If you are wealthy would you send your kids to a W school over private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, if MCPS taught math SO WELL, they’d be able to teach kids regardless of income.

Are you this clueless in real life?

So just to be clear, when you say MCPS teaches math well, you really mean they teach it well to kids already set up for success, with parents who can supplement.

Color me SO impressed.

LOL how is that any different than private schools?

it's easy to teach kids who come from MC/UMC families with no SN, who speak English at home.

I'd like to see private schools teach kids thousands of kids who are from low income families, or have SN, or don't speak any English at home. If they can do that, then that's impressive. If not, then no, private school teaching is not that impressive,either.

Well, I’m not the one saying one is miles better at math instruction than the other. That would be all of you.

Most are saying that MCPS is better at STEM. I don't about "miles". But, my post above still applies. It's not like private schools are doing a bang up job teaching low income, ESL, SN kids math. It's easy to teach UMC/wealthy kids, either in public or private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. If foreign language or religion was very important, then private. Also private if my kid was average academically.

My kids, one gifted, one pretty average are in private with lots of financial aid. My gifted kid could go anywhere. The small class sizes, accessible teachers, and focus on writing have been fantastic for my average kid.

I honestly don’t get this. My sister and I both tested into gifted programs. We still benefited greatly from small class sizes and particular academic programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, if MCPS taught math SO WELL, they’d be able to teach kids regardless of income.

Are you this clueless in real life?

So just to be clear, when you say MCPS teaches math well, you really mean they teach it well to kids already set up for success, with parents who can supplement.

Color me SO impressed.

LOL how is that any different than private schools?

it's easy to teach kids who come from MC/UMC families with no SN, who speak English at home.

I'd like to see private schools teach kids thousands of kids who are from low income families, or have SN, or don't speak any English at home. If they can do that, then that's impressive. If not, then no, private school teaching is not that impressive,either.

Well, I’m not the one saying one is miles better at math instruction than the other. That would be all of you.

Most are saying that MCPS is better at STEM. I don't about "miles". But, my post above still applies. It's not like private schools are doing a bang up job teaching low income, ESL, SN kids math. It's easy to teach UMC/wealthy kids, either in public or private.

But there’s no evidence it’s truly better at STEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, if MCPS taught math SO WELL, they’d be able to teach kids regardless of income.

Are you this clueless in real life?

So just to be clear, when you say MCPS teaches math well, you really mean they teach it well to kids already set up for success, with parents who can supplement.

Color me SO impressed.

LOL how is that any different than private schools?

it's easy to teach kids who come from MC/UMC families with no SN, who speak English at home.

I'd like to see private schools teach kids thousands of kids who are from low income families, or have SN, or don't speak any English at home. If they can do that, then that's impressive. If not, then no, private school teaching is not that impressive,either.

Well, I’m not the one saying one is miles better at math instruction than the other. That would be all of you.

Most are saying that MCPS is better at STEM. I don't about "miles". But, my post above still applies. It's not like private schools are doing a bang up job teaching low income, ESL, SN kids math. It's easy to teach UMC/wealthy kids, either in public or private.

But there’s no evidence it’s truly better at STEM.

Larger high achieving peer group means more advanced classes available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, if MCPS taught math SO WELL, they’d be able to teach kids regardless of income.

Are you this clueless in real life?

So just to be clear, when you say MCPS teaches math well, you really mean they teach it well to kids already set up for success, with parents who can supplement.

Color me SO impressed.

LOL how is that any different than private schools?

it's easy to teach kids who come from MC/UMC families with no SN, who speak English at home.

I'd like to see private schools teach kids thousands of kids who are from low income families, or have SN, or don't speak any English at home. If they can do that, then that's impressive. If not, then no, private school teaching is not that impressive,either.

Well, I’m not the one saying one is miles better at math instruction than the other. That would be all of you.

Most are saying that MCPS is better at STEM. I don't about "miles". But, my post above still applies. It's not like private schools are doing a bang up job teaching low income, ESL, SN kids math. It's easy to teach UMC/wealthy kids, either in public or private.

