completely overwhelmed by the entire private school process- st. pat's, beauvior? nps? help!

[Anonymous]

hi. we live in nw dc and are looking into private schools for next year for our child who is in nursery now and will be in prek next year. what is the process. any advice from you dc insiders. do i have friends who attend there write letters of recommendation? what if they are just an acquaintance? how should i go about asking? what is the etiquette? this is a totally new process for us.

can we afford these schools? do you pay upfront or in installments? how to explain to husband why our child needs to start in prek or kindergarten. he doesn't get it.


thank you!

[Anonymous]

If you are looking for next year, you need to get moving now because the deadlines are typically sometime in January, with admissions decisions made in March. The child will for most schools have to go for a school visit and for many of the schools you need to submit WPPSI testing. Letters of recommendation are usually part of the application package from the nursery school/preschool teachers. You can also get letters from parents at the school but that is not required at all.

In terms of finances, I think most schools have some sort of payment plan that spreads the tuition payments over the course of the year.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't buy into the preK thing.
Yes, Kindergarten is important. Start the fall before kindergarten. Get your child tested. If the results look good, just present yourself at any school admissions office to pick up the info. Read up as much as possible about the school before going. If you like them, then that is the best fit.
If the testing results look less than favorable, get a second opinion from an expert (Lab School), and ask them what should be the next move.
Don't kill yourself over the process. But use your instincts. If you don't like the people at any school, they will never please you, and you will never get involved. Which will determine your child's happiness.

[Anonymous]

The process is quite daunting, but if you get started now and stay on top of the paperwork (and you can do a lot of it online), you should be fine. Most schools let you pay in some form of installments. If you are friends with parents at the school who know your child, then it's fine to ask. If they're just acquaintances, I wouldn't. As for explaining it to your husband, well, frankly I don't buy the argument that kids have to start at K or pre-K to ensure that they have a permanent place at the school. I know lots of kids who went to DC public elementary school and then had their pick of private schools for 7th grade (including ours). What's your neighborhood school? Check it out before you put yourself in debt -- the schools you are mentioning are in the $24,000 and up range and only get more expensive as the grade level rises.

[Anonymous]

Agree with checking out public schools first. I would only look at private if you have a good reason. Kids do better if the get a good start. The wrong school in early years can damage a child academically and his/her self esteem. Private schools can do damage. They are not all better than public.
Which brings up another question, why don't private schools publish their test scores?

[Anonymous]

I know that I am likley in the minority (if not the only) with this view, but i think that the entire private school process is only as daunting as you make it, at worse it is a very time consuming process but once you make peace with that you will be ok. Your first line of defense is to stay calm, the second is to be informed. All the independent school have websites that provide a lot of information of the admissions process. If you want a list of schools in the area you can find it on with the nais.org or the aisgw.org websites. Just take a few hours to review the info make a list of schools that interest you and then start visiting schools (most of the open houses started in October so you should get going soon). After the visits you will be able to narrow down the one your want to apply to.

As for the WPPSI, again, do not worry to much about it. Most schools will suggest a list of people who administer the WPPSI. Pick one and make an appointment, on test day make sure your child is well rested and well fed and let him/her handle the rest.

Good luck with the process.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the PP.....maybe I am just naive, but we moved here last year and without any information or advice from any locals - I simply Googled private schools in DC. Then I called and requested applications and then visited the school. (No one told me what a big deal this school thing is around here). Then I applied to the ones that seemed nice, had my child do the test, and waited for an answer. Every school I dealt with was pleasant and non-intimidating. We were waitlisted for a few and then accepted at one of these schools you are discussing. Yes, there are a lot of "wealthy" types - but aren't there a lot of these types in most affluent suburbs where the people are educated and succesful? Most people I have met are friendly, interesting and positive.
I think if you find the process scary - you probably have pre-conceived ideas of the people you will be dealing with.......
It is expensive - I don;t know if we will go this route for the long term.....but for now - being new to the city - it has been a nice experience.

[Anonymous]

Private schools don't publish test scores because kids don't take the tests...

[Anonymous]

Ahh. . PP, I think the testing referenced in these posts is the child taking the IQ test (WPSII) required by most private schools.

[Anonymous]

Oops meant WPPSI.

[Anonymous]

But what about school average SAT scores? How do the parents measure what they're getting.