Private school for half the cost, would you do it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You work for the fund? Most ppl I know there are doing upper nw elementary then plan to do private a bit later. Some be of other priorities, some be they are committed to public ed. Which enviro is best for your kid? Think of it less as the bargain and more of what your kids needs are and that will lead you to the right place. Good luck!

Thank you! That is a good perspective

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Im guessing your DH works at the World Bank or IADB?

I 40,000 to pay a year is a BIG percentage of your take home right now
I would feel a bit tight. Also, the tuition at those schools is going to continue to go up so you will have a lot more to make up for.
If you are sent on a private, I would consider schools that are more affordable.

Where are your children now?

They are at NCRC. We have family money as well, but I feel bad using them for private school and prefer to invest it in real estate (our HHI might increase in the future also because we are planning to buy more properties and rent them... maybe $2-3k per month more, but it won’t happened right away because if the slow European real estate market)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You work for the fund? Most ppl I know there are doing upper nw elementary then plan to do private a bit later. Some be of other priorities, some be they are committed to public ed. Which enviro is best for your kid? Think of it less as the bargain and more of what your kids needs are and that will lead you to the right place. Good luck!

Yes, I know. Unfortunately, we don’t know much about the American school system. both DH and I went to grad school in the US, but that’s it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im guessing your DH works at the World Bank or IADB?

I 40,000 to pay a year is a BIG percentage of your take home right now
I would feel a bit tight. Also, the tuition at those schools is going to continue to go up so you will have a lot more to make up for.
If you are sent on a private, I would consider schools that are more affordable.

Where are your children now?

They are at NCRC. We have family money as well, but I feel bad using them for private school and prefer to invest it in real estate (our HHI might increase in the future also because we are planning to buy more properties and rent them... maybe $2-3k per month more, but it won’t happened right away because if the slow European real estate market)

Great school!
It's a tough decision because ideally you should make your decision based on your current income. But if you wait until after you get a raise or get investment money then it might be harder to get into those schools. Either way, I would suggest you buy in an area zoned for what you deem are good schools.
Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Money aside, we were choosing between Beauvior and Murch and chose Murch. Loved everything about Beauvior and many friends chose it, but on balance we felt that Murch was better able to meet our DC's academic needs for elementary school (they differentiate very well in our experience and our kid needed that), and we couldn't beat the great school community. You just aren't ever going to be in a place where you get this amazing mix of people, and it is a great community to grow up in. No regrets. DC is now going to private high school. It is worth your time to visit these schools before deciding.

Best of luck, you really can't go wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted on the private school thread already and someone suggested to ask here too, so here it is.
DH and I get an allowance of about half tuition up to $19,000. We make about 170k after taxes. We have two kids and might have another.
Should we do it? We would not be able to afford $80k per year, but 40k we can do it (60... maybe if my income increases which might double (from 55 after taxes to 90) in a couple of years. What would you do? We are international and travel out of the country to see family twice a year (cheap because usually use miles or trip is paid by DH’s job) once we are there we stay with family. Trips are non-negotiable and a priority for us (we also save money in the summer because kids are in home country for 2-3 months and we don’t ever pay for summer camps. Would you do it at our income level?

We are also planning to move (need a bigger house) and by selling what we have now (we are in DuPont) we can get a bigger house inbound for stoddert, Murch, Lafayette, etc.

We work for international organizations and we have great benefits (pension will be 70% of highest paycheck, home leave money, and we don’t pay taxes except for property taxes).

Also, we would apply to Beauvoir and Sidwell

Why only those two? Fund families are at lots of schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Money aside, we were choosing between Beauvior and Murch and chose Murch. Loved everything about Beauvior and many friends chose it, but on balance we felt that Murch was better able to meet our DC's academic needs for elementary school (they differentiate very well in our experience and our kid needed that), and we couldn't beat the great school community. You just aren't ever going to be in a place where you get this amazing mix of people, and it is a great community to grow up in. No regrets. DC is now going to private high school. It is worth your time to visit these schools before deciding.

Best of luck, you really can't go wrong.

Thank you! This is really helpful. I will visit all these public schools in October. Funny, just today i saw a house in our price range inbound for Murch... too bad we are not ready to buy yet!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted on the private school thread already and someone suggested to ask here too, so here it is.
DH and I get an allowance of about half tuition up to $19,000. We make about 170k after taxes. We have two kids and might have another.
Should we do it? We would not be able to afford $80k per year, but 40k we can do it (60... maybe if my income increases which might double (from 55 after taxes to 90) in a couple of years. What would you do? We are international and travel out of the country to see family twice a year (cheap because usually use miles or trip is paid by DH’s job) once we are there we stay with family. Trips are non-negotiable and a priority for us (we also save money in the summer because kids are in home country for 2-3 months and we don’t ever pay for summer camps. Would you do it at our income level?

We are also planning to move (need a bigger house) and by selling what we have now (we are in DuPont) we can get a bigger house inbound for stoddert, Murch, Lafayette, etc.

