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If you DON'T live in DC, why did you ultimately decide to go private?
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Anonymous
| Can posters who live in Montgomery County, MD let me/us know which private schools you choose over MCPS; especially interested in hearing about high schools? Thanks. |
Anonymous
| Holton Arms pp for girls. |
Anonymous
| I went to FCPS for over 10 years. |
Anonymous
| We left because in the early years, there was not enough differentiation and her MCPS school was pushing paper at my child--worksheet after worksheet to keep her busy when she finished her work early. When she wasn't being tested on basics she already had mastered, she was prepping for those ridiculous tests. The teachers hated testing as much as the parents hated that so much time was devoted to testing. Within her smaller reading class, the teacher had to cope with a wide range of skill levels--from pre-readers to those reading several years above grade level. Impossible for even the best teacher, and in her last year in public, my daughter had a wonderful teacher. She also was shy and while she had a few friends, she was having some trouble finding her way. I hoped a smaller environment with more peers interested in academics as much as she was would solve the problem. Socially, private was absolutely the right decision. Academically, there actually is less rigor than at the public. I have heard that changes in later years, and I am not disappointed that my child isn't doing tremendously advanced math. The writing curriculum is stronger, there is more emphasis on non-academics, and she learns a lot through doing (field trips, studying science outside) etc. The teachers have so much more flexibility and as a result have more pride/investment in their work. At any given time, first graders across MCPS will be doing the exact same unit--the consistency may keep the schools aligned with one another, but it does nothing to address the different needs in different schools, and it gives teachers very little job satisfaction. I am glad I didn't spend my money on private in k-3, however, because she entered the private ahead of the other kids academically (though I'm sure that will even out with equivalent exposure), had learned how to self-advocate and transition well, and she truly appreciated what her private was offering her. She was very grateful and appreciative, and I don't think she would have had that perspective otherwise. She also has neighborhood friends and sports teams, which is nice because private schools tend to draw from broad areas. I also think that it is crazy to send your kids to private if you really can't afford it--the differences are not so stark that it is worth family stress to make it happen. I truly believe that sending a child to private does nothing to guarantee future life success. Intrinsic motivation is so much more important than whether your child attended whatever academy. That partially answers the question about why we don't live in DC--we like having a good public option if we need it. Plus, we used MCPS for several years and now is not a good time to sell our house based on when we bought it. If the housing market were to turn, and if we ended up sending all of our children to private, then we might consider a move to DC. |
Anonymous
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This is going to sound very odd, but part of our reason was that before and after-care programming for MCPS is not strong -- and the schools' hours simply don't work for parents who need to work 9 hour days (minimum, including lunch hour, and no, "skipping lunch" and working 8 hours instead is not an option -- we are both executives who work the day straight through and usually work at home long after DC is asleep, too). We value the time we have with DC in the early evenings -- if we had gone with MCPS (knowing that before care wasn't an option and that we would have drop-off at 9:15), we would be looking at 9:45 or 10-7 as work hours (which obviates after-care at MCPS) and getting home at 7:30 or 8. We instead have school starting at 8, ending at 3, and have very reliable after-care in school as well as options for an excellent sitter who can pick DC up and be with her 'til we get home at 6:30 (or pick her up at school at 6, which is far less optimal but is a better and more appropriately structured after-care than MCPS offers). This allows at least one of us to be with DC until 8 in the AM and from 6:30-bedtime in the evenings.
Even in reading this, I realize some will say "that's a ridiculous reason to choose private." There are other reasons, too, including enrichment at the school so that we're not supplementing with additional activities, etc., as well as class size, curriculum. However, the before and after-care options in our particular district really did create the tipping point. Good luck -- none of these choices is easy, and everyone has an opinion. . . only you will know what works best in your situation. |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous]Can posters who live in Montgomery County, MD let me/us know which private schools you choose over MCPS; especially interested in hearing about high schools? Thanks.[/quote]
Kids went to MoCo public ES, then Sidwell and Holton, for MS and HS. If we had it to do over, we'd wait on Sidwell for HS, but would do Holton for MS and HS. |
Anonymous
and your point? |
Anonymous
| Why MS and HS for Holton, but only HS for Sidwell, PP? Is that a gender issue (girls' MS better for girls) or something else? |
Anonymous
NCS. |
Anonymous
We didn"t love the MS at Sidwell. |
Anonymous
| Some families in MoCo go private if their smart kid just misses the magnets. The magnets can only take a fraction of the talented kids in MoCo. For the kids who don't get in, sometimes the result is to be the smartest kid left in the home school, which can be socially or academically frustrating. |
Anonymous
| We live in FCPS area, and our DC was accepted to TJ this year, but opted (we let it be her choice totally) for one of the top 3 schools. She really wanted a smaller class size (Langley is over 700, TJ almost 500) and a school that has a challenging curriculum but also gives her a chance to have some kind of life in HS outside of books. True, she gave up the free one that's the top school, but the way we looked at it was she worked hard for the right to choose herself. Hope that helps! |
Anonymous
why do you say that? could you elaborate re: fcps and the high school experience your dc had? thanks. |
Anonymous
| Because a good private school is universally better than a good public school. |
Anonymous
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We are going with private school to limit his options (no snark). If he grows up having the same college and career expectations as one of the Marriott's kids, I think he'll expect more out of himself. My problem growing up was that I was exposed to both aspects of the spectrum... kids who weren't thinking about college and the Redskins owner's daughter. I wish I hadn't known about the lower end during that fragile "don't know who I am" time.
I know of kids from all of the Big 10 who have completely flopped in life, and almost all of them hung out with kids outside of their school. Is most likely not the case for everybody else.. but it was for me. Hoping my son won't go through the same. |