How's the year been? (Asking as we debate leaving private for public)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year hasn’t been great for us. My kid did fine in the pandemic because we heavily supplemented. That meant DC was above grade level this year, especially considering learning loss in the pandemic. Result has been that DC is not progressing at all this year—scores are actually down from last year. Basically kids above grade level are ignored in class. The one exception is compacted math.

I would stay in private if you can afford it.

You are assuming that advanced kids are taught above grade level
At private when that is not always the case. So much depends on the private and public options in question.

We tried to switch to private for this year for MS. The ones with openings/would consider our child (or questionable openings where they might have some if they want your child) could not do the same math track and we'd have to pay extra for it or get a tutor/outside class. They start Algebra much later.

It depends on the school. My small Catholic parochial (under $10K per year) has several eighth grade students doing Geometry. Last year there were a few kids doing Algebra II in 8th. This is a tiny school with only one class per grade. It's been great having my daughter in small math and reading groups throughout her K-8 experience. There are only 9 students in her math class.

[Anonymous]

The one thing most privates offer that is being beaten out of public schools by reactionary angry white parents is a better commitment to things like equity and teaching “woke” concepts. Generally this will better prepare students for college and the workplace where those things are equally valued. In many public schools the culture wars are busily dumbing down curricula worse than No Child Left Behind; I worry there will be huge gaps in our children’s education down the road.

[Anonymous]

We are in the midst of making a similar decision. One kid will stay in private, but that kid has needs that the publics won't meet because of being near grade level. Our private is meeting those needs. For the other we are looking at moving over to public...we have a few weeks to make a final decision

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For many years we enjoyed sending our kids to a small private school because there was a strong sense of community, limited screen time, and a lot of consistency. The pandemic has basically done away with all that and we are seriously considering moving them to public next year. I'm wondering whether people can share how their schools have managed this year. Have there been a lot of subs? Are kids progressing through their learning reasonably well? Are you concerned about issues that weren't a problem before?

FWIW, we've got two children, rising 6th and 4th in the Takoma cluster.

TY!

So you are looking at Piney Branch and TPMS from a small private. How do your kids do with large numbers of other kids around? Would it be a drastic change?

[Anonymous]

We are also leaving private. Fabulous teachers but unmotivated kids who are not used to socializing in bigger groups. We started out in public and kid still has his old friends and parents/kids love our assigned middle school. Looking forward to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are also leaving private. Fabulous teachers but unmotivated kids who are not used to socializing in bigger groups. We started out in public and kid still has his old friends and parents/kids love our assigned middle school. Looking forward to it.

I will add though that we are zoned for a ‘W’ middle school that has a great reputation. That did influence our decision but honestly we needed to leave so if not our local public we would have had to try another private.

[Anonymous]

It's all anecdotal. My children have done fine in MCPS, but friends' children flourished in small private-school settings. There is no one-size-fits-all, unfortunately. These decisions are hard, and there is always a path not taken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The one thing most privates offer that is being beaten out of public schools by reactionary angry white parents is a better commitment to things like equity and teaching “woke” concepts. Generally this will better prepare students for college and the workplace where those things are equally valued. In many public schools the culture wars are busily dumbing down curricula worse than No Child Left Behind; I worry there will be huge gaps in our children’s education down the road.

Trust me, I think MCPS is doing just fine in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most privates are mediocre and therefore a waste of money. Kind of like most charter schools - not much oversight. If your child isn't flourishing at the private, I'd definitely look elsewhere.

Quite the contrary. Not sure where you are getting your info. Have you ever enrolled your child in private?

NP I’d throw that back to you. We are at a top 5 private in DC and have been disappointed and the school’s hyper focus on Latin and core classes taking a back seat. To add, we had to hire a tutor to supplement for writing instruction that is not happening in English. Paying for polish and gloss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year hasn’t been great for us. My kid did fine in the pandemic because we heavily supplemented. That meant DC was above grade level this year, especially considering learning loss in the pandemic. Result has been that DC is not progressing at all this year—scores are actually down from last year. Basically kids above grade level are ignored in class. The one exception is compacted math.

