New to this - seems like everything is in upper NW?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Just to clarify, we are not set on moving to NoVA, and that's why I was asking whether all the schools were in upper NW or whether there were good schools in NoVA (private) that we could consider. The reason to move to NoVA is that there are cheaper townhouses - around Alexandria - than we could easily find in upper NW. However, if it seems like we would be dooming ourselves to that commute, then we would just move to upper NW with whatever we could find.

I think the deal though is that it sounds like there are some great options from around Alexandria. We will probably go ahead and tour some of those schools to see. We are also going to look at CHDS - I'm convinced that I shouldn't judge without visiting (just heard some rough stuff I guess) - but again, not sure we can afford the townhouse in the areas we love here (we need a bigger place than where we live).

The problem with public schools is that there is a serious cost of living issue to be in bounds for the best public schools. We did a lot of the math and realized that it would be about the same whether we bought a very modest townhouse in a modest neighborhood and sent our son to whatever private school we got into and got scholarships for than buying a home in the best school districts, which can't really be found in our price range.

Plus again, a lot more control about schools when you go private and we like that. The best of both worlds would be to get a home in the lower end of what we could afford in a great school district, try it out, and have the flexibility to be able to leave. But we're pretty sure we want to set up our living situation to support the commute to private school.

It's kind of a tough call.

I'm curious about the math, especially since you haven't received financial aid info yet. There is a standard FA form, but no standard FA award. So one school could give you a full ride while another would only give you $10K (off of $30K). In other words, I would not count on FA. The math almost always works out for buying a small home/TH in NoVA (not Alexandria) rather than relying on FA. You also have to think of summer camps ($2k/mo for full time care), as well as the cost of aftercare during the school year.

I meant to add, and attending public school.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I think you make a very valid point about FA awards. We both got into very prestigious (for our area - not DC) schools on full or almost full rides. We would need about 50% FA to make it work at the most expensive of the private schools around here, which I don't think is too crazy given our salaries etc. I think you're right that it's not necessarily the case for our son though. Which is pretty depressing. But as we remain fairly committed to private schooling for our son, we both feel like if one of us needs to change jobs or something, we'd do what we could to make it work.

Thanks to the PP who sent that guide - it is exactly what we needed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BUT almost all independent schools (unless they're Montessori) are under 17 and there are many small Catholic schools with fewer than 20.

We looked at a number of schools for K, including Beauvoir, Sidwell, GDS, and Maret, and they all had classes of 20 or more. At some schools (Maret, e.g.), class size did decrease in later years.

You can't look at numbers alone. You need to determine the ratio of students to teachers. DC is at GDS and last year was in a class of 20 with two co-teachers of equal stature (not one teacher and one assistant; or one teacher plus parent volunteers).

Yes, but that is different from class size. Class size is important in itself, whether your have one or two teachers in the room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
We did try NOVA schools, to be specific FCPS. We found the curriculum to be weak, the system itself woefully mismanaged, the class sizes too large, and the quality of teaching unpredictable. When we left for private, during the search process we did run into other families who were also leaving Arlington and Falls Church City public schools. What I heard repeatedly from these families was Falls Church City is not what it used to be and that Arlington was fine for elementary, but middle and high school options were pretty lacking.

Just for clarification... Falls Church City Schools is not a part of "FCPS". It is its own school district separate from the Fairfax County Public Schools to which you referred.
Have a wonderful week!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We did try NOVA schools, to be specific FCPS. We found the curriculum to be weak, the system itself woefully mismanaged, the class sizes too large, and the quality of teaching unpredictable. When we left for private, during the search process we did run into other families who were also leaving Arlington and Falls Church City public schools. What I heard repeatedly from these families was Falls Church City is not what it used to be and that Arlington was fine for elementary, but middle and high school options were pretty lacking.

Just for clarification... Falls Church City Schools is not a part of "FCPS". It is its own school district separate from the Fairfax County Public Schools to which you referred.
Have a wonderful week!

I am aware of this, hence my referencing both FCPS AND Falls Church City public schools in my post.

[Anonymous]

I would consider renting a place in an area you like....we did this when we first moved here. It might be a smart move financially. Also , a good public school option in return for the taxes you pay is always nice.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of good privare K thru 8 options in Alex,Arl,Mclean etc ....not as many choices for private HS and lots of ppl end up going back over the bridge To DC for HS

[Anonymous]

Stop. OP asked about private schools on an independent schools forum. It's fine that other posters have had good experiences with pubic schools, send their children to public schools, have valid reasons for feeling that there are good public snooks in NoVA, and may have even moved to the area specifically for those public schools. HOWEVER, let's all go back to the question asked and stop trying to push public schools (and the reasons for them) down the OP's throat. She's asking a different question, and if you read her responses, clearly being made to feel increasingly defensive. There's no reason to justify her questions. If you can help, please do so. If you're just trying to tell her what she SHOULD be doing, well, she hasn't asked for that opinion. If she does, you can have at it.

[Anonymous]

15:10 here, sorry, my children have never attended public schools. It is nice to have that as an option. It's not my intent to tell the original poster what to do; independent schools are great.