Is the obsession with private schools justified?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:People send their kids to private for all sorts of reasons. In my opinion, college admissions should be the smallest factor. If that’s your reason, it will likely not be worth it for you.

My main objective is getting high quality education. My only point is that college placement, something that is emphasized by schools as an indicator of quality of education, is extremely misleading by athletes and legacy admissions. In any case, I am not even thinking about what is going to happen 8 years down the road. I am concerned that my DC is not even learning the basics today.

Why can't your kid learn the basics? Do you spend any time working with DC?

Yes, it is supplemented outside school. They do not learn the basics at the 50k private school.

Sounds like your kid is unfocused and screwing around.

Not really. He scores perfectly in math, outside school. The thing is that math level at school is so low, it’s unbelievable. I would have preferred having good math education at the school.

So you have failed in your main objective of getting high quality education.

Why stay?

I would frame it differently. The school has failed in providing high quality education.

The school is doing exactly what these schools do. You failed to discern what that is. They are meeting their mission; you are not.

Their mission is not to teach math below the levels in Europe or Asia. That’s a failure from the school.

Their mission is to artfully curate a special, unique curriculum. If you want enforceable standards, go public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I want my kid to attend the best possible school. So far, so good. But my experience in DC has felt a bit off compared to my experience overseas: paying $40,000 for childcare at NCRC partly to get access to top private schools, hiring consultants to prepare children for admissions, dealing with opaque selection processes that seem influenced by connections, and seeing schools treated as symbols of social status.

And then, when you finally get into a top private school, you realize that the college admissions numbers may be distorted by athletes and legacy admissions, and that the actual curriculum is not necessarily stronger than what good public schools offer. So at some point you have to ask: is it really worth obsessing over something that may offer such poor value?

Just skip the NCRC routes. Go to a neighborhood public schools for grades for K-4 or K-6 or k-8 and try independent schools that fits your child for middle or even high school. You can hire a consultant or two then. This saves 200K or so and let your child know the kids in neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand the private schools. The teachers make half of public school teachers. How many private school parents would take a job for a much lower salary?? Private schools have wonderful sales people!

Not all teachers make less.

Many have money so it doesn’t matter.

Seriously??? Many have money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go to a neighborhood public schools for grades for K-4 or K-6 or k-8 and try independent schools that fits your child for middle or even high school. You can hire a consultant or two then. This saves 200K or so and let your child know the kids in neighborhood.

Just know that there are at least dozens of other high-achieving families that will be taking this exact approach and competing for the same spots as you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People send their kids to private for all sorts of reasons. In my opinion, college admissions should be the smallest factor. If that’s your reason, it will likely not be worth it for you.

My main objective is getting high quality education. My only point is that college placement, something that is emphasized by schools as an indicator of quality of education, is extremely misleading by athletes and legacy admissions. In any case, I am not even thinking about what is going to happen 8 years down the road. I am concerned that my DC is not even learning the basics today.

Why can't your kid learn the basics? Do you spend any time working with DC?

Yes, it is supplemented outside school. They do not learn the basics at the 50k private school.

Sounds like your kid is unfocused and screwing around.

Not really. He scores perfectly in math, outside school. The thing is that math level at school is so low, it’s unbelievable. I would have preferred having good math education at the school.

So you have failed in your main objective of getting high quality education.

Why stay?

I would frame it differently. The school has failed in providing high quality education.

The school is doing exactly what these schools do. You failed to discern what that is. They are meeting their mission; you are not.

Their mission is not to teach math below the levels in Europe or Asia. That’s a failure from the school.

Their mission is to artfully curate a special, unique curriculum. If you want enforceable standards, go public.

I prefer a special unique curriculum like the ones in Europe or Asia. The curriculum in dc schools are not worth 60k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand the private schools. The teachers make half of public school teachers. How many private school parents would take a job for a much lower salary?? Private schools have wonderful sales people!

Not all teachers make less.

Many have money so it doesn’t matter.

Seriously??? Many have money?

Yes, from their Onlyfans accounts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People send their kids to private for all sorts of reasons. In my opinion, college admissions should be the smallest factor. If that’s your reason, it will likely not be worth it for you.

My main objective is getting high quality education. My only point is that college placement, something that is emphasized by schools as an indicator of quality of education, is extremely misleading by athletes and legacy admissions. In any case, I am not even thinking about what is going to happen 8 years down the road. I am concerned that my DC is not even learning the basics today.

Why can't your kid learn the basics? Do you spend any time working with DC?

Yes, it is supplemented outside school. They do not learn the basics at the 50k private school.

Sounds like your kid is unfocused and screwing around.

Not really. He scores perfectly in math, outside school. The thing is that math level at school is so low, it’s unbelievable. I would have preferred having good math education at the school.

