Moving to private to secure high school pathway

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. We did this and was so glad that we stayed in our local public for K-5 and then accepted into a Top 3 school for 6th. Turns out that our child was also academically ahead of the kids who had started in the Top 3 school at K, and we saved about $250K by doing public school for elementary. So big win-win overall.

I wouldn't say you saved $250k. There was a trade-off by doing public school for elementary. Elementary school is important and there are many reasons to avoid the public school system.

They saved money the same way you save money by cutting your own grass instead of hiring out, with time being the trade-off. At any rate, we did public through 5th, then moved to a 6-12 private (not Burke).

Yes - there are many reasons to avoid public schools from the start, but you do indeed save 100Ks by tolerating public for however long you can before going private. But yes, if money isn’t an issue, it’s perfectly rational — and perhaps even advisable — to secure a private spot in K.

It is an odd flex to brag about how cheaply you raise your kids. You can cut lots of corners but your kids don’t turn out the same. Some of us think it is worth investing in our kids.

We are a private schools from K family and this is one of the dumbest comments I’ve ever read on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. We did this and was so glad that we stayed in our local public for K-5 and then accepted into a Top 3 school for 6th. Turns out that our child was also academically ahead of the kids who had started in the Top 3 school at K, and we saved about $250K by doing public school for elementary. So big win-win overall.

I wouldn't say you saved $250k. There was a trade-off by doing public school for elementary. Elementary school is important and there are many reasons to avoid the public school system.

They saved money the same way you save money by cutting your own grass instead of hiring out, with time being the trade-off. At any rate, we did public through 5th, then moved to a 6-12 private (not Burke).

Yes - there are many reasons to avoid public schools from the start, but you do indeed save 100Ks by tolerating public for however long you can before going private. But yes, if money isn’t an issue, it’s perfectly rational — and perhaps even advisable — to secure a private spot in K.

It is an odd flex to brag about how cheaply you raise your kids. You can cut lots of corners but your kids don’t turn out the same. Some of us think it is worth investing in our kids.

We are a private schools from K family and this is one of the dumbest comments I’ve ever read on DCUM.

Please elaborate. Why?

[Anonymous]

Many people do switch to private for middle school for the reasons you suggest OP. Depending on your financial situation and how many kids you have I would run the numbers on a move to the suburbs. I think privates are better but whether you can afford it and what you would have to sacrifice is different for everyone.

[Anonymous]

It's also really good to leave DCPS before high school, especially if going to a Big3 high school. The jump in academic expectations between the 2 is incredibly large at 9th grade and it's good to make this move prior to the grades counting for college admissions.

We have experience with moving 3 kids and watching many of their friends make this jump as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. We did this and was so glad that we stayed in our local public for K-5 and then accepted into a Top 3 school for 6th. Turns out that our child was also academically ahead of the kids who had started in the Top 3 school at K, and we saved about $250K by doing public school for elementary. So big win-win overall.

I wouldn't say you saved $250k. There was a trade-off by doing public school for elementary. Elementary school is important and there are many reasons to avoid the public school system.

They saved money the same way you save money by cutting your own grass instead of hiring out, with time being the trade-off. At any rate, we did public through 5th, then moved to a 6-12 private (not Burke).

Yes - there are many reasons to avoid public schools from the start, but you do indeed save 100Ks by tolerating public for however long you can before going private. But yes, if money isn’t an issue, it’s perfectly rational — and perhaps even advisable — to secure a private spot in K.

It is an odd flex to brag about how cheaply you raise your kids. You can cut lots of corners but your kids don’t turn out the same. Some of us think it is worth investing in our kids.

We are a private schools from K family and this is one of the dumbest comments I’ve ever read on DCUM.

Please elaborate. Why?

Because plenty/most people “invest” adequately in their children without spending anything on private school tuition.

[Anonymous]

You seem judgmental of those who want a higher bar than “adequately.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You seem judgmental of those who want a higher bar than “adequately.”

I’ll reiterate that we did publics in high end burbs for elementary and middle and I don’t feel at all like we were missing out on big 3 education as my kids have been very very successful in the transition. Public seemed to prepare them quite well; candidly, they are doing better than many of their lifer peers. We chose our local public not for financial reasons but for cohort and quality of teachers and community of neighbors. Their public have a bunch of HYP type wealthy parents. Their teachers were well paid and smart and overall good (yes, we got some duds here and there!). But even more than that our kids grew up riding their bikes and free ranging around the neighborhood with their lovely and bright neighborhood kids, testing limits, exploring independently, sleeping over at neighbors houses, playing on all the teams with their neighborhood school mates. I do feel that these families mistakenly put their belief in the local public high school and that academically there is a huge gap in upper schools. But, just to give a different viewpoint: we though that private elementary and middle school was not only a financial toilet flush but my kids would be losing out on a valuable experience. So, yes, adequate for us!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. We did this and was so glad that we stayed in our local public for K-5 and then accepted into a Top 3 school for 6th. Turns out that our child was also academically ahead of the kids who had started in the Top 3 school at K, and we saved about $250K by doing public school for elementary. So big win-win overall.

