What if you can't afford private school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should I worry about someone else's kids

Empathy. It's worthwhile.

Or you're trolling us.

You don't care if your kids get mine sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should I worry about someone else's kids

Empathy. It's worthwhile.

Or you're trolling us.

You don't care if your kids get mine sick.

Are you really that obtuse? You like keeping your kid home? great! IDGAF. Keep your kid at home and they’ll never interact with my kid or anyone else and they won’t get sick. Your choice, Einstein. But quit imposing your irrational fear on others whose kids are suffering and try to make them bend to your will. You make your choices for your kids. I and there should be able to make choices for ours.

Pretty sure you are a teacher and not a parent. Troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1). Private schools have their own curriculum - some are more rigorous and some are less rigorous than MCPS.
2). Private school kids tend to be more well-rounded because their schools afford them more opportunities but they are not necessarily smarter.
3.). Most private school kids that attend non-parochial schools are children of upper middle class or wealthy children, who end up at great jobs and top colleges because of their connections, not necessarily grades.
4.). My kid is in private school now and generally gets better grades than all of her peers but she was an MCPS kid up until now, which means MCPS gets the credit for her performance.
5). Just homeschool - you don't need the whole day - only two hours a day, then you have less stress and both you and your kid are happier.

Good luck!!

My daughter moved from a well known W feeder public elementary school to a private. The first week of private school in 5th grade they had an introduction spelling and vocabulary test to see where the class of 15 lined up, and my daughter got a 10% on it. Her teacher assured us the kids from public almost always fail vocabulary and spelling because it isn't taught in MCPS curriculum. Same with foreign language, Science, and History. She was quickly humbled and realized those straight A's meant NOTHING from MCPS. She was about on par for Math as her peers (even though she was in compacted) and a bit behind in reading (even though she was in the highest reading group.)

Best thing we ever did was move her to private.

Now in high school, I think you can go back to public because most of the classes are tracked. But ES and MS in MCPS are a complete waste of time to somewhat intelligent kids.

Your observations are spot on! Besides volunteering in our Catholic school’s library, I also volunteer as an academic tutor after school for middle school aged kids in the subjects of science, history, and catechism. There are a dozen or so other moms that volunteer their time as well, in subjects where they are individually comfortable in tutoring. The children I normally see do come from public schools and we work hard to get them up to speed. We are usually successful.

You all are too much. It is a fact that when students receive individualized tutoring, they will perform better. If public school teachers could work with their students individually all the time, the students would perform better. Parents who provide individual support to their children will help their children perform better in school. It’s really not rocket science.

We are volunteering as tutors for other people’s children, not our own. I was simply making a point that those children we normally volunteer to help at our Catholic school often times come from a public school. None of us are teachers. We simply care about every child at our school and their success. For me I also cherish the opportunity to serve God and the Church in this fashion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole situation makes me so angry. Because I can't afford private school, my child is getting left behind, along with all the other public school children. My DD's teacher is great and doing her best but DD still cries every day because she hates DL. And she's not retaining any of the information being taught online. It will take years to catch up from this catastrophe. But private school kids don't have to deal with any of this. One day my child will have to compete with them for spots at schools, for jobs, etc. How is this a fair system?

P.S. If someone says "just cut the coffee/gym/cable out of your life, it's easy to find a random $25,000 in your budget" I'm going to have an aneurysm.

Ok, rant over.

OP, I think you underestimate the sacrifices middle-class families make to send their kids to private school. Even for Catholic schools, which are generally less than the $25k you cite, few just have that money laying around. They've planned for it and are doing things like living in small houses/apartments in areas with not-so-great public schools, couponing/thrifting for everything, skimping on retirement/college savings. I witnessed this first hand. Heck my grandparents died in Medicaid beds without a penny to their name- but I bet they'd say that putting 9 kids through Catholic school was worth it!

FWIW, I had a number of family members and friends who attended Catholic school for part or all of their ES-HS education, and we all turned out about the same. Some schools are very good while others aren't any better than the nearby public school. Families who enroll in Catholic school during normal times are generally doing it for more than the academics.

[Anonymous]

PP - you described my family. We did not go on vacations, we never had a new car, no cable, lived in a TH. Parents cut coupons every week. But we all went K-12 Catholic school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should I worry about someone else's kids

Empathy. It's worthwhile.

Or you're trolling us.

You don't care if your kids get mine sick.

Are you really that obtuse? You like keeping your kid home? great! IDGAF. Keep your kid at home and they’ll never interact with my kid or anyone else and they won’t get sick. Your choice, Einstein. But quit imposing your irrational fear on others whose kids are suffering and try to make them bend to your will. You make your choices for your kids. I and there should be able to make choices for ours.

Pretty sure you are a teacher and not a parent. Troll.

No one is imposing you irrational fears. I'm sorry you're garbage at budgeting and can't afford expensive private school and now you want to take it out on the world.

[Anonymous]

Well now we know your a troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP - you described my family. We did not go on vacations, we never had a new car, no cable, lived in a TH. Parents cut coupons every week. But we all went K-12 Catholic school.

Many families do those things and more and could still never afford private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should I worry about someone else's kids

Empathy. It's worthwhile.

Or you're trolling us.

You don't care if your kids get mine sick.

Are you really that obtuse? You like keeping your kid home? great! IDGAF. Keep your kid at home and they’ll never interact with my kid or anyone else and they won’t get sick. Your choice, Einstein. But quit imposing your irrational fear on others whose kids are suffering and try to make them bend to your will. You make your choices for your kids. I and there should be able to make choices for ours.

