Has anyone left Somerset Elementary for a private school? Why?

[Anonymous]

We're at Somerset right now, but constantly think about whether we are doing the right thing. We have parents willing to send our kids to private school if thats what we wanted. We want to be sure that it makes sense to do so before attempting the admissions process. Without having kids in both, it is so difficult to tell the pros and cons. Has anyone on this board made a switch from Somerset Elementary to Sidwell, GDS, Maret? If so, why did you do it? (If you are comfortable sharing.) What was lacking at Somerset? What did you gain from the switch? Did you feel the switch was pointless after having done it? TIA!

[Anonymous]

I did the opposite. We left private for Somerset and are really happy with our choice. Here are some of the reasons why:

1)I feel like the private just didn't have the same resources for differentiation (my kids were bored) and I really like the multiple reading and math levels at Somerset;

2) I was having a hard time with the sense of entitlement and snobbery at the private and like the community of Somerset so much better (after all, I like the neighborhood so much, I bought a house there!);

3) I like the balance of power better at Somerset -- all parents have the same access to teachers, resources, principals, etc. At the private, I really felt like some rules were overlooked for those parents who donated huge amounts;

4) for the very few things that I miss about the private, I have found substitutes for in the community (the savings differential is staggering!);

I think you need to think about exactly what you hope to gain over Somerset by going private and making sure that the schools you are looking at actually will provide it.

HTH

[Anonymous]

I know this is snarky, and I say this as a parent in a Bethesda-area elem school, so take it with a grain of salt: isn't Somerset one of the very best schools in MCPS? So, probably one of the best public elementary educations you can get in the country? Why spend all of that money (even if not "yours")? If you child has special needs, excuse my comment. But if not gifted or with a disability that could benefit from extra attention, I really don't understand this need to "do better" than what is probably one of the very "bests"....

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the responses. Somerset's reputation is exactly what makes it a tough choice. But, the neighborhood is very wealthy, so this isn't the place to look for diversity. Racial or socio-economic. Some of the private schools we are most attracted to have quite a racially diverse student body. Not so much socio-economic, of course. We went on tours at GDS and Sidwell and were struck by the tremendous racial diversity. It seems better to have that than a far more homogeneous wealthy population. The second reason we think about it. We have friends with kids in private schools. The youngsters have almost daily PE, music and art several times per week, drama. Our kids at Somerset are not getting this experience.

[Anonymous]

OP again. Finally, one more thing that attracted us during these school tours. The "social curriculum" for want of a better word. There appears such an emphasis on social justice, character development, learning to "do the right thing" etc. at some of these private schools. I don't feel like our kids get much of that. And its attractive to us.

[Anonymous]

What grade?

And, why don't you apply and see if you actually get in to Sidwell, and GDS. It's not great odds.

[Anonymous]

Switching schools when kids had friends in the school is never a simple decision. We want to make sure its the right choice. Of course no one can actually tell us, but thought there may be people who have made this specific switch who can comment on it. (And one did - thank you!)

[Anonymous]

I think you are putting the cart before the horse - depending on the grade your child will enter there may be no spaces available or their could be competition for those spaces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Finally, one more thing that attracted us during these school tours. The "social curriculum" for want of a better word. There appears such an emphasis on social justice, character development, learning to "do the right thing" etc. at some of these private schools. I don't feel like our kids get much of that. And its attractive to us.

I didn't go to one of the private school in this area but I went to one of the top schools in NY on scholarship. My situation was different in that I wasn't at one of the top public schools. You could get a good education and go on to a top college at my local school but it was a tough, as in could get into physical fights type of school and being in talented and gifted was not always a good thing.

In private school, I don't know that the Quaker values were really embraced by the student body. I think most kids were typical teenagers and we did community service as required by the school. I will say as an adult I can now appreciate Quaker meeting and what we learned but it wasn't the type of thing that changed how we interacted with each other as teenagers that we were nicer to each other until maybe high school. In private school I've had a few teachers that stand out but I also had a few stand out teachers in public school. Where I think private school differed is that I was more likely to play an instrument or a sport because everyone got to do it. PE in middle school was picking a sport so I tried things I probably wouldn't have done otherwise - cheerleading, lacrosse, field hockey without regard to having played it before or needing to beat out other kids to get a slot. There were high expectations academically (which at Somerset probably isn't an issue) and high expectations of behavior. Believe it or not, there was no bell to get to classes, you knew you had a set amount of time or you were late. We had study halls and free time during the day that we were able to use to get homework done. I always found it funny that people paid all this money to go there and we all had lunch duty rotation to clean up the lunchroom. I guess you learn quick not to leave your mess for someone else to pick up when one day a week you are that someone. When I later went to public school for one year it was vastly different. I needed to get a pass to go the library during my lunch time. I
mean I guess there might be those crazy kids going to school and cutting class to read in the library but really.

