Are we stupid? Parents that chose public/charter schools when they could kinda afford private schools...

[Anonymous]

Most of the people here claiming that they can easily afford to pay $100k - $150k after taxes every year for 13 years cannot, in fact, “easily afford private.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re a well resourced UMC white family with no hooks, your kid will do better on a per capita basis coming out of a DC public/charter school than one of the brand-name DC privates. At the privates, your kid is “competing” for college slots with kids whose families are legit very wealthy or connected.

Your kid has a better shot coming out of JR or Walls all things equal.

That said, the network your child develops at an elite private school may serve them better in their career.

Demonstrably untrue. Year after year the Wilson JR and Basis & Walls parents / parents-to-be post this on DCUM. And year after year, the official matriculation lists and now IG/youtube compilations prove that it’s bullshit. Yes, even when comparing apples::apples. Say a white, non-legacy, non-crew kid living in a SFH near Murch or Mt Pleasant or the Hill whose parents are a lawyer and a policy analyst with graduate degrees.

The IG/youtube compilations are silly sources. My kid did graduate JR and is now at an Ivy and never would have considered posting to IG…as well as three of my kid’s friends also at an Ivy.

I have never seen “official” matriculation lists for schools that indicate the number of kids matriculating at what school…only Bullis publishes this list in the DMV area.

You may be correct (or not)…but your sources are not definitive by any stretch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re a well resourced UMC white family with no hooks, your kid will do better on a per capita basis coming out of a DC public/charter school than one of the brand-name DC privates. At the privates, your kid is “competing” for college slots with kids whose families are legit very wealthy or connected.

Your kid has a better shot coming out of JR or Walls all things equal.

That said, the network your child develops at an elite private school may serve them better in their career.

Demonstrably untrue. Year after year the Wilson JR and Basis & Walls parents / parents-to-be post this on DCUM. And year after year, the official matriculation lists and now IG/youtube compilations prove that it’s bullshit. Yes, even when comparing apples::apples. Say a white, non-legacy, non-crew kid living in a SFH near Murch or Mt Pleasant or the Hill whose parents are a lawyer and a policy analyst with graduate degrees.

The IG/youtube compilations are silly sources. My kid did graduate JR and is now at an Ivy and never would have considered posting to IG…as well as three of my kid’s friends also at an Ivy.

I have never seen “official” matriculation lists for schools that indicate the number of kids matriculating at what school…only Bullis publishes this list in the DMV area.

You may be correct (or not)…but your sources are not definitive by any stretch.

You guys are the crew recruits. Right?

[Anonymous]

To repeat a previous point, your kid will end up where they are meant to end up for college. Kids from the top privates, Walls, JR, Latin, Basis, DCI are all ending up at the same types of colleges. If your kid is a Harvard kid, then they can get there from any of these schools, barring the obvious fact that Harvard (and other top schools) are lotteries at a certain point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re a well resourced UMC white family with no hooks, your kid will do better on a per capita basis coming out of a DC public/charter school than one of the brand-name DC privates. At the privates, your kid is “competing” for college slots with kids whose families are legit very wealthy or connected.

Your kid has a better shot coming out of JR or Walls all things equal.

That said, the network your child develops at an elite private school may serve them better in their career.

Demonstrably untrue. Year after year the Wilson JR and Basis & Walls parents / parents-to-be post this on DCUM. And year after year, the official matriculation lists and now IG/youtube compilations prove that it’s bullshit. Yes, even when comparing apples::apples. Say a white, non-legacy, non-crew kid living in a SFH near Murch or Mt Pleasant or the Hill whose parents are a lawyer and a policy analyst with graduate degrees.

The IG/youtube compilations are silly sources. My kid did graduate JR and is now at an Ivy and never would have considered posting to IG…as well as three of my kid’s friends also at an Ivy.

I have never seen “official” matriculation lists for schools that indicate the number of kids matriculating at what school…only Bullis publishes this list in the DMV area.

You may be correct (or not)…but your sources are not definitive by any stretch.