We work for international organizations and we have great benefits (pension will be 70% of highest paycheck, home leave money, and we don’t pay taxes except for property taxes).

Also, we would apply to Beauvoir and Sidwell

Why only those two? Fund families are at lots of schools.

I only visited 4 based on reputation and friends ends suggestions and those two are the only ones we feel are worth the $$ for us... I am sure there are many other great schools, but we care a lot about academics and for lower schools it seems like Beauvoir and Sidwell are the best

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im guessing your DH works at the World Bank or IADB?

I 40,000 to pay a year is a BIG percentage of your take home right now
I would feel a bit tight. Also, the tuition at those schools is going to continue to go up so you will have a lot more to make up for.
If you are sent on a private, I would consider schools that are more affordable.

Where are your children now?

They are at NCRC. We have family money as well, but I feel bad using them for private school and prefer to invest it in real estate (our HHI might increase in the future also because we are planning to buy more properties and rent them... maybe $2-3k per month more, but it won’t happened right away because if the slow European real estate market)

Great school!
It's a tough decision because ideally you should make your decision based on your current income. But if you wait until after you get a raise or get investment money then it might be harder to get into those schools. Either way, I would suggest you buy in an area zoned for what you deem are good schools.
Good luck!

Thank you! Yes, this is our plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted on the private school thread already and someone suggested to ask here too, so here it is.
DH and I get an allowance of about half tuition up to $19,000. We make about 170k after taxes. We have two kids and might have another.
Should we do it? We would not be able to afford $80k per year, but 40k we can do it (60... maybe if my income increases which might double (from 55 after taxes to 90) in a couple of years. What would you do? We are international and travel out of the country to see family twice a year (cheap because usually use miles or trip is paid by DH’s job) once we are there we stay with family. Trips are non-negotiable and a priority for us (we also save money in the summer because kids are in home country for 2-3 months and we don’t ever pay for summer camps. Would you do it at our income level?

We are also planning to move (need a bigger house) and by selling what we have now (we are in DuPont) we can get a bigger house inbound for stoddert, Murch, Lafayette, etc.

We work for international organizations and we have great benefits (pension will be 70% of highest paycheck, home leave money, and we don’t pay taxes except for property taxes).

Also, we would apply to Beauvoir and Sidwell

Why only those two? Fund families are at lots of schools.

I only visited 4 based on reputation and friends ends suggestions and those two are the only ones we feel are worth the $$ for us... I am sure there are many other great schools, but we care a lot about academics and for lower schools it seems like Beauvoir and Sidwell are the best

Yeah, well then you'd better stop with 2 kids.

[Anonymous]

You've got Cadillac tastes, if I can say that, but that's a lot of money on not a very large HHI. We make more than twice that and have had to make adjustments with moving one child from an upper NW school to a much less expensive private. If your children are admitted, I'm not certain it will be worth the large chunk out of your income, given the very good public choices in upper NW.

I'd plan on moving to upper NW and sending kids to the neighborhood elementary. Neighborhood schools are a great experience, and you can always consider private for middle or high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You've got Cadillac tastes, if I can say that, but that's a lot of money on not a very large HHI. We make more than twice that and have had to make adjustments with moving one child from an upper NW school to a much less expensive private. If your children are admitted, I'm not certain it will be worth the large chunk out of your income, given the very good public choices in upper NW.

I'd plan on moving to upper NW and sending kids to the neighborhood elementary. Neighborhood schools are a great experience, and you can always consider private for middle or high school.

That’s good advice. However we have been able to spend about $50k less than what we make (didn’t save, but invested in real estate). We don’t pay taxes and have amazing benefits so it is in our budget... still not sure how much different Beauvoir is from those public’s we are considering.

[Anonymous]

No one can tell you what to do OP, too many variables. IMO one really isn’t a clear better choice than the other. Some kids do need a different environment, smaller classes, etc., and others thrive in an environment where all their neighborhoods friends go to school with them. I don’t think it will be a strain on you, but it’s not just about if you can afford it you should. We also make more than double what you make choose public.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't do it. We could afford parochial school all the way up, but choose public (Brent) for our three children. Too many spoiled, well-off kids in privates for our tastes, too much pampering and catering to kids.

We like our children to rub shoulders with a mix of kids in a strong program, to make the best of a bit of social rough and tumble. Good luck with your decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one can tell you what to do OP, too many variables. IMO one really isn’t a clear better choice than the other. Some kids do need a different environment, smaller classes, etc., and others thrive in an environment where all their neighborhoods friends go to school with them. I don’t think it will be a strain on you, but it’s not just about if you can afford it you should. We also make more than double what you make choose public.

Thank you, but how do I know if my kids will do better in one vs another until I try? They are both very social, happy, normal kids. The older one will he redshirted (that might be another reason to go to private, right?). She is normal, but socialize better with same age kids and not older kids. Also, she is born in early Sept and we tho Got she would go to private school so we ended up keeping her at her preschool one more year (next year)