Are private schools really that special or just overpriced?

[Anonymous]

Public school parents include a lot of obnoxious, insecure, and nosy people that we would prefer to avoid.

Some of us go to private just to avoid the unpleasant people in public. That alone makes the tuition a good value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Public school parents include a lot of obnoxious, insecure, and nosy people that we would prefer to avoid.

Some of us go to private just to avoid the unpleasant people in public. That alone makes the tuition a good value.

Judging by your post, those parents can be found in private schools as well.

[Anonymous]

I have two kids in elementary -- one in public, one in private. Public school child will eventually go with sibling, but they are happy so we aren't having them apply yet. Will revisit next year.

Today the kid in public came home and told me that one of her classmates bit a kid and then body slammed him to the floor. Last week, our PT conference consisted of sitting down with their teacher for 6 (6!) minutes of the teacher presenting child's I-ready and other scores. I basically had to beg for personal information about how my kid is doing in the class. In DCPS at least, if your kid is performing fine on standardized tests, they are generally ignored.

Contrast that with kid in private who reports zero behavioral issues (typical social issues sure but no disruptive behavior) and whose PT conference is 30 minutes long with detailed observations about my kid specifically. Robust security with essentially a gates campus. Significant classroom involvement and a list of on-campus extracurriculars a mile long.

At the end of the day, both kids are happy and doing well and if we couldn't afford it, our local DCPS would be just fine at least through elementary. But there is a reason that the majority of families who live in DC that can afford private choose that route...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two kids in elementary -- one in public, one in private. Public school child will eventually go with sibling, but they are happy so we aren't having them apply yet. Will revisit next year.

Today the kid in public came home and told me that one of her classmates bit a kid and then body slammed him to the floor. Last week, our PT conference consisted of sitting down with their teacher for 6 (6!) minutes of the teacher presenting child's I-ready and other scores. I basically had to beg for personal information about how my kid is doing in the class. In DCPS at least, if your kid is performing fine on standardized tests, they are generally ignored.

Contrast that with kid in private who reports zero behavioral issues (typical social issues sure but no disruptive behavior) and whose PT conference is 30 minutes long with detailed observations about my kid specifically. Robust security with essentially a gates campus. Significant classroom involvement and a list of on-campus extracurriculars a mile long.

At the end of the day, both kids are happy and doing well and if we couldn't afford it, our local DCPS would be just fine at least through elementary. But there is a reason that the majority of families who live in DC that can afford private choose that route...

I wouldn’t say that at all. The majority of DCPS parents I know can afford private (some do break off for private in middle or high school)… however, everyone loves the neighborhood school dynamic and are very happy with the elementary and middle schools. I’ve noticed with all my kids that the youngest had the most kids from their elementary go to the public middle school than the previous years before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Public school parents include a lot of obnoxious, insecure, and nosy people that we would prefer to avoid.

Some of us go to private just to avoid the unpleasant people in public. That alone makes the tuition a good value.

Wow. Not true—we’ve done public and private and I’ll say, for me, the public school parents are the truly kind, supportive and smart people. Some nice people in private, but nothing like my public school friends

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public school parents include a lot of obnoxious, insecure, and nosy people that we would prefer to avoid.

Some of us go to private just to avoid the unpleasant people in public. That alone makes the tuition a good value.

Judging by your post, those parents can be found in private schools as well.

Hilarious

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public school parents include a lot of obnoxious, insecure, and nosy people that we would prefer to avoid.

Some of us go to private just to avoid the unpleasant people in public. That alone makes the tuition a good value.

Judging by your post, those parents can be found in private schools as well.

Don't take it so personally. Obviously there are great parents in public also. However the average parent is maybe not so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public school parents include a lot of obnoxious, insecure, and nosy people that we would prefer to avoid.

Some of us go to private just to avoid the unpleasant people in public. That alone makes the tuition a good value.

