Why are private school applications still at an all time high?

[Anonymous]

Wealthy people as a group are growing around the planet.

Private schools will take your money.

Public schools in the US are seriously terrible, despite a few exceptions that are basically already prep schools in public school form … since you have to live in district.

New Trier, Greenwich, or whatever the school was that 90210 was based on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not all privates are outstanding, and you need to be careful when you choose your private. The tours can really impress you with their facilities, class size etc, but you need to dig deeper and really understand their curriculum and what/how teachers are teaching. I work at a private school (not a teacher) and there are a lot of teachers just pulling lessons from chat gpt and teachers pay teachers website, who aren’t doing a whole lot for differentiation. I wouldn’t spend $50k for that.

Someone is able to counter every anecdote on this site.

I also work in a private school. The teachers are creating lessons that are truly beneficial to the students sitting in front for them, and they are not forced to teach a canned curricula purchased from a company states away. They also tailor the lessons to fit the variety of students they encounter. And I say this as someone who used to teach in public schools.

You simply can’t make blanket statements. Some privates are far superior to some publics and vice versa.

Just pick what is best for your family and don’t worry about anyone else’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because public school class sizes are huge, there's a range of abilities that is impossible for even the most seasoned teacher to accommodate, and well behaved kids who are on or above grade level are ignored. The established private schools aren't stupid and have done a good job advertising to UMC families of solid students who are increasingly fed up. Throw in a modest merit scholarship for the ones with top grades and test scores and it's not a hard sell.

There are not merit scholarships for top grades at local independent schools

Huh? There are definitely merit scholarships for local private high schools.

Below the high school level, it's not called a merit scholarship but the FA decision is often not *solely* about need, which makes a segment of DCUM crazy but is true nonetheless. Schools use FA to keep students they want to keep, including those who boost test scores or fill out the advanced track classes.

PP. Only the Catholic schools. Which is not what most of us think of when we say the words “private school”.

You cannot name an independent school in DC/MD that hands out true merit money to smart applicants as an enticement. It’s flat out not allowed in AISGW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because public school class sizes are huge, there's a range of abilities that is impossible for even the most seasoned teacher to accommodate, and well behaved kids who are on or above grade level are ignored. The established private schools aren't stupid and have done a good job advertising to UMC families of solid students who are increasingly fed up. Throw in a modest merit scholarship for the ones with top grades and test scores and it's not a hard sell.

There are not merit scholarships for top grades at local independent schools

Huh? There are definitely merit scholarships for local private high schools.

Below the high school level, it's not called a merit scholarship but the FA decision is often not *solely* about need, which makes a segment of DCUM crazy but is true nonetheless. Schools use FA to keep students they want to keep, including those who boost test scores or fill out the advanced track classes.

PP. Only the Catholic schools. Which is not what most of us think of when we say the words “private school”.

You cannot name an independent school in DC/MD that hands out true merit money to smart applicants as an enticement. It’s flat out not allowed in AISGW.

I *absolutely* think Catholic school when I hear “private school”. And I suspect many (most?) of us do.

And our Catholic high school does offer merit money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because public school class sizes are huge, there's a range of abilities that is impossible for even the most seasoned teacher to accommodate, and well behaved kids who are on or above grade level are ignored. The established private schools aren't stupid and have done a good job advertising to UMC families of solid students who are increasingly fed up. Throw in a modest merit scholarship for the ones with top grades and test scores and it's not a hard sell.

There are not merit scholarships for top grades at local independent schools

Huh? There are definitely merit scholarships for local private high schools.

Below the high school level, it's not called a merit scholarship but the FA decision is often not *solely* about need, which makes a segment of DCUM crazy but is true nonetheless. Schools use FA to keep students they want to keep, including those who boost test scores or fill out the advanced track classes.

PP. Only the Catholic schools. Which is not what most of us think of when we say the words “private school”.

You cannot name an independent school in DC/MD that hands out true merit money to smart applicants as an enticement. It’s flat out not allowed in AISGW.

"In addition to need-based financial aid, AISGW member schools also awarded more than $11 million in merit scholarships in 2015-2016."

https://www.aisgw.org/affordability

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because public school class sizes are huge, there's a range of abilities that is impossible for even the most seasoned teacher to accommodate, and well behaved kids who are on or above grade level are ignored. The established private schools aren't stupid and have done a good job advertising to UMC families of solid students who are increasingly fed up. Throw in a modest merit scholarship for the ones with top grades and test scores and it's not a hard sell.

There are not merit scholarships for top grades at local independent schools

Huh? There are definitely merit scholarships for local private high schools.

Below the high school level, it's not called a merit scholarship but the FA decision is often not *solely* about need, which makes a segment of DCUM crazy but is true nonetheless. Schools use FA to keep students they want to keep, including those who boost test scores or fill out the advanced track classes.

PP. Only the Catholic schools. Which is not what most of us think of when we say the words “private school”.

You cannot name an independent school in DC/MD that hands out true merit money to smart applicants as an enticement. It’s flat out not allowed in AISGW.

