Tuition in private schools

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

To be honest, high school science and math are the easiest to get for free. This is about the only thing public schools do well but you can also take high quality courses online for free. If all you care about is science and math, that is not the point of private school. Go public.

About the only thing? Why can’t the 56k school have higher bars? Always compare with public schools?

Public school is the default free option for everyone, so every family in private school is rejecting that. The science and math at our private are excellent and has an extensive college-level course selection, however virtually every public would let you dual enroll or take online credits if you want. Our private is a level ahead but that isn’t a good enough reason to go private.


Science and math tends to be the focus of immigrant families as that is how they got into the country or became middle class. Then they make their kids accelerate in these subjects as a path to middle class careers. Public school tends to be a lot of these kids focused on acceleration in these subjects.

Public schools create a skilled workforce that the families in private and their kids will likely end up hiring. Private schools create the managers and executives while the public school grads are the low level workforce that lack skills beyond just math and science.


The priority in private is just different because they focus on the big picture rather than a narrow focus on technical entry level job skills you get from public.

Wow so many stereotype and racisms. And here is the attitude of anti science. Plenty of super elite folks among the science and medicine faculty! Managers? Sounds second class.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

To be honest, high school science and math are the easiest to get for free. This is about the only thing public schools do well but you can also take high quality courses online for free. If all you care about is science and math, that is not the point of private school. Go public.

About the only thing? Why can’t the 56k school have higher bars? Always compare with public schools?

Public school is the default free option for everyone, so every family in private school is rejecting that. The science and math at our private are excellent and has an extensive college-level course selection, however virtually every public would let you dual enroll or take online credits if you want. Our private is a level ahead but that isn’t a good enough reason to go private.


Science and math tends to be the focus of immigrant families as that is how they got into the country or became middle class. Then they make their kids accelerate in these subjects as a path to middle class careers. Public school tends to be a lot of these kids focused on acceleration in these subjects.

Public schools create a skilled workforce that the families in private and their kids will likely end up hiring. Private schools create the managers and executives while the public school grads are the low level workforce that lack skills beyond just math and science.


The priority in private is just different because they focus on the big picture rather than a narrow focus on technical entry level job skills you get from public.

Wow so many stereotype and racisms. And here is the attitude of anti science. Plenty of super elite folks among the science and medicine faculty! Managers? Sounds second class.

There was no stereotyping and no racism. Managers are the department chairs that your coveted science and medicine faculty work in, as well as the board members that run the show.


Being a science or medicine faculty member is about as non-elite as it gets.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

To be honest, high school science and math are the easiest to get for free. This is about the only thing public schools do well but you can also take high quality courses online for free. If all you care about is science and math, that is not the point of private school. Go public.

About the only thing? Why can’t the 56k school have higher bars? Always compare with public schools?

Public school is the default free option for everyone, so every family in private school is rejecting that. The science and math at our private are excellent and has an extensive college-level course selection, however virtually every public would let you dual enroll or take online credits if you want. Our private is a level ahead but that isn’t a good enough reason to go private.


Science and math tends to be the focus of immigrant families as that is how they got into the country or became middle class. Then they make their kids accelerate in these subjects as a path to middle class careers. Public school tends to be a lot of these kids focused on acceleration in these subjects.

Public schools create a skilled workforce that the families in private and their kids will likely end up hiring. Private schools create the managers and executives while the public school grads are the low level workforce that lack skills beyond just math and science.


The priority in private is just different because they focus on the big picture rather than a narrow focus on technical entry level job skills you get from public.

Wow so many stereotype and racisms. And here is the attitude of anti science. Plenty of super elite folks among the science and medicine faculty! Managers? Sounds second class.

There was no stereotyping and no racism. Managers are the department chairs that your coveted science and medicine faculty work in, as well as the board members that run the show.


Being a science or medicine faculty member is about as non-elite as it gets.

Where do you think Jeff bezos, Tim Cook, and Elon musk studied private or public school? Google it, and then you know where to shove your ideas.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

You are clearly not in medical school or in any academia. Full professors have much more powers than administrators like department chairs , and are highly sought after.




How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

To be honest, high school science and math are the easiest to get for free. This is about the only thing public schools do well but you can also take high quality courses online for free. If all you care about is science and math, that is not the point of private school. Go public.

