When to go private from DCPS

[Anonymous]

Um, preschool. Kindy. AT BIRTH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wanted to echo chaos was part of our decision to move as well. The level of chaos intensifies each year.

What do you mean by “chaos”? What’s an example?

My daughter always complained in DCPS about how loud her 3rd grade classroom was and how much time they spent getting materials together and explaining an assignment before starting. I learned at back to school night that there were several kids with behavior issues in her class who couldn’t sit still and would constantly interrupt. The teacher told me in our parent teacher conference that she spent most of her time with those kids and my quiet, studious daughter didn’t need any attention. Moving to private meant. Y daughter got her share of the teacher’s attention and she didn’t constantly waste time waiting for other kids to settle

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wanted to echo chaos was part of our decision to move as well. The level of chaos intensifies each year.

What do you mean by “chaos”? What’s an example?

My daughter always complained in DCPS about how loud her 3rd grade classroom was and how much time they spent getting materials together and explaining an assignment before starting. I learned at back to school night that there were several kids with behavior issues in her class who couldn’t sit still and would constantly interrupt. The teacher told me in our parent teacher conference that she spent most of her time with those kids and my quiet, studious daughter didn’t need any attention. Moving to private meant. Y daughter got her share of the teacher’s attention and she didn’t constantly waste time waiting for other kids to settle

Sure, but smart kids can and do learn in all sorts of environments. They don't need the "can hear a pin drop" classroom and a ton of individual attention. In fact, I would say that learning in the midst of some chaos is good for kids.

My own kids attended DPCS through 8th grade and moved to Big3 schools for high school (STA/NCS/Sidwell). They were (and are) near the top of their private school classes and this is despite spending all of elementary and middle school in large and sometimes crazy DCPS classrooms where they likely got very little individual attention (while many of their high school classmates sat in quiet Beauvoir or St Pats or Norwood etc classes.) In the end, it didn't matter and they're doing incredibly well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS is not a monolith. Many of the answers to your questions depend on where you live.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Middle school.

[Anonymous]

Chaos: long-term subs with insufficient experience for teaching. Chairs being thrown. Police coming to take away a sub in the middle of the day for putting his hand on a kid. The school not communicating about it until pressed and gaslighting when they did. Depressed test scores. And this was at a charter school that at the time, was very popular and where one of my kids did in fact get excellent preparation for the private school they went on to attend.

As for the person who bragged about their kids doing brilliantly at sat/sfs with 9th grade admission, not everyone’s kid can get in at that level, so that’s a self-confirming sample.

[Anonymous]

We transitioned from DCPS to private in 6th grade. We were lucky to get a spot at one of the "big 3s" on our first try. This doesn't always happen, as 6th grade is a pretty competitive entry point. Some families we know who got waitlisted in 6th tried again in 7th at the same schools and got in. I believe the application process becomes even more competitive in high school, but I can't speak to that.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I wanted to echo chaos was part of our decision to move as well. The level of chaos intensifies each year.[/quote]

What do you mean by “chaos”? What’s an example?[/quote]

My daughter always complained in DCPS about how loud her 3rd grade classroom was and how much time they spent getting materials together and explaining an assignment before starting. I learned at back to school night that there were several kids with behavior issues in her class who couldn’t sit still and would constantly interrupt. The teacher told me in our parent teacher conference that she spent most of her time with those kids and my quiet, studious daughter didn’t need any attention. Moving to private meant. Y daughter got her share of the teacher’s attention and she didn’t constantly waste time waiting for other kids to settle[/quote]

Sure, but smart kids can and do learn in all sorts of environments. They don't need the "can hear a pin drop" classroom and a ton of individual attention. In fact, I would say that learning in the midst of some chaos is good for kids.

My own kids attended DPCS through 8th grade and moved to Big3 schools for high school (STA/NCS/Sidwell). They were (and are) near the top of their private school classes and this is despite spending all of elementary and middle school in large and sometimes crazy DCPS classrooms where they likely got very little individual attention (while many of their high school classmates sat in quiet Beauvoir or St Pats or Norwood etc classes.) In the end, it didn't matter and they're doing incredibly well. [/quote]

Glad that your kid was in an environment that worked for them in DCPS and it sounds like you did the right thing by staying. My kids didn’t do well trying to learn in a zoo and immediately started to thrive when we went to a smaller, more orderly school. The good thing about choosing private is you are picking what works for your child, not that it’s the right environment for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wanted to echo chaos was part of our decision to move as well. The level of chaos intensifies each year.

