Experience with both public and private

[Anonymous]

Hi,
My son will turn five next year. We are deciding between sending him to Janney (our inbound) or to apply for private (GDS, Sidwell…). We are attracted to private due to the diversity and the teacher ratio. However, I would like to hear from people with experience with both. Are there stark differences between the two in lower school?

[Anonymous]

Public, don’t waste your money on what private’s tout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi,
My son will turn five next year. We are deciding between sending him to Janney (our inbound) or to apply for private (GDS, Sidwell…). We are attracted to private due to the diversity and the teacher ratio. However, I would like to hear from people with experience with both. Are there stark differences between the two in lower school?

Sure, that's why you're attracted to Sidwell and GDS. Right.

[Anonymous]

OP, as you can tell, there’s a lot of private school hatred from public school parents. Trust your own real-life conversations with actual private and public school parents about their experiences. Visit the schools you’re interested in, public and private, and see if you can get a feeling for what they’re like. Either can be a great choice, and only you know what you’re looking for or what the financial impact would be on your family.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

We experienced public and switched to private. Going back to public next year.

[Anonymous]

My kids went to Janney, Deal and then private high school. They applied in 9th and between the two of them (two different application years) were accepted to STA, NCS, Sidwell, GDS, Potomac, Gonzaga and the St. Johns Scholars program.
They ended up matriculating at NCS and STA. They're both doing very well in school. Their Janney classmates are all over the city and beyond: Wilson, Walls, Sidwell, Maret, GDS, STA, NCS, Field, Burke, Gonzaga, Visitation, Stone Ridge, Holton, Landon, Andover, Exeter, etc.
I personally am a big fan of Janney and Deal: my kids had a solid academic experience at both and made life-long friends. Their best friends (my kids now both in later high school) are kids they went to Janney with from PK-4. They attend 10 different high schools but still hang out together
most weekends. There is something magical about having neighborhood friends.
If you have any specific questions let me know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, as you can tell, there’s a lot of private school hatred from public school parents. Trust your own real-life conversations with actual private and public school parents about their experiences. Visit the schools you’re interested in, public and private, and see if you can get a feeling for what they’re like. Either can be a great choice, and only you know what you’re looking for or what the financial impact would be on your family.

Good luck!

You mentioned there is a lot of private school hatred from public school parents. You made an assumption that is incorrect.
I am a private school parent who made the first suggestion of going to public. Don’t blame a public school parent for saying that, I said it as a current private school parent.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to the pp. we will definitely visit the schools and try to talk to parents.
To the pp that is switching back to public, do you mind sharing why? Is it a financial decision or something more?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids went to Janney, Deal and then private high school. They applied in 9th and between the two of them (two different application years) were accepted to STA, NCS, Sidwell, GDS, Potomac, Gonzaga and the St. Johns Scholars program.
They ended up matriculating at NCS and STA. They're both doing very well in school. Their Janney classmates are all over the city and beyond: Wilson, Walls, Sidwell, Maret, GDS, STA, NCS, Field, Burke, Gonzaga, Visitation, Stone Ridge, Holton, Landon, Andover, Exeter, etc.
I personally am a big fan of Janney and Deal: my kids had a solid academic experience at both and made life-long friends. Their best friends (my kids now both in later high school) are kids they went to Janney with from PK-4. They attend 10 different high schools but still hang out together
most weekends. There is something magical about having neighborhood friends.
If you have any specific questions let me know.

Thank you for your response! That is reassuring. May I ask, are your kids exceptional academically? Or is this a typical acceptance record for a Janney/deal kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went to Janney, Deal and then private high school. They applied in 9th and between the two of them (two different application years) were accepted to STA, NCS, Sidwell, GDS, Potomac, Gonzaga and the St. Johns Scholars program.
They ended up matriculating at NCS and STA. They're both doing very well in school. Their Janney classmates are all over the city and beyond: Wilson, Walls, Sidwell, Maret, GDS, STA, NCS, Field, Burke, Gonzaga, Visitation, Stone Ridge, Holton, Landon, Andover, Exeter, etc.
I personally am a big fan of Janney and Deal: my kids had a solid academic experience at both and made life-long friends. Their best friends (my kids now both in later high school) are kids they went to Janney with from PK-4. They attend 10 different high schools but still hang out together
most weekends. There is something magical about having neighborhood friends.
If you have any specific questions let me know.

Thank you for your response! That is reassuring. May I ask, are your kids exceptional academically? Or is this a typical acceptance record for a Janney/deal kid?

My kids are decently smart and do what is asked of them. lol They're not geniuses. Most kids who apply out of Janney/Deal to privates are admitted. It's an impressive and driven group of kids/families.
They're not the big money-makers of DC (not the equity law partners) but they're collectively about the brightest group of people I've been part of in DC. Lots of interesting and important jobs (just not the giant money making ones).
Bright and successful people have bright kids and so their kids do well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, as you can tell, there’s a lot of private school hatred from public school parents. Trust your own real-life conversations with actual private and public school parents about their experiences. Visit the schools you’re interested in, public and private, and see if you can get a feeling for what they’re like. Either can be a great choice, and only you know what you’re looking for or what the financial impact would be on your family.

Good luck!

It isn’t private school hatred to point out that there is little diversity at schools charging $50k+/yr tuition.

- parent at both private and public

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, as you can tell, there’s a lot of private school hatred from public school parents. Trust your own real-life conversations with actual private and public school parents about their experiences. Visit the schools you’re interested in, public and private, and see if you can get a feeling for what they’re like. Either can be a great choice, and only you know what you’re looking for or what the financial impact would be on your family.

Good luck!

It isn’t private school hatred to point out that there is little diversity at schools charging $50k+/yr tuition.

- parent at both private and public

Diversity is a justification for reverse discrimination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We experienced public and switched to private. Going back to public next year.

care to say why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids went to Janney, Deal and then private high school. They applied in 9th and between the two of them (two different application years) were accepted to STA, NCS, Sidwell, GDS, Potomac, Gonzaga and the St. Johns Scholars program.
They ended up matriculating at NCS and STA. They're both doing very well in school. Their Janney classmates are all over the city and beyond: Wilson, Walls, Sidwell, Maret, GDS, STA, NCS, Field, Burke, Gonzaga, Visitation, Stone Ridge, Holton, Landon, Andover, Exeter, etc.
I personally am a big fan of Janney and Deal: my kids had a solid academic experience at both and made life-long friends. Their best friends (my kids now both in later high school) are kids they went to Janney with from PK-4. They attend 10 different high schools but still hang out together
most weekends. There is something magical about having neighborhood friends.
If you have any specific questions let me know.

My kids went to Janney and this is not their experience at all. There are definitely some cliques and some bullying at Janney that the previous schools leadership did not deal with.
One of my kids moved to Private in 4th, one moved to private after 8th and one stayed public (Walls)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We experienced public and switched to private. Going back to public next year.

care to say why?

Yes, if we encourage absolute strangers to limit their applications my (our) kidd have less competition at the critical entry points.