Private elementary and middle school and public high?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Do people do this? I am in Montgomery County and my daughter will be in K next year. Everything I'm hearing about the changes to the public elementary school curriculum is scaring me to death. On the other hand, MCPS high schools seem to have good programs - IB and the like. I'm not sure I can really afford private school for 2 kids (younger one is 2) but I'm seriously considering it. Has anyone done private K-8 and then switched to public for high school? |
Anonymous
Please do not draw conclusions about Curriculum 2.0 from what you read on DCUM. Please instead talk to real actual people with real actual children in the real actual school your daughter would go to kindergarten to. (For what it's worth, I have a pre-Curriculum 2.0 child and a Curriculum 2.0 child. I started reading about Curriculum 2.0 on DCUM and was horrified -- this even though I knew and liked the teachers and the school. I sent my second child to school with enormous misgivings. How does this story turn out? I actually prefer Curriculum 2.0 to the previous curriculum.) |
Anonymous
|
We did exactly that - private k-8, MCPS for high school. We are in our regular MCPS, not and IB or magnet, but it's one of the top ranked ones. Very pleased. If we had to do it over again I might make the switch at least for middle school, although at least with one of my kids I probably would have just done public all the way through.
I don't know much about 2.0 because it doesn't affect us, but you should look at the private school approach carefully. My impression is that 2.0 is actually closer to some of the private schools than the old MCPS curriculum. For example, our private school did little differentiating and had no letter grades until 6th grade. That's not uncommon in the independent k-8s. |
Anonymous
| I did. I went parochial 1st-8th and the public hs. I loved it and thrived. I did great with the structure and firm foundation I got in Catholic school and really blossomed when I got into public hs. |
Anonymous
OP here, thanks for the input so far! I am actually getting most of the input on 2.0 from friends with older kids, not DCUM, though I do appreciate the um, "colorful" spin that DCUM puts on most things  Maybe I'm naive but I really want school to instill a love of learning in my kids, not just bounce them from test to test with minimal creativity. I'm definitely going to do my research and not rule anything out but I know that affording private for 2 kids K-12 would be a huge stretch.
|
Anonymous
| We opted for private for the early years for just those reasons. We will reassess down the road once the love of learning is instilled. |
Anonymous
| We are in a top MCPS district but decided to do private K-8 (Norwood) and no regrets so far. |
Anonymous
|
We too area in what is considered a good MCPS area. I moved my daughter out of public in 5th and haven't looked back. I was glad she did K and 1st there (pre 2.0) and it was nice to meet many local families, but after 2nd grade the teaching and ratios went downhill.
I doubt I will move her in 9th next year though. I just see a much better potential for good colleges graduating from a college-prep school than a public school. I think of all 3 school levels, middle school at a private is much more important. The public ones are too big and too much bullying, poor teachers, lame sports options etc.. Good luck with your decision and look into Financial Aid |
Anonymous
| It's what we are planning....but we aren't there yet. still in private elementary and love it but we also live in a top HS area..... |
Anonymous
I have two children in MCPS elementary schools, and getting bounced from test to test with minimal creativity is absolutely, positively NOT what they're doing. |
Anonymous
I had three kids in MCPS and actually agree that it is all about the test and ZERO creativity. My kids do all the same projects spanning 8 years and different teachers. How stale is that? No field trips, no thinking for themselves, boring! |
Anonymous
| We did this too - private, then FCPS for high school. Now I wish we had done FCPS all the way. |
Anonymous
What schools are you in where there are no field trips and there is no thinking for themselves? |
Anonymous
| OP - As you can see many people do what you are contemplating. My one piece of advice is to be open with your kids as they get just a bit older that this is their school for now, and that (the public high school) will be their school later so that they are used to the idea. For every poster who makes the switch, there are probably many more that don't because if their kid is happy in private, all their friends are there, etc. it is hard to pull them out. Some kids want to switch out for something bigger in high school, but most do not and some private school kids begin to develop an unrealisitically negative view of public school which you need to work to debunk from the start and never let settle in. |
Anonymous
| That's what we are doing. We are in Wootton cluster. But private elementary has been wonderful so far. |