Really?

Why is that?

[Anonymous]

Public school parent here - sorry to intrude. I just saw this under "recent topics."

I beg your indulgence. FWIW, I can definitely afford private school for my kids! For better or worse, I choose not to.

If OP's facts are correct, I find the increasing demand for privates school curious, too. I'm not certain the college outcomes are that much better when you account for family wealth and education. In fact, private school outcomes might be worse when you make those accounts.

It's true that class sizes are too big in public school. There are also some unpleasant and weird kids. But tough situations teach resilience that can be useful later in life.

Just saying I'm surprised we're not at an equilibrium, and instead we are in an era of dramatically increasing demand for private school. I guess I would chalk it up to the wealthy getting wealthier.

[Anonymous]

Public schools suck and the stock market is booming. My kid was waitlisted at his top choice private last year and they said for the first time ever they didn’t go to the waitlist. Class is the biggest they’ve ever had.

[Anonymous]

Not necessarily the stock market but a lot of families can afford private because of 1. Boomer grandparents covering the tuition, or dying and leaving money to their kids 2. People in big cities having kids later and having fewer kids--a lot of 1 kid families who choose private in cities like NYC 3. At boarding schools, a shift toward international full-pay students, and at some day schools, increasing numbers of international families who move here

[Anonymous]

NP. Public education is degrading every year, and parents learned too much about what really happened in the classrooms during the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just read an article that staff at Alice Deal in DC chose to eliminate reading full novels from the 8th grade curriculum.

last year's 8th grade at Maret did not read a full book or write a full essay until the end of year.

That's shocking if true. My kid is in 7th at a nova independent and they have been reading multiple books and writing essays about them since 5th. (Obviously the essays in 5th are simpler than in later grades.)

I highly doubt it’s true. My kids at NCS have been reading 5+ books per year since 4th grade. Plus 5 books in the summer. I remember listening to one 6th grade English class and what heard was amazing. The students and teacher’s in depth discussion of a couple of pages of a book was amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not necessarily the stock market but a lot of families can afford private because of 1. Boomer grandparents covering the tuition, or dying and leaving money to their kids 2. People in big cities having kids later and having fewer kids--a lot of 1 kid families who choose private in cities like NYC 3. At boarding schools, a shift toward international full-pay students, and at some day schools, increasing numbers of international families who move here

+1. Boomers are sitting on a massive amount of wealth. And the calculation for many families is very different with only one kid versus two or three.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all privates are outstanding, and you need to be careful when you choose your private. The tours can really impress you with their facilities, class size etc, but you need to dig deeper and really understand their curriculum and what/how teachers are teaching. I work at a private school (not a teacher) and there are a lot of teachers just pulling lessons from chat gpt and teachers pay teachers website, who aren’t doing a whole lot for differentiation. I wouldn’t spend $50k for that.

Someone is able to counter every anecdote on this site.

I also work in a private school. The teachers are creating lessons that are truly beneficial to the students sitting in front for them, and they are not forced to teach a canned curricula purchased from a company states away. They also tailor the lessons to fit the variety of students they encounter. And I say this as someone who used to teach in public schools.

You simply can’t make blanket statements. Some privates are far superior to some publics and vice versa.

Just pick what is best for your family and don’t worry about anyone else’s.

Good thing PP didn’t make blanket statements then. “Not all privates” and “you need to be careful when you choose” are not blanket statements about private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all privates are outstanding, and you need to be careful when you choose your private. The tours can really impress you with their facilities, class size etc, but you need to dig deeper and really understand their curriculum and what/how teachers are teaching. I work at a private school (not a teacher) and there are a lot of teachers just pulling lessons from chat gpt and teachers pay teachers website, who aren’t doing a whole lot for differentiation. I wouldn’t spend $50k for that.

Someone is able to counter every anecdote on this site.

I also work in a private school. The teachers are creating lessons that are truly beneficial to the students sitting in front for them, and they are not forced to teach a canned curricula purchased from a company states away. They also tailor the lessons to fit the variety of students they encounter. And I say this as someone who used to teach in public schools.

You simply can’t make blanket statements. Some privates are far superior to some publics and vice versa.

Just pick what is best for your family and don’t worry about anyone else’s.

Good thing PP didn’t make blanket statements then. “Not all privates” and “you need to be careful when you choose” are not blanket statements about private schools.

But this is the very reason these threads are pointless. Unless you’re asking about two specific schools, the answer is always going to be “mileage varies.”

I’m thrilled that we moved our kids to private, but that should mean nothing to the OP. Different schools, different families, different needs, different expectations, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:…this is the very reason these threads are pointless. Unless you’re asking about two specific schools, the answer is always going to be “mileage varies.”

It varies not only with the specific schools being compared, but also with the specific student. Different children are different. Different schools are different. Even within a single public school system there can be wide variation between individual schools. Within a single family, different children often have different needs, weaknesses, and strengths. No single “right answer” exists.