I would stay in private if you can afford it.

You are assuming that advanced kids are taught above grade level
At private when that is not always the case. So much depends on the private and public options in question.

We tried to switch to private for this year for MS. The ones with openings/would consider our child (or questionable openings where they might have some if they want your child) could not do the same math track and we'd have to pay extra for it or get a tutor/outside class. They start Algebra much later.

It depends on the school. My small Catholic parochial (under $10K per year) has several eighth grade students doing Geometry. Last year there were a few kids doing Algebra II in 8th. This is a tiny school with only one class per grade. It's been great having my daughter in small math and reading groups throughout her K-8 experience. There are only 9 students in her math class.

Catholic parochial’s are some of the bottom of the barrel and I am a Catholic. The kids you mentioned doing geometry I bet wouldn’t be able to in public and guarantee they are learning this from supplementing out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For many years we enjoyed sending our kids to a small private school because there was a strong sense of community, limited screen time, and a lot of consistency. The pandemic has basically done away with all that and we are seriously considering moving them to public next year. I'm wondering whether people can share how their schools have managed this year. Have there been a lot of subs? Are kids progressing through their learning reasonably well? Are you concerned about issues that weren't a problem before?

FWIW, we've got two children, rising 6th and 4th in the Takoma cluster.

TY!

Both my kids went through PBES and TPMS. My older child was selected before there was a magnet lottery. However, even non-magnet parts of the school seem to be very strong on STEM. They offer 3 years of CS/Engineering electives to all students and the advanced math track is very thorough. Despite high scores and straight A's, my youngest wasn't selected for the lottery but is doing fine at TPMS. They even made the math team!

Both kids also went through the local CES at PBES. Fourth grade was challenging. The teacher was pretty demanding but they learned so much!

I can't imagine a better place to live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year hasn’t been great for us. My kid did fine in the pandemic because we heavily supplemented. That meant DC was above grade level this year, especially considering learning loss in the pandemic. Result has been that DC is not progressing at all this year—scores are actually down from last year. Basically kids above grade level are ignored in class. The one exception is compacted math.

I would stay in private if you can afford it.

You are assuming that advanced kids are taught above grade level
At private when that is not always the case. So much depends on the private and public options in question.

We tried to switch to private for this year for MS. The ones with openings/would consider our child (or questionable openings where they might have some if they want your child) could not do the same math track and we'd have to pay extra for it or get a tutor/outside class. They start Algebra much later.

It depends on the school. My small Catholic parochial (under $10K per year) has several eighth grade students doing Geometry. Last year there were a few kids doing Algebra II in 8th. This is a tiny school with only one class per grade. It's been great having my daughter in small math and reading groups throughout her K-8 experience. There are only 9 students in her math class.

Catholic parochial’s are some of the bottom of the barrel and I am a Catholic. The kids you mentioned doing geometry I bet wouldn’t be able to in public and guarantee they are learning this from supplementing out.

Nope. My daughter is one of them. Never had to supplement anything and she has to work hard at it. She was lucky to be in person through the 2020-21 year, so she is not behind in math like the majority of MCPS and most public schools for that matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year hasn’t been great for us. My kid did fine in the pandemic because we heavily supplemented. That meant DC was above grade level this year, especially considering learning loss in the pandemic. Result has been that DC is not progressing at all this year—scores are actually down from last year. Basically kids above grade level are ignored in class. The one exception is compacted math.

I would stay in private if you can afford it.

You are assuming that advanced kids are taught above grade level
At private when that is not always the case. So much depends on the private and public options in question.

We tried to switch to private for this year for MS. The ones with openings/would consider our child (or questionable openings where they might have some if they want your child) could not do the same math track and we'd have to pay extra for it or get a tutor/outside class. They start Algebra much later.

