Is there a market for a cheaper no frills private school

[Anonymous]

Congressional School in NoVa has tuition between $18-20 with a really good sibling discount. Not cheap but better than $30k

Ideal Schools in Ashburn is $18k

Pinecrest School in Annandale is $14k

Friends Community School in College Park is $15k

Montessori School of NoVa is $12k (through 6th grade)

If parents really feel that the education and not the facilities (or all the bells and whistles) are important, there are schools out there

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grace Episcopal in MD is following that model, although it does have a religious component, it is not financially tied with the Church.

I don't see any Form 990s for Grace Episcopal. Are you sure it's not associated with a church?

Grace is affiliated with Grace Episcopal Church on Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, and is considered an outreach of the church. That being said, the school doesn't receive any financial support from the church, and while they share a chaplain, the relationship is really in spirit only, so to speak. This is very different from parochial schools, who receive direct and significant financial support from the associated parish and congregation. It is an Episcopal school, but is very welcoming to families of all faiths. I challenge anyone to find a more diverse student body. There is a 15 minute chapel once a week at each campus, which also functions as an assembly and a time for school announcements. Not sure about the poster who said it was too "churchy". The curriculum certainly isn't Christian based, or biased, and the messages of the Chaplain in chapel are Golden Rule-type messages.

That said, it is a model low priced school, just wish the academics were stronger and more best practices, not sure what they do for math. Still, take out the name "episcopal" and there would be more people interested.

I've had three kids there, and I'm not sure what you are basing your opinions on. The academics are rigorous in the upper school, and graduates go on the the big name schools or top public magnets. They use Everyday Math, which I am not in love with, but the teachers have the latitude to augment and differentiate within the classroom. The lower school is NAEYC accredited and follows the responsive classroom model. I suppose if it weren't Episcopal, it might attract more Agnostics? Atheists? Non-Christians? Maybe. But the religious aspect is about as low key as it can get, and frankly, I like the daily serving of good citizenship and moral fiber it provides. Unless you've had children there, I'm not sure how you can speak to what actually happens in the school.

I am sure that it is a fine school, but there is always room for improvement, that goes for Sidwell too. Look, there is a subset of parents who want private schools for strong academics and specials, not the snob appeal. The best practices dictate the most efficient way to do this, but I am not sure the expensive or cheap schools are doing it the best way. The point here is that it would be nice to find a relatively inexpensive way to do it right.

Please share your definition of the "best way". There is no "best way" that works with every child. If you are looking for reasonably priced, strong schools that focus on substance not bells and whistles, there are quite a few good recommendations on this board. But no school will be perfect for every kid. I don't think that finding the "best way" - however you are defining it - is the point of this thread. Maybe if you know what is right for your child, but can't find a school that provides it, you should consider homeschooling. Then you can tailor your curriculum the best way you see fit.

[Anonymous]

I have my doubts about the success of a new school. Sure, I'd like cheaper tuition, but part of the attraction of a STA or NCS is that they've been around for a 100 years and many people have heard of them and they have a good reputation, among college ADs and others in the DC area. In part, I'm paying for a good reputation and a good alumni body.

[Anonymous]

you get what you pay for

[Anonymous]

It's the Chivas Regal effect.

[Anonymous]

I like BSW, if we lived close, my kids would be there to 5th grade. Some cultural issues might become problematic as they get older, but I like the price and the strong academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you get what you pay for

Sure....but for the elementary and middle years I don't want to pay for or get all the frills. I just want a solid education for my child. I'm happy to have modest facilities as long as they are safe, bright, comfortable, and welcoming. I'm also not too concerned about alumni or reputation/history as an elite institution. My only concern is high quality instruction, enriching and deep curriculum, and a respect for the whole child (social, emotional, & academic needs).

All this said, I don't fault any parent that chooses one of these elite private schools for their children. If I had the financial means I would consider these fine institutions myself although I really like our no-frills private so if I won the lottery I'd probably just donate a boat load of cash to our current school rather than try to compete for a spot in a big 3.

For highschool I can see the value of the reputation and alumni but could still care less about fancy, state of the art facilities.

[Anonymous]

[.

Please share your definition of the "best way". There is no "best way" that works with every child. If you are looking for reasonably priced, strong schools that focus on substance not bells and whistles, there are quite a few good recommendations on this board. But no school will be perfect for every kid. I don't think that finding the "best way" - however you are defining it - is the point of this thread. Maybe if you know what is right for your child, but can't find a school that provides it, you should consider homeschooling. Then you can tailor your curriculum the best way you see fit.

The term is best practices which is has been used to describe what works best and most efficiently. It is a bit anecdotal, however, when there is research to support the success of a practice, it is called a research-based practice. You are correct, that the appraoch may not have the same results for everyone, but for the most part, it is considered efficient.

Example, the best way to teach children under 8, given identical teachers and curricula, is with small class sizes (12-15), that is few people in the room to improve engagement of the child. Fewer children does not seem to help much, but more than 15 gets to be problematic. So when a school has class sizes of 20 kids but 2 teachers, they aren't following best practices, they are tweaking things. This is not saying that other factor about the classroom don't matter, teacher quality matters most (few good models can accurately measure teacher quality).

