developing actual EF skills.

This was our experience going from public middle school to Catholic HS. Our son was very strong in math but his writing skills were horrendous despite getting As on all his writing projects. In HS he actually learned how to write. My younger one went to Catholic throughout elementary into HS and she is a great writer by comparison. Aced the ACT english and reading sections with a 36 with no prep.

This is not common. Many of the private schools I looked at had worse test results than our assigned public school. College admission results were also not that impressive. And that's after cherry picking the kids they accept. I couldn't find much justification.

Sounds like bs. You have no idea what outplacement results kids from the whole public and whole private have. Even if you did, enhanced college placement isn’t the point of private.

Oh please. A lot of these privates list acceptances, not just outplacements. And it was a bunch of mediocre schools, which shouldn't be surprising when the test scores are also mediocre. If you're there for something other than academics, that's one thing, but academically it was not impressive.

LOL again very uninformed comment here. The middle to most elite private schools have matriculations that put even the best public schools to shame. Only 5% of matriculations at the strongest high schools in Bethesda area end up in T20 schools. It is 20 percent in my daughter's Catholic HS and 30% in some of the more elite high schools in the area. You should educate yourself before you chime in. And I am talking enrollment, not acceptances, so don't try to use that narrative with me. And I have no idea what kind of test scores you are trying to push here. No private school student takes any of the tests that public students take beyond the SAT/ACT. And those are self reported stats, which is not good data.

The top privates, yes. The middle? No. And you know why that is? Because there is a concentration among the top privates of Ivy alumni and wealthy parents who can pay to package their kids' applications.

Don't lie to yourself, PP. If you don't have money to burn, and did not attend XYZ yourself, your kid has a better chance at getting into a top college from public, not a top private. Maybe yours was the exception.

Most Elite (~30% matriculate to T20 universities):
Georgetown Day School
Sidwell Friends
St. Albans
NCS
Maret
Potomac
Holton Arms

Mid (~15-20% to top 20 universities):
Georgetown Prep
Gonzaga
Georgetown Visitation
Stone Ridge
Landon
St. Anselms
Bullis
St. Andrews
The Heights
SJC

Lower Tier (<5% top 20-most are athletic recruits):
Holy Child
Holy Cross
Good Council
Bishop Ireton
Paul VI
Burke
DeMatha

Top MCPS high schools in Bethesda area (~5% to top 20 schools)
Bethesda Chevy Chase
Wootton
Winston Churchill
Walt Whitman
Walter Johnson
Richard Montgomery (magnet)
Blair (magnet

This thread is specifically about middle class people, who generally don't have a shot being admitted and/or can't afford anything in the top or middle tier. Then once you get into your lower tier, the results don't appear to significantly different from good publics.

Schools in the top and middle tier absolutely do admit middle class students and have robust financial aid opportunities. Clearly you know little about the private school landscape.

In fact I would go so far to mention that many mcps teachers send their kids to the mid tier schools with the help of financial aid or a high earning spouse.

You just sound like you're trying to convince yourself that cumulatively spending hundreds of thousands of dollars at one of these school is worth it. If you can get aid from one of the schools where the top 1% send their kids, fine, but that sounds like an outlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 15k. A bargain! You need to find the no frills ones that provide a strong academic foundation at a reasonable cost.

I think that thing doesn’t exist.

Yeah, I think most parochial schools are pretty meh. If you're interested in the religious foundation, that's one thing (although couldn't you just use free Sunday school)?

For many, the religious aspect is secondary to the MUCH higher expectations that Catholic schools have for their students. That's mostly what I was paying for. My son (called a loser previously) gave exactly what was expected and got straight As in public school. The work he handed in was most definitely not A work. He coasted through school thinking the work he was doing was fantastic when it wasn't. The straight As disappeared when he got to Catholic school. He had to work MUCH harder to get Bs. He developed an actual work ethic. The public school policies of retakes and no late penalties are awful for developing actual EF skills.

