Sidwell - 2023-24 tuition for PK-2 will be $50k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The annual announcement of outsize tuition increases at Sidwell just came out. For 2023-24

Grades PK-2: $49,680 (ages 4-8 LOL)
Grades 3-4: $52,110
Grades 5-8: $54,700
Grades 9-12: $55,140



Dear Parents and Guardians,

Each January, the Board of Trustees of Sidwell Friends School approves the preliminary budget for the following academic year. It is the culmination of a data-intensive process that assesses needs and priorities, considers economic trends, and benchmarks key financial indicators, including compensation, against other top independent day schools in the region and the country.

This is the second consecutive year we have engaged this work at a time of high inflation. By now, we are all aware of the impact inflation is having on our economy and on the budgets of so many households. And while there are some encouraging signs—inflation has been declining over the past six months—the future remains uncertain. What we do know is that the cost of food, energy, contracted services, and materials required for campus maintenance have risen significantly, and further increases are likely.

Tuition accounts for 86 percent of the School’s revenue, and because of that fact we devote the majority of our budget discussion to the amount of the annual increase. Last year, the School increased aggregate tuition by 6.7 percent, which was up from 3 percent the prior year, before inflation had set in. In both years, the increase trailed the rate of inflation.

For next year, the board has authorized a 6.5 percent aggregate increase. The percentage increase by grade level will vary as we continue the gradual shift to a tiered tuition model that better reflects the higher costs of educating students in the upper grades. Tuition rates for the 2023-24 academic year will be:

Grades PK-2: $49,680
Grades 3-4: $52,110
Grades 5-8: $54,700
Grades 9-12: $55,140

I know this tuition increase will be an unwelcome development for many. However, given today’s economic circumstances, it is our duty as a board to ensure that Sidwell Friends School continues to provide the finest educational experience it can while also ensuring the long-term financial health of the institution. To that end, I want to assure you of three things:

The board has committed to invest additional tuition revenue in faculty and staff. Faculty and staff compensation accounts for 60 percent of our operating expenses, and more than 85 percent of the tuition increase will go directly to faculty and staff benefits. We must recruit, reward, and retain outstanding staff in a competitive market to ensure we continue to deliver the highest quality education for our students. This is particularly true today, when many schools are vying for talented educators and some teachers are rethinking their careers after a very difficult three years.

Socio-economic diversity remains a core value at Sidwell Friends. We are increasing the financial aid budget at a rate at least equal to the tuition increase. Moreover, for the second year in row, we will have a financial aid contingency to assist families particularly challenged by this high inflationary environment. Families who wish to inquire about that support may contact Frankie Brown to discuss your specific situation.

Every dollar of the tuition increase will go toward current spending that supports the education of your child or children. None of the increase will be applied to long-term development plans, which are being financed through philanthropic giving.
In closing, and on behalf of the board, I want to thank you for the trust you have shown in Sidwell Friends this year and in years past. The board recognizes that families have choices and that economic pressures in our society are very real. We also acknowledge how much work faculty, staff, and administrators continue to put in to provide the finest educational experience possible to the 1,140 students who come to the School each day. We remain grateful for the contribution everyone makes to this community.

Manufacturing SJWs is not cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say, the more expensive the better. Keeps out the dual Fed strivers who are so ridiculously impressed with themselves because they went to Harvard 20 years ago. But now make 150k. Oops.

So you pay $55k a year for Sidwell so they can go to Harvard and then become a fed making $150k?!

If you took $50k a year once a year and deposited into a modest investment with 7% return, your kid could have $1M in just 12 years.

Your public school education did not help you in the reading comprehension department.

Explain

Ignore. It’s the “reading comprehension” lady. She does this on every thread. You can hear the cork pop and there she is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say, the more expensive the better. Keeps out the dual Fed strivers who are so ridiculously impressed with themselves because they went to Harvard 20 years ago. But now make 150k. Oops.

So you pay $55k a year for Sidwell so they can go to Harvard and then become a fed making $150k?!

If you took $50k a year once a year and deposited into a modest investment with 7% return, your kid could have $1M in just 12 years.

Your public school education did not help you in the reading comprehension department.

Explain

Your comment demonstrates that you did not understand what the PP wrote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread makes me so happy my kids don't go to private school. Everyone is justifying spending all that $$ to ensure that their kids make a lot of money and are in the right social class. Those values are not my values so I am extremely glad my kids aren't a part of it.

Those aren’t the reasons we sent our kid to private. We don’t even look at report card.

This. We were both lost amid huge public schools. I was a high school valedictorian, but I was never diagnosed with ADHD because I was able to do the work. I fell apart when I got to college (yes, an Ivy for those judging.)

The progressive school we chose is teaching kids so more than academics, which are top notch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread makes me so happy my kids don't go to private school. Everyone is justifying spending all that $$ to ensure that their kids make a lot of money and are in the right social class. Those values are not my values so I am extremely glad my kids aren't a part of it.

Those aren’t the reasons we sent our kid to private. We don’t even look at report card.

This. We were both lost amid huge public schools. I was a high school valedictorian, but I was never diagnosed with ADHD because I was able to do the work. I fell apart when I got to college (yes, an Ivy for those judging.)

The progressive school we chose is teaching kids so more than academics, which are top notch.

