If you live in area with excellent publics, why did you choose private?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I think the county-run publics in the DC region can be solid but aren’t going to deliver top-tier education in the way that smaller public districts further north like Brookline, MA, Short Hills, NJ, or Scarsdale, NY can.

I wouldn’t say those are top tier. If you live in those towns, go to Roxbury Latin, Lawrenceville, and Horace Mann, respectively.

Lawrenceville is like an hour and 30 minutes away from Short Hills. PP has no idea what they're talking about. Millburn High School (which services Short Hills) is a great public school, but not even the best in NJ. Most of the people I knew in Short Hills that went private went to Pingry, Kent Place and Newark Academy for independent schools, or if they were Catholic they went to Delbarton or Oak Knoll.

Delbarton and Pingry arent good and anything with Newark in it is a sign to run for the hills. Nonetheless, all are better options than any NJ public school.

Lawrenceville is the best HS in NJ. It’s convenient to board there from Short Hills.

If you're boarding, almost any option is convenient. Get out of here with that nonsense. This is not a common option even for people choosing private over public.

Boarding in New England if you live in Texas or Georgia is not convenient. Boarding 90 minutes away within the same state is convenient, and that is why I said Lawrenceville and not Woodberry Forest.

Boarding schools are more generous with aid than day schools, and often less expensive than DC NYC Boston day schools.

Please keep defending public education, I'll get my popcorn.

Most kids are not attending boarding school as a boarding student in state…

About half of the boarders at Madeira are local boarders (DC, MD or VA). Episcopal also has a good number of local boarders.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for starting this thread. We live in Howard County for the public schools, but will likely apply for private schools in Baltimore next year. We are disappointed with the decreased academic rigor and excessive, counterproductive technology use. Would love to hear from anyone who has gone from HCPSS to Baltimore private schools!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the county-run publics in the DC region can be solid but aren’t going to deliver top-tier education in the way that smaller public districts further north like Brookline, MA, Short Hills, NJ, or Scarsdale, NY can.

I wouldn’t say those are top tier. If you live in those towns, go to Roxbury Latin, Lawrenceville, and Horace Mann, respectively.

Lawrenceville is like an hour and 30 minutes away from Short Hills. PP has no idea what they're talking about. Millburn High School (which services Short Hills) is a great public school, but not even the best in NJ. Most of the people I knew in Short Hills that went private went to Pingry, Kent Place and Newark Academy for independent schools, or if they were Catholic they went to Delbarton or Oak Knoll.

Delbarton and Pingry arent good and anything with Newark in it is a sign to run for the hills. Nonetheless, all are better options than any NJ public school.

Lawrenceville is the best HS in NJ. It’s convenient to board there from Short Hills.

If you're boarding, almost any option is convenient. Get out of here with that nonsense. This is not a common option even for people choosing private over public.

Boarding in New England if you live in Texas or Georgia is not convenient. Boarding 90 minutes away within the same state is convenient, and that is why I said Lawrenceville and not Woodberry Forest.

Boarding schools are more generous with aid than day schools, and often less expensive than DC NYC Boston day schools.

Please keep defending public education, I'll get my popcorn.

Most kids are not attending boarding school as a boarding student in state…

About half of the boarders at Madeira are local boarders (DC, MD or VA). Episcopal also has a good number of local boarders.

Exactly. That poster attacking the idea of someone from Short Hills attending Lawrenceville is out of his or her depth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for starting this thread. We live in Howard County for the public schools, but will likely apply for private schools in Baltimore next year. We are disappointed with the decreased academic rigor and excessive, counterproductive technology use. Would love to hear from anyone who has gone from HCPSS to Baltimore private schools!

Check out the Baltimore forum. How about Glenelg? The commute to Baltimore is a long one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people think they live somewhere with “excellent public schools” or even move for the schools and then find out it’s not true. MCPS and APS are prime examples.

