entering private in 6th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a rising 5th grader. You have heard the typical story...not challenged in public school....only see it getting worse in middle school. They are doing great academically. As accelerated as the public school system can allow. Screens galore. All A's (yea it's public so whatever)...98-99% on standardized stuff...has activities out of school (not an elite athlete, but enjoys rec sports; plays an instrument, etc)...finally has a core group of friends (this was a challenge for a while)....has faced some jerks picking on them/bullying, but school has handled it good enough but worry it could get worse in middle school.

We struck out on private schools this cycle. Waitlist only.

Some questions:
What privates in Maryland/DC would you target for 6th grade? Understand hyper competitive since people hate public middle. Honestly, probably can't afford the most expensive ones. Sorry, not rich. Is there a good school that targets itself as the private middle school?
Are parochial worth entering for middle school? Or is that when people are leaving for elite privates?
Can they get into an elite private high school from public middle school? How do we position our child for that?
If we end up having to stay in public, what sort of academic enrichment programs have you all used outside of the public school system? Mathlete type stuff....anything for STEM or language arts?
Are public magnets worth exploring?

Interested in thoughts.

This sounds like my experience, but several years ago. Guess what? We ended up getting into one of the Big 3 privates by 6th grade. And guess what?! They weren't that good. And look at the responses you are getting? These are people who got their kids into schools by legacy, money, being in the "cool" country club group. They're projecting on you telling you to look inward. What BS. They believe they are better than you and they aren't.

We returned to our public high school in grade 10 and my child ended up at a top 10 university on the east coast. They're on pace for medical school and we are proud of them.

Save your money. Hang in at public. So long as it is safe.

In terms of enrichment...various writers clinics, russian school of math may push your kid a little. But don't over work them unncessarily.

Magnets in my county tend to be a pain because of transportation, but could be worth checking out to get away from the bullies you mention. clearly you're willing to drive your kid to a private, so maybe transport isn't an issue.

Good luck!

I suppose everyone is entitled to have a strong opinion, but your post seriously comes off as you don’t have real experience and are extremely bias. There is a reason why waitlists are a mile long and there are tons of envious posters like you. I’m sorry for what trauma that made you this way - it’s not most people’s experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I think it was to show emphasis, but in fairness, I’m here now with 99 of my multiple personalities, and we all agree that the OP is a little nutty.

100%

[Anonymous]

I think what OP is seeing that the jerks and bullies are in private schools too. Unnecessarily mean. Look at half the responses here. So don’t expect the social issues to necessarily be different. These are some of the people sending their kids to private schools. Pretentious. Condescending. Don’t care about you. We all aren’t this bad. Just try again next year and protect positivity in the interview.

[Anonymous]

Who are these consultants people are talking about? When we applied we just shotgunned applications for the schools in the area. Some took us, some didn’t. Maybe OP only applied to 2 or 3 schools too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a rising 5th grader. You have heard the typical story...not challenged in public school....only see it getting worse in middle school. They are doing great academically. As accelerated as the public school system can allow. Screens galore. All A's (yea it's public so whatever)...98-99% on standardized stuff...has activities out of school (not an elite athlete, but enjoys rec sports; plays an instrument, etc)...finally has a core group of friends (this was a challenge for a while)....has faced some jerks picking on them/bullying, but school has handled it good enough but worry it could get worse in middle school.

We struck out on private schools this cycle. Waitlist only.

Some questions:
What privates in Maryland/DC would you target for 6th grade? Understand hyper competitive since people hate public middle. Honestly, probably can't afford the most expensive ones. Sorry, not rich. Is there a good school that targets itself as the private middle school?
Are parochial worth entering for middle school? Or is that when people are leaving for elite privates?
Can they get into an elite private high school from public middle school? How do we position our child for that?
If we end up having to stay in public, what sort of academic enrichment programs have you all used outside of the public school system? Mathlete type stuff....anything for STEM or language arts?
Are public magnets worth exploring?

Interested in thoughts.

