What is even the point of private schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked at one of the FAANG companies in its earlier years. It was chock full of private school kids.

Like who, Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin, Sheryl Sandberg, Marissa Mayer? Give me a break! It was fully of Ivy League recruits, the cream rose to the top and the private schools kids moved on

Sergey and Larry have been open about how their private Montessori education benefited them. They have spoken publicly about how they believe their childhood private school education did more for them than Stanford. There are videos of them talking about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked at one of the FAANG companies in its earlier years. It was chock full of private school kids.

Like who, Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin, Sheryl Sandberg, Marissa Mayer? Give me a break! It was fully of Ivy League recruits, the cream rose to the top and the private schools kids moved on

The Ivy League is disproportionately populated by private school kids, but I’m sure you’re right that they’re all probably going to be career failures.

Can we just stop this though? If you believe your kids are getting the best education in public school that’s great, please keep them there. Most of the people on this board have chosen something else for their kids and think it’s worth real $ to go elsewhere. I guess we all have different values.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we just stop this though? If you believe your kids are getting the best education in public school that’s great, please keep them there. Most of the people on this board have chosen something else for their kids and think it’s worth real $ to go elsewhere. I guess we all have different values.

And this wouldn't exactly fit with PP's agenda, but some parents even choose to send some of their kids to public and others to private!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we just stop this though? If you believe your kids are getting the best education in public school that’s great, please keep them there. Most of the people on this board have chosen something else for their kids and think it’s worth real $ to go elsewhere. I guess we all have different values.

And this wouldn't exactly fit with PP's agenda, but some parents even choose to send some of their kids to public and others to private!

My kids have each gone to a mix of public and private, depends on the needs of the kid and options available at the time. This whole debate is pretty silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who are against having any type of religion in public school are very vocal about pushing GLBT+ rights, environmental doom, equity, etc... - isn't that just the other side of the coin and a similar indoctrination? Sure, keep religion out of the public school, but also keep progressive ideology out of the school - at least until high school when kids can more clearly think for themselves.

Does the U.S. Constitution contain any prohibitions related to human rights or the environment?

Conservative ideology has very clear views on those topics, and many folks don't want it to lose the centuries-old stranglehold it is supposed to have as the "right" (pun intended) values.

[Anonymous]

So your kids can change gender and not have to tell you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:to have smaller class sizes and not have teachers and administrators who are stretched beyond limit - only worth it if the education is on par with public (this is a high bar for some in the DMV, and a low bar for others)

its cheaper to move than to pay second mortgage in private school costs?

I’m the PP whose kid saw kids vaping in the classroom and more (I didn’t even list all the issues). We already live in a supposedly good school district. People move to our district “for the schools,” which in hindsight is a ludicrous concept.

Agreed. Moved my kid out of a W school, which has an inflated reputation. The fact is that nearly all public schools, including in UMC districts, are suffering now--e.g., kids acting out in part as a result of the pandemic, lack of teacher continuity/too many subs, and subpar curriculum--and private schools offer an option that has less of all this. We liked the more traditional curriculum at our former private--full essays, reading full books including at the AP level, actual textbooks for math/calculus, you name it. The school fired and replaced underperforming teachers (or those that didn't show up regularly), something MCPS and other public schools can't do in most cases. And with fewer students and a better student-teacher ratio, maintaining control in classrooms (and at football games!!) was a far easier task. Also, the facilities were superior. How MCPS has gotten away without renovating Wootton, with its unbelievably poor infrastructure, I'll never understand.

The main downside at privates is the privilege problem. Didn't like that at all and worried about its effect on my kid. But honestly, it wasn't that much more extreme than at Churchill.

But as for readiness for college and work, what we saw was incredibly impressive (perhaps in part because of family connections)--great internships during high school, outstanding college acceptance record, and a strong work ethic among many students. Many of these kids have exceedingly high family expectations placed on them, so perhaps that's part of the reason (and not one that I support, generally).

[Anonymous]

Assortive mating (for kids & affair-seeking parents)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This again

We do private for the small class sizes ( 13-16) and the lack of violence. DD is in MS and doing well. My goal is not for her to get into a top Ivy it’s to enjoy learning and get an education. My friends son at a mcps MS had witnessed 3 fights already and they’ve only at school for 2 weeks.