About the only thing? Why can’t the 56k school have higher bars? Always compare with public schools?

Public school is the default free option for everyone, so every family in private school is rejecting that. The science and math at our private are excellent and has an extensive college-level course selection, however virtually every public would let you dual enroll or take online credits if you want. Our private is a level ahead but that isn’t a good enough reason to go private.


Science and math tends to be the focus of immigrant families as that is how they got into the country or became middle class. Then they make their kids accelerate in these subjects as a path to middle class careers. Public school tends to be a lot of these kids focused on acceleration in these subjects.

Public schools create a skilled workforce that the families in private and their kids will likely end up hiring. Private schools create the managers and executives while the public school grads are the low level workforce that lack skills beyond just math and science.


The priority in private is just different because they focus on the big picture rather than a narrow focus on technical entry level job skills you get from public.

Wow so many stereotype and racisms. And here is the attitude of anti science. Plenty of super elite folks among the science and medicine faculty! Managers? Sounds second class.

There was no stereotyping and no racism. Managers are the department chairs that your coveted science and medicine faculty work in, as well as the board members that run the show.


Being a science or medicine faculty member is about as non-elite as it gets.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

To be honest, high school science and math are the easiest to get for free. This is about the only thing public schools do well but you can also take high quality courses online for free. If all you care about is science and math, that is not the point of private school. Go public.

About the only thing? Why can’t the 56k school have higher bars? Always compare with public schools?

Public school is the default free option for everyone, so every family in private school is rejecting that. The science and math at our private are excellent and has an extensive college-level course selection, however virtually every public would let you dual enroll or take online credits if you want. Our private is a level ahead but that isn’t a good enough reason to go private.


Science and math tends to be the focus of immigrant families as that is how they got into the country or became middle class. Then they make their kids accelerate in these subjects as a path to middle class careers. Public school tends to be a lot of these kids focused on acceleration in these subjects.

Public schools create a skilled workforce that the families in private and their kids will likely end up hiring. Private schools create the managers and executives while the public school grads are the low level workforce that lack skills beyond just math and science.


The priority in private is just different because they focus on the big picture rather than a narrow focus on technical entry level job skills you get from public.

Wow so many stereotype and racisms. And here is the attitude of anti science. Plenty of super elite folks among the science and medicine faculty! Managers? Sounds second class.

There was no stereotyping and no racism. Managers are the department chairs that your coveted science and medicine faculty work in, as well as the board members that run the show.


Being a science or medicine faculty member is about as non-elite as it gets.

Where do you think Jeff bezos, Tim Cook, and Elon musk studied private or public school? Google it, and then you know where to shove your ideas.

these are a holes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To
play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

These days people choosing private over MCPS are doing so because of safety concerns, large class sizes in public, and the belief that MCPS doesn’t teach kids how to write or study (no exams/grade inflation). The vast majority of people don’t choose private because they vaguely think it is better. They have specific concerns about their local public schools and seek out privates that answer those concerns.

This whole thread is tiresome. If you like your public and have no concerns about it, stay in public. If you have concerns about your public, find a private that answers those concerns. Whether something is worth it is subjective and everyone needs to come to their own conclusion re public v private and accept that other smart people may disagree. Be confident in your decision and move on…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To
play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

These days people choosing private over MCPS are doing so because of safety concerns, large class sizes in public, and the belief that MCPS doesn’t teach kids how to write or study (no exams/grade inflation). The vast majority of people don’t choose private because they vaguely think it is better. They have specific concerns about their local public schools and seek out privates that answer those concerns.

This whole thread is tiresome. If you like your public and have no concerns about it, stay in public. If you have concerns about your public, find a private that answers those concerns. Whether something is worth it is subjective and everyone needs to come to their own conclusion re public v private and accept that other smart people may disagree. Be confident in your decision and move on…

Wait, I thought we are talking about lack of rigor in some high priced private school. Who is comparing private with public? Private clearly has advantage.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

To be honest, high school science and math are the easiest to get for free. This is about the only thing public schools do well but you can also take high quality courses online for free. If all you care about is science and math, that is not the point of private school. Go public.