This was our experience going from public middle school to Catholic HS. Our son was very strong in math but his writing skills were horrendous despite getting As on all his writing projects. In HS he actually learned how to write. My younger one went to Catholic throughout elementary into HS and she is a great writer by comparison. Aced the ACT english and reading sections with a 36 with no prep.

This is not common. Many of the private schools I looked at had worse test results than our assigned public school. College admission results were also not that impressive. And that's after cherry picking the kids they accept. I couldn't find much justification.

Sounds like bs. You have no idea what outplacement results kids from the whole public and whole private have. Even if you did, enhanced college placement isn’t the point of private.

Oh please. A lot of these privates list acceptances, not just outplacements. And it was a bunch of mediocre schools, which shouldn't be surprising when the test scores are also mediocre. If you're there for something other than academics, that's one thing, but academically it was not impressive.

LOL again very uninformed comment here. The middle to most elite private schools have matriculations that put even the best public schools to shame. Only 5% of matriculations at the strongest high schools in Bethesda area end up in T20 schools. It is 20 percent in my daughter's Catholic HS and 30% in some of the more elite high schools in the area. You should educate yourself before you chime in. And I am talking enrollment, not acceptances, so don't try to use that narrative with me. And I have no idea what kind of test scores you are trying to push here. No private school student takes any of the tests that public students take beyond the SAT/ACT. And those are self reported stats, which is not good data.

It’s more about the quality of the students that matters rather than the quality of the school

[Anonymous]

This is dumb. Middle class families can get financial aid to attend private school. Can’t get FA to buy a $2m home in one of the few decent school districts in our area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 15k. A bargain! You need to find the no frills ones that provide a strong academic foundation at a reasonable cost.

I think that thing doesn’t exist.

Yeah, I think most parochial schools are pretty meh. If you're interested in the religious foundation, that's one thing (although couldn't you just use free Sunday school)?

For many, the religious aspect is secondary to the MUCH higher expectations that Catholic schools have for their students. That's mostly what I was paying for. My son (called a loser previously) gave exactly what was expected and got straight As in public school. The work he handed in was most definitely not A work. He coasted through school thinking the work he was doing was fantastic when it wasn't. The straight As disappeared when he got to Catholic school. He had to work MUCH harder to get Bs. He developed an actual work ethic. The public school policies of retakes and no late penalties are awful for developing actual EF skills.

This was our experience going from public middle school to Catholic HS. Our son was very strong in math but his writing skills were horrendous despite getting As on all his writing projects. In HS he actually learned how to write. My younger one went to Catholic throughout elementary into HS and she is a great writer by comparison. Aced the ACT english and reading sections with a 36 with no prep.

This is not common. Many of the private schools I looked at had worse test results than our assigned public school. College admission results were also not that impressive. And that's after cherry picking the kids they accept. I couldn't find much justification.

This is what I don’t understand … Private school doesn’t help your chances of getting into college (unless families are big donors to the college)… everyone I know who went to public schools are successful adults. Feels like we would be pissing away money if we sent our kids to private. We are top 5% income in this country (which doesn’t mean crap in DC anyway). Life is so expensive in general and you never know when you’re going to run into a financial minefield (caring for elderly parents and those associated expenses for one).

We didn’t choose private because of the college placement. Not at all.

I’m a former public school teacher. Perhaps your child is in a stronger school, but I witnessed plummeting standards for behavior and academics. We chose a Catholic high school because we wanted our children held to a high standard and that’s exactly what we got. They were able to take the same AP classes taught by similarly qualified teachers, but they did so in an environment that expected respect and discipline. The side-helping of service to others was nice, too.

They are in college now, probably similar ones they would have gotten into if we had stayed public. But they are better off because of the route they took.

[Anonymous]

There are fine reasons a family may choose private school. But ROI is not one of them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 15k. A bargain! You need to find the no frills ones that provide a strong academic foundation at a reasonable cost.

I think that thing doesn’t exist.

