If you are upper middle class parent, tell me why you sent your kid(s) to private schools?

[Anonymous]

Our HHI is just under $300, so we can afford the tuition but it hurts. We qualify for a small amount of financial aid.

We only ended up in private school because of covid. Prior to covid, we loved our neighborhood public school. Also, my own Catholic K-8 was pretty terrible so I wanted something different for DD. But watching the school board mess during summer of 2020, we decided to put DD into a nearby independent K-8 that we'd heard had responded well when covid hit in the spring. We said we'd leave after one year, and then after two ... I don't know when we'll actually leave.

DD is flourishing. I like the focus on language arts, including handwriting and foreign language. There is an emphasis on speaking in front of a group, both informally and in scripted events like plays. Because the classes are small, a lot of the tasks and homework can be tailored to each student's level. I was worried the math curriculum wouldn't be strong, but so far I am happy with it. PE, art, and music are regular classes that happen 4 times a week and have actual curricula, unlike in public school when it was once or twice a week and the content was scattershot.

A lot of what you are paying for is the customer service, too. Teachers are responsive, report cards have actual narrative content about the individual child, etc. I don't have to send in supplies. There is homework, but major projects are completed during school time rather than becoming something I have to track at home. I really value not having to chase the school around to get information or ensure my kid is getting what she needs.

[Anonymous]

HHI $250k….

Our local public school system is overcrowded. We wanted small class sizes for our twins. Our twins were preemies so had some minor delays. We didn’t want them sat in the back of the class and seemed problematic because they may need additional help. We’re delayed enough for an IEP. Been in private since PreK and now I’m 1st grade.

We sacrifice and drive old cars. LOL; it’s stretch but worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HHI $250k….

Our local public school system is overcrowded. We wanted small class sizes for our twins. Our twins were preemies so had some minor delays. We didn’t want them sat in the back of the class and seemed problematic because they may need additional help. We’re delayed enough for an IEP. Been in private since PreK and now I’m 1st grade.

We sacrifice and drive old cars. LOL; it’s stretch but worth it.

You pay $100K on a $250K income?

[Anonymous]

I was a "good" public school lifer and I didn't realize until college what a freaking joke it was. And that I wasn't just a know-it-all arrogant teen, the adults who ran my high school (admins and teachers) were in fact more often than not unstable and lazy morons who only cared about milking the public trough. I vowed I would never send my kids to public. I ended up marrying a private school lifer, so there was really no debate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI $250k….

Our local public school system is overcrowded. We wanted small class sizes for our twins. Our twins were preemies so had some minor delays. We didn’t want them sat in the back of the class and seemed problematic because they may need additional help. We’re delayed enough for an IEP. Been in private since PreK and now I’m 1st grade.

We sacrifice and drive old cars. LOL; it’s stretch but worth it.

You pay $100K on a $250K income?

We get small FA. We attend a $40k per kid school so $20k per kid. Trust me, $4,000 a month is still a stretch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a "good" public school lifer and I didn't realize until college what a freaking joke it was. And that I wasn't just a know-it-all arrogant teen, the adults who ran my high school (admins and teachers) were in fact more often than not unstable and lazy morons who only cared about milking the public trough. I vowed I would never send my kids to public. I ended up marrying a private school lifer, so there was really no debate.

Wow- that is lucky you married a private school lifer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI $250k….

Our local public school system is overcrowded. We wanted small class sizes for our twins. Our twins were preemies so had some minor delays. We didn’t want them sat in the back of the class and seemed problematic because they may need additional help. We’re delayed enough for an IEP. Been in private since PreK and now I’m 1st grade.

We sacrifice and drive old cars. LOL; it’s stretch but worth it.

You pay $100K on a $250K income?

We get small FA. We attend a $40k per kid school so $20k per kid. Trust me, $4,000 a month is still a stretch.

50% is not "small aid!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI $250k….

Our local public school system is overcrowded. We wanted small class sizes for our twins. Our twins were preemies so had some minor delays. We didn’t want them sat in the back of the class and seemed problematic because they may need additional help. We’re delayed enough for an IEP. Been in private since PreK and now I’m 1st grade.

We sacrifice and drive old cars. LOL; it’s stretch but worth it.

You pay $100K on a $250K income?

We get small FA. We attend a $40k per kid school so $20k per kid. Trust me, $4,000 a month is still a stretch.

50% is not "small aid!"

When you make $250k and are still paying $4k a month, it is small to the PP. 😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI $250k….

Our local public school system is overcrowded. We wanted small class sizes for our twins. Our twins were preemies so had some minor delays. We didn’t want them sat in the back of the class and seemed problematic because they may need additional help. We’re delayed enough for an IEP. Been in private since PreK and now I’m 1st grade.

We sacrifice and drive old cars. LOL; it’s stretch but worth it.

You pay $100K on a $250K income?

We get small FA. We attend a $40k per kid school so $20k per kid. Trust me, $4,000 a month is still a stretch.

50% is not "small aid!"

When you make $250k and are still paying $4k a month, it is small to the PP. 😂

50% for two kids on $250k….would be small to me. Not small with one child but that’s still a stretch on $250k

[Anonymous]

What income is considered UMC? Or is it measured in net worth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What income is considered UMC? Or is it measured in net worth?

Here’s a calculator by Pew: https://www.pewresearch.org/interactives/are-you-in-the-middle-class/

I plugged in $300K for a family of 4 in this area and it said that makes that family upper class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because public was virtual for Covid. We did our two years but are headed back to public now that things are “normal” enough and I’m not worried about virtual school. We make $270 and while we CAN pay for private, it requires trading off things I would rather spend the tuition on.

Very similar. Moved to ES for covid. Hopefully back to public for MS in a few years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What income is considered UMC? Or is it measured in net worth?

Here’s a calculator by Pew: https://www.pewresearch.org/interactives/are-you-in-the-middle-class/

I plugged in $300K for a family of 4 in this area and it said that makes that family upper class.

Sure as long as you live in PG county.

[Anonymous]

Because a good education in US is not free (despite what some people here pretend), and we chose to pay for it in this way.

[Anonymous]

Our HHI is about 450k and we have only one child, so we can afford the tuition (though 40k/year after tax is still a lot of money to us).

When we moved to DMV a few years ago, we rented in a good public school district, with the plan to buy a property in that area and send our DD to public ES. But soon after we found that there were so many "eager" parents in the neighborhood. When I took a walk after dinner, I could hear exciting parents brag about their talented kids in magnet schools, in GT classes, in math contests, in swimming teams, or simply teacher A is better than B etc, every day. After a while we felt more and more anxious, because we probably won't have the energy to push our DD to compete with them. That's the reason we sent her to private.