Whitman vs private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We took our three boys out of Carderock and Plyle and sent them to local all boys, private schools.

It became obvious to us that the administrations and teachers at these schools answered primarily to the MCPS bureaucracy. The teaching was OK, but the coaching was woeful. We expected this would continue at Whitman.

The differences between the two environments and our son’s enthusiasm for all aspects of school (academic, athletics and social) were noticeable almost immediately. Our only regret was wondering why we didn’t make this switch sooner.

The neighborhood kids who stayed in the Whitman track weren’t harmed by the experience. But, for our active, athletic boys, the private school path was the right one.

Same experience with me. Pulled one child out in 6th the other after 4th grade. Not they enjoy all aspects of school. The experience for them and me as a parent has been far superior. No regrets.

Well, you wouldn't know that it's "far superior" because you didn't send your kids to Whitman, so you don't know what their experience would've been if they went there.

I'm forgetting what this type of bias is, it's when you make a decision and then you are only able to see why you made the right one, because it's too hard for people cognitively to accept the ways in which they might not have made the best decision. OP, you are only going to get people like the above poster who are convinced that their decision was "superior." Crazy to see so many post like this and then to think that this is one of the most educated ZIP Codes in the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We took our three boys out of Carderock and Plyle and sent them to local all boys, private schools.

It became obvious to us that the administrations and teachers at these schools answered primarily to the MCPS bureaucracy. The teaching was OK, but the coaching was woeful. We expected this would continue at Whitman.

The differences between the two environments and our son’s enthusiasm for all aspects of school (academic, athletics and social) were noticeable almost immediately. Our only regret was wondering why we didn’t make this switch sooner.

The neighborhood kids who stayed in the Whitman track weren’t harmed by the experience. But, for our active, athletic boys, the private school path was the right one.

Same experience with me. Pulled one child out in 6th the other after 4th grade. Not they enjoy all aspects of school. The experience for them and me as a parent has been far superior. No regrets.

Well, you wouldn't know that it's "far superior" because you didn't send your kids to Whitman, so you don't know what their experience would've been if they went there.

I'm forgetting what this type of bias is, it's when you make a decision and then you are only able to see why you made the right one, because it's too hard for people cognitively to accept the ways in which they might not have made the best decision. OP, you are only going to get people like the above poster who are convinced that their decision was "superior." Crazy to see so many post like this and then to think that this is one of the most educated ZIP Codes in the country.

It's choice supportive bias:

"In cognitive science, choice-supportive bias is the tendency to remember our choices as better than they actually were, because we tend to over attribute positive features to options we chose and negative features to options not chosen. Individuals tend to think that "they chose this option so it must have been the better option". As a result, we feel good about ourselves and our choices and have less regret for bad decisions."

https://tactics.convertize.com/definitions/choice-supportive-bias#:~:text=In%20cognitive%20science%2C%20choice%2Dsupportive,features%20to%20options%20not%20chosen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? You would pay $40K a year b/c you don't like the sports program at Whitman? That is funny to me! I think the education is far better at Whitman that at most privates. There are so many clubs, drama, music, internship programs that kids can get involved with. I will agree that not all teachers are great (I find it hard to believe that every teacher at a private is good), but the ones that are good, are amazing!

It you and your kids are happy at Whitman, that’s fine. Nobody cares, especially the parents that chose a private school alternative.

That you can’t understand the difference between the two experiences is also fine. Lots cannot.

But there are those who do see differences. And it’s doubtful they are going to be able to explain them to you. If you don’t “get it”, you don’t “get it”.

[Anonymous]

This is true on both sides, the parents who sent their kids to Whitman are also saying it was far superior to local private schools that they have no experience with. Glad that everyone seems happy with their choices, no need to attack the other side!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: We did not choose Whitman for the following reasons:
--Classes are too large.
--Poor coaching and resources for sports.
--The school was too big in general.
--The student population and MCPS leans farther to the left politically than we are comfortable with.
--The school lunch quality is poor.
--The network and bonding does not compare to the private school he currently attends.
--The bureaucracy in MCPS is not what we wanted.
--The facilities are lousy. Whitman has weeds and trash all over their tennis courts. Nobody seems to care.

Aren't most of the private schools around here even further to the left? That has been my impression

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: We did not choose Whitman for the following reasons:
--Classes are too large.
--Poor coaching and resources for sports.
--The school was too big in general.
--The student population and MCPS leans farther to the left politically than we are comfortable with.
--The school lunch quality is poor.
--The network and bonding does not compare to the private school he currently attends.
--The bureaucracy in MCPS is not what we wanted.
--The facilities are lousy. Whitman has weeds and trash all over their tennis courts. Nobody seems to care.

Get your dog whistles out for the student population at MCPS comment haha wow

Aren't you happy the right-wingers are going elsewhere?

Not really. Someone had to be at the bottom of the class. Now it’s someone who can read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? You would pay $40K a year b/c you don't like the sports program at Whitman? That is funny to me! I think the education is far better at Whitman that at most privates. There are so many clubs, drama, music, internship programs that kids can get involved with. I will agree that not all teachers are great (I find it hard to believe that every teacher at a private is good), but the ones that are good, are amazing!

I can think of a few reasons to not go to Whitman. Special Needs being the big one. It's a big school. It's definitely a place for confident kids who can self-advocate.

But sports?

I get that recruited athletes are operating at a different level, but dropping $160,000+ for a a participation trophy?