Yeah well they didn’t look into what makes gem “great schools.” No one in MCPS can answer that for k-8. High school maybe but kids and families are driving the test and college results, and some of the top teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a wealthy neighborhood with highly ranked public options. Some of my neighbors are wealthy enough that the cost of private school is an afterthought. For some of them, it is generational. They went to private and cannot imagine not doing the same for their kids (I also think they would feel like this would reflect badly upon themselves in their peer groups since many still socialize with their classmates from their privates). One family is very religious. Another very honestly shared that his daughter wouldn’t have stood out at the local high school because of the competition. She ended up going to an Ivy and they felt the private really helped her with that.

I have to admit, our preference for private was probably largely based on the fact that’s what we’re familiar with. DH and I both always went to private school and when we toured our local public, it just felt so cold and institutional. It was so different from what felt like the norm for us.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at a private but my kids go to a good public. Public has its issues but the teachers at the public school seem more professional, generally invested in education as a field. I assumed the pay gap has something to do with this. Private teachers seem like more 2nd and 3rd career types.

Then why don't you teach at public school? Do you not consider yourself "more professional?"

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Struggling with this decision and would like to hear others’ perspectives. Also worried that since we are in a top rated public district, the people opting for private will be extremely religious families and kids with behavior or social issues, neither of which describes us.

As a public school parent at a “good” school who has seen numerous friends pull their kids for private, I’d honestly say most of them have these reasons. Kid was struggling and “needed small class sizes” or had social or mental health issues, or a diagnosis like dyslexia, anxiety or mild autism, etc. I only know 3 kids out of probably 30 who were academically and socially fine. I think those families always planned on private because older siblings were in private after ES or after MS.

I personally think of religious/parochial schools separately from independent schools. There are a few exceptions, but most seem to attract families who want homogeneity with their school community. The schools themselves aren’t usually better than public, just more insular.

I think the wealthy “lifers” who were too good for public in the first place are another group of families you’ll find.

I’ll be the first to say that there are issues in the public schools for sure. But I don’t think your perception is off that privates do attract a good amount of entitled people, kids who require attention and hand holding, and people who wish to be insular and exclude. The whole idea of private school is exclusivity!

People choose neighborhoods for exclusivity, so why wouldn't they choose schools based on it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at a private but my kids go to a good public. Public has its issues but the teachers at the public school seem more professional, generally invested in education as a field. I assumed the pay gap has something to do with this. Private teachers seem like more 2nd and 3rd career types.

Then why don't you teach at public school? Do you not consider yourself "more professional?"

PP said "work at a private." You're the one that's assuming that it's a teaching job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Struggling with this decision and would like to hear others’ perspectives. Also worried that since we are in a top rated public district, the people opting for private will be extremely religious families and kids with behavior or social issues, neither of which describes us.

We live in Fairfax County in a "great" pyramid. Many people will tell you that FCPS is an excellent public school system; that was not our experience. We are Catholic and attend church regularly, so I don't know if that counts as "extremely religious" in your book, but we did not like the DEI and woke political stuff in public school. As for behavior/social issues, that was the straw that broke the camel's back for us at public school -- disruptive students and other behavioral problems that were not addressed due to FCPS concerns about "disparate discipline" statistics not fitting the woke political agenda. So, we left and have been very happy.

[Anonymous]

Our “excellent” mcps school flexes up to 28 kids/class in elementary school. Our zoned HS B-CC has had 2 lockdowns in less than a week.
BUT—that said, I would still send my child to Mcps until it doesn’t work for you. My child needs very small class sizes and attention due to learning disabilities and ADHD that was discovered around 2-3rd grade. But if you can make it work in public, and many families do, do that before spending $$$$$$ on private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for starting this thread. We live in Howard County for the public schools, but will likely apply for private schools in Baltimore next year. We are disappointed with the decreased academic rigor and excessive, counterproductive technology use. Would love to hear from anyone who has gone from HCPSS to Baltimore private schools!

Check out the Baltimore forum. How about Glenelg? The commute to Baltimore is a long one.

We live in the area and our friends who sent to Glenelg found it a waste of money starting upper ES. Country club atmosphere but mediocre academics.

(We have older kids, no skin in the game)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for starting this thread. We live in Howard County for the public schools, but will likely apply for private schools in Baltimore next year. We are disappointed with the decreased academic rigor and excessive, counterproductive technology use. Would love to hear from anyone who has gone from HCPSS to Baltimore private schools!