But there’s no evidence it’s truly better at STEM.

Larger high achieving peer group means more advanced classes available.

We’ve established again and again that the class selection is not more advanced at non-magnet MCPS schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. If foreign language or religion was very important, then private. Also private if my kid was average academically.

My kids, one gifted, one pretty average are in private with lots of financial aid. My gifted kid could go anywhere. The small class sizes, accessible teachers, and focus on writing have been fantastic for my average kid.

I honestly don’t get this. My sister and I both tested into gifted programs. We still benefited greatly from small class sizes and particular academic programs.

DP. Gifted students can typically thrive anywhere, though that’s not to say there aren’t advantages to particular situation. I was in public school gifted education and ended up very academic and did a humanities PhD. With my current perspective I can appreciate that private high school could have been an amazing experience for me, had it been in the cards. It wasn’t in the cards and it was fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. If foreign language or religion was very important, then private. Also private if my kid was average academically.

My kids, one gifted, one pretty average are in private with lots of financial aid. My gifted kid could go anywhere. The small class sizes, accessible teachers, and focus on writing have been fantastic for my average kid.

I honestly don’t get this. My sister and I both tested into gifted programs. We still benefited greatly from small class sizes and particular academic programs.

DP. Gifted students can typically thrive anywhere, though that’s not to say there aren’t advantages to particular situation. I was in public school gifted education and ended up very academic and did a humanities PhD. With my current perspective I can appreciate that private high school could have been an amazing experience for me, had it been in the cards. It wasn’t in the cards and it was fine.

Define “thrive.” While I’m sure that might be true for some kids, I’m not sure it’s typical in a non-gifted program in a typical public school.

Can they get A’s? Yes.

Is the school likely to devote resources to challenging them? No.

My sister and I went to a typical public school in Chappaqua in the 90s. We did well, but our teachers didn’t have the bandwidth to challenge us, so we didn’t thrive.

When our parents switched us to private school, where the teachers did have the resources to differentiate instruction more, that’s when we started to thrive. We were consistently challenged.

[Anonymous]

Oh, I should’ve said that we both tested into gifted programs, but then moved and our new district didn’t have those options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. If foreign language or religion was very important, then private. Also private if my kid was average academically.

My kids, one gifted, one pretty average are in private with lots of financial aid. My gifted kid could go anywhere. The small class sizes, accessible teachers, and focus on writing have been fantastic for my average kid.

I honestly don’t get this. My sister and I both tested into gifted programs. We still benefited greatly from small class sizes and particular academic programs.

DP. Gifted students can typically thrive anywhere, though that’s not to say there aren’t advantages to particular situation. I was in public school gifted education and ended up very academic and did a humanities PhD. With my current perspective I can appreciate that private high school could have been an amazing experience for me, had it been in the cards. It wasn’t in the cards and it was fine.

Define “thrive.” While I’m sure that might be true for some kids, I’m not sure it’s typical in a non-gifted program in a typical public school.

Can they get A’s? Yes.

Is the school likely to devote resources to challenging them? No.

My sister and I went to a typical public school in Chappaqua in the 90s. We did well, but our teachers didn’t have the bandwidth to challenge us, so we didn’t thrive.

When our parents switched us to private school, where the teachers did have the resources to differentiate instruction more, that’s when we started to thrive. We were consistently challenged.

I will concede that I think that at least differentiated programming is important. I’m glad your parents were able to make a switch that worked well for you.

[Anonymous]

Why do we keep only talking about math? It is a known fact that MCPS does a very poor job teaching kids how to read and especially write. My kid went through middle school in a W cluster with As in English and was recommended for honors English in 9th grade. We moved him to private in 9th, only to find out he was not adequately prepared to do honors level English. It took a couple of years, but he came out an excellent writer in the long run. He was always a strong math kid and was well prepared for math in the private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do we keep only talking about math? It is a known fact that MCPS does a very poor job teaching kids how to read and especially write. My kid went through middle school in a W cluster with As in English and was recommended for honors English in 9th grade. We moved him to private in 9th, only to find out he was not adequately prepared to do honors level English. It took a couple of years, but he came out an excellent writer in the long run. He was always a strong math kid and was well prepared for math in the private school.

