DCPS to Top Privates?
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Anonymous
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My kids are far too young to be worrying seriously about middle/high schools, but alas here I am. DH and I are well-educated and fairly-compensated but not in a position to be able to afford some of the well known private grade schools that seem to be feeders for the top schools. Our kids are in DCPS. We went to high schools strikingly similar to what I observe of STA and NCS and want the same for our children, if it makes sense for them in terms of fit, academic ability, logistics, etc. But we grew up in a part of the country where there are fewer obvious power centers, less intense social climbing, not as much need to be "connected" in order to be granted access to certain elite institutions. We're NW normies; not part of the country club set, not BigLaw, no old money, etc. DCPS is working for us now but we have decided that we will either go private or sadly move to the burbs where the public schools are better by middle school, probably far sooner. My question is, how commonly are DCPS kids admitted to some of the leading private schools in DC? Assume the kids in question have excelled academically at DCPS through to the time they would hypothetically move on.
I won't say how old my kids are, other than that it's borderline absurd to be asking this question at their age but I am interested in observations on what the path from DCPS to top DC private schools may look like. |
Anonymous
| All As coming out of DCPS, test well, good personality and something that sets them apart (ability in a sport, language, world travel, hobby etc) and I think easily your children can make it to a top private. If interested in NCS/STA if they are still young I would encourage to go to Beauvoir. But DCPS is opening up with some good schools so I would stay the course until an upper level grade. |
Anonymous
| Just know that, year after year, there are tons of other DCPS parents who will try to execute the same strategy. |
Anonymous
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Are you or your spouse an Ivy grad? Are you URM?
Is your child an athlete? |
Anonymous
| Just move already. |
Anonymous
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DCPS to NCS is reasonably doable and happens on a regular basis.
DCPS to STA is very rare. STA is just a much harder admit across the board than NCS. My son came for 9th and he was the only new 9th grader from any DCPS or DC charter school. My advice would be to apply early and multiple times if needed. We really love the school and our kid has had a great experience. |
Anonymous
Thank you! Isn’t Beauvoir almost as expensive as the big kid Cathedral schools? Would love to send them there but we’re not really financially prepared to pay $40-50k for elementary school. |
Anonymous
| Sorry that you won’t consider Deal or Hardy. Kids get in to NCS and STA from DCPS regularly. |
Anonymous
the numbers are small. NCS maybe 2 into middle school grades and 4 to 9th grade. STA is maybe 1 into each middle school grade and 1 to 9th grade each year. My kids went from DCPS to STA and NCS so i know of what I speak. we know so many kids who did not get in from DCPS (especially STA) and including many NCS siblings (not taken by STA). There just aren't many spots to begin with and a ton of feeder schools (a large number of K-6 or K-8 privates, MCPS, FCPS, PGCPS, Arlington, Loudoun, etc). it generally ends up that each school or school district gets 1 spot at an admissions junction. it's not discrimination against DCPS as it's the same for all the feeder schools. |
Anonymous
| If your kids are absurdly young take it from me, you need to see what they need. We are in DC and kids are split between public and private based on kids needs and finances. We are happy at JKLM to Deal because it works for one of them. I wouldn’t even move until you know they are strong socially and academic and can handle huge public schools. If you don’t have funds to put them in at entry year and want a private option like NCS there are great smalller parochial schools that are 20K then to St John’s |
Anonymous
NP my kid applied to NCS from DCPS for 7th and got in and opted to stay in DCPS. We just applied in case things went south over the year and I guess for her, they didn’t. It’s not impossible to get in and may not be what you/they want if you do! |
Anonymous
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There are 40-43 girls in 4th grade at NCS. There were definitely one or two girls from DCPS in my DD’s NCS 4th grade classroom… there were also 30+ girls from Beauvoir (out of 40-42 girls in total). I have no idea how many girls apply from DCPS, but probably 80% of the girls that apply from Beauvoir get in.
Kids get in the Cathedral schools from DCPS, but it’s super competitive. |
Anonymous
NCS is always easier to get into; it's a more difficult school with a very specific mission (girls who want to grind academically) and therefore a more self selecting population. The feeder privates are all about finding the correct fit for their grads and they know the NCS is the perfect fit for some and not ideal for most. So you have fewer private kids applying and more spots for public kids. |
Anonymous
| Back in the day (as late as the early 2000s), this sort of thing was standard. Approximately half of the JKLM set would leave for private. However, over time, as more families have elected to stay in DC and more suburban families have decided to send their kids to DC privates, admissions to top schools have gotten much harder. TL/DR: kids definitely get into top DC privates from DCPS but not in the numbers they used to. |
Anonymous
| Sidwell. Nothing else. |