If you left DC for the MoCo schools, any regrets?

[Anonymous]

We have 3 kids and live in DC. Our oldest is in kindergarten at a local private school. She is anxious at times and doing well in a small school with focus on social emotional learning.

We love the school but don’t love the price tag and it means investing in schooling rather than all the other things we could do with $1.5 - $2M for 3 kids over the course of 12 years. (If we send all 3 kids to private)

We don’t want to leave DC but are considering moving to the suburbs for schools (as many people do!) It would be a big lifestyle change but worth it for great schools without paying through the nose too get them. But is your experience that the schools are really that great? I’m nervous about overhauling our lives for the schools, then finding schools that are overcrowded and focused on “teaching to the test”, and pulling our kid from a school where she is thriving. But the cost of our private school tuition ($40k) is tough to swallow, especially when there are some of the best school districts in the country a few miles away. And of course many DCPS schools are excellent as well.

If you moved for the schools, are you glad you did? Have the schools lived up to your hopes (if so, which schools?)? If not, why not?

[Anonymous]

We moved for the schools. We are in the BCC cluster, and it is fine but not great. Definitely stronger than the EOTP DCPS though. If I could do it over again I would have stayed in DC and done private.

[Anonymous]

I don't have regrets but have noticed middle school seems to be a weak link in both moco and dc. My kids were at charters in dc. Now in 4th and 9th in mcps. I like the fact that my son can learn an instrument at school and that there are more high school programs here. I also think there are more affordable private school options if you choose that route.

[Anonymous]

We moved for kindergarten and my youngest is now graduating with great options for college. No regrets.

[Anonymous]

I know it is really hard to wrap your head around this so early on in your child’s education, but I so wish someone would have shared this with me when my child was younger, just to ease the angst a bit. My child is 25 and attended MoCo schools in the northeastern consortium. When comparing their trajectory to peers in dc private, bcc cluster, and the MoCo W’s there has been no appreciable difference in terms of college acceptances (they went to a solid state school) opportunities to pursue careers and earnings. For example, my child got accepted to UMCP while some of their peers in higher performing clusters and dc privates were denied and waitlisted. And there were always a fair amount of Ivy acceptances at their high school every year. Today, career-wise my child is doing just as well or better as those peers and just got accepted to a grad school that has a 3% acceptance rate. I am so glad we saved money during high school and used it for college. With a lot colleges at or reaching 80k/year, no end in sight to tuition inflation, and merit aid being extremely competitive, it’s definitely something to plan for and think about. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved for the schools. We are in the BCC cluster, and it is fine but not great. Definitely stronger than the EOTP DCPS though. If I could do it over again I would have stayed in DC and done private.

I find this hard to believe. I had kids at fka Wilson, and know tons of BCC families and they all had the same experience/outcome wrt college. Also know a handful of families who moved to Maryland and then went private. So, they took a loss on housing and taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have 3 kids and live in DC. Our oldest is in kindergarten at a local private school. She is anxious at times and doing well in a small school with focus on social emotional learning.

We love the school but don’t love the price tag and it means investing in schooling rather than all the other things we could do with $1.5 - $2M for 3 kids over the course of 12 years. (If we send all 3 kids to private)

We don’t want to leave DC but are considering moving to the suburbs for schools (as many people do!) It would be a big lifestyle change but worth it for great schools without paying through the nose too get them. But is your experience that the schools are really that great? I’m nervous about overhauling our lives for the schools, then finding schools that are overcrowded and focused on “teaching to the test”, and pulling our kid from a school where she is thriving. But the cost of our private school tuition ($40k) is tough to swallow, especially when there are some of the best school districts in the country a few miles away. And of course many DCPS schools are excellent as well.

If you moved for the schools, are you glad you did? Have the schools lived up to your hopes (if so, which schools?)? If not, why not?

Done that. MCPS really shines in HS, there's really no comparison.
No regret at all.

[Anonymous]

Different BCC family here with 1 kid already in college. No way would I spend $40k+++ per year per kid for private school unless money was truly no issue. MCPS is a bureaucracy and there's plenty I don't like, but my kids get a good education and the college outcomes are excellent.

[Anonymous]

I'd rather do private over MCPS. MCPS is not impressive at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have 3 kids and live in DC. Our oldest is in kindergarten at a local private school. She is anxious at times and doing well in a small school with focus on social emotional learning.

We love the school but don’t love the price tag and it means investing in schooling rather than all the other things we could do with $1.5 - $2M for 3 kids over the course of 12 years. (If we send all 3 kids to private)

We don’t want to leave DC but are considering moving to the suburbs for schools (as many people do!) It would be a big lifestyle change but worth it for great schools without paying through the nose too get them. But is your experience that the schools are really that great? I’m nervous about overhauling our lives for the schools, then finding schools that are overcrowded and focused on “teaching to the test”, and pulling our kid from a school where she is thriving. But the cost of our private school tuition ($40k) is tough to swallow, especially when there are some of the best school districts in the country a few miles away. And of course many DCPS schools are excellent as well.

If you moved for the schools, are you glad you did? Have the schools lived up to your hopes (if so, which schools?)? If not, why not?

I think this is a public school bus private school issue. I have kids in a W-school feeder in MCPS and it seems to be heavily teaching to the test. The schools are also very overcrowded and out of control kids take up a lot of the teachers’ time. MCPS may be a fit for your family, but it’s good that you’re asking detailed questions now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Different BCC family here with 1 kid already in college. No way would I spend $40k+++ per year per kid for private school unless money was truly no issue. MCPS is a bureaucracy and there's plenty I don't like, but my kids get a good education and the college outcomes are excellent.

Yeah I live in mcps and while I would love smaller class sizes or some other features of a public school, spending 2M to get them is just not even possible for me and even if it was, I’m unclear what I’d actually have to show for my $2M at the end. (I’m sure that’s been debated elsewhere)

[Anonymous]

Does MCPS magnet change anybodys answers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved for the schools. We are in the BCC cluster, and it is fine but not great. Definitely stronger than the EOTP DCPS though. If I could do it over again I would have stayed in DC and done private.

I find this hard to believe. I had kids at fka Wilson, and know tons of BCC families and they all had the same experience/outcome wrt college. Also know a handful of families who moved to Maryland and then went private. So, they took a loss on housing and taxes.

Wilson/Jackson Reed is not EOTP. You must not know DCPS very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does MCPS magnet change anybodys answers?

It's very hard to get kids into magnet programs. Too few programs, too may kids. Plus the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved for the schools. We are in the BCC cluster, and it is fine but not great. Definitely stronger than the EOTP DCPS though. If I could do it over again I would have stayed in DC and done private.

I find this hard to believe. I had kids at fka Wilson, and know tons of BCC families and they all had the same experience/outcome wrt college. Also know a handful of families who moved to Maryland and then went private. So, they took a loss on housing and taxes.

DCPS => MCPS, we found a huge difference in math (Takoma Park schools). For math kids, MCPS was a great move, more options for sophisticated math in high school than friends in DC privates. For the other subjects, not sure.