What do you mean by “chaos”? What’s an example?

My daughter always complained in DCPS about how loud her 3rd grade classroom was and how much time they spent getting materials together and explaining an assignment before starting. I learned at back to school night that there were several kids with behavior issues in her class who couldn’t sit still and would constantly interrupt. The teacher told me in our parent teacher conference that she spent most of her time with those kids and my quiet, studious daughter didn’t need any attention. Moving to private meant. Y daughter got her share of the teacher’s attention and she didn’t constantly waste time waiting for other kids to settle

I told one of my kids our private would not be like this (when we toured multiple times it was not) and then she ended up in the grade with the loud kids. They aren't "bad" as in intending to be jerks, but they've been poorly managed and they're energetic and her class is no calmer than her public class - possibly worse than her class last year which was pretty well-behaved. They constantly have to re-do things. It's been really disappointing. My other kids aren't experiencing classes like this. My kid is upset that "nothing has changed!"

That said, in our private no one has: pants-ed another kid, thrown a chair, hit my children, kissed my kid without permission, or stolen my kids lunch. All these things happened at our suburban public ES. Consequences for the culprits ranged from talking to them to sticking a paid adult with them 1 on 1 to try (merely try) to reduce the behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A point that is being missed is you can always apply for financial aid too. It sounds like private school would be a hardship -- apply for aid.

FWIW, we’re in the same boat and starting applications for K, but we have an advanced DC by our local public schools’ K standards. DC is operating two grades above in reading and math. We don’t want to squander it.

Based on the research I have done, we would likely be expected to be full pay. I think in terms of HHI, we fall somewhere between earning too much to qualify for aid but not so much that we can easily spend $100k a year for two kids in private school at the same time. We would/will absolutely apply for aid but wouldn't count on being granted anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Relief from daycare costs and lack of a tuition payment is great. Full stop. But if you accept the notion that DCPS, at some point in a kid's academic career, becomes a less-than-ideal learning environment for bright kids, when do you make the change? We can't afford the Beauvoirs of the world for grade school, which is fine because STA/NCS and that ilk are probably not feasible for us financially anyway.

I won't say what age my kids are other than to say that they cannot yet read or write and still bring nap mats to school. In other words, I know that it's probably way too early to be worrying about this stuff. But, we are already seeing peer families start to jockey for spots at "better" schools in the DCPS system, talking about feeder schools, and starting to lay out a plan for their kids' academic futures. I worry about getting too comfortable in public school because it's free and it's "fine for now" and then next thing we know, they're not academically ready for a more challenging academic environment in a private middle/high school.

I'm looking for actual input on what grade to be targeting for a move to a private school from DCPS that would maximize relief from education costs while preparing my kids to be successful when the quality of the school matters more. Also if you read this and are inclined to call me poor or a shitty parent for enjoying free school, feel free to move along.

We moved for 4th. Kids are calmer, happier, excited to go to school again. Dcps is fine in k and 1st and gets progressively worse in upper grades. Make the transition earlier if it makes sense financially so your kids can transition more easily and make friends. It is really a night and day in terms of the experience.

+1

This

[Anonymous]

We had an overall positive experience at our inbound DCPS elementary through 5th grade. We moved to a private school at the natural middle school transition (6th). We loved our local elementary community and wouldn't have wanted to leave sooner.

The quality of the curriculum our child received at their public elementary school made them well-prepared for private school. However, we supplemented outside of school to help our academically inclined child grow at their pace especially in the later grades. Because of a strong foundation plus supplementing, our child started on par or if not above their classmates academically who were already enrolled at the private school.

As much as we loved our local elementary school, the quality of education in 4th and 5th grade was not as strong and there were an exuberant amount of standardized tests (iRready, Anet, DC PARCC/CAPE).

Know your school's upper grade teaching model/focus, child, and access to other resources. If for any reason staying through 5th grade is not a good fit, I would recommend applying in 4th grade (a DMV private school expansion year). Request financial aid if needed, you don't know what you'll receive if you don't ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had an overall positive experience at our inbound DCPS elementary through 5th grade. We moved to a private school at the natural middle school transition (6th). We loved our local elementary community and wouldn't have wanted to leave sooner.