Wow. Not true—we’ve done public and private and I’ll say, for me, the public school parents are the truly kind, supportive and smart people. Some nice people in private, but nothing like my public school friends

That is great but not representative for most people.

[Anonymous]

Oh my goodness, there is a mix of both pleasant and unpleasant people in both public and private schools? Stop the presses!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two kids in elementary -- one in public, one in private. Public school child will eventually go with sibling, but they are happy so we aren't having them apply yet. Will revisit next year.

Today the kid in public came home and told me that one of her classmates bit a kid and then body slammed him to the floor. Last week, our PT conference consisted of sitting down with their teacher for 6 (6!) minutes of the teacher presenting child's I-ready and other scores. I basically had to beg for personal information about how my kid is doing in the class. In DCPS at least, if your kid is performing fine on standardized tests, they are generally ignored.

Contrast that with kid in private who reports zero behavioral issues (typical social issues sure but no disruptive behavior) and whose PT conference is 30 minutes long with detailed observations about my kid specifically. Robust security with essentially a gates campus. Significant classroom involvement and a list of on-campus extracurriculars a mile long.

At the end of the day, both kids are happy and doing well and if we couldn't afford it, our local DCPS would be just fine at least through elementary. But there is a reason that the majority of families who live in DC that can afford private choose that route...

I wouldn’t say that at all. The majority of DCPS parents I know can afford private (some do break off for private in middle or high school)… however, everyone loves the neighborhood school dynamic and are very happy with the elementary and middle schools. I’ve noticed with all my kids that the youngest had the most kids from their elementary go to the public middle school than the previous years before.

I don’t know anyone who can easily afford private that is in public. If it involves any sort of sacrifice or strain on finances, they think they are getting a deal by at least using their public elementary. However the money matters to them and they are just waiting and planning their exit to private.

The neighborhood school dynamic sounds great until you hear about the insane behavioral problems, class sizes, and limited resources. Experiencing it with your own kid makes you want to leave the neighborhood entirely, by moving or going to private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh my goodness, there is a mix of both pleasant and unpleasant people in both public and private schools? Stop the presses!

The average parent at a higher income level in private is more pleasant than the public school parent. Resources are less limiting and they have navigated life better. This should come as a surprise to nobody.

[Anonymous]

You seem to be claiming that there is a positive correlation between net worth and pleasantness? If so, are we talking about a r that’s closer to 1 or 0?

[Anonymous]

Just one example of what we're paying for in private: DS's ADHD medication wears off in the afternoon, so we were trying to get a sense of how big an issue it was. His teacher tracked and compiled data on his focus and behavior for 3 solid weeks, comparing morning to afternoon, then presented it to us in a detailed email and offered to have a call if we needed more. We never asked her to do that. I can't imagine a public school teacher having the time or frankly interest to do that when there's 25 other kids in the class.

[Anonymous]

Sure, for some, any price is a drop in the bucket. Some have grandparents paying for private. Some are old parents with one kid, so they are literally putting all their eggs in one basket. But you can’t fill a private school with only people that think money is no issue. We fall into the category of making enough to pay full price, but thinking we might want to invest that 100K instead of put it into school for 12 years. For those people, this conversation is actually relevant.

So, from a purely economic standpoint, the thing I find so overpriced about DC private schools is they’ve all gotten together and decided that they cost 55-60K a year (even for elementary), which is mind-boggling. Outside of NYC and California (and apparently, DC), non-Catholic private elementary schools are 20-30K. Maybe 45K in Palm Beach, FL. It costs about 15K a year to educate an elementary school kid here in DC, paying for teachers and the basic (if you own your facility or use it for free).

So, where is that extra money going? Facilities is one. Some of these private schools are truly impressive, so, if that’s important to you, then there you go. But, where does all that other money go?

That’s the part that I find overpriced.

[Anonymous]

You get what you pay for. That's true with everything in life. Be cheap, get cheap.