Yeah, I think most parochial schools are pretty meh. If you're interested in the religious foundation, that's one thing (although couldn't you just use free Sunday school)?

For many, the religious aspect is secondary to the MUCH higher expectations that Catholic schools have for their students. That's mostly what I was paying for. My son (called a loser previously) gave exactly what was expected and got straight As in public school. The work he handed in was most definitely not A work. He coasted through school thinking the work he was doing was fantastic when it wasn't. The straight As disappeared when he got to Catholic school. He had to work MUCH harder to get Bs. He developed an actual work ethic. The public school policies of retakes and no late penalties are awful for developing actual EF skills.

This was our experience going from public middle school to Catholic HS. Our son was very strong in math but his writing skills were horrendous despite getting As on all his writing projects. In HS he actually learned how to write. My younger one went to Catholic throughout elementary into HS and she is a great writer by comparison. Aced the ACT english and reading sections with a 36 with no prep.

This is not common. Many of the private schools I looked at had worse test results than our assigned public school. College admission results were also not that impressive. And that's after cherry picking the kids they accept. I couldn't find much justification.

This is what I don’t understand … Private school doesn’t help your chances of getting into college (unless families are big donors to the college)… everyone I know who went to public schools are successful adults. Feels like we would be pissing away money if we sent our kids to private. We are top 5% income in this country (which doesn’t mean crap in DC anyway). Life is so expensive in general and you never know when you’re going to run into a financial minefield (caring for elderly parents and those associated expenses for one).

So don't send your kids to private.
That's what's so odd about this thread and the many like it - nobody who sends their kid to private is wondering why other people don't, or saying other people are making bad choices. Your choices are fine! But own them, instead of putting other people down for making different choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 15k. A bargain! You need to find the no frills ones that provide a strong academic foundation at a reasonable cost.

I think that thing doesn’t exist.

Yeah, I think most parochial schools are pretty meh. If you're interested in the religious foundation, that's one thing (although couldn't you just use free Sunday school)?

For many, the religious aspect is secondary to the MUCH higher expectations that Catholic schools have for their students. That's mostly what I was paying for. My son (called a loser previously) gave exactly what was expected and got straight As in public school. The work he handed in was most definitely not A work. He coasted through school thinking the work he was doing was fantastic when it wasn't. The straight As disappeared when he got to Catholic school. He had to work MUCH harder to get Bs. He developed an actual work ethic. The public school policies of retakes and no late penalties are awful for developing actual EF skills.

This was our experience going from public middle school to Catholic HS. Our son was very strong in math but his writing skills were horrendous despite getting As on all his writing projects. In HS he actually learned how to write. My younger one went to Catholic throughout elementary into HS and she is a great writer by comparison. Aced the ACT english and reading sections with a 36 with no prep.

This is not common. Many of the private schools I looked at had worse test results than our assigned public school. College admission results were also not that impressive. And that's after cherry picking the kids they accept. I couldn't find much justification.

This is what I don’t understand … Private school doesn’t help your chances of getting into college (unless families are big donors to the college)… everyone I know who went to public schools are successful adults. Feels like we would be pissing away money if we sent our kids to private. We are top 5% income in this country (which doesn’t mean crap in DC anyway). Life is so expensive in general and you never know when you’re going to run into a financial minefield (caring for elderly parents and those associated expenses for one).

We didn’t choose private because of the college placement. Not at all.

I’m a former public school teacher. Perhaps your child is in a stronger school, but I witnessed plummeting standards for behavior and academics. We chose a Catholic high school because we wanted our children held to a high standard and that’s exactly what we got. They were able to take the same AP classes taught by similarly qualified teachers, but they did so in an environment that expected respect and discipline. The side-helping of service to others was nice, too.

They are in college now, probably similar ones they would have gotten into if we had stayed public. But they are better off because of the route they took.