This sounds like my experience, but several years ago. Guess what? We ended up getting into one of the Big 3 privates by 6th grade. And guess what?! They weren't that good. And look at the responses you are getting? These are people who got their kids into schools by legacy, money, being in the "cool" country club group. They're projecting on you telling you to look inward. What BS. They believe they are better than you and they aren't.

We returned to our public high school in grade 10 and my child ended up at a top 10 university on the east coast. They're on pace for medical school and we are proud of them.

Save your money. Hang in at public. So long as it is safe.

In terms of enrichment...various writers clinics, russian school of math may push your kid a little. But don't over work them unncessarily.

Magnets in my county tend to be a pain because of transportation, but could be worth checking out to get away from the bullies you mention. clearly you're willing to drive your kid to a private, so maybe transport isn't an issue.

Good luck!

I suppose everyone is entitled to have a strong opinion, but your post seriously comes off as you don’t have real experience and are extremely bias. There is a reason why waitlists are a mile long and there are tons of envious posters like you. I’m sorry for what trauma that made you this way - it’s not most people’s experience

This is reply is strange. There are people where the private schools are not a fit and return to public. It’s not “most”, but it isn’t nobody either.

[Anonymous]

just apply to like 6-8 next year and you'll get into a few. 5th grade isn't a normal entry

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And please stop saying “elite”. It makes you sound like a striver. Plenty of kids do parochial k-8 and then go on to all of the competitive high schools you are alluding to. Many parents at parochial schools simply want Catholic high schools but there are those that apply out to the Big 3 or Big 5 schools.

Also, things are not always perfect socially no matter where you go. The advantage of private school is they don’t have to accept certain kids and if they make a mistake and accept someone they shouldn’t have, they can always counsel them out. Generally most private schools aim to create a supportive and collegial environment but kids will be kids. K-8 in my opinion tend to make the middle school experience a little more gentle which is nice but again, nothing is perfect.

+1
For my older one we only toured, applied, and were accepted into top tier schools. Because of our older one, I was fairly confident my younger one would get into top tier (and she did). However, we broadened the search for her out of curiosity. I was really impressed with some of the parochial schools. OP, don’t overlook these. The kids are still sweet and although there aren’t as many different opportunities the opportunities they do have they dive deep - at least in the schools we toured. The bonus is also that they cost a fraction of the top tier - in many ways these would have been perfect for my very gifted non-athletic daughters.

Which parochial schools? Why are you being vague in an anonymous post meant to help someone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a rising 5th grader. You have heard the typical story...not challenged in public school....only see it getting worse in middle school. They are doing great academically. As accelerated as the public school system can allow. Screens galore. All A's (yea it's public so whatever)...98-99% on standardized stuff...has activities out of school (not an elite athlete, but enjoys rec sports; plays an instrument, etc)...finally has a core group of friends (this was a challenge for a while)....has faced some jerks picking on them/bullying, but school has handled it good enough but worry it could get worse in middle school.

We struck out on private schools this cycle. Waitlist only.

Some questions:
What privates in Maryland/DC would you target for 6th grade? Understand hyper competitive since people hate public middle. Honestly, probably can't afford the most expensive ones. Sorry, not rich. Is there a good school that targets itself as the private middle school?
Are parochial worth entering for middle school? Or is that when people are leaving for elite privates?
Can they get into an elite private high school from public middle school? How do we position our child for that?
If we end up having to stay in public, what sort of academic enrichment programs have you all used outside of the public school system? Mathlete type stuff....anything for STEM or language arts?
Are public magnets worth exploring?

Interested in thoughts.

This sounds like my experience, but several years ago. Guess what? We ended up getting into one of the Big 3 privates by 6th grade. And guess what?! They weren't that good. And look at the responses you are getting? These are people who got their kids into schools by legacy, money, being in the "cool" country club group. They're projecting on you telling you to look inward. What BS. They believe they are better than you and they aren't.

We returned to our public high school in grade 10 and my child ended up at a top 10 university on the east coast. They're on pace for medical school and we are proud of them.

Save your money. Hang in at public. So long as it is safe.

