academics at private vs. public in McLean (Chesterbrook)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:an involved dad here - 7:42 - as others have said, thank you very much for your thoughtful and insightful posts.

don't know if you or anyone else here has thought about, but was just wondering, if money were not an isue, ould you pick chesterbrook or the potomac school for k-6?

my thanks to you all

depends if you are comparing aap or not. I've heard potomac is rather slow on the ramp up in terms of academics until grades 4,5 - i.e. k,1 may not be ahead of publics in terms of the curriculum

[Anonymous]

7:42 again: We have not yet applied to Potomac for our kids, although I have heard nothing but good things about the school. Private school is on the table for middle/high school for us; we will see if it's what our kids need at that time.

I do worry about FCPS's draconian disciplinary procedures, especially as I am a mom of 3 boys and boys can do stupid inane things. My oldest DS was called to the assist. principle's office earlier this yr b/c he was "drawing pictures of guns" in a notebook - he was drawing pics of star wars storm troopers as he is a star wars lego nut and didn't think anything of it. So I worry how his at times cluelessness will translate into middle school/HS behavior.

Also, my understanding is that Potomac is very competitive for admittance. While I think my 3rd grader has a great chance of acceptance, I didn't think my K kid would test well. Maybe when he matures a bit, but not this yr. So trying to move our oldest to Potomac would have likely meant 3 kids in 3 schools and with 2 full time working parents we just could not swing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are many families in the Chesterbrook area who send their kids to private and are quite happy with the decision. I wonder what their reasons are.

Social climbing

Religious education

Desire to get away from "teaching to the test" atmosphere

Special needs/LD issues

Social climbing

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised at the comment that the principal at Chesterbrook was more approachable than the principal at Haycock. I don't know the Chesterbrook principal, but my child is a student at Haycock and Dr. Sheers (the principal) is fabulous! We have found her to be very involved and very approachable. Good for Chesterbrook if they managed to find someone even better than Dr. Sheers, but she really is great.

[Anonymous]

I looked at Chesterbrook for K for our daughter and was very, very impressed. My concern was the half day. I absolutely believe that they cover all of the academics that would prepare her for 1st grade- again, pretty impressed with the academics and the teachers. But to squeeze all of that into a half day leaves little to no time for things like art, gym, music which I remember are given but not often (once a week?) I understand that I can supplement the program and fill her day with other fun things (take her to things at the communite center, ballet, etc) But I was worried about how this might change her view of school. Right now, she loves school and thinks it's great to go. But if you take away a lot of the things that she loves, I'm not sure what she'll think of school and I hate for her to lose the enthusiasm she has for it right now.

[Anonymous]

We opted for private as well, although our neighborhood school is Spring Hill in McLean, not Chesterbrook. SH is also a well-regarded elementary and it was a tough choice, but our biggest overall concern with FCPS is class size.

This year, at SH, there is a 3rd grade class with 33 and a 5th grade class with 35. We also were concerned with half day K and although that looks like that may be addressed soon, the county is nonetheless facing quite a bit of pressure budget-wise. Teacher raises are a high priority (along with FDK) so I don't think the class sizes will improve anytime soon. In fact, I think they may increase county-wide.

I really think it boils down to the needs of the child and family. In our case, our second child I think would thrive at SH, but I don't think it's the right fit for our older child. And, I am mildly annoyed at PP's suggestion that "social climbing" is the most important factor for parents. The ones that I know who are ponying up the money for private really spent a great deal of time investigating options and trying to do the right thing for their own families, NOT to keep up with the Joneses.

[Anonymous]

totally agree with PP. There are many of us for whom private is a very, very difficult choice that will mean real and prolonged sacrifices. While we may be lucky enough to pull it off, it will not be easy and the choice is a really tough one. I know there are many parents in these neighborhoods for whom it means nothing financially, but the ones I know are parents just like me, with their childrens best interests at heart. Trying to figure out what's right for a 4 year old is not easy. A lot of unknowns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:totally agree with PP. There are many of us for whom private is a very, very difficult choice that will mean real and prolonged sacrifices. While we may be lucky enough to pull it off, it will not be easy and the choice is a really tough one. I know there are many parents in these neighborhoods for whom it means nothing financially, but the ones I know are parents just like me, with their childrens best interests at heart. Trying to figure out what's right for a 4 year old is not easy. A lot of unknowns.

If you don't know what's right for a 4-year-old, why spend the extra dollars now on a private kindergarten?

[Anonymous]

15:01 here. In our family's case, DC is very intelligent - spoke very early/large vocabulary, imaginative, very high WPPSI scores - but cannot be rushed to do anything until ready, and was/is slower with some physical milestones, etc. Socially DC is more comfortable in smaller groups and can be a little emotionally fragile. Feel our private option will help nurture and differentiate more and allow to develop at own pace, while giving the foundational study and social skills to succeed in older grades.

I also am a big believer in the importance of early childhood education generally. I think that so many of the critical life skills a person needs to develop to be happy and successful later in life are developed in the younger years, and that establishing the best environment for a young child (whatever that is for the child/family) can make a big difference. So, while I think tuitions in this area are ridiculously high, I don't find it ridiculous to allocate dollars to a elementary-aged child vs. a high school aged child.

To PP's point, I don't know what DC will love, dislike, fear in high school. It's impossible to guess at this age. But our idea is that we give DC a foundation that is a good fit, and then DC can choose the right high school environment (staying at the private, a different private, or going to Langley HS if we are still zoned there at that point). Each year, we will reassess if our private school is meeting our goals and is the right place for DC. While the investment is, admittedly painful, it's one that we are willing to make and the great thing is that we are guaranteed to be able to go to our great neighborhood public schools if we determine our needs change.