You are lucky that you are in the situation where your family will help out. I do think there are things you can get at private school that you can't even at the best local public school just by nature of private school being able to incorporate things like music every day, foreign language, playing a sport, free periods and study halls, and making rules around dress codes and lunch duties for example that would be harder to at a school where you aren't making a choice to go there. Is it worth $20,000 more per child if you can't afford it at all or easily .... that's when you look at doing the best you can - bringing your kids to different enrichment activities, getting kids involved in church, community service, girl scouts etc. Being" that parent" if you feel the school isn't expecting enough of your child, applying to magnet programs. I think you can still find the things you are looking for even if you stay in public school but it would take more of your
time and energy to get supplement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you are putting the cart before the horse - depending on the grade your child will enter there may be no spaces available or their could be competition for those spaces.

I don't want to get into details, but please be assured that we've thought through this and have reason to believe that our kids are extremely viable candidates. Nothing is guaranteed, but they have a great shot this year. Nonetheless, we don't want to put them through testing and visits etc unless we're pretty sure we want to push this through. The perspectives have been interesting so far. Please keep it coming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you are putting the cart before the horse - depending on the grade your child will enter there may be no spaces available or their could be competition for those spaces.

I don't want to get into details, but please be assured that we've thought through this and have reason to believe that our kids are extremely viable candidates. Nothing is guaranteed, but they have a great shot this year. Nonetheless, we don't want to put them through testing and visits etc unless we're pretty sure we want to push this through. The perspectives have been interesting so far. Please keep it coming.

Yeah, here's the thing - there are maybe one or two slots for grades past K and there are more parents then you who believe they have the holy grail that gets them in. Unless the Admissions director sent you a letter that says" congrats, your kids are in" you are not "in" no matter what you believe.

And as far as "I want diversity" - whatever. That is so tired. These schools might have children with different skin color but they are all from the same kind of home and family - over acheiving parents who want the best for their child academically and socially. If you want true diversity get your kid involved in activites outside your comfort zone. Find classes, sports, groups, etc that meet somewhere besides Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you are putting the cart before the horse - depending on the grade your child will enter there may be no spaces available or their could be competition for those spaces.

I don't want to get into details, but please be assured that we've thought through this and have reason to believe that our kids are extremely viable candidates. Nothing is guaranteed, but they have a great shot this year. Nonetheless, we don't want to put them through testing and visits etc unless we're pretty sure we want to push this through. The perspectives have been interesting so far. Please keep it coming.

Yeah, here's the thing - there are maybe one or two slots for grades past K and there are more parents then you who believe they have the holy grail that gets them in. Unless the Admissions director sent you a letter that says" congrats, your kids are in" you are not "in" no matter what you believe.

And as far as "I want diversity" - whatever. That is so tired. These schools might have children with different skin color but they are all from the same kind of home and family - over acheiving parents who want the best for their child academically and socially. If you want true diversity get your kid involved in activites outside your comfort zone. Find classes, sports, groups, etc that meet somewhere besides Bethesda.

I agree. Real diversity goes beyond skin color, way beyond. It feels much less safe it feels at the Big Three, where those lovely Benetton-ad kids all play well together (because they come from the same backgrounds). It poses bona fide challenges.

Come on over to East Silver Spring and we'll show you real diversity.

[Anonymous]

Our family is zoned for Woodacres. Great community and local school.

However, we selected private school. Public school felt too much like a machine with very little personal attention. We have been quite pleased with the decision and have no regrets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did the opposite. We left private for Somerset and are really happy with our choice. Here are some of the reasons why:

1)I feel like the private just didn't have the same resources for differentiation (my kids were bored) and I really like the multiple reading and math levels at Somerset;

2) I was having a hard time with the sense of entitlement and snobbery at the private and like the community of Somerset so much better (after all, I like the neighborhood so much, I bought a house there!);

3) I like the balance of power better at Somerset -- all parents have the same access to teachers, resources, principals, etc. At the private, I really felt like some rules were overlooked for those parents who donated huge amounts;

4) for the very few things that I miss about the private, I have found substitutes for in the community (the savings differential is staggering!);

I think you need to think about exactly what you hope to gain over Somerset by going private and making sure that the schools you are looking at actually will provide it.

HTH

Ditto, except we switched to a different Bethesda ES, not Somerset. We've been very pleased with the school, and I agree completely with all the points made by the above PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're at Somerset right now, but constantly think about whether we are doing the right thing. We have parents willing to send our kids to private school if thats what we wanted. We want to be sure that it makes sense to do so before attempting the admissions process. Without having kids in both, it is so difficult to tell the pros and cons. Has anyone on this board made a switch from Somerset Elementary to Sidwell, GDS, Maret? If so, why did you do it? (If you are comfortable sharing.) What was lacking at Somerset? What did you gain from the switch? Did you feel the switch was pointless after having done it? TIA!

I actually think this is your issue.

Grow up and pay for things yourself.

If you're that hungry for money, I'm sure you can wait it out until the will is read.