About the only thing? Why can’t the 56k school have higher bars? Always compare with public schools?

Public school is the default free option for everyone, so every family in private school is rejecting that. The science and math at our private are excellent and has an extensive college-level course selection, however virtually every public would let you dual enroll or take online credits if you want. Our private is a level ahead but that isn’t a good enough reason to go private.


Science and math tends to be the focus of immigrant families as that is how they got into the country or became middle class. Then they make their kids accelerate in these subjects as a path to middle class careers. Public school tends to be a lot of these kids focused on acceleration in these subjects.

Public schools create a skilled workforce that the families in private and their kids will likely end up hiring. Private schools create the managers and executives while the public school grads are the low level workforce that lack skills beyond just math and science.


The priority in private is just different because they focus on the big picture rather than a narrow focus on technical entry level job skills you get from public.

Wow so many stereotype and racisms. And here is the attitude of anti science. Plenty of super elite folks among the science and medicine faculty! Managers? Sounds second class.

There was no stereotyping and no racism. Managers are the department chairs that your coveted science and medicine faculty work in, as well as the board members that run the show.


Being a science or medicine faculty member is about as non-elite as it gets.

Aren’t dept chairs faculty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

To be honest, high school science and math are the easiest to get for free. This is about the only thing public schools do well but you can also take high quality courses online for free. If all you care about is science and math, that is not the point of private school. Go public.

About the only thing? Why can’t the 56k school have higher bars? Always compare with public schools?

Public school is the default free option for everyone, so every family in private school is rejecting that. The science and math at our private are excellent and has an extensive college-level course selection, however virtually every public would let you dual enroll or take online credits if you want. Our private is a level ahead but that isn’t a good enough reason to go private.


Science and math tends to be the focus of immigrant families as that is how they got into the country or became middle class. Then they make their kids accelerate in these subjects as a path to middle class careers. Public school tends to be a lot of these kids focused on acceleration in these subjects.

Public schools create a skilled workforce that the families in private and their kids will likely end up hiring. Private schools create the managers and executives while the public school grads are the low level workforce that lack skills beyond just math and science.


The priority in private is just different because they focus on the big picture rather than a narrow focus on technical entry level job skills you get from public.

Wow so many stereotype and racisms. And here is the attitude of anti science. Plenty of super elite folks among the science and medicine faculty! Managers? Sounds second class.

There was no stereotyping and no racism. Managers are the department chairs that your coveted science and medicine faculty work in, as well as the board members that run the show.


Being a science or medicine faculty member is about as non-elite as it gets.

Aren’t dept chairs faculty?

Yes department chair is a service for tenured faculty. It is no eliteness or anything like that kind of glory associated with it. It typically rotate through the tenured faculty. This pp argues department chairs are bosses. It shows they clearly had no clue about how academia works.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

To be honest, high school science and math are the easiest to get for free. This is about the only thing public schools do well but you can also take high quality courses online for free. If all you care about is science and math, that is not the point of private school. Go public.

About the only thing? Why can’t the 56k school have higher bars? Always compare with public schools?

Public school is the default free option for everyone, so every family in private school is rejecting that. The science and math at our private are excellent and has an extensive college-level course selection, however virtually every public would let you dual enroll or take online credits if you want. Our private is a level ahead but that isn’t a good enough reason to go private.


Science and math tends to be the focus of immigrant families as that is how they got into the country or became middle class. Then they make their kids accelerate in these subjects as a path to middle class careers. Public school tends to be a lot of these kids focused on acceleration in these subjects.

Public schools create a skilled workforce that the families in private and their kids will likely end up hiring. Private schools create the managers and executives while the public school grads are the low level workforce that lack skills beyond just math and science.


The priority in private is just different because they focus on the big picture rather than a narrow focus on technical entry level job skills you get from public.

Wow so many stereotype and racisms. And here is the attitude of anti science. Plenty of super elite folks among the science and medicine faculty! Managers? Sounds second class.

There was no stereotyping and no racism. Managers are the department chairs that your coveted science and medicine faculty work in, as well as the board members that run the show.


Being a science or medicine faculty member is about as non-elite as it gets.

Aren’t dept chairs faculty?

