Those with 8th grade grads this year - was it worth it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we did k-8 in a private and are switching to public high school next year. I think it was worth it in the early years because the foundation is so good in writing, math, critical thinking that navigating public high school, where there are tons of great opportunities for a motivated student, should be fine.

Good luck. We had the same plan, but left public high school to return to private school at the end of my DC's sophomore year. The opportunities that I thought would be there were not.

[Anonymous]

With regard to SSAT and ISEE scores, our rising 7th grader has attended DC public since K and scored in the high 90's as well. Don't think pre-k to 6 or 8 in private will guarantee higher scores. We're only now moving to private for 7th because we have no good public MS options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we did k-8 in a private and are switching to public high school next year. I think it was worth it in the early years because the foundation is so good in writing, math, critical thinking that navigating public high school, where there are tons of great opportunities for a motivated student, should be fine.

Good luck. We had the same plan, but left public high school to return to private school at the end of my DC's sophomore year. The opportunities that I thought would be there were not.

Which school/school system? What were the problems?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With regard to SSAT and ISEE scores, our rising 7th grader has attended DC public since K and scored in the high 90's as well. Don't think pre-k to 6 or 8 in private will guarantee higher scores. We're only now moving to private for 7th because we have no good public MS options.

Private school won't help with higher scores because those tests are aptitude tests, not achievement tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids switched to a private for middle school. Overall they had a fine transition, but if all things were equal, I may have switched them over around 4th grade; easier to get absorbed into social life at school, easier to get to know the other parents for me, and slightly better prep for middle school. Our DC public school is good but weak on skills needed for more advanced work. OTOH, I love having a good neighborhood school and I would have preferred the community at our local middle school.

You sound several years ahead of us but with a similar outlook. If you don't mind me asking, do your children still spend meaningful time playing with their neighborhood friends from their DCPS, or are they pretty fully into the social scene at their private school? Similarly, do you still socialize much with the neighborhood DCPS parents? (We're trying to weigh the lasting benefit of attending a neighborhood elementary school as we debate "move to Chevy Chase / AU Park so our kids can have the neighborhood-elementary experience vs. stay in Adams Morgan -- which we *love* -- and go private from the beginning." Our oldest will start pre-K in 2011, so decision time is nigh.) Many thanks in advance!

Yes, and no! It's never easy, is it? They both still see some of their old friends around and they stayed on a sports team with their elementary school friends, which I thought was great. With Facebook now, the eldest is 'friends' with what seems like her entire class from 6th grade. The other one is still too young for FB and not as socially astute as #1. I also think that, because D.C. seems like a small town they knew a few kids at their new school from extra-curricular activities. I've found that to be a great benefit to living here - it seems that almost everybody knows everybody, or at least knows a lot of people in common. I have the benefit of still having one in public school in one of the neighborhoods you're thinking of, so I get my fill of the neighborhood peeps then! I definitely don't regret not spending the money in the early years for private school, and both my kids scored very well on the SSAT without the need for private elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes it's not about high scores, although those would be nice and I am hopeful for the future on that one. But my child has been getting up ridiculously early all this week so that he can be sure and get to his school early. He is sad that this is the last week of school and wants to make the most of it. He is a rising 3rd grader and I know that many children this age are already starting to lose their love of school and learning that they nearly all start off with in K. I'm thankful I can afford this school and I know that many publics around here are excellent ... but if a private school can keep my DC engaged, challenged, and loving every minute of it, I plan to keep paying for as long as I can. There's no way to know if he might feel just the same way about the local public and I do think the price of private is more than any benefit might justify. But nonetheless, seeing him so happy at school is just not something I am willing to mess with and the curriculum is really neat and full of science and social studies that I think are lacking in publics that must focus on math and LA for testing reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It matters all the way through. If you can swing it, do private. We did public then private for Grade 7 on. Saved a bundle but wished we'd switched to private earlier.

We are switching to private to 8th. I think there is a certain amount of manners, polish that is inherent in a private atmosphere, less so in a public.

I am particularly disappointed that in my child's public school the "bad kids" dictate the learning environment for all the kids.

