Are you happy you moved from public to private?

[Anonymous]

And when did you make the move?

[Anonymous]

No. I am not happy. We made the move in middle school because middle school is just a hard few years socially and emotionally for all tweens. We figured private might offer a bit of a "safer" space for all the physical and emotional changes that kids are going through at that age. I suppose that was true. However, we made the choice to stay for upper school and this I very much regret. Public schools on the whole has much more to offer academically and for extra curriculars. I also don't think the "bubble" that exists with most private schools prepares you for college and beyond. And of course there's the financial investment. It's not worth the money. The problem is that once you start in private upper school it can be a pain to transfer back to public just in terms of requirements. For example, we looked into transferring at the end of 10th grade and because our private counts sports as P.E. our kid would have had to take PE in public in lieu of other more interesting electives. Also, our private does the science sequencing different than public schools so our kid would have been an 11th grader taking science with 9th graders in public. It just all seemed like a pain to switch at that point.

[Anonymous]

Very happy and made the move in 4th grade.

[Anonymous]

2nd grade, pretty happy, child is happy

[Anonymous]

So very happy. Kids keep talking about how much better the teaching is and rapidly made the sweetest friends. Made move when they ranged from mid-elementary to middle to a K-12.

[Anonymous]

We made the move in 4th grade. He's in HS now and getting/has gotten a much deeper, more thoughtful and engaging curriculum. He's much happier too. In MS, I thought there was too much over the top wealth, but it got much better in HS -- the students accepted in 9th grade are smarter (or at least more likely to be in advanced classes) and more middle class (and he immediately became closer friends with many of those kids).

[Anonymous]

Moved in 4th to a PK-8th. Overall a good experience. No school is perfect but I think our child is better off than if they had remained in public. They are in 8th now and we're in the middle of high school applications. Its a lot but I don't regret our choice to go with the PK-8th.

[Anonymous]

So happy! Made the move in 5th. Best decision for my kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. I am not happy. We made the move in middle school because middle school is just a hard few years socially and emotionally for all tweens. We figured private might offer a bit of a "safer" space for all the physical and emotional changes that kids are going through at that age. I suppose that was true. However, we made the choice to stay for upper school and this I very much regret. Public schools on the whole has much more to offer academically and for extra curriculars. I also don't think the "bubble" that exists with most private schools prepares you for college and beyond. And of course there's the financial investment. It's not worth the money. The problem is that once you start in private upper school it can be a pain to transfer back to public just in terms of requirements. For example, we looked into transferring at the end of 10th grade and because our private counts sports as P.E. our kid would have had to take PE in public in lieu of other more interesting electives. Also, our private does the science sequencing different than public schools so our kid would have been an 11th grader taking science with 9th graders in public. It just all seemed like a pain to switch at that point.

To which of the local public school systems would you be moving your child if you could do so easily? I'm trying to better understand the costs of trying 9th grade at my children's current private versus switching back at the start of high school.

[Anonymous]

Very happy. Moved both in 4th grade (to different schools). Zero regrets despite the reality that it was not easy financially.

[Anonymous]

My parents switched me in 9th and was a huge improvement. As a result, my kids never set foot in a public school through 12th. The oldest did choose a state flagship and, contrary to one of the upstream posts, was plenty prepared to self-advocate and navigate the bureaucracy inherent in those institutions. If you have the money, private is nearly always the best choice.

[Anonymous]

Moved my kid in 9th and after a social adjustment period it has been great, and we have seen a huge improvement in terms of teacher quality and academic rigor.

[Anonymous]

Moved my first two in 9th and will do it with my last as well. Zero regrets. They were nervous and man their private school friends and teachers made them think that they were going to be entering a war zone by attending a public high school in Fairfax County.

After the first two days it was all fine. Public school gave them more friend groups, class choices and extracurricular activities. I think private did some things very well (Science not one of them),prepared them to be better writers, know how to study, etc. But the one thing that they have said to me is the worse teachers in high school, the ones everyone hates are not that different from the mid-level private school teachers they had. They told me private school prepared them to deal with difficult teachers and that really hit home.

In two years at public and some 20 something teachers they have had one "bad" one which they said would have been normal at private school. For the most part they think that the quality of the teaching is much better in public.

Since they are 15 and 16 now, I think that they are old enough to make an informed opinion and I value it. No regrets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Moved my first two in 9th and will do it with my last as well. Zero regrets. They were nervous and man their private school friends and teachers made them think that they were going to be entering a war zone by attending a public high school in Fairfax County.

After the first two days it was all fine. Public school gave them more friend groups, class choices and extracurricular activities. I think private did some things very well (Science not one of them),prepared them to be better writers, know how to study, etc. But the one thing that they have said to me is the worse teachers in high school, the ones everyone hates are not that different from the mid-level private school teachers they had. They told me private school prepared them to deal with difficult teachers and that really hit home.

In two years at public and some 20 something teachers they have had one "bad" one which they said would have been normal at private school. For the most part they think that the quality of the teaching is much better in public.

Since they are 15 and 16 now, I think that they are old enough to make an informed opinion and I value it. No regrets.

Just clarifying because it took me a second, you’re describing the opposite of OP’s question, right? You moved your kids from private to public?

[Anonymous]

DC chose an application DCPS for 9th rather than private options. Very happy.