How do you think a Waldorf school near Hyattsville/UP/Mt. Ranier would do?

[Anonymous]

Tuition for the grades would be about 14K. Do you think there would be enough demand for a Waldorf school in this part of the county? Just curious.

[Anonymous]

As with most new schools, success depends on the leadership and the faculty. How much enrollment is required for the 14K tuition?

[Anonymous]

I'd say it depends a lot on the facilities and class size. If class size is comparable to Friends and tuition was less, there would definitely be demand. There were a lot of families in the CP/Hyattsville area that are being priced out of Friends. 14 is not much less than Friends which has an established reputation. You'd likely get families from Takoma Park that can't afford the prices at Acorn Hill or Washington Waldorf.

Obviously you aren't just curious if you know how much tuition would be...

[Anonymous]

A lot depends on the strength of the faculty and curriculum. The lack of interest in Waldorf grows in the older years because of concerns about the academics, so I think an elementary school would be in high demand, less a junior high, and a high school wouldn't get enough interest to work.

[Anonymous]

YES.

Although much more if you could get the tuition under $10k.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree with the previous posters. I think there would absolutely be a demand for it, but I think the tuition would have to be significantly lower than Friends. That may be impossible. I think it might have a tough time in direct competition with Friends (which I think it mostly would be at that price point) getting anyone other than people that are 100% going to go Waldorf anyways. If it was lower than Friends (maybe at the non-Catholic tuition price point for parochials nearby) I think you'd have a strong potential pool of applicants who don't want public but don't want parochial and can't really afford Friends.

[Anonymous]

You'd also be in competition with St. Jerome's Classical program and the affordable Montessori program (that moved from Mt. Rainier to DC), both about $7,000. Montessori has the additional benefit of allowing kids to transfer into the county Montessori after age 4 for public. If you don't have a strong middle school program forget it. A lot of parents willing to pay for private school are really paying from K-5 for a guaranteed spot in middle school since that is the biggest problem area in the county.

You'd easily get parents willing to pay $14,000 for a high quality middle school since by that time private K-8's are filled and unless you get a spot in TAG, College Park Academy, or the creative and performing arts program you're out of luck. Parents in this area don't always have the finances for private K-12 all the way, but there are many that figure they might have to pay private for middle school.

Something like DC's charter school BASIS would be in incredible demand here.

[Anonymous]

As PPs said, if your tuition was around $7000 (same as CFMS and St. Jerome), you would absolutely be turning people away.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all of the feedback! I agree that at a lower price point a Waldorf school would be very popular. It is difficult to run a school with uch low revenue. St. Jerome's gets assistance from the Archdioscses of Washington and still has to cut corners. I have no idea how CFMS has such nice facilities and good staff with such a low tuition.

Good point about middle school being a huge concern. I agree that Basis would be a hit. If PG opened up charters the way that DC has, I think some fantastic programs could be started without charging parents tuition.