It depends on the school. My small Catholic parochial (under $10K per year) has several eighth grade students doing Geometry. Last year there were a few kids doing Algebra II in 8th. This is a tiny school with only one class per grade. It's been great having my daughter in small math and reading groups throughout her K-8 experience. There are only 9 students in her math class.

Catholic parochial’s are some of the bottom of the barrel and I am a Catholic. The kids you mentioned doing geometry I bet wouldn’t be able to in public and guarantee they are learning this from supplementing out.

Nope. My daughter is one of them. Never had to supplement anything and she has to work hard at it. She was lucky to be in person through the 2020-21 year, so she is not behind in math like the majority of MCPS and most public schools for that matter.

I will add, unlike MCPS who pushes students up even if they didn't master material, my daughter will have to take a math placement test to move into Algebra 2. MCPS just pushes kids through who passed by the skin of their teeth by either cheating or getting 50% on assignments for doing nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year hasn’t been great for us. My kid did fine in the pandemic because we heavily supplemented. That meant DC was above grade level this year, especially considering learning loss in the pandemic. Result has been that DC is not progressing at all this year—scores are actually down from last year. Basically kids above grade level are ignored in class. The one exception is compacted math.

I would stay in private if you can afford it.

You are assuming that advanced kids are taught above grade level
At private when that is not always the case. So much depends on the private and public options in question.

We tried to switch to private for this year for MS. The ones with openings/would consider our child (or questionable openings where they might have some if they want your child) could not do the same math track and we'd have to pay extra for it or get a tutor/outside class. They start Algebra much later.

It depends on the school. My small Catholic parochial (under $10K per year) has several eighth grade students doing Geometry. Last year there were a few kids doing Algebra II in 8th. This is a tiny school with only one class per grade. It's been great having my daughter in small math and reading groups throughout her K-8 experience. There are only 9 students in her math class.

Catholic parochial’s are some of the bottom of the barrel and I am a Catholic. The kids you mentioned doing geometry I bet wouldn’t be able to in public and guarantee they are learning this from supplementing out.

Nope. My daughter is one of them. Never had to supplement anything and she has to work hard at it. She was lucky to be in person through the 2020-21 year, so she is not behind in math like the majority of MCPS and most public schools for that matter.

My kid is in a well regarded private and her old public school peers are AHEAD of her in math. So, no, all public school kids aren't behind in everything. Find some other reasons to help you believe it is worth writing that check.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year hasn’t been great for us. My kid did fine in the pandemic because we heavily supplemented. That meant DC was above grade level this year, especially considering learning loss in the pandemic. Result has been that DC is not progressing at all this year—scores are actually down from last year. Basically kids above grade level are ignored in class. The one exception is compacted math.

I would stay in private if you can afford it.

You are assuming that advanced kids are taught above grade level
At private when that is not always the case. So much depends on the private and public options in question.

We tried to switch to private for this year for MS. The ones with openings/would consider our child (or questionable openings where they might have some if they want your child) could not do the same math track and we'd have to pay extra for it or get a tutor/outside class. They start Algebra much later.

It depends on the school. My small Catholic parochial (under $10K per year) has several eighth grade students doing Geometry. Last year there were a few kids doing Algebra II in 8th. This is a tiny school with only one class per grade. It's been great having my daughter in small math and reading groups throughout her K-8 experience. There are only 9 students in her math class.

Catholic parochial’s are some of the bottom of the barrel and I am a Catholic. The kids you mentioned doing geometry I bet wouldn’t be able to in public and guarantee they are learning this from supplementing out.

Nope. My daughter is one of them. Never had to supplement anything and she has to work hard at it. She was lucky to be in person through the 2020-21 year, so she is not behind in math like the majority of MCPS and most public schools for that matter.

Your anecdotal story is not typical for a Catholic parochial. Do not count on that from that kind of school.