You guys are the crew recruits. Right?

Nope

[Anonymous]

I went to boarding school, but my kids go to dcps. Do I notice the difference in educational quality? Yes, hell yes. Are they getting a less fancy experience? Yes, definitely. But can I afford to send two kids to a top flight boarding school? No, not easily, but technically I could stretch like my parents did. But my husband is against it. We have the money, but don’t earn much.

[Anonymous]

There are other alternatives. Some of the Catholic high schools offer very attractive educational programs at a much more affordable price.

[Anonymous]

My oldest has autism and ADHD and we discovered that the best place for him was Bethesda-area public MCPS, because the SN-friendly policies are nominally in place, and the wealthy and educated parent community have pushed those schools to actually implement them.

And since MCPS also offers 30+ AP classes in high schools, and the area itself is full of interesting extra-curriculars that are within easy drivable distance... it was a no-brainer to educate my other kids there as well.

Yes, I can afford a top private, and some of my kids have the appropriate academic and cultural profiles for those schools. But why would I, when they're getting what they need in public? I invest their education dollars in the stock market, so they can attend any undergrad and graduate school they want and get a house, car, whatever, from me.

K-12 education doesn't exist in a bubble, in other words. My goal is building and transmitting generational wealth, and education is only one part of that. Private K-12 isn't worth it when I have a better, "wealthy public", option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the people here claiming that they can easily afford to pay $100k - $150k after taxes every year for 13 years cannot, in fact, “easily afford private.”

See what they really mean is "grandparents and/or parents" can help! That means "we" can afford it. You people and your details

Had no idea what Grandparents Day was when were in our K-8. Thought is was weird. Boy did we learn who really pays the bills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To repeat a previous point, your kid will end up where they are meant to end up for college. Kids from the top privates, Walls, JR, Latin, Basis, DCI are all ending up at the same types of colleges. If your kid is a Harvard kid, then they can get there from any of these schools, barring the obvious fact that Harvard (and other top schools) are lotteries at a certain point.

Perhaps. I was a public school kid who went Ivy. My brother went private and wound up at good, but not Ivy, colleges. They were in more activities, same kind of grades, and one with better test scores. I absolutely believe I benefited from coming from an economically diverse public school. That was many years ago so it may be different now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You seem to be assuming that, if money were no object, everyone would choose private. But that’s not true. My family—which like yours could have afforded private with a little pain—never considered it. We believe in public schools and wanted that experience for our kids. Our kids go to JR with plenty of kids wealthier than we are, so clearly we aren’t alone in not valuing private school or seeing it as inherently better.

Same situation as the posted above (although our kids aren't at high school yet, but we plan to send them to JR or - if they prefer and get in - Banneker/Walls). There are tons of reasons we didn't do private - we didn't want our kid to be surrounded by only wealthy kids, we hate the pressure cooker environment, and I morally object to the idea of interviewing 4 year olds (for what qualities, I have no idea) for places at these "top privates." No guarantee that they'd get in, anyway - we're wealthy but not the kind of $$$ that guarantees admission.

That said, OP, my values might be different than yours - I do not care if my child attends an ivy league school, nor do I care about sending them to a prestigious high school. If those are your values but you're too cheap to invest in those values - that's on you.

[Anonymous]

We have our kids at one of three privates you mentioned. They used to be at DCPS.

Their private is night and day better in almost every way. They were doing ok before, exceeding expectations in a school where teachers had to focus on the kids not at grade level or dealing with behavior issues in class. (That was at a school people here consider among the “best” DC public options, btw). Now they’re thriving. DCPS, in my opinion, seemed to have a goal of mediocrity, which meant kids doing well were ignored. Kids who needed help got all the limited resources.

Not every private is the same, so I can only speak for ours, but for us, it’s worth every penny. We decided to invest whatever we could in our kids development now, during these critical development years.

I will say, don’t assume going to one of these top privates is just a matter of deciding to pay for it. They are extremely difficult to get into. Most who try for the ones you mentioned are not admitted without a hook of some kind.

