Washingtonian article on getting admitted to private schools (Nov 2011)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lovely home purchased long before children arrived, but our MoCo public school - for which we pay taxes - is lily white. Why would I want to enroll my black child there?

Are any of the teachers or the school leaders black? That wouLd be more important to me. If there are, I say go for it. If not, push the school to make changes. That is not a healthy situatiOn in the dc metro area.

Try GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree PP. Our MoCo elementary has about 400 kids, of which less than 15 are black.

EXACTLY. MY DD's DC private has about 35 % of student pop "of color", may of whom are bi-racial or multi-racial and international familes. The curriculum challenges the kids to dialogue about race, discrimination, community , etc... It is one of the great benefits of living in Washington with a highly educated diverse population. And there is economic diversity as well because the AD has to balance the FA budget. There has to be a mix or FA wouldn't work. I don't think the publics can engineer that kind of socio-economic and racial diversity even with district jerrymandering ( sp), which is illegal.

My child's FCPS elementary is 51% "non-white." It also has economic diversity. So I think you are wrong that publics can't "engineer that kind of socio-economic and racial diversity."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree PP. Our MoCo elementary has about 400 kids, of which less than 15 are black.

EXACTLY. MY DD's DC private has about 35 % of student pop "of color", may of whom are bi-racial or multi-racial and international familes. The curriculum challenges the kids to dialogue about race, discrimination, community , etc... It is one of the great benefits of living in Washington with a highly educated diverse population. And there is economic diversity as well because the AD has to balance the FA budget. There has to be a mix or FA wouldn't work. I don't think the publics can engineer that kind of socio-economic and racial diversity even with district jerrymandering ( sp), which is illegal.

My child's FCPS elementary is 51% "non-white." It also has economic diversity. So I think you are wrong that publics can't "engineer that kind of socio-economic and racial diversity."

OK, then well fine. Then people who live in FCPS can stick to public school and no need to come into DC for private.

[Anonymous]

PP from FFX Co clearly lives further out. I'm in McLean, and our neighborhood elementary school is white, white, white. Did I mention that it is white? The AA demo is less than 2%, which in that small school comes out to 4 kids. Who are actually biracial, because they're my neighbors. No thanks, our private has way more diversity. Important to us, since we're a) not American and b) interracial/biracial--the kids, anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds lie a waste whenyou can get just as good of an education at a public school. Look at their classmates in college, how many went private vs public? If you do well, you are going to go where you want to go for college

Agree, unless you live in DC in any other DC ward,but Ward3 . Not sure why people who live in MOCo or FF county would choose private, unless they are an alum and want DC to go to their school or want the diversity that DC privates offer.

There are plenty of reasons why any given family might choose private for their child, even when their local public is highly regarded. Just because your local school is great doesn't necessarily mean it is the best place for every child. I am a long time proponent of public and live in a highly sought out district in MoCo. I am a product of MoCo publics myself and was well prepared for college, grad school, career etc. Yet, I find myself as a parent of a privately educated child because of recommendations by teachers and professionals that public was probably not be the best option right now for our child's happiness or education. It's not all about getting into college later, or making connections..it's not always so black and white...it's often a matter of recognizing what each of your children will need out of school in terms of education and environment to help them be a happy and thrive academically and socially healthy person. That can certainly be done via public, and for many it is...but it is not the case for every child. Believe me, I wish it were the case for our child, but I am happy in our private so far....and we have a happy, thriving child..so mission accomplished (for now at least).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds lie a waste whenyou can get just as good of an education at a public school. Look at their classmates in college, how many went private vs public? If you do well, you are going to go where you want to go for college

Agree, unless you live in DC in any other DC ward,but Ward3 . Not sure why people who live in MOCo or FF county would choose private, unless they are an alum and want DC to go to their school or want the diversity that DC privates offer.

1) Classes that are way too large for my child to learn effectively
2) One size fits all approach
3) Very little PE, Science, Art , Music as compared to private
4) Huge push for going ahead in math when many children aren't really prepared for (before the knives come out, even MoCo is reevaluating this approach. It is a mile wide and an inch deep)
5) Little emphasis on foreign language
6) Diversity

we live in a highly regarded MoCo cluster and i wish we could use it. For our child, the private has been a better approach for ES. We will continue to evaluate but for now this works best for my DC. Just because because a school is highly rated doesn't mean it fits what my child needs for his education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of reasons why any given family might choose private for their child, even when their local public is highly regarded. Just because your local school is great doesn't necessarily mean it is the best place for every child. I am a long time proponent of public and live in a highly sought out district in MoCo. I am a product of MoCo publics myself and was well prepared for college, grad school, career etc. Yet, I find myself as a parent of a privately educated child because of recommendations by teachers and professionals that public was probably not be the best option right now for our child's happiness or education. It's not all about getting into college later, or making connections..it's not always so black and white...it's often a matter of recognizing what each of your children will need out of school in terms of education and environment to help them be a happy and thrive academically and socially healthy person. That can certainly be done via public, and for many it is...but it is not the case for every child. Believe me, I wish it were the case for our child, but I am happy in our private so far....and we have a happy, thriving child..so mission accomplished (for now at least).