Lame. Maybe Whitman soccer is recruitable, but everything else is just students doing their thing. It's not a particularly stressful world. Time consuming, yes. But anyone doing sports at Whitman is not getting a D1 scholarship with the possible exception of the occasional soccer player.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really? You would pay $40K a year b/c you don't like the sports program at Whitman? That is funny to me! I think the education is far better at Whitman that at most privates. There are so many clubs, drama, music, internship programs that kids can get involved with. I will agree that not all teachers are great (I find it hard to believe that every teacher at a private is good), but the ones that are good, are amazing!

I can think of a few reasons to not go to Whitman. Special Needs being the big one. It's a big school. It's definitely a place for confident kids who can self-advocate.

But sports?

I get that recruited athletes are operating at a different level, but dropping $160,000+ for a a participation trophy?

Lame. Maybe Whitman soccer is recruitable, but everything else is just students doing their thing. It's not a particularly stressful world. Time consuming, yes. But anyone doing sports at Whitman is not getting a D1 scholarship with the possible exception of the occasional soccer player.

Glad you’re happy there.

There’s absolutely a market for public (Government-administered) schools.

[Anonymous]

I see pros/cons as follows:

- writing/critical thinking—private wins out strongly. Teachers can only grade, edit, revise so many pages and you just lose out on numbers in public.
- math. I thought public would win, but at least Big 3 teaches math more in depth than public which tends to move a lot faster but is more superficial. And top privates can support fancy high level math just as well.
- community. This is very kid/parent dependent. Idiosyncratic kid more likely to find tribe in larger environment. Quiet kid can benefit from smaller community in private. Some parents also really want the snooty private school vibe for their own social status. While a downside of private, this tends to be sucky subset of climbers and not majority. And HS parents matter a lot less since your kids have own lives. Overall, this is a wash but might weigh heavily in your own household.
- sports / theater / clubs. Very private/public dependent. For athletics, big private recruit so your kid may never get playing time for baseball, basketball and definitely country club sports tennis, golf. But, they will make the team and play JV. Publics they won’t even make the team if not playing club/travel for big sports.
- there’s more homework in private early on. Public tends to more ease you in, particularly ninth grade. Private kids at big 3 are grinding right away. This could be a downside or upside depending on your pov.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: We did not choose Whitman for the following reasons:
--Classes are too large.
--Poor coaching and resources for sports.
--The school was too big in general.
--The student population and MCPS leans farther to the left politically than we are comfortable with.
--The school lunch quality is poor.
--The network and bonding does not compare to the private school he currently attends.
--The bureaucracy in MCPS is not what we wanted.
--The facilities are lousy. Whitman has weeds and trash all over their tennis courts. Nobody seems to care.

Aren't most of the private schools around here even further to the left? That has been my impression

You really don’t understand much about private schools here. You are thinking about some of the schools in the District.

The schools in Montgomery County have a different clientele.

[Anonymous]

We found the experience in MCPS to feel very impersonal, and have opted into private school.

The main benefits have been that

-my kids have good relationships with all their teachers (except maybe the ones they didn’t like) and feel like teachers care/are invested/know them well
-like being in a community where they know/see familiar faces - they don’t feel anonymous
-if there is a problem, we (parents) at least feel heard by the admin - not saying we get what we want, but i don’t ever feel like I am sending emails into some anonymous black hole where no one responds or cares
-my kids can participate in sports/arts/other activity just to try stuff, even in high school, and will likely get to do it in some meaningful way
-the decisions (like big ones for the school) are being made by people who are at our school, see the kids, and see the teachers, and are only about what is best for the school - I think this is a much better approach than MCPS, where the policies have to be the same even when schools serve very different students.

[Anonymous]

It's rare a private in MD area will do as well for college bound kids. Whitman wins. And preps for real world. Yes, some kids have blue hair. Are you going to protect your kid from all the blue hairs forever? How about your kid living amongst them. If my kid got into Sidwell or was on a particular sport, I'd consider a move. But the rest? No.

[Anonymous]

Whitman sports teams all suck the big one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We took our three boys out of Carderock and Plyle and sent them to local all boys, private schools.

It became obvious to us that the administrations and teachers at these schools answered primarily to the MCPS bureaucracy. The teaching was OK, but the coaching was woeful. We expected this would continue at Whitman.

The differences between the two environments and our son’s enthusiasm for all aspects of school (academic, athletics and social) were noticeable almost immediately. Our only regret was wondering why we didn’t make this switch sooner.

The neighborhood kids who stayed in the Whitman track weren’t harmed by the experience. But, for our active, athletic boys, the private school path was the right one.

Same experience with me. Pulled one child out in 6th the other after 4th grade. Not they enjoy all aspects of school. The experience for them and me as a parent has been far superior. No regrets.

Well, you wouldn't know that it's "far superior" because you didn't send your kids to Whitman, so you don't know what their experience would've been if they went there.

I'm forgetting what this type of bias is, it's when you make a decision and then you are only able to see why you made the right one, because it's too hard for people cognitively to accept the ways in which they might not have made the best decision. OP, you are only going to get people like the above poster who are convinced that their decision was "superior." Crazy to see so many post like this and then to think that this is one of the most educated ZIP Codes in the country.

Look, I’m wealthy. I’m not interested in buying a yacht. I’d rather invest in my kids in a way that gives them what is( in my judgement) a superior experience.

So privates are where I want to spend my extra free cash flow. Others in my financial position would purchase extra fancy cars, more overseas vacations, or Chanel purses. To each his own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whitman sports teams all suck the big one.

Their soccer teams are frequently state champions, and they’ve had good basketball and baseball years as well. Decent field hockey. By “sports” do you just mean football?