Just in my experience this is the area private tends to do significantly better. I think reduced focus on APs actually helps. As a public school student I learned to write for the AP test and get 5s. I went to UVA undergrad and learned that was not in fact how good writing is done. Similarly, when I taught undergrads I noticed this difference between public and private kids. But like me, the other public school kids did figure it out since they were smart kids.

Unless something big changes we don’t plan to do private for our kids but I would absolutely prefer a private high school curriculum in English and social studies, at least from what I’ve seen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do we keep only talking about math? It is a known fact that MCPS does a very poor job teaching kids how to read and especially write. My kid went through middle school in a W cluster with As in English and was recommended for honors English in 9th grade. We moved him to private in 9th, only to find out he was not adequately prepared to do honors level English. It took a couple of years, but he came out an excellent writer in the long run. He was always a strong math kid and was well prepared for math in the private school.

Just in my experience this is the area private tends to do significantly better. I think reduced focus on APs actually helps. As a public school student I learned to write for the AP test and get 5s. I went to UVA undergrad and learned that was not in fact how good writing is done. Similarly, when I taught undergrads I noticed this difference between public and private kids. But like me, the other public school kids did figure it out since they were smart kids.

Unless something big changes we don’t plan to do private for our kids but I would absolutely prefer a private high school curriculum in English and social studies, at least from what I’ve seen.

I still remember my private high school English classes. Just a blackboard, desks in a circle, and a book we discussed. This was in the early 2000s. My understanding is nothing has really changed there now, except the kids take notes on laptops probably.

We spent an entire 90 min period analyzing a 10-line poem. At the end, my teacher said, “And that’s how you read a poem.”

My undergrad English classes didn’t even go into that level of depth, to be honest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, if MCPS taught math SO WELL, they’d be able to teach kids regardless of income.

Are you this clueless in real life?

So just to be clear, when you say MCPS teaches math well, you really mean they teach it well to kids already set up for success, with parents who can supplement.


Why would you want your kids in school with non-English speakers and with kids who are from broken families?

Color me SO impressed.

LOL how is that any different than private schools?

it's easy to teach kids who come from MC/UMC families with no SN, who speak English at home.

I'd like to see private schools teach kids thousands of kids who are from low income families, or have SN, or don't speak any English at home. If they can do that, then that's impressive. If not, then no, private school teaching is not that impressive,either.

Well, I’m not the one saying one is miles better at math instruction than the other. That would be all of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, if MCPS taught math SO WELL, they’d be able to teach kids regardless of income.

Are you this clueless in real life?

So just to be clear, when you say MCPS teaches math well, you really mean they teach it well to kids already set up for success, with parents who can supplement.

Color me SO impressed.

My son does very well. We don't supplement.
If you don't understand why lower income kids do poorly at school you should do some research. The fact that more than 1 billionaire has made educating poor kids a pet project -- and failed at it --- should tell you something.

Yes of course, but why am I supposed to impressed that UMC kids do well in math? They would do well in almost any system. That tells me little to nothing about the quality of instruction.

Yay! You finally admit it. Can we end the thread now?

That wasn't the subject of the OP though, was it?

Why are you so triggered by this that you want to censor the topic?

The original subject of the thread was if you could afford it would you send your kid to private or a W public. It’s clearly been established that people who can afford private still choose to send their kid to W public’s or other publics. The choice of private school is a personal that should be based I. The needs of the kid and desires of the family. Assuming generally that private is going to deliver better educational outcome or give a leg up in college admissions is a fools errand.

So now that this is clear can we end the thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would you want your kids in schools with non English speakers or those from dysfunctional families?

Because that’s life and some of us live in reality and prepare are kids for it. We aren’t afraid of it and don’t feel a need to coddle our kids until they depart for college.