Are you at a $40k+ LS/MS that doesn’t offer much beyond public?

[Anonymous]

Curious about this. I hear people denigrating private all the time on this forum and saying it’s not worth the tuition. Wondering if there’s any difference between that $10-20k range vs. $40k+. Are they all equally a waste of money?

[Anonymous]

Starting the timer….

[Anonymous]

The cheaper privates tend to be parochial schools (i.e., Catholic), so yes, they would offer more than public schools because they teach Catholicism and offer religious services during the school day.

[Anonymous]

All of the $40+ schools have more playtime, art, music, and science than public school, but likely does not have more math and reading instruction. That may or may not be valuable to you.

[Anonymous]

As PP said, core instruction isn't necessarily better than in good publics. You are paying for manicured grounds, extensive athletic facilities, plush seating in the library and the connections you might or might not make with influential families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious about this. I hear people denigrating private all the time on this forum and saying it’s not worth the tuition. Wondering if there’s any difference between that $10-20k range vs. $40k+. Are they all equally a waste of money?

Oddly, given they have more demand than supply, perhaps a lot of people see them as worth the money. Spend some time on the public school forums and see how you get what you pay for rings true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of the $40+ schools have more playtime, art, music, and science than public school, but likely does not have more math and reading instruction. That may or may not be valuable to you.

There are only so many hours in a day. If you want more art music and play, then that time has to come from somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious about this. I hear people denigrating private all the time on this forum and saying it’s not worth the tuition. Wondering if there’s any difference between that $10-20k range vs. $40k+. Are they all equally a waste of money?

Having worked both, smaller class sizes and less time testing are the only discernible advantages private has. In some cases those are HUGE advantages for your child, in some it’s negligible.

Any blanket statements that private > public though are not correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As PP said, core instruction isn't necessarily better than in good publics. You are paying for manicured grounds, extensive athletic facilities, plush seating in the library and the connections you might or might not make with influential families.

I don't think that's true. You are also getting:
- much smaller class sizes (10-15 v. 23-26)
- disruptive kids kept out- this is huge in my opinion
- more consistent quality for teachers- many public school teachers are great, but others are not; we have only seen high quality in private
- no/less standardized testing

If you aren't getting these things from your private, then I would question whether the cost is worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As PP said, core instruction isn't necessarily better than in good publics. You are paying for manicured grounds, extensive athletic facilities, plush seating in the library and the connections you might or might not make with influential families.

Disagree. The instruction is the reason to pay, not the ancillary benefits. If your private isn't providing (1) small class sizes; (2) tailored instruction for your child; (3) focus on and achievement of love of learning for your child; and, (4) acceleration in *writing* and math, you're at the wrong private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious about this. I hear people denigrating private all the time on this forum and saying it’s not worth the tuition. Wondering if there’s any difference between that $10-20k range vs. $40k+. Are they all equally a waste of money?

We found more kids with issues at the lower schools; the later adds diluted that dynamic or they left for other schools that could serve their needs or less homework load better. A couple travel athletes left for scheduling reasons, and one ended up at public then boarding school so it really was sport and schedule dependent by 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

Paying just under $40,000 and returning to public after this year is up. Not better than public and in fact, some core subjects are lacking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As PP said, core instruction isn't necessarily better than in good publics. You are paying for manicured grounds, extensive athletic facilities, plush seating in the library and the connections you might or might not make with influential families.

I don't think that's true. You are also getting:
- much smaller class sizes (10-15 v. 23-26)
- disruptive kids kept out- this is huge in my opinion
- more consistent quality for teachers- many public school teachers are great, but others are not; we have only seen high quality in private
- no/less standardized testing

If you aren't getting these things from your private, then I would question whether the cost is worth it.

Disruptive students (behavior, anti social, LDs) are not counseled out in private lower schools around here. In our observation they were coddled until the workload and academic expectations finally ramped up and then left.

[Anonymous]

Whether or not it is worth it to you is more of an individual question than you may realize. "Worth it" is subjective and depends on factors like your financial situation, your child's needs, how much time you have for commute or activities or supplementing if needed, what your private and public options actually are, what you want for your kids, which differences are the most important to you, etc.

I've seen a poster or two complain about the schools my kids have attended, both the public and the private school, and I have yet to agree with the opinions I've read on here as it related to my kids and their experiences. They clearly have strong opinions, but I disagree with those opinions. That is to be expected.

[Anonymous]

Depends on how easily you can spend $40K+ annually/child. It's not worth it if you have to make hard sacrifices. I'm not talk about having to fly coach instead of business; I'm talking about not being able to save for your own retirement. You'd be better off renting an apartment in a good public school district.

If you can easily afford the tuition, it's a very nice luxury to have. We've had no impactful teacher shortages (vs public schools, where students are going without teachers in critical subjects), small class sizes, lots of arts and music and PE actually built into the curriculum (don't need to rely on afterschool for this instruction), teachers and admin respond to emails in a timely manner, teachers spend a lot of time with students outside of class, facilities are great, etc. Parents and alum are very involved and willing to help out with everything from hosting class parties to offering high school internships.