Debating private or public

[Anonymous]

If money isn't an issue go with the private. Without question.

[Anonymous]

Private, of course!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have one in both. There are pros and cons to both public and private. A lot depends on the kid and his needs. Some kids need a smaller environment to thrive. Others don’t and benefit from the broader course selection in public. Only you and your child can answer which is the better fit.

I’ve never heard of a broader course selection in public. The private school where your DC is must be a very small school if it has fewer courses than public. Our private has many more courses to choose from than any public school in the county.

What county is Jackson Reed in?

[Anonymous]

Our choice is slightly different, we got waitlisted in the few schools we applied to (should have applied to at least 5-6. Lesson learned). So now our option is to go to public, or start calling schools to see if there is any spots left.

We’re opting to go public. If child ends up miserable (which I don’t think will happen, but who knows), we’ll try again next year with a much wider net of schools.

[Anonymous]

Wherever you think your kid will be the most comfortable is the right choice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have one in both. There are pros and cons to both public and private. A lot depends on the kid and his needs. Some kids need a smaller environment to thrive. Others don’t and benefit from the broader course selection in public. Only you and your child can answer which is the better fit.

I’ve never heard of a broader course selection in public. The private school where your DC is must be a very small school if it has fewer courses than public. Our private has many more courses to choose from than any public school in the county.

What county is Jackson Reed in?

It’s in DC

[Anonymous]

OP, if you are truly debating private versus public, you really need to cross post in the public forum to get a balanced perspective. If you’re willing to move to MD, post in MCPS and if not, post in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Given the opinions here about course selection, for those of you that find value in the broader course selection at public schools, did you/would you have done private elementary/middle school for your kids? We’re zoned for a decent high school, but our experience in public elementary has been lackluster and our local middle school is not great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Given the opinions here about course selection, for those of you that find value in the broader course selection at public schools, did you/would you have done private elementary/middle school for your kids? We’re zoned for a decent high school, but our experience in public elementary has been lackluster and our local middle school is not great.

Will your private middle school have the kid on track to take advantage of stem offerings? If you want to take advantage of the math offerings, Algebra will have to be taken in 7th at the latest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will your private middle school have the kid on track to take advantage of stem offerings? If you want to take advantage of the math offerings, Algebra will have to be taken in 7th at the latest.

I had no idea - that’s really good to know. She’s young, but is super interested in design and engineering so far, so yeah, I think a heavier focus on STEM would be of interest to her. We’re looking at moving her to SAES, which looks like it offers algebra in 7th or 8th.

I appreciate that call out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will your private middle school have the kid on track to take advantage of stem offerings? If you want to take advantage of the math offerings, Algebra will have to be taken in 7th at the latest.

I had no idea - that’s really good to know. She’s young, but is super interested in design and engineering so far, so yeah, I think a heavier focus on STEM would be of interest to her. We’re looking at moving her to SAES, which looks like it offers algebra in 7th or 8th.

I appreciate that call out.

Algebra in 8th is standard. Algebra in 7th is what I refer to as “standard advanced” for the greater DC area, given the number of kids, particularly in private schools, who are a year ahead in math curriculum. Then there’s a solid contingent of more advanced kids who are in geometry or even higher by 7th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will your private middle school have the kid on track to take advantage of stem offerings? If you want to take advantage of the math offerings, Algebra will have to be taken in 7th at the latest.

I had no idea - that’s really good to know. She’s young, but is super interested in design and engineering so far, so yeah, I think a heavier focus on STEM would be of interest to her. We’re looking at moving her to SAES, which looks like it offers algebra in 7th or 8th.

I appreciate that call out.

If you are in MCPS, I would look at private for elementary and middle as long as she can be on the advanced math track if that’s what she is interested in. I do think privates do a better job in the younger grades and especially middle school. The public high schools though offer far more than private high schools. Not all MCPS schools offer the same classes though, especially in areas like engineering. Some are part of PTLW (project lead the way) and offer 5 or more engineering classes (Whitman, Wootton, and a few others) but others don’t offer any (Churchill). So you need to look at the specific school you are zoned for and/or magnet programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will your private middle school have the kid on track to take advantage of stem offerings? If you want to take advantage of the math offerings, Algebra will have to be taken in 7th at the latest.

I had no idea - that’s really good to know. She’s young, but is super interested in design and engineering so far, so yeah, I think a heavier focus on STEM would be of interest to her. We’re looking at moving her to SAES, which looks like it offers algebra in 7th or 8th.

I appreciate that call out.

A lot of kids take algebra in 7th and the school offers geometry in the summer as early as the summer before 8th grade. A strong and motivated student at SAES would be well prepared to advance toward higher level math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have one in both. There are pros and cons to both public and private. A lot depends on the kid and his needs. Some kids need a smaller environment to thrive. Others don’t and benefit from the broader course selection in public. Only you and your child can answer which is the better fit.

I’ve never heard of a broader course selection in public. The private school where your DC is must be a very small school if it has fewer courses than public. Our private has many more courses to choose from than any public school in the county.

You clearly haven’t looked at the course options of schools like Whitman. No private school can match it.

Correct, nor do they need to. Staffing up for 2000 students is a completely different model than staffing for 200.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have one in both. There are pros and cons to both public and private. A lot depends on the kid and his needs. Some kids need a smaller environment to thrive. Others don’t and benefit from the broader course selection in public. Only you and your child can answer which is the better fit.

I’ve never heard of a broader course selection in public. The private school where your DC is must be a very small school if it has fewer courses than public. Our private has many more courses to choose from than any public school in the county.

Be careful when you think that. When we toured SFS with your older kid for 9th grade we asked the tour guide about all these cool Math / STEM classes that were posted online. His response was most of the classes we referenced are only offered if enough kids want them and that many had not been actually been offered in many years.