Sure but they are ALSO department chairs because they have a more complete skill set beyond just math and science. They manage a group of faculty members and make the important decisions.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

To be honest, high school science and math are the easiest to get for free. This is about the only thing public schools do well but you can also take high quality courses online for free. If all you care about is science and math, that is not the point of private school. Go public.

About the only thing? Why can’t the 56k school have higher bars? Always compare with public schools?

Public school is the default free option for everyone, so every family in private school is rejecting that. The science and math at our private are excellent and has an extensive college-level course selection, however virtually every public would let you dual enroll or take online credits if you want. Our private is a level ahead but that isn’t a good enough reason to go private.


Science and math tends to be the focus of immigrant families as that is how they got into the country or became middle class. Then they make their kids accelerate in these subjects as a path to middle class careers. Public school tends to be a lot of these kids focused on acceleration in these subjects.

Public schools create a skilled workforce that the families in private and their kids will likely end up hiring. Private schools create the managers and executives while the public school grads are the low level workforce that lack skills beyond just math and science.


The priority in private is just different because they focus on the big picture rather than a narrow focus on technical entry level job skills you get from public.

Wow so many stereotype and racisms. And here is the attitude of anti science. Plenty of super elite folks among the science and medicine faculty! Managers? Sounds second class.

There was no stereotyping and no racism. Managers are the department chairs that your coveted science and medicine faculty work in, as well as the board members that run the show.


Being a science or medicine faculty member is about as non-elite as it gets.

Aren’t dept chairs faculty?

Yes department chair is a service for tenured faculty. It is no eliteness or anything like that kind of glory associated with it. It typically rotate through the tenured faculty. This pp argues department chairs are bosses. It shows they clearly had no clue about how academia works.

This is wrong. It is not a service for tenured faculty. It is a large promotion beyond regular faculty member. It is quite elite and comes with a much larger salary and allows you to make important hiring, budget, and strategic planning decisions.

[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:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To
play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

These days people choosing private over MCPS are doing so because of safety concerns, large class sizes in public, and the belief that MCPS doesn’t teach kids how to write or study (no exams/grade inflation). The vast majority of people don’t choose private because they vaguely think it is better. They have specific concerns about their local public schools and seek out privates that answer those concerns.

This whole thread is tiresome. If you like your public and have no concerns about it, stay in public. If you have concerns about your public, find a private that answers those concerns. Whether something is worth it is subjective and everyone needs to come to their own conclusion re public v private and accept that other smart people may disagree. Be confident in your decision and move on…

Wait, I thought we are talking about lack of rigor in some high priced private school. Who is comparing private with public? Private clearly has advantage.

All through this thread there are posts in which people argue that private tuition isn’t worth it because public is better.

It’s a long thread so there are several conversations going but the public v private one can be found throughput it.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

To be honest, high school science and math are the easiest to get for free. This is about the only thing public schools do well but you can also take high quality courses online for free. If all you care about is science and math, that is not the point of private school. Go public.

About the only thing? Why can’t the 56k school have higher bars? Always compare with public schools?

Public school is the default free option for everyone, so every family in private school is rejecting that. The science and math at our private are excellent and has an extensive college-level course selection, however virtually every public would let you dual enroll or take online credits if you want. Our private is a level ahead but that isn’t a good enough reason to go private.


Science and math tends to be the focus of immigrant families as that is how they got into the country or became middle class. Then they make their kids accelerate in these subjects as a path to middle class careers. Public school tends to be a lot of these kids focused on acceleration in these subjects.

Public schools create a skilled workforce that the families in private and their kids will likely end up hiring. Private schools create the managers and executives while the public school grads are the low level workforce that lack skills beyond just math and science.


The priority in private is just different because they focus on the big picture rather than a narrow focus on technical entry level job skills you get from public.

Wow so many stereotype and racisms. And here is the attitude of anti science. Plenty of super elite folks among the science and medicine faculty! Managers? Sounds second class.

There was no stereotyping and no racism. Managers are the department chairs that your coveted science and medicine faculty work in, as well as the board members that run the show.


Being a science or medicine faculty member is about as non-elite as it gets.

Aren’t dept chairs faculty?

Sure but they are ALSO department chairs because they have a more complete skill set beyond just math and science. They manage a group of faculty members and make the important decisions.

