Piggybacking on Obama's remarks....

[Anonymous]

Would you actually still send your child to DCPS if money was no object?

Discuss...

[Anonymous]

this is a tricky question, isn't it? If money were no object, I'd live in upper northwest and for elementary at least, would feel perfectly ok at some of those schools. But then again, if money were no object, I'd live in a grand palace on some private island and do a mixture of tutoring and private schools.

BUt, if someone offered to pay tuition for my child at private school? I'd think about it. I'd probably take them up on it because we certainly want every advantage for our child. But - I'd worry about over exposure to too much excess. I didn't grow up well off, and that gives you a grounding in how people struggle on a day to day basis. On the other hand, it's also a hard way to live, so why wouldn't I want my child to have everything his heart desired?

This may seem ridiculous, but I would think long and hard about private school. I'd want the school to have some level (beyond token) of socio-economic and ethnic diversity, cultivate a culture of kindness and philanthropy, and just be an ok place to be, as well as an excellent learning experience.

[Anonymous]

Yes. FWIW, we are inbounds for Janney.

[Anonymous]

I'd do it just for not having the stress of worrying about middle and high schools, as well as overcrowding and limited after school spots (but then again, if money were no object, I guess I wouldn't be working!).

As for socio-economic diversity, I think you do get more at public schools, but not much more because of the geographic boundaries of school districts. There isn't going to be a whole lot of economic diversity at schools like Mann.

[Anonymous]

yes. in boundary for lafayette.

[Anonymous]

But would you do DCPS for the upper grades, too?

[Anonymous]

Yes, for elementary school.

[Anonymous]

I was told by a private school in DC that I couldn't pay to get my kid in if I wanted to unless...wait for it...his TEST SCORES were off the charts. lol

[Anonymous]

Well, we're not so rich that we don't think about paying 60 thou a year for tuition, but we can do it, so we do. If we couldn't, they'd be at Deal -- which is a very good school. Education is just about the only thing we're willing to shell out big bucks for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But would you do DCPS for the upper grades, too?

yes. My department has several recent college grads who went to SWW and Banneker and I am impressed with what I have heard. As a matter of fact both schools sound more challenging and competitive than my MD public suburban high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But would you do DCPS for the upper grades, too?

yes. My department has several recent college grads who went to SWW and Banneker and I am impressed with what I have heard. As a matter of fact both schools sound more challenging and competitive than my MD public suburban high school.

I agree--as a GWU prof, I've had several SWW students, and they are on par with my regular students. However, there is no guarantee of admissions. In order to cover bases, you might want to consider SWW along with other privates. I also don't know if it's harder or easier to get into SWW compared to privates.

[Anonymous]

I would definitely tour the privates to see if the benefits outweighed the cons.

We're in bounds for Janney.

[Anonymous]

It's easier to get into SWW than the DC's most selective privates.

[Anonymous]

Do you have stats on that?

Anonymous wrote:It's easier to get into SWW than the DC's most selective privates.

[Anonymous]

My sense is SWW gets 4 applicants for every slot, applications at privates are higher than that. The SWW number might not be the last admissions cycle. I heard that for the first time, the Freshman class at SWW drew more from private, parochial and charter than DCPS schools.