Has anyone switched from private to public elementary school (esp. JKLM)?

[Anonymous]

Would any PP's answer change if the choice was between an EOTP elementary and an independent private school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would any PP's answer change if the choice was between an EOTP elementary and an independent private school?

I'm the poster from 2 posts ago and I only have experience with one elementary (JKLM) and I feel like I can only speak for a school I've actually had kids attend (and attend a number of years).
That said, I have no reason to think I wouldn't be okay with an EOTP elementary. We moved where we did pre-kids and quite randomly (we were not thinking about schools at all).
I'm comfortable with a certain amount of dysfunction at school. It doesn't have to be the perfect experience. They could take away recess entirely and we wouldn't withdraw our kids. They could increase
class sizes to 28 and we'd be fine. Other parents would not be. E.g. there seem to be plenty of people who choose private school based on the recess issue (1 vs. 2 vs. 3) alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 3 kids at a JKLM (combined 18 years of instruction--yikes!)
Strengths:
-90% of teachers have been very good. I'd say 50% are as good as a teacher can get, 40% are very good and 10% have been bad (playing on their phone all day, not giving a crap bad).
-extracurriculars including PE/recess are great. I've never felt that my kids need more active time.
-curriculum is good; straight up common core for math and ELA. The "specials" classes have a lot of well-thought out projects, etc. Writing classes are okay. Again, some teachers great, some not as great.
If there's one thing that the kids and their friends (in the upper grades) are weak in it's writing.
-engaged, smart peers. By-in-large all the kids are very bright and want to learn. They've all been doing extracurriculars since birth like the rest of NW DC
-community, community, community. One million playdates and everyone within walking distance.
-parents are great. Pretty much interchangeable with all our private school friends: many doctors, law partners, some famous people, etc. Just minus the extreme wealth: We don't have people with private jets. lol

Weaknesses:
-no real acceleration at all for kids who are ahead or want to be challenged. I think the basic level of instruction is pretty fast (the cohort is bright) but there is no compacted math (accelerated math that Mont. Co does) and
certainly no gifted and talented program.
-it's not a service industry like the private school world. There is a subtle feeling that your kid is just 1 out of hundreds. Kids' own talents/interests aren't fostered or encouraged. The class is taught as a pack. Teachers
are nice but generally distant. If you want to feel like your child is a super unique and special child and have this feeling fostered and catered to you won't get this feeling at all (especially if your child is a good student---I don't have
experience with kids who are behind--perhaps they feel a bit more invested in). If your child is doing well you are definitely just a bit of a interchangeable number.

Just a quibble about the math and advanced kdis - some kids end up in Algebra I in 7th and it is because the math has been compacted through differentiation ... they just don't call it compacted math. i realize this may be changing a bit since my DC went through, but my DC's iReady test result after 5th was between 7th and 8th and we did not supplement. I also felt that the project based learning allowed the very bright kids to stretch to their hearts desire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would any PP's answer change if the choice was between an EOTP elementary and an independent private school?

I would only post about schools I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would any PP's answer change if the choice was between an EOTP elementary and an independent private school?

I think it depends--there is a wide range in terms of test scores and other factors in play at EOTP schools. We recently switched our early elem. child from an EOTP Deal/Wilson feeder to private--however, it was for language immersion. For us, small class sizes were not a factor in considering private--child had class sizes of 14-16 students PK3-K at IB school. Class sizes are larger (20-24 students) at the private. We do like that there's more recess time--once per day at IB school, vs. 4x/day at private.

I wholeheartedly agree with others that there are a lot of pros to a neighborhood school. If it were not for the language immersion aspect, we would have happily stayed with our IB.

[Anonymous]

Didn't we just have a thread about JKLM kids who can't get into private because it's too hard? They have to compete against the entire DMV and they're not as specially snowflake as their parents thought?

Seriously, we just had this thread last week. The reason to enroll in private now is because you can't get in when MS rolls around. Your child just can't compete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didn't we just have a thread about JKLM kids who can't get into private because it's too hard? They have to compete against the entire DMV and they're not as specially snowflake as their parents thought?

Seriously, we just had this thread last week. The reason to enroll in private now is because you can't get in when MS rolls around. Your child just can't compete.

