Private school or not

[Anonymous]

My two kids went to public schools and both attended top 20 colleges. One is a urology resident and the other has started his own IT services company. It’s been well documented that within the same socioeconomic group, private school is a huge waste of money. But hey you do you and thanks for subsidizing my kids’ educations.

[Anonymous]

The kids at my DC private traded notes on who was the poorest of the lot. One was a teacher’s child so had heavily discounted tuition. It’s not an easy environment socially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two kids went to public schools and both attended top 20 colleges. One is a urology resident and the other has started his own IT services company. It’s been well documented that within the same socioeconomic group, private school is a huge waste of money. But hey you do you and thanks for subsidizing my kids’ educations.

Not, OP here. We have a mortgage at 2% and low property taxes. Trading up for a top school district is just as expensive as private if you only have one kid.

[Anonymous]

OP if you are both feds you probably have pensions coming, which makes retirement lower-pressure. Not advocating stopping retirement savings obviously but the calculation is different. If you can afford it with your other savings goals and it will benefit your child, why not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can def make it work if it’s your priority. But are you sure it’s worth the sacrifice? You could do a lot with that money.

We put our kids through private (Highland School, Warrenton). They had a great life foundational experience and education that taught them responsibility, respect, compassion, leadership, values, comraderie, as well as STEM and the art and humanies. There is absolutely nothing I could put on a scale with the money spent that could outweigh that. They went on to graduate top engineering schools and work for companies that are some of the headline news "up 80% year to date" movers talked about on this board. And they still remain close and networked with their friends from Highland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two kids went to public schools and both attended top 20 colleges. One is a urology resident and the other has started his own IT services company. It’s been well documented that within the same socioeconomic group, private school is a huge waste of money. But hey you do you and thanks for subsidizing my kids’ educations.

Not, OP here. We have a mortgage at 2% and low property taxes. Trading up for a top school district is just as expensive as private if you only have one kid.

But the house will be an asset you own long after your kid graduates school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two kids went to public schools and both attended top 20 colleges. One is a urology resident and the other has started his own IT services company. It’s been well documented that within the same socioeconomic group, private school is a huge waste of money. But hey you do you and thanks for subsidizing my kids’ educations.

Waste of money is a bit harsh.

I place private schools in the same category as buying a luxury car over a basic Honda. Your good suburban public is like a Honda or Toyota, it does the job reliably enough and gets you to where you need to go. But the luxury car is unquestionably a nicer, smoother and more enjoyable ride. Is the luxury car a waste of money?

Then there's the other valid argument that private schools are terrific for middle of the pack kids who can get overlooked in a bigger and busier public school environment and it can make the difference in fostering confidence. Whether that's worth the tuition fees multiplied by how many years will be up to the individual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two kids went to public schools and both attended top 20 colleges. One is an urology resident and the other has started his own IT services company. It’s been well documented that within the same socioeconomic group, private school is a huge waste of money. But hey you do you and thanks for subsidizing my kids’ educations.

Stupid comment. There are no “public schools” vs “private schools”. Some public schools are great and others aren’t. Some private schools are worth it and others aren’t. Some kids do better in some private/publics. Sneering at other families’ choices just shows your own narrowness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two kids went to public schools and both attended top 20 colleges. One is a urology resident and the other has started his own IT services company. It’s been well documented that within the same socioeconomic group, private school is a huge waste of money. But hey you do you and thanks for subsidizing my kids’ educations.

Not, OP here. We have a mortgage at 2% and low property taxes. Trading up for a top school district is just as expensive as private if you only have one kid.

But the house will be an asset you own long after your kid graduates school.

Not really. If they like the home and neighborhood they currently live in, that home will appreciate as well. The difference is, they will be mortgage free sooner. With rates what they are now, and with prices so high, they could be adding $2-3K to their mortgage for the next 30 years. Much better financial choice to do private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two kids went to public schools and both attended top 20 colleges. One is a urology resident and the other has started his own IT services company. It’s been well documented that within the same socioeconomic group, private school is a huge waste of money. But hey you do you and thanks for subsidizing my kids’ educations.

Waste of money is a bit harsh.