If our economics were different, we might not make this decision, but b/c we can and can swing retirement savings and our mortgage, we will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we did k-8 in a private and are switching to public high school next year. I think it was worth it in the early years because the foundation is so good in writing, math, critical thinking that navigating public high school, where there are tons of great opportunities for a motivated student, should be fine.

Good luck. We had the same plan, but left public high school to return to private school at the end of my DC's sophomore year. The opportunities that I thought would be there were not.

Which school/school system? What were the problems?

FCPS - huge class sizes for AP and honors classes, mediocre (at best) administrators, disorganized and poor quality extracurriculars, and just a cold and unfriendly environment.

[Anonymous]

Well, of course whether private school in K-8 is "worth it" depends on whether one easily has the money to spare. To understand someone's calculus of the worth of K-8 private school, OP would have to know the posters' financial situations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes it's not about high scores, although those would be nice and I am hopeful for the future on that one. But my child has been getting up ridiculously early all this week so that he can be sure and get to his school early. He is sad that this is the last week of school and wants to make the most of it. He is a rising 3rd grader and I know that many children this age are already starting to lose their love of school and learning that they nearly all start off with in K. I'm thankful I can afford this school and I know that many publics around here are excellent ... but if a private school can keep my DC engaged, challenged, and loving every minute of it, I plan to keep paying for as long as I can. There's no way to know if he might feel just the same way about the local public and I do think the price of private is more than any benefit might justify. But nonetheless, seeing him so happy at school is just not something I am willing to mess with and the curriculum is really neat and full of science and social studies that I think are lacking in publics that must focus on math and LA for testing reasons.

I just teared up: I want my sons to go there! Please share the name of the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With regard to SSAT and ISEE scores, our rising 7th grader has attended DC public since K and scored in the high 90's as well. Don't think pre-k to 6 or 8 in private will guarantee higher scores. We're only now moving to private for 7th because we have no good public MS options.

Private school won't help with higher scores because those tests are aptitude tests, not achievement tests.

No they're not. The WISC and WPPSI are aptitude tests; the SSAT and ISEE are achievement tests, looking at reading, math, vocabulary, and writing.

[Anonymous]

9:09 ... one of the progressive schools. But the name of the school is not so important because part of what you do when you tour schools is look carefully to see which school(s) will make YOUR son so happy to go each day. That is likely a different equation for each child and I hope you find yours too!

[Anonymous]

In response to 9:03, I think you have a point that the amount of one's disposable income certainly plays a part in deciding private versus public. Nonetheless, most wealthy families also consider such a decision carefully and whether it is justified. Not accounting for those inevitable tuition increases each year, spending approximately $30k a year from PK to 12 is $420,000 PER CHILD. Not to insult your intelligence by doing the oversimplified math, but really, I cannot imagine any level of income that would lead someone to not consider such an expenditure with great care. Just typing this is making me feel a little green, and my only child's tuition is "only" in the mid $20k ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In response to 9:03, I think you have a point that the amount of one's disposable income certainly plays a part in deciding private versus public. Nonetheless, most wealthy families also consider such a decision carefully and whether it is justified. Not accounting for those inevitable tuition increases each year, spending approximately $30k a year from PK to 12 is $420,000 PER CHILD. Not to insult your intelligence by doing the oversimplified math, but really, I cannot imagine any level of income that would lead someone to not consider such an expenditure with great care. Just typing this is making me feel a little green, and my only child's tuition is "only" in the mid $20k ...

9:03. You just made my argument for me.

[Anonymous]

Families do consider expenditures, because every expenditure involves a trade-off. But the trade-offs are very different at different income levels.

For a lower-income family, the trade-off might involve private school versus vacation travel, dinners out, or even new clothes versus thrift shop, or driving an old car in the pick-up line.

For a higher-income family, the tradeoffs are probably less stark. At the upper limits, it might be private school versus retiring with $9 million instead of $10 million.

Another thing to weigh in is the marginal benefit, i.e. is the private school a whole lot better than what's available at the local public, or from a cheaper parochial school.