DC residents & private

[Anonymous]

We haven't made the move to private yet. Kids are in 7th and 4th. Our 7th grader will apply to private schools and SWW for HS. Might end up moving the youngest to private starting in 6th if our current MS plan doesn't work out.

[Anonymous]

I think this thread is silly unless people specify where they live in DC. DCPS schools remain highly stratified.

[Anonymous]

Started private in K because it felt like the best fit for DC. We’ve been happy with the experience but don’t necessarily think it’s the best investment. I think DC could have gone to DCPS and ended up at the same private high school.

[Anonymous]

Pk4 then to close in Montgomery County public for 4th grade. DC was always slow to connect w other kids.We ultimately decided we wanted a school pyramid tracking through high school that had more of the same cohort of students still there in middle and high school than was possible in any DCPS scenario. With a different kid any stronger DCPS to Walls, Latin, Basis would have been good, prob slightly better than what MCPS delivered.

[Anonymous]

We are in Cathedral Heights and started private in PK4. The move to private at some point felt inevitable, and it’s so much easier to get in during the early years. Obviously the cost is a huge consideration, but I never regret starting as soon as we could.

[Anonymous]

Son is a Junior at Macarthur, daughter just applied for 7th and was accepted at NCS, Sidwell, SR and Holton. Son applied for 9th (2 years ago) just to STA, no luck. For daughter, we figured waiting for 9th was too risky. Son had a good experience in public high school, but the difference in experience with some of his friends was clear. We live in Glover Park.

[Anonymous]

Live on Capitol Hill. If I could do it all over again, I would have banked the money and moved them both in 6th but that's hindsight of course. It's a lot of money. We had two in private from first grade on.

Beware though. Private to private to catholic are not all the same. There will be a transition period and for me, I wouldn't want that to occur in 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Son is a Junior at Macarthur, daughter just applied for 7th and was accepted at NCS, Sidwell, SR and Holton. Son applied for 9th (2 years ago) just to STA, no luck. For daughter, we figured waiting for 9th was too risky. Son had a good experience in public high school, but the difference in experience with some of his friends was clear. We live in Glover Park.

To be fair, MacArthur is still really new and I think the renovations and more time will make a big difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in Cathedral Heights and started private in PK4. The move to private at some point felt inevitable, and it’s so much easier to get in during the early years. Obviously the cost is a huge consideration, but I never regret starting as soon as we could.

(Just FYI for others who might be reading this and worried their kids won't get into private unless they apply super early) - We are also a Cathedral Heights family. Many, if not most of the kids in our neighborhood go to Stoddert for elementary.The ones that have broken off for private in middle and high school have all got in- we do not know any families here that have not been able to go private at some point. Some have even gone to private during non-entry year- it's really not an issue.

[Anonymous]

One child started in 3rd. Other will likely start in 4th (although she’s a kid who could be in public for longer and it won’t matter, plus we love our neighborhood public). It very kid/DCPS school dependent, I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Cathedral Heights and started private in PK4. The move to private at some point felt inevitable, and it’s so much easier to get in during the early years. Obviously the cost is a huge consideration, but I never regret starting as soon as we could.

(Just FYI for others who might be reading this and worried their kids won't get into private unless they apply super early) - We are also a Cathedral Heights family. Many, if not most of the kids in our neighborhood go to Stoddert for elementary.The ones that have broken off for private in middle and high school have all got in- we do not know any families here that have not been able to go private at some point. Some have even gone to private during non-entry year- it's really not an issue.

Fully agree with this. The biggest scam the privates have somehow promulgated is if you don’t start in PK you won’t get in. Literally every DCPS family we know who wants to go to private gets in.

[Anonymous]

We live in NW, in-bounds for a good elementary, and sent our oldest starting in PreK. We didn’t get a PreK lottery slot that appealed to us, and then when it was time for K, we decided to stick with private. I think they would have been fine overall in public, but we felt that they would do best with smaller classes and a calmer environment. It feels like an insurance policy rather than something absolutely necessary. I think our calculus would have been different had we had a different kind of kid or if we had budgetary constraints.

[Anonymous]

I started DD in private in Pre-K when we didn't get a spot in our local public (she would have gotten one for K, but by then we liked her current school).

Being honest my calculus had to do with our family structure; I'm a single parent and I needed school to be her "co-parent" of sorts. It made a huge difference that her school environment was so structured and accessible. I could pick up the phone and call the head of school; front desk staff always knew where she was if I needed to drop something off.

I felt remorse that we didn't have the neighborhood community of her public school peers; families with whom I probably would have connected with better socially. But we needed the scaffolding for our life, despite the not insignificant dent in our budget. She is starting Sidwell for 9th from her small K-8 and we're pretty happy.

[Anonymous]

Live in Glover Park. Started private in middle school for both kids. In hindsight, as much as we all love Stoddert, I wish we pulled them sooner. The way they taught math really screwed both kids up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Live in Glover Park. Started private in middle school for both kids. In hindsight, as much as we all love Stoddert, I wish we pulled them sooner. The way they taught math really screwed both kids up.

in what ways are they screwed?