+1, we are applying to private for HS. Smaller class sizes, an ability to discipline and not tolerate poor behavior. I'm not talking about chair-throwing, I'm talking about basic requirements to sit in your seat, listen to the teacher and do the work. The expectations of the students is above the bare minimum that it is in public.

Our zoned HS has a number of counselors but only one who is officially title the college counselor for 700+ kids. Unless you're top of the top, the average kid is getting little to no attention. "Based on your scores and gpa here's the list of schools you should apply to. Good luck." At the end of the day the academics may or may not be much better than would be available at our supposedly highly rated public, but the overall experience is bound to be a more positive one which counts for a lot.

And what do you think happens when your kid gets a job? You think Google has a career counselor providing an individualized plan to your kid for how to climb the career ladder or even keep their job?

Do you really think that the last several decades of expensive private school students have headed off to college and then they all just collectively fail in their careers? What would give you that impression? They don’t need individualized career counselors, they are exceptionally well prepared and have a strong network they can lean on.

My experience. They flail on the job, significantly underperforming their peers from public and their FA peers from Private. No one cares about your kid’s network at Google, Goldman, Academia, Research, Publishing, Music, Politics. They care about the employee that is going to make them and keep them rich. and powerful. And here is a hint for you, those employees are rarely the kids who were pondering the latte flavors and never had to compete for a club.

I’m a 45 year old professional and I could count on one hand the times I’ve ever learned of any of my professional contacts’ high school. I’ve never seen it on a resume except for maybe a mid-college intern. I do know where a lot of my own high school friends have ended up but I’m not sure how I would ever gather the data to see that there was some difference in performance of my professional peers based on where they went to high school. I can’t imagine seeing some 30 year old flail on the job and having anyone think it must have been his time at Sidwell.

I do think networks are key, particularly in politics or business. I’m jealous of the immediate success and connections some of the college athletes had that I never did.

[Anonymous]

I did not read the whole thread, but I think the OP's question is reasonable. Private schools are $50,000 and upward. That is a lot of money so it is reasonable to ask what the point is. I think the continued increase in applicant numbers (despite aggressive price increases of +5% annually in some cases) shows how disenfranchised parents are with the public school system. I think more are turning to private school out of desperation, rather than hope for an Ivy admit. Public school standards have been lowered in so many ways (quality of work, tolerated behavior etc) and the poor teachers are under more pressure than ever. Covid has done a real number of many young kids - just look at the profile of all the crime in DC right now - its kids.
Parents are all just trying to do the best for their kids with the resources they can afford. Sadly the gap between the experience of private and public school is getting wider. I think most people can see this is a problem as it only adds to feelings of resentment and inequality.
Access to a good education should be a basic right for all Americans.

[Anonymous]

There are so many alternatives to public school in this area that aren't $50K a year (or even close to it), especially before 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are so many alternatives to public school in this area that aren't $50K a year (or even close to it), especially before 9th grade.

Which ones?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not read the whole thread, but I think the OP's question is reasonable. Private schools are $50,000 and upward. That is a lot of money so it is reasonable to ask what the point is. I think the continued increase in applicant numbers (despite aggressive price increases of +5% annually in some cases) shows how disenfranchised parents are with the public school system. I think more are turning to private school out of desperation, rather than hope for an Ivy admit. Public school standards have been lowered in so many ways (quality of work, tolerated behavior etc) and the poor teachers are under more pressure than ever. Covid has done a real number of many young kids - just look at the profile of all the crime in DC right now - its kids.
Parents are all just trying to do the best for their kids with the resources they can afford. Sadly the gap between the experience of private and public school is getting wider. I think most people can see this is a problem as it only adds to feelings of resentment and inequality.
Access to a good education should be a basic right for all Americans.

+1 well stated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:with how it is nearly impossble for kids to get into Ivys unhooked.

with the insane woke brainwashing and the inbedding of politics into the circirulum and the loss of traditional learning

with schools and universities disregarding objective measures like SAT scores, AP test scores.

with top universities graduates having problems paying off their student loans and getting jobs


It all just feels pointless.

This is not why we're in private. Maybe it isn't for you.

[Anonymous]

We switched to private (partly) because my oldest was mocked for praying before lunch in first grade. Learning how awful our local public stats are was a bonus.