Choosing private school over Lafayette ES?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at a top private.

Of course she is. Top 40 is still the tops! Just ask Casey Kasem!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at a top private. And everyone I know well who has kids at Lafayette are seriously considering pulling them. One of the problems with public is that all the problem kids are there, too. And they could be in class with your kid. Some people are not so happy with that. Some of my friends are not, which is why, even if it is economically hard for them, they will pull their kids from Lafayette if nothing changes in the coming year. Good private schools are not going to tolerate much of the crap that seems to go on every week at Lafayette. Your comment that my kid could not handle public is ridiculous, and, unlike your kid, my DC has the WPPSI score to prove it. DC would have been BORED by public. Our preschool director warned us about sending DC to Lafayette, saying that only the squeaky wheels get the grease there, and that DC was too well behaved to get what DC needed there.

There is a world of difference between a good private and a good public. You attack me for snobbery but have nothing to say about the stats I have listed. THERE IS NO GIFTED PROGRAM IN DCPS AT ALL. The art and music programs are a joke. The frequency of "extras" is appallingly low.

Somehow, you think because someday I may want to sell my $1.25 million house (yes, I live in one of the bigger ones in the neighborhood, although not the biggest; we have a second home) means I should tell the OP that Lafayette is wonderful and that she is not missing out by not sending her kid to a top private school. Sorry, but I won't lie. My neighbors and I have all made the choice that private is significantly better. I can take the real estate hit for not lying, but, you know, keep doing what you do. And I hope it's not your kid that is the subject of the next playground brawl e-mail on the listserv.

You, my dear, are a piece of work adn have been brainwashed by your neighbors.

First - it's TACKY to list the median income and compare it to your own, to list the value of your home and add that "oh - yes, we have a second home". You are KLASSY. With a capital "k".

Second - before you go spreading this fight business. There was 1 fight. ONE. Posted on a stupid listserv (I really can't believe you're just not above something so COMMON as a listserv). Just wait until your entitled brats get beaten up for not lacing his topsiders the proper way!

Third - DC public school uses the most rigorous curriculum in the country. And it's implemented at schools such as Lafayette, Key, Janney, etc. I am one of the "poor" residents of DC making about 150k, yet I've devoted my life to working in education. I write education programs and develop curricula. I can tell you that private schools have inferior teachers, little oversight, an abundance of social problems because they are stuck with the problem children of parents with pull. Yes, there are "problem children" in public schools. You know what? I'm GLAD that my kids get to see a piece of the actual world - where some kids have ADHD and some have sensory issues. I'm glad that my kids get to see kids who need help get help.

Fourth - Private schools have such a small population that there are so few resources for differentiation!! There are no gifted classes in private schools. And please don't tell me that all kids in private schools are gifted because it's just not true. Leading to point 5:

Fifth - I refuse to base my child's - or your child's - or any child's ability in school based upon a test taken at age 4. Sorry, hun, but testing is unreliable at best and severely damaging at worst (by mistracking) until about 4th gr and even then, scores vary wildly by day depending upon a whole host of factors.

I feel sorry for you and your WPPSI, 1.25 million, second home, poor 100k earners and playground brawl life. You are doing your kids a disservice.

[Anonymous]

It is clear from your post that you are an insecure snob and you don't know what you are talking about. Anyone who posts the value of their home on a listserv is pathetic.

How many friends do have - two or three? And I bet hearing their complaints about Lafayette makes you feel more confident about your school choices - which is a really twisted way to be a friend, neighbor and parent.

Glad you didn't choose Lafayette because guess what we are fine without you.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone else think that 23:09 is becoming unhinged?

23:09's posts are increasingly sounding like that chick lit mainstay prose, where the author itemizes all the brand names of her shoes and their cost (I have Jimmy Choos!) then her handbags and so on.

In any case, I'm curious how you're so intimately aware of everything that unfolds at Lafayette each week, given that you and ALL YOUR FRIENDS are at TOP PRIVATES.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fourth - Private schools have such a small population that there are so few resources for differentiation!! There are no gifted classes in private schools.

NP here: At the elementary school level, at least, aren't there two separate issues here? One is financial resources, and the other is critical mass. A smaller private school may not have enough kids to pull out to form an entire gifted class, but it may have the resources to hire extra teachers to work with kids (including those who are more advanced) in small groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Third - DC public school uses the most rigorous curriculum in the country. And it's implemented at schools such as Lafayette, Key, Janney, etc. I am one of the "poor" residents of DC making about 150k, yet I've devoted my life to working in education. I write education programs and develop curricula. I can tell you that private schools have inferior teachers, little oversight, an abundance of social problems because they are stuck with the problem children of parents with pull. Yes, there are "problem children" in public schools. You know what? I'm GLAD that my kids get to see a piece of the actual world - where some kids have ADHD and some have sensory issues. I'm glad that my kids get to see kids who need help get help.