The quality of the curriculum our child received at their public elementary school made them well-prepared for private school. However, we supplemented outside of school to help our academically inclined child grow at their pace especially in the later grades. Because of a strong foundation plus supplementing, our child started on par or if not above their classmates academically who were already enrolled at the private school.

As much as we loved our local elementary school, the quality of education in 4th and 5th grade was not as strong and there were an exuberant amount of standardized tests (iRready, Anet, DC PARCC/CAPE).

Know your school's upper grade teaching model/focus, child, and access to other resources. If for any reason staying through 5th grade is not a good fit, I would recommend applying in 4th grade (a DMV private school expansion year). Request financial aid if needed, you don't know what you'll receive if you don't ask.

OP here again. Thanks for this. What are some examples of supplementing? Like a hiring a private language tutor? Or send them to specialized sports camp? Or organize a family book club and make them read more challenging material outside of school? All of the above?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So to understand correctly, you think that at some point all DCPS, and the public charters (BASIS, Latin), and the special admissions schools (Walls), will not be good enough/your kids will be too bright for them? But they’re still in pre-k? Or you want a backup?

I’m not trying to be snarky. I just don’t understand.

OP here. I don't really know. Very overwhelmed by the whole education ecosystem. How do those charters and special admission schools compare to private schools? Admission at those is by chance, right? At the risk of revealing too much, my kids are twins and the DCPS lottery does not give any advantage to multiples when it comes to keeping them together. I would consider splitting them up for high school but they need each other right now and we've already had to decline an offer to a preferred public school because one got in and the other did not.

I don't think my kids are/will be better than anyone else, it's just that both parents are reasonably smart and we had the privilege of going to private school where we grew up and want to make that available to them if it makes sense for our family and they're cut out for it academically and socially. I am worried that they'll get to a certain grade and certain paths will be closed to them because we stayed in DCPS too long.

This is incorrect. You get two shots each lottery season for a public/charter. First twin pulls the second twin in (sibling match puts second twin at top of waitlist).

Not exactly. Sibling preference does not get you an automatic second offer. I know this from personal experience. I don't know what the calculus is but I can tell you that last year we re-entered the lottery with Barnard as choice #1, one kid got in and the other did not. It helped kid #2 advance on the waitlist but she was not near enough to the top of the list at the time we needed to make a decision so we went with the local, automatic bid school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wanted to echo chaos was part of our decision to move as well. The level of chaos intensifies each year.

What do you mean by “chaos”? What’s an example?

My daughter always complained in DCPS about how loud her 3rd grade classroom was and how much time they spent getting materials together and explaining an assignment before starting. I learned at back to school night that there were several kids with behavior issues in her class who couldn’t sit still and would constantly interrupt. The teacher told me in our parent teacher conference that she spent most of her time with those kids and my quiet, studious daughter didn’t need any attention. Moving to private meant. Y daughter got her share of the teacher’s attention and she didn’t constantly waste time waiting for other kids to settle

Sure, but smart kids can and do learn in all sorts of environments. They don't need the "can hear a pin drop" classroom and a ton of individual attention. In fact, I would say that learning in the midst of some chaos is good for kids.

My own kids attended DPCS through 8th grade and moved to Big3 schools for high school (STA/NCS/Sidwell). They were (and are) near the top of their private school classes and this is despite spending all of elementary and middle school in large and sometimes crazy DCPS classrooms where they likely got very little individual attention (while many of their high school classmates sat in quiet Beauvoir or St Pats or Norwood etc classes.) In the end, it didn't matter and they're doing incredibly well.

Then your kids are complete outliers. You must know that public school 8th graders (without big sports hooks) are highly unlikely to be admitted to sidwell, STA, NCS in 9th grade. Also Maret. GDS has slightly better odds.

Then, your kids (multiple?) rising to the very top of their respective Big3 classes by graduation is just flat out rare. Nobody at the top quartile in my kids’ recent graduating classes at Sidwell came from public in 9th. That includes MCPS amd DCPS. The entire top tier was comprised of kids already at sidwell well before 9th or admits from strong k-8s

Don’t mislead OP. The 9 year DCPS deficit is real. You can’t get back those foundational years