Here's the thread PP was referring to. http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/709133.page

[Anonymous]

Murch is fine, but Deal is overcrowded. It's the size of a small town, run by middle school ethos (Lord of the Flies).

Half of Wilson students are on track to graduate within four years.

Talk about not worth it...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didn't we just have a thread about JKLM kids who can't get into private because it's too hard? They have to compete against the entire DMV and they're not as specially snowflake as their parents thought?

Seriously, we just had this thread last week. The reason to enroll in private now is because you can't get in when MS rolls around. Your child just can't compete.

I thought it wasn't because "it's too hard", but because they have fewer spots in upper grades and more spots in K. This is different type of hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We switched to public ES, not the only ones to do this fyi. The advantages of a neighborhood school can't be overstated imho. Playdates, informal connections with other families in the area, all build a usable community. Yes, there was strong community at our private, but the distance required to make it useful was an ever present drain on our energies. The class size is bigger, but the teachers are paid more and, again imho, better qualified in many respects. Also, parents, and their views, matter less. The school listens to the parents, but really is weighing more whatever it is they see in the children.

I agree with this. Sometimes I feel like we're living in the 1970s in my 'hood. Kids running around without parents, walking over and playing with friends independently, a full village of parents who all help each other out an (importantly) spend some serious cocktail time together. No key parties, though. Sad.

This is all so depressing for the 90% of us who aren't living the $$ life in upper NW. Neighborhood schools are a luxury around here.

private? who cares.

[Anonymous]

The cost is worth it in MS or HS, not elementary school. We went from public JKLM to private MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't we just have a thread about JKLM kids who can't get into private because it's too hard? They have to compete against the entire DMV and they're not as specially snowflake as their parents thought?

Seriously, we just had this thread last week. The reason to enroll in private now is because you can't get in when MS rolls around. Your child just can't compete.

I thought it wasn't because "it's too hard", but because they have fewer spots in upper grades and more spots in K. This is different type of hard.

This. It's harder because there are so few spots, and many of them are taken up by kids who have been in a K-12 since K. It's not harder because kids who go to public elementary aren't qualified; it's because there are so many qualified kids.

[Anonymous]

We are inbounds for Murch. If we could easily afford private, we’d do it. I think if you can swing it easily without giving up savings etc, then it’s be good to get in while you can. For us, we could just afford it, especially once we don’t have our nanny that is very well paid over the table , but at the cost of something. So we can do it if a kid needs special attention etc but are hoping to do public until college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would any PP's answer change if the choice was between an EOTP elementary and an independent private school?

One DC is at an EOTP elementary and did private in the earlier years, and have another DC who has always been in private. We are removing DC from the EOTP DCPS and running like hell to private. I never want to see another public school again, to be honest. The big issue is the cohort of children. I imagine this isn't a problem a JKLMMS. It is definitely a problem at our Title 1 EOTP elementary especially above second grade. Great teachers, so so administrators, but incorrigible children. Fighting, bad language, a lot of behavioral issues and no socio-emotional curriculum to effectively deal with them. Also, too much testing, art and music classes are a joke--and you only have them every eight days or something like that--just to say you have them. We considered renting an apartment in bounds for a JKLMMS (criticize me all you want, this Chancellor mess and what I have experienced has given me the one man for himself attitude--screw the rules) while continuing to live in our home EOTP but the $2000 a month rent (and the stress of dealing with a lie) doesn't make economic sense when we can go to a private and pay about the same with a little financial aid AND avoid the limited recess and all the testing of the desirable DCPS. So I would say Yes, the answer definitely does change. Private and an EOTP elementary are night and day and if I could afford private, I would definitely switch--or move in bounds for JKLMMS (I love our neighborhood and value the diversity we have too much to move).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't we just have a thread about JKLM kids who can't get into private because it's too hard? They have to compete against the entire DMV and they're not as specially snowflake as their parents thought?

Seriously, we just had this thread last week. The reason to enroll in private now is because you can't get in when MS rolls around. Your child just can't compete.

I thought it wasn't because "it's too hard", but because they have fewer spots in upper grades and more spots in K. This is different type of hard.

This. It's harder because there are so few spots, and many of them are taken up by kids who have been in a K-12 since K. It's not harder because kids who go to public elementary aren't qualified; it's because there are so many qualified kids.

And they do get in for 9th. I have yet to hear of any of DC's friends shut out for high school.