I could've written the same post. I paid tuition for higher expectations academically and behaviorally. Kids can only stand being around other kids who 1) don't give a crap about school 2) don't give a crap about following the rules. I teach in a public school and the behavior that students get away with these days is ridiculous. Kid has a tantrum and instead of him being removed from class and the teacher continuing to teach, the entire class has to evacuate with the kid trashes the classroom. When I think of how many lost lessons there were due to unruly kids, it makes me sick and sad for my students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 15k. A bargain! You need to find the no frills ones that provide a strong academic foundation at a reasonable cost.

I think that thing doesn’t exist.

Yeah, I think most parochial schools are pretty meh. If you're interested in the religious foundation, that's one thing (although couldn't you just use free Sunday school)?

For many, the religious aspect is secondary to the MUCH higher expectations that Catholic schools have for their students. That's mostly what I was paying for. My son (called a loser previously) gave exactly what was expected and got straight As in public school. The work he handed in was most definitely not A work. He coasted through school thinking the work he was doing was fantastic when it wasn't. The straight As disappeared when he got to Catholic school. He had to work MUCH harder to get Bs. He developed an actual work ethic. The public school policies of retakes and no late penalties are awful for developing actual EF skills.

This was our experience going from public middle school to Catholic HS. Our son was very strong in math but his writing skills were horrendous despite getting As on all his writing projects. In HS he actually learned how to write. My younger one went to Catholic throughout elementary into HS and she is a great writer by comparison. Aced the ACT english and reading sections with a 36 with no prep.

This is not common. Many of the private schools I looked at had worse test results than our assigned public school. College admission results were also not that impressive. And that's after cherry picking the kids they accept. I couldn't find much justification.

This is what I don’t understand … Private school doesn’t help your chances of getting into college (unless families are big donors to the college)… everyone I know who went to public schools are successful adults. Feels like we would be pissing away money if we sent our kids to private. We are top 5% income in this country (which doesn’t mean crap in DC anyway). Life is so expensive in general and you never know when you’re going to run into a financial minefield (caring for elderly parents and those associated expenses for one).

We didn’t choose private because of the college placement. Not at all.

I’m a former public school teacher. Perhaps your child is in a stronger school, but I witnessed plummeting standards for behavior and academics. We chose a Catholic high school because we wanted our children held to a high standard and that’s exactly what we got. They were able to take the same AP classes taught by similarly qualified teachers, but they did so in an environment that expected respect and discipline. The side-helping of service to others was nice, too.

They are in college now, probably similar ones they would have gotten into if we had stayed public. But they are better off because of the route they took.

I could've written the same post. I paid tuition for higher expectations academically and behaviorally. Kids can only stand being around other kids who 1) don't give a crap about school 2) don't give a crap about following the rules. I teach in a public school and the behavior that students get away with these days is ridiculous. Kid has a tantrum and instead of him being removed from class and the teacher continuing to teach, the entire class has to evacuate with the kid trashes the classroom. When I think of how many lost lessons there were due to unruly kids, it makes me sick and sad for my students.

I have 2 kids at a "good" public and neither has ever experienced this. Not to say that it doesn't happen anywhere, but it's not happening everywhere either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is 15k. A bargain! You need to find the no frills ones that provide a strong academic foundation at a reasonable cost.

I think that thing doesn’t exist.

Yeah, I think most parochial schools are pretty meh. If you're interested in the religious foundation, that's one thing (although couldn't you just use free Sunday school)?

For many, the religious aspect is secondary to the MUCH higher expectations that Catholic schools have for their students. That's mostly what I was paying for. My son (called a loser previously) gave exactly what was expected and got straight As in public school. The work he handed in was most definitely not A work. He coasted through school thinking the work he was doing was fantastic when it wasn't. The straight As disappeared when he got to Catholic school. He had to work MUCH harder to get Bs. He developed an actual work ethic. The public school policies of retakes and no late penalties are awful for developing actual EF skills.