I wouldn't say you saved $250k. There was a trade-off by doing public school for elementary. Elementary school is important and there are many reasons to avoid the public school system.

They saved money the same way you save money by cutting your own grass instead of hiring out, with time being the trade-off. At any rate, we did public through 5th, then moved to a 6-12 private (not Burke).

Yes - there are many reasons to avoid public schools from the start, but you do indeed save 100Ks by tolerating public for however long you can before going private. But yes, if money isn’t an issue, it’s perfectly rational — and perhaps even advisable — to secure a private spot in K.

It is an odd flex to brag about how cheaply you raise your kids. You can cut lots of corners but your kids don’t turn out the same. Some of us think it is worth investing in our kids.

We are a private schools from K family and this is one of the dumbest comments I’ve ever read on DCUM.

Please elaborate. Why?

Because plenty/most people “invest” adequately in their children without spending anything on private school tuition.

Please read the comment again then. You must have misunderstood it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You seem judgmental of those who want a higher bar than “adequately.”

I’ll reiterate that we did publics in high end burbs for elementary and middle and I don’t feel at all like we were missing out on big 3 education as my kids have been very very successful in the transition. Public seemed to prepare them quite well; candidly, they are doing better than many of their lifer peers. We chose our local public not for financial reasons but for cohort and quality of teachers and community of neighbors. Their public have a bunch of HYP type wealthy parents. Their teachers were well paid and smart and overall good (yes, we got some duds here and there!). But even more than that our kids grew up riding their bikes and free ranging around the neighborhood with their lovely and bright neighborhood kids, testing limits, exploring independently, sleeping over at neighbors houses, playing on all the teams with their neighborhood school mates. I do feel that these families mistakenly put their belief in the local public high school and that academically there is a huge gap in upper schools. But, just to give a different viewpoint: we though that private elementary and middle school was not only a financial toilet flush but my kids would be losing out on a valuable experience. So, yes, adequate for us!

What is adequate for some is completely inadequate for others.

[Anonymous]

Plus there are so many families who do public through 8th grade only to get shut out when applying for 9th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You seem judgmental of those who want a higher bar than “adequately.”

Well, as someone with two kids in private school since K, I’m far from judgmental towards those that make the same choice. What I don’t do is charge that people who send their kids to public school are thereby failing to properly “invest” in their children, which was the import of the comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plus there are so many families who do public through 8th grade only to get shut out when applying for 9th.

And then cue the “I didn’t know it was so competitive” threads

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. We did this and was so glad that we stayed in our local public for K-5 and then accepted into a Top 3 school for 6th. Turns out that our child was also academically ahead of the kids who had started in the Top 3 school at K, and we saved about $250K by doing public school for elementary. So big win-win overall.

I wouldn't say you saved $250k. There was a trade-off by doing public school for elementary. Elementary school is important and there are many reasons to avoid the public school system.

And many reasons to go to public ES. Just a counterweight that the top kids at our Big 3 often come in 9th and often from public. Not always, but a lot of them. It can’t be all savage gangs roaming the hallways.

.

Which big3? Not STA or Sidwell, where the 9th graders are overwhelmingly from private school. The exceptions are typically athletes low-key recruited for team sports.

I have experience at both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. We did this and was so glad that we stayed in our local public for K-5 and then accepted into a Top 3 school for 6th. Turns out that our child was also academically ahead of the kids who had started in the Top 3 school at K, and we saved about $250K by doing public school for elementary. So big win-win overall.

I wouldn't say you saved $250k. There was a trade-off by doing public school for elementary. Elementary school is important and there are many reasons to avoid the public school system.

And many reasons to go to public ES. Just a counterweight that the top kids at our Big 3 often come in 9th and often from public. Not always, but a lot of them. It can’t be all savage gangs roaming the hallways.

.

Which big3? Not STA or Sidwell, where the 9th graders are overwhelmingly from private school. The exceptions are typically athletes low-key recruited for team sports.

I have experience at both.

Perhaps you tell yourself that? I don’t know what to say. I know loads of kids across many many recent years. There is a stronger mix of public and private school kids coming in at 9th than perhaps your experience? Maybe that was true a decade ago? They aren’t recruited athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You seem judgmental of those who want a higher bar than “adequately.”

Well, as someone with two kids in private school since K, I’m far from judgmental towards those that make the same choice. What I don’t do is charge that people who send their kids to public school are thereby failing to properly “invest” in their children, which was the import of the comment.

Oh no! If only I could turn back time. I thought I should be proud of my public k12 public kid who got a full tuition merit scholarship for college. If only I had invested more!!