My ADHD (and later diagnosed as ASD) kid tried Potomac Summer School Camp to get a feel for what it might be like to go to a private instead of a public and it wasn't pretty. I recognize that the staff for the camp is different but the fact that my kid couldn't handle the stress of a summer camp at the private suggested to me that we'd never be able to make it at one of these higher tier privates during the regular school year. We have the money to send our kid to one of these schools, but none that we've seen would be a better fit than the public we have.

I went to a private as a (scholarship) kid and there were no minorities there. Now there are privates with no kids on the spectrum. That was all people knew to do at the time I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’re paying for exclusive access to peers whose parents are also able to spend well over $500k on educating a child before they even get to college.

I’m gonna be honest— there are more efficient ways to do that, it’s weird to make Sidwell your middleman on this. You’d think rich people would have come up with a smarter way to ensure their kids know the correct other rich kids, but I guess not.

It’s not either/or in many cases. There are country clubs, boating clubs, dinner clubs, “yacht” clubs in nantucket and the like, and on and on. At least if you’re trying to achieve the exclusive access, which not all families are, but some are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread makes me so happy my kids don't go to private school. Everyone is justifying spending all that $$ to ensure that their kids make a lot of money and are in the right social class. Those values are not my values so I am extremely glad my kids aren't a part of it.

Or because they find the public schools in DC an unacceptable alternative, for many reasons, many of which are traced on this board and appear in the news with some regularity. If you can afford to avoid those problems, this is just not a hard decision for some, if you live in DC.

[Anonymous]

There is a lot of diversity at all these big 3 schools! So much! It's a major value! Look at our brochures. We bus kids in so your kids can have a diverse education! he he. My kids are happy, refined, drug free, and excellent students in engineering and tech at JR. And they can always tell which ones are from the big 3.

[Anonymous]

This thread makes me so happy my kids don't go to private school. Everyone is justifying spending all that $$ to ensure that their kids make a lot of money and are in the right social class. Those values are not my values so I am extremely glad my kids aren't a part of it.


Those aren’t the reasons we sent our kid to private. We don’t even look at report card.

Agreed. The 50K my child's private cost is worth it to me to avoid the 3 plus fights per week about him not receiving his IEP accommodations. It literally drained the life out of me, even with an advocate

[Anonymous]

Just don’t bother. You’ve been feeding the trolls since post 1 (OP is the insider troll).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say, the more expensive the better. Keeps out the dual Fed strivers who are so ridiculously impressed with themselves because they went to Harvard 20 years ago. But now make 150k. Oops.

So you pay $55k a year for Sidwell so they can go to Harvard and then become a fed making $150k?!

If you took $50k a year once a year and deposited into a modest investment with 7% return, your kid could have $1M in just 12 years.

Your public school education did not help you in the reading comprehension department.

Explain

Your comment demonstrates that you did not understand what the PP wrote.

NP. Did PP not allude that there are mid-level fed posers that graduated from Harvard and want to keep up some facade by scrimping to send their kid to Sidwell for this perceived status?

[Anonymous]

The realty, PP? What money can buy is cheap, whether you have it or not.
Dwell on that.
Go cart, OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are Sidwell’s athletics facilities so average given these numbers?

That's not true. They have three athletic fields -including full size soccer, lacrosse and football. An extremely respectable gym with lots of natural light, weight room, separate wrestling room. It's honestly a little obnoxious that they don't provide more access to the neighborhood.

The outdoor space is fine. Not as cramped as GDS. All actually on campus unlike Maret. It would be better if they replaced the hideous MS building but it is functional.

Functional?

They completely rebuilt it to platnium LEED standards abou10 years ago. It is pretty state of the art, even if it is ugly because it was mostly adaptively reused from the 1950's building it replaced.

Wish they had replaced the really ugly facade.

The whole point is to reuse parts and not have them end up in the landfills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread makes me so happy my kids don't go to private school. Everyone is justifying spending all that $$ to ensure that their kids make a lot of money and are in the right social class. Those values are not my values so I am extremely glad my kids aren't a part of it.

Those aren’t the reasons we sent our kid to private. We don’t even look at report card.

This. We were both lost amid huge public schools. I was a high school valedictorian, but I was never diagnosed with ADHD because I was able to do the work. I fell apart when I got to college (yes, an Ivy for those judging.)

The progressive school we chose is teaching kids so more than academics, which are top notch.

My ADHD (and later diagnosed as ASD) kid tried Potomac Summer School Camp to get a feel for what it might be like to go to a private instead of a public and it wasn't pretty. I recognize that the staff for the camp is different but the fact that my kid couldn't handle the stress of a summer camp at the private suggested to me that we'd never be able to make it at one of these higher tier privates during the regular school year. We have the money to send our kid to one of these schools, but none that we've seen would be a better fit than the public we have.

I went to a private as a (scholarship) kid and there were no minorities there. Now there are privates with no kids on the spectrum. That was all people knew to do at the time I guess.

Other than using the facilities, the summer camps have absolutely no relationship to the host schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a lot of diversity at all these big 3 schools! So much! It's a major value! Look at our brochures. We bus kids in so your kids can have a diverse education! he he. My kids are happy, refined, drug free, and excellent students in engineering and tech at JR. And they can always tell which ones are from the big 3.

Much more diverse than the racially segregated communities and thus public schools in several suburbs.