Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just bought a house in Alexandria and plan to send the kids to private.

Most all the families we know in McLean send their kids to private school.

In McLean most of the families you know go private? Are most of the families that you know in McLean friends you met through your private school? This is really surprising to me. I thought people moved to McLean because it has the best public schools in the state.

The McLean families we know are professional colleagues. We just moved to the DC area from out of state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I've had kids in public and private. One thing about private school - you are buying peace of mind. You will know what your child is doing and the teachers will communicate with you regularly. You won't be asked to work on school projects with your child at home; this will be done at school. You will get written comments from teachers at report-card time, not just letter grades. You will have easier access to school administration because they are invested. In my experience this isn't so much the case in public schools. I'd say that in most public schools parents need to be more actively involved and advocate for their children. Does this justify the massive tuition of private school? I think this is a difficult judgment call every family must make based on their individual circumstances.

Except, all of these things are true of the public schools I've had experience with (I know exactly what my child is doing, teachers communicate well, written comments on report cards, easy access to school administration). I don't know what public school you experienced something else with, but these things hardly seem like differentiators for privates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I've had kids in public and private. One thing about private school - you are buying peace of mind. You will know what your child is doing and the teachers will communicate with you regularly. You won't be asked to work on school projects with your child at home; this will be done at school. You will get written comments from teachers at report-card time, not just letter grades. You will have easier access to school administration because they are invested. In my experience this isn't so much the case in public schools. I'd say that in most public schools parents need to be more actively involved and advocate for their children. Does this justify the massive tuition of private school? I think this is a difficult judgment call every family must make based on their individual circumstances.

Except, all of these things are true of the public schools I've had experience with (I know exactly what my child is doing, teachers communicate well, written comments on report cards, easy access to school administration). I don't know what public school you experienced something else with, but these things hardly seem like differentiators for privates.

+1

[Anonymous]

Early elementary experience in public school was a disaster for my son. Class was out of control - kids throwing scissors at other kids heads. Kids taunting one another to a point where one spit another. School told me DS was bored, then when I asked about what we do to make sure he is not bored - got a different story. Teachers making up their own rules within the same grade - some believed in pullouts, others didn't - no consistency through out the school. This was at one of the "better" FCPS schools.

Moved to private. DS is so much happier. We did not plan on sending to private, but are swallowing the pill for now.

The point of my story is that even though you might move some where for the public school, it might not work out for you.

[Anonymous]

@8:25 fyi everything is normal in the class now and being bored in class is no excuse to throw scissors at classmates.

[Anonymous]

8:25 poster. It was not my son that threw the scissors. My DS was having anxiety about being in such a class. Teacher is no longer with Fcps. The principal did not renew her contract

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most all the families we know in McLean send their kids to private school.

I grew up in McLean and the vast majority of families I knew sent their kids to public school.... of course, since I went to public school that makes sense!

No seriously, there are a number of private school families who choose McLean for it's location or name or what have you and don't send their kids to public school. But those tend to be the people for whom money isn't an issue - they can afford the expensive house AND the fancy school. And they are not choosing the fancy private school because the public school is poor, but rather for the social status or connections or perceived boost in college admissions and future life goals or smaller class size or ability to cater to a specific interest (eg broader array of extracurriculars or non-academic classes and opportunities). Many of those are things that aren't available, or aren't as easily or frequently available, at public school. (Although that said, while I was at McLean H.S. I did have a classmate whose dad was the Whie House press secretary, and other classmates whose parents were Congressmen, so it's not like those kind of interactions are impossible, they are just much less likely than if you were at one of the big privates.)