Thank you PP, for clarifying this and breaking it down. I had heard that DC has the most rigorous testing available, but it's difficult to reconcile with the gossip and general reputation, you know. I understand it can take a while for this to catch up. The testing data linked above helps. Thank you for your time.

[Anonymous]

Well, luckily for us this snob isn't one of my neighbors as we live on a block of teensy weensy $800,00 homes. It's also obvious the poster's background isn't in research since she has no freaking idea what anybody's income level is. It's laughable to think that private school kindergartens are filled with geniuses. I think we all know better. The kindergarten classes at Lafayette are small; far smaller than our suburban school counterparts. The art and music program is not a joke. The school has an outstanding partnership with the Kennedy Center and two excellent art teachers. Send your kid wherever you want and choose; that's the beauty of living in the U.S., but don't disparage an excellent school to validate your choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, luckily for us this snob isn't one of my neighbors as we live on a block of teensy weensy $800,00 homes. It's also obvious the poster's background isn't in research since she has no freaking idea what anybody's income level is. It's laughable to think that private school kindergartens are filled with geniuses. I think we all know better. The kindergarten classes at Lafayette are small; far smaller than our suburban school counterparts. The art and music program is not a joke. The school has an outstanding partnership with the Kennedy Center and two excellent art teachers. Send your kid wherever you want and choose; that's the beauty of living in the U.S., but don't disparage an excellent school to validate your choices.

Here here to you and a number of the other posters who deftly critiqued the 23:09 poster with a DC at a top private. Our children are at a "top private" (I have to laugh just writing those words - is that a new brand? How do you wear it? Couture or pret a porter?), but they would not be if we lived in CCDC. 23:09's reference to WPPSI scores is laughable -- I'd be confident to wager a large chunk of change that most Lafayette students can equal or top WPPSI scores of entering Pre-K/K classes at ALL the "top privates" in the area. This area is teeming with bright kids in DC independent AND public schools. Some Lafayette kids will go to Deal, some parents may move to MoCo, and, gasp!, some may join her DC at a top private in 6th grade. GDS, Sidwell, Maret, etc all admit kids from Janney, Lafayette, and Mann (in addition to other DCPS) every year because they are...qualified. 23:09 is probably not aware of the kids from Banneker, School w/o Walls, and Wilson who attend the Ivies because they are...qualified.

I'll be on the lookout for anyone wearing the "top private" label when I drop my kids off at school tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

le Top Prive

[Anonymous]

Ooooh. Maybe we can make new magnetic bumper stickers for our cars: "My Child Attends a Big 3!" "My Child Is At A Top Private." "My Child Would Be At One Of the Big 3s But Got Waitlisted So Is Now at a Top 10"

[Anonymous]

I strongly suspect the whack job poster of sending her kids to BS, not one of the top 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette has 120-125 kids in Kindergarten in 5 sections. My child's private has 40 K students in 3 sections. Private also has PE 4 times a week, reading 5 days a week, music 2 x a week, art 1x week. Within the group of 40 students, there are five reading groups (so roughly 8 kids per reading class).

Lafayette may be one of the best DC public schools, but that is not saying much. If you have the ability to go private to one of the better private schools, there is really no comparison. People can wail and nash their teeth about that statement, but it's true. I actually found these two statements by apparent Lafayette parents on this thread horrifying:

Playground brawls "are pretty rare." So they do happen. C'est la vie?

Why would someone diss Lafayette when it might affect their house's resale value? Not even going to comment on that one.

Lafayette's immediate neighborhood is mildly affluent. Based on a study a local church did, I believe the median income is $130K-$150K. Yet there are people who live in the neighborhood with incomes of well north of $500K a year. None of those people, so far as I know, send their kids to Lafayette. I am one of them and I do not, nor do I have any neighbors who do. This kind of discussion would not even be had in Cleveland Park or Spring Valley, where everybody sends their kids to private.

Your comments nearly made me throw up. You are truly a horrible and pathetic human being.
Signed,
Georgetown Mom (who doesn't need to reveal her household income)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: DC public school uses the most rigorous curriculum in the country. And it's implemented at schools such as Lafayette, Key, Janney, etc.

I'd like to know more about this--how, specifically, is the curriculum more rigorous? Or is it just that the testing regime they use is more challenging?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I strongly suspect the whack job poster of sending her kids to BS, not one of the top 3.

HA HA HA, you got me. This whole time I have been writing about my cat's obedience school. I don't even have kids.

Lafayette sounds like a great place with all of the neighborhood families going there and I love how it's just like Lake Woebegone - all the kids above average and everything. I was very upset at first when they would not let my cat in. His paw print paintings show real promise, IMHO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I strongly suspect the whack job poster of sending her kids to BS, not one of the top 3.

I take issue with this, as it would be a disparaging comment about BS.