Also, FWIW, there are very few kids with SN at our school. On the other hand, our friends with a child who has SN has gotten one-on-one daily support from a designated staff person at their charter. That’s something public has done a better job of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have our kids at one of three privates you mentioned. They used to be at DCPS.

Their private is night and day better in almost every way. They were doing ok before, exceeding expectations in a school where teachers had to focus on the kids not at grade level or dealing with behavior issues in class. (That was at a school people here consider among the “best” DC public options, btw). Now they’re thriving. DCPS, in my opinion, seemed to have a goal of mediocrity, which meant kids doing well were ignored. Kids who needed help got all the limited resources.

Not every private is the same, so I can only speak for ours, but for us, it’s worth every penny. We decided to invest whatever we could in our kids development now, during these critical development years.

I will say, don’t assume going to one of these top privates is just a matter of deciding to pay for it. They are extremely difficult to get into. Most who try for the ones you mentioned are not admitted without a hook of some kind.

Also, FWIW, there are very few kids with SN at our school. On the other hand, our friends with a child who has SN has gotten one-on-one daily support from a designated staff person at their charter. That’s something public has done a better job of.

My kids are still in public, but this tracks with my understanding: the private schools just don't have to deal with the foolishness in public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have our kids at one of three privates you mentioned. They used to be at DCPS.

Their private is night and day better in almost every way. They were doing ok before, exceeding expectations in a school where teachers had to focus on the kids not at grade level or dealing with behavior issues in class. (That was at a school people here consider among the “best” DC public options, btw). Now they’re thriving. DCPS, in my opinion, seemed to have a goal of mediocrity, which meant kids doing well were ignored. Kids who needed help got all the limited resources.

Not every private is the same, so I can only speak for ours, but for us, it’s worth every penny. We decided to invest whatever we could in our kids development now, during these critical development years.

I will say, don’t assume going to one of these top privates is just a matter of deciding to pay for it. They are extremely difficult to get into. Most who try for the ones you mentioned are not admitted without a hook of some kind.

Also, FWIW, there are very few kids with SN at our school. On the other hand, our friends with a child who has SN has gotten one-on-one daily support from a designated staff person at their charter. That’s something public has done a better job of.

Because non-SN private schools won't take them. They are pretty actively hostile to families with a SN kid. And they only tend to accept a SN kid when there already older siblings at the school/legacy situation. And, even then, they will be quick to counsel the kid out if there's anything that puts a burden on the school.

SN kids generally go to public school because the school is required to provide services in-school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have our kids at one of three privates you mentioned. They used to be at DCPS.

Their private is night and day better in almost every way. They were doing ok before, exceeding expectations in a school where teachers had to focus on the kids not at grade level or dealing with behavior issues in class. (That was at a school people here consider among the “best” DC public options, btw). Now they’re thriving. DCPS, in my opinion, seemed to have a goal of mediocrity, which meant kids doing well were ignored. Kids who needed help got all the limited resources.

Not every private is the same, so I can only speak for ours, but for us, it’s worth every penny. We decided to invest whatever we could in our kids development now, during these critical development years.

I will say, don’t assume going to one of these top privates is just a matter of deciding to pay for it. They are extremely difficult to get into. Most who try for the ones you mentioned are not admitted without a hook of some kind.

Also, FWIW, there are very few kids with SN at our school. On the other hand, our friends with a child who has SN has gotten one-on-one daily support from a designated staff person at their charter. That’s something public has done a better job of.

Because non-SN private schools won't take them. They are pretty actively hostile to families with a SN kid. And they only tend to accept a SN kid when there already older siblings at the school/legacy situation. And, even then, they will be quick to counsel the kid out if there's anything that puts a burden on the school.

SN kids generally go to public school because the school is required to provide services in-school.

On the other hand there are private schools that tend exclusively to the needs of special needs kids, including 2x exceptional types. Not everyone schools needs to serve all populations.