If you couldn't afford public, what would you do?

[Anonymous]

We live in DC with a bad local DCPS. We'll be starting PK next year and it's looking like we won't be able to afford private. So, we have GDS/Sidwell taste without the bucks. Our child is super bright and social. Any publics you considered or would recommend? We're open to DC/MD/VA. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Yikes! Of course, I meant not afford private.

[Anonymous]

I would do what we did, which is apply to the private school(s) I liked most and hope for admission plus financial aid. Our backups were the DCPS lottery for out-of-boundary and charters. We knew it would be a long shot, but ended up getting enough aid to send our child to our first choice private school. It is a major financial burden nonetheless, and I wonder every year if we can keep it up, but our child is there for now and it's worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would do what we did, which is apply to the private school(s) I liked most and hope for admission plus financial aid. Our backups were the DCPS lottery for out-of-boundary and charters. We knew it would be a long shot, but ended up getting enough aid to send our child to our first choice private school. It is a major financial burden nonetheless, and I wonder every year if we can keep it up, but our child is there for now and it's worth it.

PP here who did the same. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks. How much aid did you get?

[Anonymous]

I was just wondering the same thing! I'm afraid of going through the process only to maybe get accepted and not get any aid, which would be a bummer. Our HHI income is high, but so are our expenses (ugh!). Does anyone know if there is a magical formula they use? Debt-to-income ratio maybe?

[Anonymous]

Just because I don't like to leave myself without any options, I would dual-track this, OP. Start looking into surrounding public schools - MoCo, North Arlington, etc. - and get to know the real estate market and what your options are. Get a real estate agent in to tell you what s/he thinks your house would bring, and start working on any suggested improvements (repainting and other inexpensive but big impact stuff). Then apply to the privates that you want and hope for admission plus aid. If you get it, you have a partially spruced up house and the best outcome. If you don't, then you can quickly put your house on the market and have a good idea of where you want to buy. You could also rent in a good district until you are ready to buy. Public isn't for everyone, and even some of the publics in DC with the best reputations (JKLM) have plenty of in-boundary people who choose not to send their kids there (we are one such family). I would be sure when you look at publics in MoCo and North Arlington that you find one that you think is a good fit for your child. You can't always predict these things - I know people who moved to MoCo and then still ended up sending at least one child private. Good luck to you, OP. School choice decisions are never easy or fun.

[Anonymous]

PP, thanks. Why did you go private? Are there any publics as good or close to the top tier privates?

[Anonymous]

OP,
Check out DCPS forum!
We did DCPS through Grade Six, then went private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, thanks. Why did you go private? Are there any publics as good or close to the top tier privates?

PP here. We looked seriously at a number of options, including moving. Our situation was such that we would move to MoCo if we could find the right house at the right time, knowing that if we didn't we were likely looking at K-12 private for two kids. We didn't, so we decided to stay put.

Our reasons for not sending our first child to the local elementary were several:

-It bugged me that DC has no gifted program (although I could argue about all the issues that come up when there is such a program, too - DH and I were both in gifted programs in the states where we grew up).
-The limited availability of "specials" bugged, me too. Our child was really into visual art, and so that was important to us.
-We both highly value an interdisciplinary liberal arts education, and worried about "drill and kill".
-We have friends who send their child to our local public, and they have had a number of issues at the school with bullying and other things over the years, so we were concerned.
-Our older child is shy and reserved in class, so I was concerned that the large class size would have a negative impact.
-Finally, as we were going through the admissions process, I asked the director of our preschool whether we really needed to get our child into a private school. I even said, "But our local elementary is X!" The director did not mince words. She said for a kid like ours, that type of child would sit in his/her seat, do what was asked, and never make a peep. There would be no individual instruction and attention. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, she said, and our kid was never squeaky.

We were fortunately to be offered a spot for our child at a school with very strong academics and a great visual arts program (and great music programs, too) that was very, very high on our short list, so we have never looked back. DH wanted to send my younger child, too, and that child was also admitted. We didn't reconsider the local elementary. We both work full-time, bought our house ages ago, waited forever to have kids and have good jobs, so we were fortunate to be able to make the choice we did. That doesn't mean I think the people who send their kids to our local school are bad parents or made a bad choice. We just did what was right for our kids. If we were really worried about being able to swing the tuition, I would have done what I suggested to you. There are times I think about how much more quickly I could retire if I were not doing this, but I would never suggest that someone really put their family finances in jeopardy to do private. There are plenty of good choices in this area. Please don't think (not that you are) that private is some kind of holy grail. Some schools are right for some kids; that's all. As I mentioned, my husband and I are both public school kids all the way through, and it would have been our first choice for our children if we were not living where we are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI income is high, but so are our expenses (ugh!). Does anyone know if there is a magical formula they use? Debt-to-income ratio maybe?

With a high income, it depends on what kind of expenses you have. If you chose to buy an expensive house, take on consumer debt for a fancy car or other non-essentials, or live anything but a very modest lifestyle, you won't (and shouldn't) get aid to compensate. If you have huge and unavoidable medical expenses or are taking care of an elderly parent or special needs child, you'd be in a better position to request aid, although you still might end up in the back of the line because you have high net income.

[Anonymous]

If your income is over $200,000, I doubt they'll give you any aid. We only make $175 and they didn't give us any when we applied, and we have two kids for $60,000 per year.

[Anonymous]

If I couldn't afford a fancy elite private -- I would look at Catholic Schools even if you're not Catholic.

[Anonymous]

A lot depends on your child and also on what your local public elementary school is. We had kids in DCPS elementaries and they thrived there, and saved our money to use on private middle school and high school but many of their classmates stayed on the Deal then Wilson track and have done great and frankly did better with college admissions than some of even their big3 private original classmates, because they could stand out much more at Wilson (and those that stayed were also incredibly resilient, independent and resourceful kids). The athletic and theater programs at Wilson are quite strong.

So not sure that the response should be leave DCPS without trying it out for your kid. They may have the personality to thrive even in a somewhat larger class, and the money you save can be used to supplement outside school for music, art, or whatever you think is missing in DCPS. If you can get into Oyster it is a great program and those kids have done fabulously when they transfer to privates in my experience. Also, what about some of the strong charters? Capitol City at least through 8th seems to be very good.

[Anonymous]

We were in the same position. We hunted and hunted and found a few cheaper alternatives. We ended up at New Hope Academy - not posh like GDS/Sidwell/etc - but DS is getting a good education in a very personalized setting. There are other schools out there (private) that don't cost an arm and a leg but are rarely mentioned here b/c they aren't popular among the DCUM crowd.