So you have failed in your main objective of getting high quality education.

Why stay?

I would frame it differently. The school has failed in providing high quality education.

The school is doing exactly what these schools do. You failed to discern what that is. They are meeting their mission; you are not.

Their mission is not to teach math below the levels in Europe or Asia. That’s a failure from the school.

Their mission is to artfully curate a special, unique curriculum. If you want enforceable standards, go public.

I prefer a special unique curriculum like the ones in Europe or Asia. The curriculum in dc schools are not worth 60k.

I’m begging you, op, please update after a year in dc public schools.

[Anonymous]

‘Just skip the NCRC routes. Go to a neighborhood public schools for grades for K-4 or K-6 or k-8 and try independent schools that fits your child for middle or even high school. You can hire a consultant or two then. This saves 200K or so and let your child know the kids in neighborhood.’

This times infinity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:‘Just skip the NCRC routes. Go to a neighborhood public schools for grades for K-4 or K-6 or k-8 and try independent schools that fits your child for middle or even high school. You can hire a consultant or two then. This saves 200K or so and let your child know the kids in neighborhood.’

This times infinity.

Yes - we were at a Title 1 school through 5th grade, then switched to an “elite” private for middle/HS!

Of course, many families don’t want to touch public schools at all and aren’t confident their kids will be competitive admits in later years when an academic record actually matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:‘Just skip the NCRC routes. Go to a neighborhood public schools for grades for K-4 or K-6 or k-8 and try independent schools that fits your child for middle or even high school. You can hire a consultant or two then. This saves 200K or so and let your child know the kids in neighborhood.’

This times infinity.

Yes!!! I wish we had gone this route with out first, and majorly regret not. Our oldest got into an awesome private school for kindergarten that ended up being a terrible fit- she is very bright and social but was masking some learning challenges (dyslexia/ input processing) that were totally unknowable when she 5 but that the school was really uncooperative with by the time she was in 2nd/3rd grade. We had to do a ton of advocating for her and pay for a lot of tutoring /private evaluations, and scrambling to find a better fit for her for 4th grade. It was a really frustrating and disheartening 4 years, and in retrospect we should have left at the end of 1st. But by then she had friends, and we did really like the teachers and thought they were trying their best.

Meanwhile, our neighbors were in a DC charter school school and had a kid with a very similar profile who got a ton of support and interventions in school.

I guess this is a niche situation, but I just think how little I knew my kid as a student when they were five and we were making a very high-cost school choice. and I also get that not every public school parent has a positive experience on this one either (but at least they aren’t paying a fortune for a bad experience!).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People send their kids to private for all sorts of reasons. In my opinion, college admissions should be the smallest factor. If that’s your reason, it will likely not be worth it for you.

My main objective is getting high quality education. My only point is that college placement, something that is emphasized by schools as an indicator of quality of education, is extremely misleading by athletes and legacy admissions. In any case, I am not even thinking about what is going to happen 8 years down the road. I am concerned that my DC is not even learning the basics today.

Why can't your kid learn the basics? Do you spend any time working with DC?

Yes, it is supplemented outside school. They do not learn the basics at the 50k private school.

Sounds like your kid is unfocused and screwing around.

Not really. He scores perfectly in math, outside school. The thing is that math level at school is so low, it’s unbelievable. I would have preferred having good math education at the school.

So you have failed in your main objective of getting high quality education.

Why stay?

I would frame it differently. The school has failed in providing high quality education.

The school is doing exactly what these schools do. You failed to discern what that is. They are meeting their mission; you are not.

Their mission is not to teach math below the levels in Europe or Asia. That’s a failure from the school.

Their mission is to artfully curate a special, unique curriculum. If you want enforceable standards, go public.

I prefer a special unique curriculum like the ones in Europe or Asia. The curriculum in dc schools are not worth 60k.

I’m begging you, op, please update after a year in dc public schools.

Didn’t OP say “so far, so good”?

But then she’s pulling her kid?

Which is it?

Or is it fiction?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:‘Just skip the NCRC routes. Go to a neighborhood public schools for grades for K-4 or K-6 or k-8 and try independent schools that fits your child for middle or even high school. You can hire a consultant or two then. This saves 200K or so and let your child know the kids in neighborhood.’

This times infinity.

Yes!!! I wish we had gone this route with out first, and majorly regret not. Our oldest got into an awesome private school for kindergarten that ended up being a terrible fit- she is very bright and social but was masking some learning challenges (dyslexia/ input processing) that were totally unknowable when she 5 but that the school was really uncooperative with by the time she was in 2nd/3rd grade. We had to do a ton of advocating for her and pay for a lot of tutoring /private evaluations, and scrambling to find a better fit for her for 4th grade. It was a really frustrating and disheartening 4 years, and in retrospect we should have left at the end of 1st. But by then she had friends, and we did really like the teachers and thought they were trying their best.