This is tiresome. As a faculty we also write grants and give talks and lead research groups and even run start ups. Medical school faculty also treat patients. Who says they only need math and science? This whole logic is twisted.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

To be honest, high school science and math are the easiest to get for free. This is about the only thing public schools do well but you can also take high quality courses online for free. If all you care about is science and math, that is not the point of private school. Go public.

About the only thing? Why can’t the 56k school have higher bars? Always compare with public schools?

Public school is the default free option for everyone, so every family in private school is rejecting that. The science and math at our private are excellent and has an extensive college-level course selection, however virtually every public would let you dual enroll or take online credits if you want. Our private is a level ahead but that isn’t a good enough reason to go private.


Science and math tends to be the focus of immigrant families as that is how they got into the country or became middle class. Then they make their kids accelerate in these subjects as a path to middle class careers. Public school tends to be a lot of these kids focused on acceleration in these subjects.

Public schools create a skilled workforce that the families in private and their kids will likely end up hiring. Private schools create the managers and executives while the public school grads are the low level workforce that lack skills beyond just math and science.


The priority in private is just different because they focus on the big picture rather than a narrow focus on technical entry level job skills you get from public.

Wow so many stereotype and racisms. And here is the attitude of anti science. Plenty of super elite folks among the science and medicine faculty! Managers? Sounds second class.

There was no stereotyping and no racism. Managers are the department chairs that your coveted science and medicine faculty work in, as well as the board members that run the show.


Being a science or medicine faculty member is about as non-elite as it gets.

Aren’t dept chairs faculty?

Sure but they are ALSO department chairs because they have a more complete skill set beyond just math and science. They manage a group of faculty members and make the important decisions.

Agree with the PP that you have no idea what you are talking about and so nothing in your post is worth reading.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

I think there are absolutely a large number of families who trade functionality for aesthetics. Granted, part of that is that education can be opaque, and assessments shoddy, so they look for proxies.

I just care about the quality of education and in several open houses I couldn’t really see the value of a private school. In the elite schools maybe ncs and st. Albans i saw some value not in the other private schools. I do have money to pay for private school, but don’t feel like giving it away to a random school, I prefer to invest it in high quality education. I am not going to pay 60k for a mediocre education.

I wonder why people put up with the underwhelming education, especially in science and math, for the price tag. Just to be part of an elite group? To play sports? I do admit the world language education is one area private school really has an edge.

To be honest, high school science and math are the easiest to get for free. This is about the only thing public schools do well but you can also take high quality courses online for free. If all you care about is science and math, that is not the point of private school. Go public.

About the only thing? Why can’t the 56k school have higher bars? Always compare with public schools?

Public school is the default free option for everyone, so every family in private school is rejecting that. The science and math at our private are excellent and has an extensive college-level course selection, however virtually every public would let you dual enroll or take online credits if you want. Our private is a level ahead but that isn’t a good enough reason to go private.


Science and math tends to be the focus of immigrant families as that is how they got into the country or became middle class. Then they make their kids accelerate in these subjects as a path to middle class careers. Public school tends to be a lot of these kids focused on acceleration in these subjects.

Public schools create a skilled workforce that the families in private and their kids will likely end up hiring. Private schools create the managers and executives while the public school grads are the low level workforce that lack skills beyond just math and science.


The priority in private is just different because they focus on the big picture rather than a narrow focus on technical entry level job skills you get from public.

Wow so many stereotype and racisms. And here is the attitude of anti science. Plenty of super elite folks among the science and medicine faculty! Managers? Sounds second class.

There was no stereotyping and no racism. Managers are the department chairs that your coveted science and medicine faculty work in, as well as the board members that run the show.


Being a science or medicine faculty member is about as non-elite as it gets.

Aren’t dept chairs faculty?

Sure but they are ALSO department chairs because they have a more complete skill set beyond just math and science. They manage a group of faculty members and make the important decisions.

This is tiresome. As a faculty we also write grants and give talks and lead research groups and even run start ups. Medical school faculty also treat patients. Who says they only need math and science? This whole logic is twisted.

If they are still just a cog in academia, yes they are lacking quite a few skills. And running startups is well beyond what most faculty are capable of.