This was our experience going from public middle school to Catholic HS. Our son was very strong in math but his writing skills were horrendous despite getting As on all his writing projects. In HS he actually learned how to write. My younger one went to Catholic throughout elementary into HS and she is a great writer by comparison. Aced the ACT english and reading sections with a 36 with no prep.

This is not common. Many of the private schools I looked at had worse test results than our assigned public school. College admission results were also not that impressive. And that's after cherry picking the kids they accept. I couldn't find much justification.

This is what I don’t understand … Private school doesn’t help your chances of getting into college (unless families are big donors to the college)… everyone I know who went to public schools are successful adults. Feels like we would be pissing away money if we sent our kids to private. We are top 5% income in this country (which doesn’t mean crap in DC anyway). Life is so expensive in general and you never know when you’re going to run into a financial minefield (caring for elderly parents and those associated expenses for one).

We didn’t choose private because of the college placement. Not at all.

I’m a former public school teacher. Perhaps your child is in a stronger school, but I witnessed plummeting standards for behavior and academics. We chose a Catholic high school because we wanted our children held to a high standard and that’s exactly what we got. They were able to take the same AP classes taught by similarly qualified teachers, but they did so in an environment that expected respect and discipline. The side-helping of service to others was nice, too.

They are in college now, probably similar ones they would have gotten into if we had stayed public. But they are better off because of the route they took.

I could've written the same post. I paid tuition for higher expectations academically and behaviorally. Kids can only stand being around other kids who 1) don't give a crap about school 2) don't give a crap about following the rules. I teach in a public school and the behavior that students get away with these days is ridiculous. Kid has a tantrum and instead of him being removed from class and the teacher continuing to teach, the entire class has to evacuate with the kid trashes the classroom. When I think of how many lost lessons there were due to unruly kids, it makes me sick and sad for my students.

I have 2 kids at a "good" public and neither has ever experienced this. Not to say that it doesn't happen anywhere, but it's not happening everywhere either.

This was in a good public school last year. This year, I have less explosive behavior issues but just as disruptive. Two kids who swear like sailors (and not under their breath). One who steals from everyone including me. Another two who refuse to transition (and the entire day is full of transitions). These are UMC kids for the most part.

[Anonymous]

We live in a very good neighborhood that feeds to Winston Churchill HS in Montgomery County. One of the better schools in the area that sends kids to ivies on a regular basis and about 5% to top 20 schools. But it's also a pressure cooker with many families that have Tiger Moms pushing their kids. I just don't enjoy being in that culture. Kids are in very large classes (30+) even for APs and it can be very cutthroat. In order to be competitive for a top university, you have to start taking AP courses in 9th grade and can end up taking upwards of 12+ APs when all is said and done. There is nowhere to sit in the lunch room and kids sit in the hallways to eat lunch. Some of the bathrooms are closed due to vaping and other illegal substances. MCPS is well know for their severe grade inflation. They finally took steps this year to address it mainly because they saw that colleges were becoming more aware of this problem. Kids were getting A's with a 79.5 in first quarter and 89.5 in second quarter. That is, in reality, a solid B. I believe they now are averaging number grades, which is a step in the right direction. But for years students played that game where if they had an A for the first quarter, they could coast for the second quarter.

We opted for private school. My girl is in a safe environment with class sizes of 10-20 depending on the class. It is a beautiful campus with plenty of space for the girls to find a place to study during free time. She took her first AP course in 11th grade and will end up taking 6 total by the end of senior year. She is very competitive for T20 schools and is top 10% of her class. Her school had approximately 20% matriculate to T20 schools--its been more in past years. The expectations from teachers are extremely high and there is no grade inflation, and colleges know this. She needs a 93 to get an A, and grades are calculated on a semester basis. Semester grades are averaged using the numerical grades to get the yearly grades, which are sent with the transcripts. No games being played there.

So for us, it is worth every penny. We're not middle class anymore, but when we started sending our kids to private, our income was much lower and our net worth minimal. Luckily our careers took off and we were able to save money. 529 is fully funded.