How does one afford private school in DC for 32,000/year

[Anonymous]

I am curious--my husband and I make about $170,000 we have two kids and we do not qualify for financial aid. How does one do it? We are not rich, but we are not lower SES. Any advice?

[Anonymous]

Think of it this way--if you paid out of pocket for two kids, you'd still have as much left over as my family has in total every year. Of course, then you'd have to live as we do (except your kids would be in private school, our kids in public school). So it's possible, right?

[Anonymous]

We make slightly over twice of what you do and it's a stretch to send two kids to private school.

[Anonymous]

There are some private schools that cost less, especially the catholic schools. Or, as a PP says, cut way back on your expenses, probably starting with your mortgage and moving into an apartment.

Check out charter schools, a lot of them are terrific.

We earn maybe $60K more than you and decided that we could send 1 kid but not 2 to private schools. This was after DC got into a top 3 with no FA. We did what a lot of families in your and my income bracket do, which is move to good school districts in VA or MD.

[Anonymous]

Beats me. We have a HHI of about 130K were expected to pay $19K to send ds to private school. We could have scraped and scrimped-- no vacation, cable, gym membership, going out to eat-- but decided the public school was just fine.

[Anonymous]

Marry a partner at a corporate law firm and have only one child. Well, that's what I did.

In your position, I'd skip private and make housing choices based on public schools (including charter). My take is that some (but not most) private schools are worth the money for some kids but only if they don't financial and/or logistical havoc with the rest of your life. For the vast majority of kids, the difference between a good public and a good private education just isn't that great -- especially if they have well-educated parents who are engaged and who value education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Marry a partner at a corporate law firm and have only one child. Well, that's what I did.

In your position, I'd skip private and make housing choices based on public schools (including charter). My take is that some (but not most) private schools are worth the money for some kids but only if they don't financial and/or logistical havoc with the rest of your life. For the vast majority of kids, the difference between a good public and a good private education just isn't that great -- especially if they have well-educated parents who are engaged and who value education.

Hilarious...already married, but interesting advice. Right now in DC and underwater with the house.

[Anonymous]

Drive ancient cars and don't go on vacation. Rarely go out to eat.

[Anonymous]

Then I'd say charters are the way to go. If I hadn't married the corporate lawyer and found myself putting a kid (or two) through school on an academic's salary (or two), I think that would be my approach -- especially if, for whatever reason, moving was not a good plan.

Certainly it's what one of my former grad students did and his DD is about the same age as mine. Both of his kids went to ES (and are going to MS, I think) at Two Rivers. He's looking at SWW for HS. Charter options (and locations) keep changing and some start as early as PK3 which might even give you a chance to experiment and find the right fit.

Abstractly/politically, I'm opposed to charters. But, realistically, in DC, they may be your best option (depending on kids, location, what you want from school, etc.) The search/admissions process is stressful and a PITA but, hey, if you're considering private than you've already got your head around that!

[Anonymous]

We tried sending 3 to private for a while with Op's income level. Got in over our heads with debt; changed to public. Miss the private school education but there was too much strain our budget to sustain it (even living modestly).

[Anonymous]

It's not just your current expenses. You'll be saving nothing for your children's college. Unless you're in PG or in anywhere in DC itself except for far-NW, you'll find that the local public schools are generally good and that private schools in the area are simply wildly over-rated academically. Our HHI is over three times yours, we did private for years, and we figured out just how much better public really is and haven't looked back.

[Anonymous]

One makes a buttload of money (or, as PP noted, one marries into money).

Otherwise, one makes do. Trust me, your kids willbe fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drive ancient cars and don't go on vacation. Rarely go out to eat.

I don't think that's the issue. If gross HHI is 170,000 and you live in DC, wouldn't net be about 60% of that? (30% to feds/SSI and 9% to DC plus property taxes). Subtract $64,000 for tuition for 2 kids and you're down to $38,000. Even with rent or a house payment of $2,000/month, you're then down to $14,000 for everything else -- food, clothing, utilities, transportation, medical expenses -- for a family of 4 and that's assuming that you aren't saving anything for college and retirement. At that income level, it's not a matter of giving up frills like vacations, eating out, and new cars. It's a matter of going into debt and/or paring even basics back to the bone. While throwing yourselves and your kids into an environment where you're going to be constantly solicited for donations and where most of your kids' peers are going to have a lot of stuff they don't have. At which point y'all get the luxury of feeling economically oppressed on a six figure income.

The easy solution is save the $64K and go public.

[Anonymous]

Best way to do it: downgrade the house; cut back on expenses....your vacation...you should be lucky making it out every other year to Ocean City Md with a real splurge by having a burger at Seacrets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then I'd say charters are the way to go. If I hadn't married the corporate lawyer and found myself putting a kid (or two) through school on an academic's salary (or two), I think that would be my approach -- especially if, for whatever reason, moving was not a good plan.

Certainly it's what one of my former grad students did and his DD is about the same age as mine. Both of his kids went to ES (and are going to MS, I think) at Two Rivers. He's looking at SWW for HS. Charter options (and locations) keep changing and some start as early as PK3 which might even give you a chance to experiment and find the right fit.

Abstractly/politically, I'm opposed to charters. But, realistically, in DC, they may be your best option (depending on kids, location, what you want from school, etc.) The search/admissions process is stressful and a PITA but, hey, if you're considering private than you've already got your head around that!

I am a product of Private Schools in the DC area and am saddened by my public options for middle and high school. I am also Not a Charter School advocate. Are there other creative ways to get around the tuition i.e. work at the school part time or schools that are more open to offering financial assistance? Just curious.