Also, not everything that is backed by research is any good. Everyday Math is an example of something that was backed by FLAWED research (done by the publisher). New reasearch implies that it stinks, thus, the schools should get rid of it and similar curricula. So if Grace uses it, they need to tighten up and get rid of it. They will.

[Anonymous]

OP, perhaps your question needs to be, "is there a market for this on Capitol Hill?" Grace (which is a fine school, my kids went there) attracts families from Maryland who probably wouldn't be willing to commute to Capitol Hill, and similarly your Capitol Hill families probably aren't commuting to Kensington in large numbers. Maybe you could get VA and MD families who work on Capitol Hill (especially if you finagle decent parking for the drop-off), but I'm not sure how many families this would be.

I'm guessing only the top schools can induce people to make long commutes. At least at the start-up stage, you would be looking at a Capitol Hill market. And if your school turns out to be fabulous, then you might get the long commuters. Also, locating the school somewhere convenient might increase the number of VA and MD families. But first you need to get through the start-up, so ask this question on your local listserves too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, perhaps your question needs to be, "is there a market for this on Capitol Hill?" Grace (which is a fine school, my kids went there) attracts families from Maryland who probably wouldn't be willing to commute to Capitol Hill, and similarly your Capitol Hill families probably aren't commuting to Kensington in large numbers. Maybe you could get VA and MD families who work on Capitol Hill (especially if you finagle decent parking for the drop-off), but I'm not sure how many families this would be.

I'm guessing only the top schools can induce people to make long commutes. At least at the start-up stage, you would be looking at a Capitol Hill market. And if your school turns out to be fabulous, then you might get the long commuters. Also, locating the school somewhere convenient might increase the number of VA and MD families. But first you need to get through the start-up, so ask this question on your local listserves too.

or a bus

[Anonymous]

9:25. You're right, or a bus.

Bear in mind though, that busses add an additional $1000 or more to the sticker price. The schools we looked at that had busses charged the $1000 only to the families who used the bus, but it would bump $20K up to $21K for these families. Grace doesn't have busses (or they didn't 3 years ago).

[Anonymous]

In DC, a charter is probably a more sensible plan, economically speaking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, perhaps your question needs to be, "is there a market for this on Capitol Hill?" Grace (which is a fine school, my kids went there) attracts families from Maryland who probably wouldn't be willing to commute to Capitol Hill, and similarly your Capitol Hill families probably aren't commuting to Kensington in large numbers. Maybe you could get VA and MD families who work on Capitol Hill (especially if you finagle decent parking for the drop-off), but I'm not sure how many families this would be.

I'm guessing only the top schools can induce people to make long commutes. At least at the start-up stage, you would be looking at a Capitol Hill market. And if your school turns out to be fabulous, then you might get the long commuters. Also, locating the school somewhere convenient might increase the number of VA and MD families. But first you need to get through the start-up, so ask this question on your local listserves too.

Did the OP say anything about Capitol Hill?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, perhaps your question needs to be, "is there a market for this on Capitol Hill?" Grace (which is a fine school, my kids went there) attracts families from Maryland who probably wouldn't be willing to commute to Capitol Hill, and similarly your Capitol Hill families probably aren't commuting to Kensington in large numbers. Maybe you could get VA and MD families who work on Capitol Hill (especially if you finagle decent parking for the drop-off), but I'm not sure how many families this would be.

I'm guessing only the top schools can induce people to make long commutes. At least at the start-up stage, you would be looking at a Capitol Hill market. And if your school turns out to be fabulous, then you might get the long commuters. Also, locating the school somewhere convenient might increase the number of VA and MD families. But first you need to get through the start-up, so ask this question on your local listserves too.

We have a few kids at Feynman School (which is in MoCo) coming all the way from PG County and Frederick County. In my book I consider it a top school but I'm sure what you are referring to is a big 3. If the program is worthy the families will make the commute. This is especially true if the school serves a population with unique needs as Feynman does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, perhaps your question needs to be, "is there a market for this on Capitol Hill?" Grace (which is a fine school, my kids went there) attracts families from Maryland who probably wouldn't be willing to commute to Capitol Hill, and similarly your Capitol Hill families probably aren't commuting to Kensington in large numbers. Maybe you could get VA and MD families who work on Capitol Hill (especially if you finagle decent parking for the drop-off), but I'm not sure how many families this would be.

I'm guessing only the top schools can induce people to make long commutes. At least at the start-up stage, you would be looking at a Capitol Hill market. And if your school turns out to be fabulous, then you might get the long commuters. Also, locating the school somewhere convenient might increase the number of VA and MD families. But first you need to get through the start-up, so ask this question on your local listserves too.

Did the OP say anything about Capitol Hill?

I'm confused too. Is the OP looking to open a school or find a school with a more reasonable price tag for her children?