Why did you/do you want to go private?

[Anonymous]

Because if Covid and mcps not communicating and we’ll about opening.
We stayed because of an ADHD diagnosis, small class sizes, and my kid is doing well and made friends.

[Anonymous]

We are in a good MoCo elementary but our kid is often bored in class so we are making the move.

Our reasons:
-smaller class sizes
-increased/better differentiation, more challenging curriculum in higher grades
-foreign language classes before middle school
-1000x better arts program
-2x better music program (the music teacher at her current school is actually pretty great, but private schools can dedicate more time and effort)
-better science curriculum, at least in elementary
-more access to learn different sports, take part in different extracurriculars, etc
-teaching executive functioning skills
-better community — teachers and staff who actually know your kid’s name
-less behavioral issues (we hope)
-more variety in schedule (i.e. “specials” meet multiple times per week, rather than just once)

I am thankful that my kid has been able to make neighborhood friends and I firmly believe our public school is doing its best, but they have to spend time raising the floor, which can impact those with high ceilings.

[Anonymous]

We are a Catholic school family. Both DH and I went through Catholic schools, as did most of our cousins and their children. It was our comfort zone.
That being said we did evaluate it along the way. One DC has LD and we were able to navigate their needs with minimal effort. One was academically advanced and the school offered enough differentiation to meet that child’s needs. Great community and faith development were also strong. Great fit for our family.

[Anonymous]

We switched my dc mid year. He is smart but not exceptionally so. He is above average and scored 96-99 percentile on map testing. He didn’t need private to increase grade level rigor. He just needed an academic environment that was teaching grade level material. He was bored and restless and teaching himself before. Now he’s in a small class that values academics and his teachers are able to challenge him where needed. This has been our experience switching from a desirable public elementary to a run of the mill catholic k-8

[Anonymous]

Our kid cannot function well in large classes, but is fine in the 17-20 student classes at our private.

[Anonymous]

Our in-bound public is terrible, and we didn't want to move so we went private. It has been terrific for our kid.

[Anonymous]

We made the move at the elementary level for a school with a really integrated curriculum. Meaning every few weeks they pick one overarching topic area and teach all of the core and extracurricular subjects through the lens of it. (India, The Middle Ages, etc.) They also have small class sizes and a high teacher/student ratio that allow for more collaborative learning versus straight instruction. (not in DC)

I have a super-curious, creative kid who was really bored with traditional teaching by subject area. Smart, but hated school. They had a million things they independently wanted to learn about instead of doing another math worksheet.

They are so much happier now because they have a place to exercise their curiosity with other like-minded kids. They're doing great with reading, math, etc. too, but all of those subjects are much more fun now.

[Anonymous]

I intentionally moved to an excellent public school district, but surprisingly went the private school route. Smaller class sizes, better teacher/student class ratios were primary reasons. I think it's also very kid-specific. I felt like my kid would respond better to the more personalized smaller school private vibe

[Anonymous]

- We're religious and appreciate that the school our kids are now at aligns with our faith (but we were in public for many years and the a-religious aspect of public was not a dealbreaker for us on it's own).

- The use of technology for everything in our local public was annoying. My kids were given grammar instruction by Lexia and required to do ST Math unrelated to what their actual math units were on-and-off. But the absolute worst were the teachers who, post-Covid, decided that using the ridiculous Google slide decks they created during virtual school were still appropriate instead of worksheets for SECOND graders. Despite the over-reliance on ed-tech, typing instruction was only offered as a small part of a middle school elective and not given to kids before they needed it.

- Writing instruction is so far superior at the private that it's not even funny.

- We do have at least one academically gifted kid, and the private we picked offered a similar accelerated math track and much more hands on science than our local public. Eventually (late high school) the private won't be able to compete with the publics on math, but we have a plan to provide those options via local or online universities if needed.

- When my kids do struggle academically, the school has better supports in place for average kids to excel than the publics. In public you have to be doing incredibly poorly to get support. In our private everyone who wants it can go see a tutor for free during school hours. This takes a big load off my plate as a parent.

- The homework expectations give my kids a lot more chance to actually master the material. At our public elementary the homework started in 1st but disappeared by 4th. That left some gaps in math. My kids learned things and promptly forgot them due to lack of practice.

- The social scene at our private has been far better for my kids than it was at our public. This is very our kids/our family specific, but it mattered to us. Watching one of my kids go from thinking of herself as a social unskilled nerd to realizing she is a bright but also friendly kid has been huge. Without this school environment it would not have happened. Same environment wouldn't be perfect for everyone, but it's working for our kids for now.

- At our public school my kids dealt with occasional physical violence from other kids, or witnessed it. It wasn't pervasive, but still. At our private kids can still get loud and a little crazy (and my kids wish they didn't), but there's not physical violence.

[Anonymous]

We started DD at a private school in K and have no intention of moving her to public.

Our reasons:

- small class sizes

- full curriculum, including plenty of art/music/science, with excellent facilities to support those subjects

- phonics-based reading

- emphasis on socio-emotional learning

- support for her dyslexia and ADHD diagnoses without having to fight the school

[Anonymous]

Wild technology overuse was the problem that led us to eventually pull the trigger.

We were able to paper over academic deficiencies in writing, math, history, etc. by heavily supplementing, but eventually it got to the point where we had too many kids in the school system to do it comfortably. There's only so much time in the day.

Got tired of being in one of the woker school districts, as well. It wasn't a huge issue, but what I'd heard from parents of older children is that things got worse in more advanced grades.

[Anonymous]

After a few interactions with our school, it became apparent to me that the priorities of the principal and the teachers were the edicts and metrics of the MCPS.

Students and parents came in third at best.

Private schools don't have to be concerned about the needs, wishes and whims of a large bureaucracy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private schools are different, not all offer the same academics. Some are able to do special classes for very bright kids even if the rest of the class isn't there. Some have a high achieving student body generally. And some can't really do advanced academics.

What I've found most valuable are the specials (music, art, theater) that have been largely gutted at public, and the writing instruction. Meaningful science, history, and language classes also start at younger grades than at public.

I would add Foreign Languages. That is a joke even in the best DCPS elementary schools. World difference in our not super elite private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m being encourage by family to consider private for my kid who is exceptionally bright and not very challenged at his public school. But I’m not sure privates will serve him any better, particularly as it will be a stretch to do private and we’d have to reduce how much extra stuff he gets to do outside of school. In any case it got me wondering why folks on this forum have chosen to do private and whether that reason has actually come to fruition as your kids have been in those schools…

Also, one of the best aspects of private school is the community and the deep friendships children form. Of course, any kid can make friends everywhere. But some of the public is so large, and kids don't form deep connections. This also goes with the relationship between the teacher and the kid. In a private school, the teacher knows the kids very well. The kid feels they are part of a community.

[Anonymous]

Went to private, was interested in private for older grades for kids (reason: small class size) but how can people afford it unless at least 1 parent high-powered lawyer/doctor/etc. or family helping? Are most people here getting family help?