Check out the Baltimore forum. How about Glenelg? The commute to Baltimore is a long one.

We live in the area and our friends who sent to Glenelg found it a waste of money starting upper ES. Country club atmosphere but mediocre academics.

(We have older kids, no skin in the game)

Not to hijack the thread but I agree. We live in Hoco and send our kids to Bryn Mawr/ Gilman. We would keep them in public rather than go to Glenelg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the county-run publics in the DC region can be solid but aren’t going to deliver top-tier education in the way that smaller public districts further north like Brookline, MA, Short Hills, NJ, or Scarsdale, NY can.

I wouldn’t say those are top tier. If you live in those towns, go to Roxbury Latin, Lawrenceville, and Horace Mann, respectively.

Lawrenceville is like an hour and 30 minutes away from Short Hills. PP has no idea what they're talking about. Millburn High School (which services Short Hills) is a great public school, but not even the best in NJ. Most of the people I knew in Short Hills that went private went to Pingry, Kent Place and Newark Academy for independent schools, or if they were Catholic they went to Delbarton or Oak Knoll.

Delbarton and Pingry arent good and anything with Newark in it is a sign to run for the hills. Nonetheless, all are better options than any NJ public school.

Lawrenceville is the best HS in NJ. It’s convenient to board there from Short Hills.

If you're boarding, almost any option is convenient. Get out of here with that nonsense. This is not a common option even for people choosing private over public.

Boarding in New England if you live in Texas or Georgia is not convenient. Boarding 90 minutes away within the same state is convenient, and that is why I said Lawrenceville and not Woodberry Forest.

Boarding schools are more generous with aid than day schools, and often less expensive than DC NYC Boston day schools.

Please keep defending public education, I'll get my popcorn.

Most kids are not attending boarding school as a boarding student in state…

About half of the boarders at Madeira are local boarders (DC, MD or VA). Episcopal also has a good number of local boarders.

Exactly. That poster attacking the idea of someone from Short Hills attending Lawrenceville is out of his or her depth.

I'm just saying I don't think it's a particularly common option. 30% of students are not boarders. 20% are international, which leaves fewer than 500 students K-12 presumably coming from all over New Jersey and perhaps other parts of the country. The number of students from Short Hills is likely low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the county-run publics in the DC region can be solid but aren’t going to deliver top-tier education in the way that smaller public districts further north like Brookline, MA, Short Hills, NJ, or Scarsdale, NY can.

I wouldn’t say those are top tier. If you live in those towns, go to Roxbury Latin, Lawrenceville, and Horace Mann, respectively.

Lawrenceville is like an hour and 30 minutes away from Short Hills. PP has no idea what they're talking about. Millburn High School (which services Short Hills) is a great public school, but not even the best in NJ. Most of the people I knew in Short Hills that went private went to Pingry, Kent Place and Newark Academy for independent schools, or if they were Catholic they went to Delbarton or Oak Knoll.

Delbarton and Pingry arent good and anything with Newark in it is a sign to run for the hills. Nonetheless, all are better options than any NJ public school.

Lawrenceville is the best HS in NJ. It’s convenient to board there from Short Hills.

If you're boarding, almost any option is convenient. Get out of here with that nonsense. This is not a common option even for people choosing private over public.

Boarding in New England if you live in Texas or Georgia is not convenient. Boarding 90 minutes away within the same state is convenient, and that is why I said Lawrenceville and not Woodberry Forest.

Boarding schools are more generous with aid than day schools, and often less expensive than DC NYC Boston day schools.

Please keep defending public education, I'll get my popcorn.

Most kids are not attending boarding school as a boarding student in state…

About half of the boarders at Madeira are local boarders (DC, MD or VA). Episcopal also has a good number of local boarders.

Exactly. That poster attacking the idea of someone from Short Hills attending Lawrenceville is out of his or her depth.

I'm just saying I don't think it's a particularly common option. 30% of students are not boarders. 20% are international, which leaves fewer than 500 students K-12 presumably coming from all over New Jersey and perhaps other parts of the country. The number of students from Short Hills is likely low.

I went to Lawrenceville as a day student a while back.

A significant proportion of the boarders were from New Jersey including many from Mercer County.