In terms of enrichment...various writers clinics, russian school of math may push your kid a little. But don't over work them unncessarily.

Magnets in my county tend to be a pain because of transportation, but could be worth checking out to get away from the bullies you mention. clearly you're willing to drive your kid to a private, so maybe transport isn't an issue.

Good luck!

I suppose everyone is entitled to have a strong opinion, but your post seriously comes off as you don’t have real experience and are extremely bias. There is a reason why waitlists are a mile long and there are tons of envious posters like you. I’m sorry for what trauma that made you this way - it’s not most people’s experience

This is reply is strange. There are people where the private schools are not a fit and return to public. It’s not “most”, but it isn’t nobody either.

Absolutely true. The kid who we thought would benefit from the attention of a private ended up thriving in the anonymity of a large public. As parents, we think we’re doing the best for our kids and sometimes we’re right, and sometimes we’re not.

[Anonymous]

We applied for 6th this year from public elementary. My child's tests for both math and ELA are all in the 99% percentile nationally (I'm not sure what the school sent, but this data is true across all tests and all years we've been at the school), has rec-level sports, multiple instruments (not serious), district-level awards (as part of a team not individual), receives positive feedback from teachers. We have advocated for advanced learning opportunities at school so could be seen as demanding parents through teacher recommendations. We applied to four schools (the consultant we used said that we had a balanced list), accepted into 2 and waitlisted at 2. The 2 that we got waitlisted at are what people consider "big three". The 2 that we got accepted at are not what people would consider "big five". We will be enrolling at one of the ones we've been accepted to with no plans of changing even if we get off the waitlists and are very happy with our decision.

What we learned was that going to all the admissions events was very eye-opening, and our ideas about what we wanted changed drastically from the beginning to the end. I'm glad we built a balanced list despite having a child who we thought had the qualifications to get into a "top school". So I would say don't overestimate your own understanding of what it takes to get into any single school, especially the ones that a lot of families are applying to.

[Anonymous]

Like competitive colleges, the number of genuinely qualified kids greatly outstrips supply of slots. Great, talented kids are frequently denied admittance which is why your balanced approach is the right strategy. Congrats and enjoy the new school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We applied for 6th this year from public elementary. My child's tests for both math and ELA are all in the 99% percentile nationally (I'm not sure what the school sent, but this data is true across all tests and all years we've been at the school), has rec-level sports, multiple instruments (not serious), district-level awards (as part of a team not individual), receives positive feedback from teachers. We have advocated for advanced learning opportunities at school so could be seen as demanding parents through teacher recommendations. We applied to four schools (the consultant we used said that we had a balanced list), accepted into 2 and waitlisted at 2. The 2 that we got waitlisted at are what people consider "big three". The 2 that we got accepted at are not what people would consider "big five". We will be enrolling at one of the ones we've been accepted to with no plans of changing even if we get off the waitlists and are very happy with our decision.

What we learned was that going to all the admissions events was very eye-opening, and our ideas about what we wanted changed drastically from the beginning to the end. I'm glad we built a balanced list despite having a child who we thought had the qualifications to get into a "top school". So I would say don't overestimate your own understanding of what it takes to get into any single school, especially the ones that a lot of families are applying to.

I think the critical thing is the teacher's recommendations. It is not easy to get a very good and personal reference from public schools. I also think the test scores from school-administered tests do not really matter unless you are at the 90th percentile on the SSAT/ISEE. So I believe a good way to get into the Big 3 is through smaller private or K-8 schools. You can even apply it in earlier grades in a K-8. The teachers in private schools have a much better chance to get to know your kid.

[Anonymous]

Check out Blessed Sacrament in DC. Affordable tuition (under $13,000) and our academically strong kiddo had a great experience socially and academically.

[Anonymous]

Echoing other comments recommending St. Anselm's if DC is a boy. Our son had a similar experience to yours in public, and by 5th grade it was clear it was getting worse and not better. Watered down academics, too many screens, too much behavior that made peer connections harder, etc. SAAS has been a wonderful change. 6th grade is the best time to start since all the boys are new together.