DC privates educating suburban kids

[Anonymous]

I'm a DC resident who thinks that the presence of great privates makes the city a better place to live than it would be without them and that these privates are as good as they are, in part, because they draw from the entire metro area rather than just DC.

And I agree that the entitled victims shtick is really annoying. Is it just a Ward 3 thing or do other parts of the city suffer from it as well?

[Anonymous]

What if war broke out in Upper Caucasia along Western Avenue over access to private schools. Who would enforce the no-fly zone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What if war broke out in Upper Caucasia along Western Avenue over access to private schools. Who would enforce the no-fly zone.

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What if war broke out in Upper Caucasia along Western Avenue over access to private schools. Who would enforce the no-fly zone.

Lol. The no-fly zone got me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. When I started this thread I never guessed I would get so many responses. And I know I'm not the only one that feels this way. I know many parents from Capitol Hill to Georgetown who have the funds, and their kids the aptitude to go to any one of DC's privates and they feel shut out.

That's not quite true, now is it? Apparently, the kids DON'T have the apptitute to get in anywhere - after all, they were shut out. They only can get in anywhere if you artifically limit the applicant pool.

Seriously, this is just sour grapes.

I also have a hunch that if OP would consider ALL the private schools in DC, not just the coveted few, she would find one with spaces that are not "taken" from her progeny by the evil suburbanites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is silly. If you had your wish, some of the more competitive privates (i.e. Sidwell, NCS/STA, GDS, Maret) would actually become LESS competitive and lose prestige/standing, if they had to reserve the majority of their spots just for D.C. residents. They would have far fewer applicants to choose from and arguably have to lessen their standards to fill their classes. They would have fewer top students, less socioeconomic diversity and their national rankings would decline. The fact that they draw students from DC, MD and VA makes those schools all the more interesting and all the more competitive.

I know this topic has been brought up before, but this is just one thing that continues to irk me. Don’t DC privates have some responsibility to the city and its residents especially since most (if not all) are tax exempt entities. I remember Anthony Williams wasn’t too happy about this, and now I can totally see his point. Why isn’t there a tier system that will allow for qualified city children to get in first before taking in suburban kids (I’d feel better about this if we had a commuter tax but that is a different issue all together). This about scarce resources being given to people who don’t even live here. Don’t get me wrong, most of the kids and families are great but I’m tired of seeing qualified DC children losing out on their first or second choice schools that seem to be filled with suburban kids that come from areas with already good public schools. That’s not fair.

Nonsense. Plenty of smart kids in DC : children of IMF and WB officials, Ambassadors,who can pay full fare and plenty of children of Hill Legislative Aids, Journalistas,Foreign Policy wonks, CIA operatives, on and on many of whom would need FA. Problem is many need FA due to the competitive sport of raising tuition at DC privates and so the Privates can't fill their entire school with smart kids that need FA or they wouldn't be able to continue to raise teacher salaries, add to the school's infrastructure and endowment etc. Enter the full paying and heavy donating suburban family with three children packed into a Mercedes SUV coming over the Chain Bridge every morning.Some schools do take a higher percentage of kids form DC, for example WIS. I know this for a fact. Perhaps not too many people out in Arlington and Vienna speak French at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Awwww...I think it's so sweet that you're so concerned about "fairness" for D.C. residents. Since you're so interested in "fairness" and preserving "scarce resources", I'm assuming that you also want private schools to reflect the demographics in the D.C. area (i.e. reserve 56% of spots for D.C. Blacks, 33% for D.C. Whites and 8.3% for D.C. Hispanics--in order to be comparable to the city's racial make up). I mean, you wouldn't possibly want to reserve all of those D.C. spots for privileged people in Georgetown and Upper Northwest now, would you?

Sure, as long as we'e in cloud-cuckoo-land, I don't see anything wrong with that, so long as applicants meet some appropriate level of competency. Which shouldn't really be that hard, given the existence of Banneker. Of course, then these elite institutions would cease to hold their primary attraction for your average suburban parent. That is, as a racially pure haven from their local public school.

Here's a better idea: how about we bring back Michelle Rhee and Mayor Fenty for another 8 years or so so that they can really have a chance to kick all the incompetent teachers out of their jobs at NW DC schools, stop taking people "out of bounds" and then our kids can have a free public school worth going to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the DC residents who like this idea, I'm curious: why have you chosen to live in DC?[/quote

I live a mile from where I work and can't afford a car. Also, I get nauseas any time I pass a strip mall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mmmm no -- I don't like public schools in any neighborhood...so enjoy Applebees out in the burbs in your SUVs hogging resources.