Pretty sure you are a teacher and not a parent. Troll.

I'm a parent and yes, mine are staying home. That's how we stop the spread. I am not going to purposely expose my kids terrible illness that can have long term consequences. Your kids are suffering because of you and your attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP - you described my family. We did not go on vacations, we never had a new car, no cable, lived in a TH. Parents cut coupons every week. But we all went K-12 Catholic school.

Many families do those things and more and could still never afford private school.

They probably got a lot of aid or way back when it was even less money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole situation makes me so angry. Because I can't afford private school, my child is getting left behind, along with all the other public school children. My DD's teacher is great and doing her best but DD still cries every day because she hates DL. And she's not retaining any of the information being taught online. It will take years to catch up from this catastrophe. But private school kids don't have to deal with any of this. One day my child will have to compete with them for spots at schools, for jobs, etc. How is this a fair system?

P.S. If someone says "just cut the coffee/gym/cable out of your life, it's easy to find a random $25,000 in your budget" I'm going to have an aneurysm.

Ok, rant over.

OP, I think you underestimate the sacrifices middle-class families make to send their kids to private school. Even for Catholic schools, which are generally less than the $25k you cite, few just have that money laying around. They've planned for it and are doing things like living in small houses/apartments in areas with not-so-great public schools, couponing/thrifting for everything, skimping on retirement/college savings. I witnessed this first hand. Heck my grandparents died in Medicaid beds without a penny to their name- but I bet they'd say that putting 9 kids through Catholic school was worth it!

FWIW, I had a number of family members and friends who attended Catholic school for part or all of their ES-HS education, and we all turned out about the same. Some schools are very good while others aren't any better than the nearby public school. Families who enroll in Catholic school during normal times are generally doing it for more than the academics.

Real middle class are not going to $25K schools as they are only earning $40-70K a year. And, even so, many don't have that kind of money.

We had neighbors who went to the Big 3 and we all have the same professions, went to the same colleges and it made no difference. There are benefits to private schools depending on the child/family but in the end, smart kids will do well regardless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, I have a middle schooler and a high schooler who are doing online learning with MCPS, taking challenging classes, and working hard. Sitting in a socially distanced classroom (especially on a hybrid schedule) would not change anything. And we don’t care about sports.

How nice for them.

Other kids are not having the same successful experience. What about those other kids?

Hopefully their parents will be more supportive and assist them, use the tutorme that is offered, Saturday school and homework hotline as well as reaching out to their teachers. Actually attending class and doing the assignments goes a long way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, I have a middle schooler and a high schooler who are doing online learning with MCPS, taking challenging classes, and working hard. Sitting in a socially distanced classroom (especially on a hybrid schedule) would not change anything. And we don’t care about sports.

Another “my kids are fine so screw all of the kids who aren’t and are suffering poster”. The selfishness is astounding. Let me appeal to your selfish nature. News flash: Your kids are getting a quarter of the instruction they received in full time school. And they don’t sound particularly well rounded. Sounds like you have low standards for what constitutes a proper education.

No, selfish is knowing your kids are struggling and not doing anything to help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should I worry about someone else's kids

Empathy. It's worthwhile.

Or you're trolling us.

You don't care if your kids get mine sick.

Are you really that obtuse? You like keeping your kid home? great! IDGAF. Keep your kid at home and they’ll never interact with my kid or anyone else and they won’t get sick. Your choice, Einstein. But quit imposing your irrational fear on others whose kids are suffering and try to make them bend to your will. You make your choices for your kids. I and there should be able to make choices for ours.

Pretty sure you are a teacher and not a parent. Troll.

I'm a parent and yes, mine are staying home. That's how we stop the spread. I am not going to purposely expose my kids terrible illness that can have long term consequences. Your kids are suffering because of you and your attitude.

No. It is NOT!! Head of CDC, very specifically stated as much yesterday. You are incredibly ill informed. Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole situation makes me so angry. Because I can't afford private school, my child is getting left behind, along with all the other public school children. My DD's teacher is great and doing her best but DD still cries every day because she hates DL. And she's not retaining any of the information being taught online. It will take years to catch up from this catastrophe. But private school kids don't have to deal with any of this. One day my child will have to compete with them for spots at schools, for jobs, etc. How is this a fair system?

P.S. If someone says "just cut the coffee/gym/cable out of your life, it's easy to find a random $25,000 in your budget" I'm going to have an aneurysm.

Ok, rant over.

OP, I think you underestimate the sacrifices middle-class families make to send their kids to private school. Even for Catholic schools, which are generally less than the $25k you cite, few just have that money laying around. They've planned for it and are doing things like living in small houses/apartments in areas with not-so-great public schools, couponing/thrifting for everything, skimping on retirement/college savings. I witnessed this first hand. Heck my grandparents died in Medicaid beds without a penny to their name- but I bet they'd say that putting 9 kids through Catholic school was worth it!

FWIW, I had a number of family members and friends who attended Catholic school for part or all of their ES-HS education, and we all turned out about the same. Some schools are very good while others aren't any better than the nearby public school. Families who enroll in Catholic school during normal times are generally doing it for more than the academics.

Real middle class are not going to $25K schools as they are only earning $40-70K a year. And, even so, many don't have that kind of money.

We had neighbors who went to the Big 3 and we all have the same professions, went to the same colleges and it made no difference. There are benefits to private schools depending on the child/family but in the end, smart kids will do well regardless.

Of course they’re not going to the Sidwells and other expensive schools. Plenty of parochial schools are on the order of $10k per year and offer financial aid on top of it. Lots of middle class families who do this in PG county. But yes, still out of reach for many.