Whitman vs private?

[Anonymous]

If you had a child zoned for Whitman and chose private, or had them in private and moved to Whitman, could you outline the reasoning and pros/cons?

[Anonymous]

We are zoned for Whitman and are sending my daughter to an all girls private. Our school has 100 girls per grade vs over 500 for Whitman, class sizes are much smaller, counselors, teachers and administrators are very responsive and even proactive in reaching out to address my daughter’s individual needs. Our school has much better girls sports teams than Whitman in the sports my daughter plays. The only downside I’ve seen so far is Whitman is free and our private is pricey.

[Anonymous]

We did not choose Whitman for the following reasons:
--Classes are too large.
--Poor coaching and resources for sports.
--The school was too big in general.
--The student population and MCPS leans farther to the left politically than we are comfortable with.
--The school lunch quality is poor.
--The network and bonding does not compare to the private school he currently attends.
--The bureaucracy in MCPS is not what we wanted.
--The facilities are lousy. Whitman has weeds and trash all over their tennis courts. Nobody seems to care.

[Anonymous]

We are looking at both and leaning towards Whitman. I am actually worried about DC being in a smaller environment where it might be harder to find a peer group and the class offerings at Whitman including advanced math/stem and some of the extra curriculars seem to be a better fit tbh. I know we’d be sacrificing individual attention and support at a private. Sports are a wash for us. Fwiw DC is not shy so I think would find friends at a new school but I think the bigger environment might have more opportunities. Overall still undecided.

[Anonymous]

We are zoned for Whitman and at NCS. My daughter wanted to play several sports and I like the opportunities for extracurriculars, to do intensive art projects, fellowships, etc.

[Anonymous]

To the pp who commented on the network and bonding, from what I’ve seen if your child started in one of the feeder elementary schools for Whitman there can an incredibly strong sense of community, also driven by the neighborhood and simple proximity. Definitely much less so if your child starts there in 9th.

[Anonymous]

We took our three boys out of Carderock and Plyle and sent them to local all boys, private schools.

It became obvious to us that the administrations and teachers at these schools answered primarily to the MCPS bureaucracy. The teaching was OK, but the coaching was woeful. We expected this would continue at Whitman.

The differences between the two environments and our son’s enthusiasm for all aspects of school (academic, athletics and social) were noticeable almost immediately. Our only regret was wondering why we didn’t make this switch sooner.

The neighborhood kids who stayed in the Whitman track weren’t harmed by the experience. But, for our active, athletic boys, the private school path was the right one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: We did not choose Whitman for the following reasons:
--Classes are too large.
--Poor coaching and resources for sports.
--The school was too big in general.
--The student population and MCPS leans farther to the left politically than we are comfortable with.
--The school lunch quality is poor.
--The network and bonding does not compare to the private school he currently attends.
--The bureaucracy in MCPS is not what we wanted.
--The facilities are lousy. Whitman has weeds and trash all over their tennis courts. Nobody seems to care.

Get your dog whistles out for the student population at MCPS comment haha wow

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the pp who commented on the network and bonding, from what I’ve seen if your child started in one of the feeder elementary schools for Whitman there can an incredibly strong sense of community, also driven by the neighborhood and simple proximity. Definitely much less so if your child starts there in 9th.

Yep. XDH and his Whitman buddies are still incredibly close. All are successful and one is a pretty big deal.

[Anonymous]

We have/had one at each. I think it really depends on the kid. Whitman has some amazing teachers. And some not so great ones. But that can be true in private as well.
Whitman is obviously bigger and your kid will be in a class of 30 rather than 15-20. But, Whitman also offers an incredible range of courses. Much broader and deeper than any private school can offer.
There is a wide range of students at Whitman. From the very engaged and self-motivated to the disengaged. It’s a great environment for a self-motivated kid who will take advantage of the wide range of courses. This was my child who went to Whitman.
I personally would not send a kid who is not self-motivated or disengaged to Whitman. Nor would I send a quieter kid who benefits more from a smaller environment to Whitman (this is my kid in private).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: We did not choose Whitman for the following reasons:
--Classes are too large.
--Poor coaching and resources for sports.
--The school was too big in general.
--The student population and MCPS leans farther to the left politically than we are comfortable with.
--The school lunch quality is poor.
--The network and bonding does not compare to the private school he currently attends.
--The bureaucracy in MCPS is not what we wanted.
--The facilities are lousy. Whitman has weeds and trash all over their tennis courts. Nobody seems to care.

Get your dog whistles out for the student population at MCPS comment haha wow

Aren't you happy the right-wingers are going elsewhere?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We took our three boys out of Carderock and Plyle and sent them to local all boys, private schools.

It became obvious to us that the administrations and teachers at these schools answered primarily to the MCPS bureaucracy. The teaching was OK, but the coaching was woeful. We expected this would continue at Whitman.

The differences between the two environments and our son’s enthusiasm for all aspects of school (academic, athletics and social) were noticeable almost immediately. Our only regret was wondering why we didn’t make this switch sooner.

The neighborhood kids who stayed in the Whitman track weren’t harmed by the experience. But, for our active, athletic boys, the private school path was the right one.

Same experience with me. Pulled one child out in 6th the other after 4th grade. Not they enjoy all aspects of school. The experience for them and me as a parent has been far superior. No regrets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: We did not choose Whitman for the following reasons:
--Classes are too large.
--Poor coaching and resources for sports.
--The school was too big in general.
--The student population and MCPS leans farther to the left politically than we are comfortable with.
--The school lunch quality is poor.
--The network and bonding does not compare to the private school he currently attends.
--The bureaucracy in MCPS is not what we wanted.
--The facilities are lousy. Whitman has weeds and trash all over their tennis courts. Nobody seems to care.

Get your dog whistles out for the student population at MCPS comment haha wow

Aren't you happy the right-wingers are going elsewhere?

Whitman is full of kids who wear pajamas to school and have blue hair--no thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: We did not choose Whitman for the following reasons:
--Classes are too large.
--Poor coaching and resources for sports.
--The school was too big in general.
--The student population and MCPS leans farther to the left politically than we are comfortable with.
--The school lunch quality is poor.
--The network and bonding does not compare to the private school he currently attends.
--The bureaucracy in MCPS is not what we wanted.
--The facilities are lousy. Whitman has weeds and trash all over their tennis courts. Nobody seems to care.

Get your dog whistles out for the student population at MCPS comment haha wow

Aren't you happy the right-wingers are going elsewhere?

It's great. Now Whitman will be even more of a left wing echo chamber than it has been in the past.

[Anonymous]

Really? You would pay $40K a year b/c you don't like the sports program at Whitman? That is funny to me! I think the education is far better at Whitman that at most privates. There are so many clubs, drama, music, internship programs that kids can get involved with. I will agree that not all teachers are great (I find it hard to believe that every teacher at a private is good), but the ones that are good, are amazing!