This post is too sane, too rational and too non-confrontational. Good job!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP from FFX Co clearly lives further out. I'm in McLean, and our neighborhood elementary school is white, white, white. Did I mention that it is white? The AA demo is less than 2%, which in that small school comes out to 4 kids. Who are actually biracial, because they're my neighbors. No thanks, our private has way more diversity. Important to us, since we're a) not American and b) interracial/biracial--the kids, anyway.

I live in 22043 (the Falls Church part of FFX County), so actually no further out than McLean, just not as wealthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree PP. Our MoCo elementary has about 400 kids, of which less than 15 are black.

Fewer. Just because, you know, this is a thread partly about where one gets the better education. Nothing personal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds lie a waste whenyou can get just as good of an education at a public school. Look at their classmates in college, how many went private vs public? If you do well, you are going to go where you want to go for college

Agree, unless you live in DC in any other DC ward,but Ward3 . Not sure why people who live in MOCo or FF county would choose private, unless they are an alum and want DC to go to their school or want the diversity that DC privates offer.

There are plenty of reasons why any given family might choose private for their child, even when their local public is highly regarded. Just because your local school is great doesn't necessarily mean it is the best place for every child. I am a long time proponent of public and live in a highly sought out district in MoCo. I am a product of MoCo publics myself and was well prepared for college, grad school, career etc. Yet, I find myself as a parent of a privately educated child because of recommendations by teachers and professionals that public was probably not be the best option right now for our child's happiness or education. It's not all about getting into college later, or making connections..it's not always so black and white...it's often a matter of recognizing what each of your children will need out of school in terms of education and environment to help them be a happy and thrive academically and socially healthy person. That can certainly be done via public, and for many it is...but it is not the case for every child. Believe me, I wish it were the case for our child, but I am happy in our private so far....and we have a happy, thriving child..so mission accomplished (for now at least).

Cuious, as I have heard many people say things like this : just why would your DC NOT be happy in your wonderful public that did such a great job educating you and is sought after by so many? Is there a buzz word that I am not understanding? Publics tailor to special needs through IEP mandate. Private's do not. "great publics" still offer art and music, so when you say,"we live in bounds for a highly sought after public" that means your school has a great art and music program. So, specifically: what is it lacking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Cuious, as I have heard many people say things like this : just why would your DC NOT be happy in your wonderful public that did such a great job educating you and is sought after by so many? Is there a buzz word that I am not understanding? Publics tailor to special needs through IEP mandate. Private's do not. "great publics" still offer art and music, so when you say,"we live in bounds for a highly sought after public" that means your school has a great art and music program. So, specifically: what is it lacking?

Not the PP you are asking, but there are plenty of needs someone might have that don't fall into the category of warranting an IEP. This poster made the same choice I did, which was to consider what was best for her child. Just because other people want to go to her public school rather than whatever other school they might be zoned for doesn't mean it is the best for HER child. She is fortunate to have a choice so she went with the best option for her kid. I'm a parent of kids zoned for JKLMM, and my kids are in a private school - and it's not because I thought I had to get them in at K to ensure a high school spot. The school doesn't even go to 12th.

[Anonymous]

In general advantages of private school go away when you control for parents' income. Interestingly, my classmates at Harvard from private schools did seem more self-assured, despite being underrepresented in groups like Phi Beta Kappa. When I got my yearbook, which listed birthdays, I found out why: they were a year older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree PP. Our MoCo elementary has about 400 kids, of which less than 15 are black.

Fewer. Just because, you know, this is a thread partly about where one gets the better education. Nothing personal.

[Anonymous]

What I found particularly telling in this article, and that I'm surprised nobody has mentioned, is the WIS admissions director saying that she sees the WPPSI being useful only insofar as it flags kids who perform well below the norm. I am even more surprised that we haven't seen the usual WPPSI prep course advocates coming out in full throat against this article. After all, without constantly stoking the fear among understandably insecure parents that sub-genius scores will forever hinder a child's acceptance into and advancement through the area's top private schools, the bottom falls out of their business.

Of course, I see a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs who want to start up a "play date" prep program for 2-3 year-olds. For only $500/hr, your child can learn how to play nicely with others in the 98th percentile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:``Private schools are more about the self-assurance and social connections that many grads have, not the average SAT scores. I can see from my friends who went to private schools that there is a difference. ''

Wrong. It's about being more successful in college.

Wrong. It's about being able to post here, where everybody is so warm and supportive.