This was only slightly funny about six months ago. Now you just sound like a silly teenager. Give it up.

Exactly. All the smart sophisticates who moved out to the burbs also have Olive Garden now too, you know. You wouldn't know anything about these cultivated and urbane ways of course, being as you are a "not smart enough" resident of the District. We'll enjoy the cosmopolitan Reston Town Center all to ourselves!

and a crossaintwhich at the McDonald's drive thru to go with their skinny mochachino whip and their dream vacation of a carribean cruise where the meal bell rings every three hours

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Enter the full paying and heavy donating suburban family with three children packed into a Mercedes SUV coming over the Chain Bridge every morning.Some schools do take a higher percentage of kids form DC, for example WIS. I know this for a fact. Perhaps not too many people out in Arlington and Vienna speak French at home.

Don't be so sure - plenty of French-speaking families who move to McLean to attend Kent Garden French Immersion program.

And to all the Applebee and Olive Garden crazies out there - the best ethnic food is in the suburbs. Get over it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All DC needs to do is to pass a law that says that "sure you can admit whomever you want, however if you admit more than 30% non District residents we don't consider you tax-exempt on the State level so pay property tax"

Problem solved.

Have experience with two different Big 3 schools; both have at least 30% DC resident student body. One school has just over that , the other has about 85% DC residents. I know this for a fact .Rememebr: Wesley Heights, Foxhall, Georgetown, Kalorama,Cleveland Park and CC DC are in Washington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What if war broke out in Upper Caucasia along Western Avenue over access to private schools. Who would enforce the no-fly zone.

The cathedral police of course, who regularly hand out $100 tickets during school functions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if war broke out in Upper Caucasia along Western Avenue over access to private schools. Who would enforce the no-fly zone.

The cathedral police of course, who regularly hand out $100 tickets during school functions

And its more like Macomb St. at 8:00 AM,not Western Ave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is silly. If you had your wish, some of the more competitive privates (i.e. Sidwell, NCS/STA, GDS, Maret) would actually become LESS competitive and lose prestige/standing, if they had to reserve the majority of their spots just for D.C. residents. They would have far fewer applicants to choose from and arguably have to lessen their standards to fill their classes. They would have fewer top students, less socioeconomic diversity and their national rankings would decline. The fact that they draw students from DC, MD and VA makes those schools all the more interesting and all the more competitive.

I know this topic has been brought up before, but this is just one thing that continues to irk me. Don’t DC privates have some responsibility to the city and its residents especially since most (if not all) are tax exempt entities. I remember Anthony Williams wasn’t too happy about this, and now I can totally see his point. Why isn’t there a tier system that will allow for qualified city children to get in first before taking in suburban kids (I’d feel better about this if we had a commuter tax but that is a different issue all together). This about scarce resources being given to people who don’t even live here. Don’t get me wrong, most of the kids and families are great but I’m tired of seeing qualified DC children losing out on their first or second choice schools that seem to be filled with suburban kids that come from areas with already good public schools. That’s not fair.

Nonsense. Plenty of smart kids in DC : children of IMF and WB officials, Ambassadors,who can pay full fare and plenty of children of Hill Legislative Aids, Journalistas,Foreign Policy wonks, CIA operatives, on and on many of whom would need FA. Problem is many need FA due to the competitive sport of raising tuition at DC privates and so the Privates can't fill their entire school with smart kids that need FA or they wouldn't be able to continue to raise teacher salaries, add to the school's infrastructure and endowment etc. Enter the full paying and heavy donating suburban family with three children packed into a Mercedes SUV coming over the Chain Bridge every morning.Some schools do take a higher percentage of kids form DC, for example WIS. I know this for a fact. Perhaps not too many people out in Arlington and Vienna speak French at home.

This post makes 0 sense. CIA operatives live in Va, Ive never heard of one living in DC, we all know that. There are very few LAs, policy wonks etc that can afford to live in the city except guys like Tucker Carlson and Brett Baier. THere are enough wealthy residents in DC to fill 100% of the top 10 privates(you can rank them).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All DC needs to do is to pass a law that says that "sure you can admit whomever you want, however if you admit more than 30% non District residents we don't consider you tax-exempt on the State level so pay property tax"

Problem solved.

Have experience with two different Big 3 schools; both have at least 30% DC resident student body. One school has just over that , the other has about 85% DC residents. I know this for a fact .Rememebr: Wesley Heights, Foxhall, Georgetown, Kalorama,Cleveland Park and CC DC are in Washington.

Hmmm depends on your Big 3 schools. I'm gonna go Maret 85% DC and GDS just over 30%.