I place private schools in the same category as buying a luxury car over a basic Honda. Your good suburban public is like a Honda or Toyota, it does the job reliably enough and gets you to where you need to go. But the luxury car is unquestionably a nicer, smoother and more enjoyable ride. Is the luxury car a waste of money?

Then there's the other valid argument that private schools are terrific for middle of the pack kids who can get overlooked in a bigger and busier public school environment and it can make the difference in fostering confidence. Whether that's worth the tuition fees multiplied by how many years will be up to the individual.

I agree with this. I went to a small-ish private school (about 100-120 kids in each grade) and it was a tight knit community. Teachers knew my older siblings and parents. Guidance counselors knew you well. It was a great experience. I never went to public school so I don’t know what that would have been like - I’m sure great in different ways and worse in others. as an adult, my four closest friends are all from that k-12 school, and only 2 of us live close to each other. I was an introverted kid who in hindsight had undiagnosed ADHD and I think a small, nurturing school setting where teachers knew me and my family really helped me achieve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two kids went to public schools and both attended top 20 colleges. One is a urology resident and the other has started his own IT services company. It’s been well documented that within the same socioeconomic group, private school is a huge waste of money. But hey you do you and thanks for subsidizing my kids’ educations.

Some of our kids are middling and need the leg up a private school provides. Why are you in this thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two kids went to public schools and both attended top 20 colleges. One is an urology resident and the other has started his own IT services company. It’s been well documented that within the same socioeconomic group, private school is a huge waste of money. But hey you do you and thanks for subsidizing my kids’ educations.

Stupid comment. There are no “public schools” vs “private schools”. Some public schools are great and others aren’t. Some private schools are worth it and others aren’t. Some kids do better in some private/publics. Sneering at other families’ choices just shows your own narrowness.

+1

We moved our significantly dyslexic child to (mainstream, competitive) private after his public school teacher openly and repeatedly mocked him for his dyslexia in front of the class. The school acknowledged the behavior (it was even corroborated by other adults), yet because the teacher had tenure and was union-protected, it didn’t stop. That kid went from being demoralized and depressed to soaring academically at private.

When I read sneering, nasty comments like the PPs, I think that her kids really lost out, no matter how much money they saved, because they had nobody at home who could teach them humanity and compassion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can def make it work if it’s your priority. But are you sure it’s worth the sacrifice? You could do a lot with that money.

We put our kids through private (Highland School, Warrenton). They had a great life foundational experience and education that taught them responsibility, respect, compassion, leadership, values, comraderie, as well as STEM and the art and humanies. There is absolutely nothing I could put on a scale with the money spent that could outweigh that. They went on to graduate top engineering schools and work for companies that are some of the headline news "up 80% year to date" movers talked about on this board. And they still remain close and networked with their friends from Highland.

I'm curious about the Highland School. Do most of the students live nearby and how far away do you live from the school? My kids are not quite old enough for school yet and I am trying to figure out how long of a drive for private for school is too much.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PPs that you can set your daughter up for a better life using the money in other ways. For $60k, you can get some great writing coaches, send her to the best summer foreign language programs for a few summers, and hire tutors for anywhere else there’s a gap. Set aside $150k for the down payment on a house and put the other $150k into a Roth (you can flow $35k through a 529).

Remember, her private school peers will have money spent on them like this. She’ll never be able to compete from a level playing field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can def make it work if it’s your priority. But are you sure it’s worth the sacrifice? You could do a lot with that money.

We put our kids through private (Highland School, Warrenton). They had a great life foundational experience and education that taught them responsibility, respect, compassion, leadership, values, comraderie, as well as STEM and the art and humanies. There is absolutely nothing I could put on a scale with the money spent that could outweigh that. They went on to graduate top engineering schools and work for companies that are some of the headline news "up 80% year to date" movers talked about on this board. And they still remain close and networked with their friends from Highland.

I'm curious about the Highland School. Do most of the students live nearby and how far away do you live from the school? My kids are not quite old enough for school yet and I am trying to figure out how long of a drive for private for school is too much.

We live 30 minutes drive, familes attend from western Prince William, western Loudoun and Fauquier. There are busses too from different areas. I am SAHM and always drove them, looking back I actually treasure the time spent with them driving back and forth talking about their day and things going on in their lives.