How Come in the DCPS Forum, Parents Don’t Jump Down Your Throat if you Talk About or Ask About Private School But Here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Think about all the times private parents are posting here. "So glad we got out" "This is why my kids are in private" etc. It goes both ways. Everyone is just a bit insecure about their choices I suppose.

With public it’s less of a choice, though right? For most, you’re forced to accept the public school you’re assigned to. And for private, if you don’t want to be there and it no longer serves your child, you can just leave, even in the middle of the year.

Most privates make you pay for the entire year.

No - most don’t. The majority allow you to pay in one lump sum annually OR in two installments - one per semester OR monthly, in 10 installment payments. All private schools also offer tuition insurance so for a specific list of reasons, you can get out of your contract and the school can be made partially whole. After COVID, many private school parents switched to monthly anyhow because we did not like that we had paid up front just to receive virtual schooling and few if any private schools were willing to issue refunds.

They all make you pay for the entire year. It doesn’t matter if it’s monthly or yearly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS parents, especially ‘W’ school parents like to operate under the misinformed opinion that their schools are “just like private schools” because they have already sunk money in real estate costs and realistically, would not be able to also afford private school. So they bristle at the possibility that they may not be providing their kids with the best education since they NEED to believe that they already have in order to keep up this guise and also, maintain their superiority complex. Therefore, anyone coming on here to ask questions about private schools is understandably met with ire and dismissed.

We are zoned for Wootton and my child attends private school. I can tell you with 100% certainty that my kid is getting a superior education to what she would have received at Wootton. Before this though, I used to think like many of you.

Superior is subjective and it depends on the teachers, admin and classes offered. The math track for privates is much slower. And, there are few privates in the country that aren’t religious.

Most private schools in the country are actually not religious. And I hear this “math track” thing all of the time as though math is weaker in private schools but that has not borne out in the schools we’ve attended. The private schools do go slower but that’s because they can and they are allowed to go more in depth than you can in public school, which is why your state math results are tanking but you do not see a similar decline in scores for private school students. So, it may be slower but they still have to finish the same curriculum ultimately and in addition to quizzes and tests, they have mid-terms and finals - something MCPS doesn’t have any longer. Also, my niece attends a private school in DC and they have the option to cross-register at Georgetown University if she ends up tapping out on their math offerings.

Why do you need to cross register at a private. Most in Montgomery County are religious or single sex. Bullis, that’s about it. My kids have weekly quizzes in multiple classes and tests. You must not have hs students in Mcps. We’ve done public and private. The worst math teacher we had was in private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Think about all the times private parents are posting here. "So glad we got out" "This is why my kids are in private" etc. It goes both ways. Everyone is just a bit insecure about their choices I suppose.

With public it’s less of a choice, though right? For most, you’re forced to accept the public school you’re assigned to. And for private, if you don’t want to be there and it no longer serves your child, you can just leave, even in the middle of the year.

Most privates make you pay for the entire year.

No - most don’t. The majority allow you to pay in one lump sum annually OR in two installments - one per semester OR monthly, in 10 installment payments. All private schools also offer tuition insurance so for a specific list of reasons, you can get out of your contract and the school can be made partially whole. After COVID, many private school parents switched to monthly anyhow because we did not like that we had paid up front just to receive virtual schooling and few if any private schools were willing to issue refunds.

Yes but the monthly plan does not absolve you of having to pay tuition even if you leave partway through the year b/c it is not a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Here’s my theory: Most people who are raising kids in DC have options regarding the mode of education their kids are in, compared to MoCo, where the vast majority are here for the schools and also can’t afford the $20k+ tuition for area private high schools. Also, due to being here for the schools, along with the previously mentioned affordability issues with private schools, MoCo parents will be more defensive about the local public schools; while DC parents see even the good DCPS options as experimental and are ready to pull their kid out when needed, due to having more resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s my theory: Most people who are raising kids in DC have options regarding the mode of education their kids are in, compared to MoCo, where the vast majority are here for the schools and also can’t afford the $20k+ tuition for area private high schools. Also, due to being here for the schools, along with the previously mentioned affordability issues with private schools, MoCo parents will be more defensive about the local public schools; while DC parents see even the good DCPS options as experimental and are ready to pull their kid out when needed, due to having more resources.

This.

[Anonymous]

We have kids in the WJ pyramid and I went to a highly ranked college prep school. This is definitely as good if not better. Of course it was worse during Covid when it wasn’t in person but now that it’s back to normal it’s amazing. Hated our 4 years at private school.