Meanwhile, our neighbors were in a DC charter school school and had a kid with a very similar profile who got a ton of support and interventions in school.

I guess this is a niche situation, but I just think how little I knew my kid as a student when they were five and we were making a very high-cost school choice. and I also get that not every public school parent has a positive experience on this one either (but at least they aren’t paying a fortune for a bad experience!).

But the other families at your private don’t want your high-resource kid. You are the people all your private school “friends” want to avoid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People send their kids to private for all sorts of reasons. In my opinion, college admissions should be the smallest factor. If that’s your reason, it will likely not be worth it for you.

My main objective is getting high quality education. My only point is that college placement, something that is emphasized by schools as an indicator of quality of education, is extremely misleading by athletes and legacy admissions. In any case, I am not even thinking about what is going to happen 8 years down the road. I am concerned that my DC is not even learning the basics today.

Why can't your kid learn the basics? Do you spend any time working with DC?

Yes, it is supplemented outside school. They do not learn the basics at the 50k private school.

Sounds like your kid is unfocused and screwing around.

Not really. He scores perfectly in math, outside school. The thing is that math level at school is so low, it’s unbelievable. I would have preferred having good math education at the school.

So you have failed in your main objective of getting high quality education.

Why stay?

I would frame it differently. The school has failed in providing high quality education.

The school is doing exactly what these schools do. You failed to discern what that is. They are meeting their mission; you are not.

Their mission is not to teach math below the levels in Europe or Asia. That’s a failure from the school.

Their mission is to artfully curate a special, unique curriculum. If you want enforceable standards, go public.

I prefer a special unique curriculum like the ones in Europe or Asia. The curriculum in dc schools are not worth 60k.

I’m begging you, op, please update after a year in dc public schools.

Didn’t OP say “so far, so good”?

But then she’s pulling her kid?

Which is it?

Or is it fiction?

It's definitely fiction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People send their kids to private for all sorts of reasons. In my opinion, college admissions should be the smallest factor. If that’s your reason, it will likely not be worth it for you.

My main objective is getting high quality education. My only point is that college placement, something that is emphasized by schools as an indicator of quality of education, is extremely misleading by athletes and legacy admissions. In any case, I am not even thinking about what is going to happen 8 years down the road. I am concerned that my DC is not even learning the basics today.

Why can't your kid learn the basics? Do you spend any time working with DC?

Yes, it is supplemented outside school. They do not learn the basics at the 50k private school.

Sounds like your kid is unfocused and screwing around.

Not really. He scores perfectly in math, outside school. The thing is that math level at school is so low, it’s unbelievable. I would have preferred having good math education at the school.

So you have failed in your main objective of getting high quality education.

Why stay?

I would frame it differently. The school has failed in providing high quality education.

The school is doing exactly what these schools do. You failed to discern what that is. They are meeting their mission; you are not.

Their mission is not to teach math below the levels in Europe or Asia. That’s a failure from the school.

Their mission is to artfully curate a special, unique curriculum. If you want enforceable standards, go public.

I prefer a special unique curriculum like the ones in Europe or Asia. The curriculum in dc schools are not worth 60k.

Agreed. Off you go then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:‘Just skip the NCRC routes. Go to a neighborhood public schools for grades for K-4 or K-6 or k-8 and try independent schools that fits your child for middle or even high school. You can hire a consultant or two then. This saves 200K or so and let your child know the kids in neighborhood.’

This times infinity.

Yes!!! I wish we had gone this route with out first, and majorly regret not. Our oldest got into an awesome private school for kindergarten that ended up being a terrible fit- she is very bright and social but was masking some learning challenges (dyslexia/ input processing) that were totally unknowable when she 5 but that the school was really uncooperative with by the time she was in 2nd/3rd grade. We had to do a ton of advocating for her and pay for a lot of tutoring /private evaluations, and scrambling to find a better fit for her for 4th grade. It was a really frustrating and disheartening 4 years, and in retrospect we should have left at the end of 1st. But by then she had friends, and we did really like the teachers and thought they were trying their best.

Meanwhile, our neighbors were in a DC charter school school and had a kid with a very similar profile who got a ton of support and interventions in school.

I guess this is a niche situation, but I just think how little I knew my kid as a student when they were five and we were making a very high-cost school choice. and I also get that not every public school parent has a positive experience on this one either (but at least they aren’t paying a fortune for a bad experience!).

Unless your kid is in a private school specficially for dyslexia, they are most likely going to be better off in public school with an IEP. As mentioned by another poster, most privates would prefer not to have kids that require special resources, although a few will work with mild ADHD.