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do you think it is fair for maryland and virginia people to be taking up spots
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Anonymous
Perhaps - if you pay the $10 commuter toll 
I really think that London is onto something there! |
Anonymous
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Some unrelated points ... very very few NW DC families (who aren't contractors or don't own huge boats) drive Suburbans. Not because we're Oh So Environmental, but because they're a PITA to drive/turn/park on your typical residential DC street. It's just reality; take a look around next time you're at a light here in Ward 3.
I agree with PPs that it's not the end of the world if your kid doesn't get admitted to a private school in preK/K and you live in upper NW DC. There are ~8-9 very fine schools here for that age. The problems arises for the middle school set, which comes up before you know it. But, some teens do great at Deal/Wilson. On the bright side, several private schools in NW DC have very big intake years in middle and high school, and they do indeed take public school kids right and left. You don't have to have attended Beauvoir. My block is living, breathing proof. |
Anonymous
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First of all, we live in NW DC and know several families that drive suburbans or equally large SUVs. They tend to live in Wesley Heights, Spring Valley, Kent, Palisades, etc... They also usually drive carpool and you see 5-6 kids getting in the car. We actually (this is shocking I know) have friends in G'town with large SUVs, but they all own driveways or garages.
Secondly, we personally know three kids, nice kids from NWDC, who go to Wilson. One is a twice kicked-out private school kid (partying) who tells me that there is a whole group of ex-private school kids who "hang" together at Wilson. Those other ex-privates, well some left because they hated their school, some are doing the "Senior-Year-Public" to get in to a better college because of the greatly decreased competition (this is becoming more common that you might think), and some have parents like our neighbors who firmly believe in public schools (the other two kids we know). So, people do it. People with money and connections, too mind you. They do tell me some of the kids from poorer backgrounds are scary/hoodlums and lots are pregnant but, like in most high-schools, there is very little interaction among different groups. Its intersting to hear these kids talk about Wilson. |
Anonymous
Goodness, I did not mean to look down on anyone. We just feel generally disrespected by parents from these schools (I live on the block of WIS and near the Cathedral) driving really unsafely in cars that were not meant for narrow city streets. We have complained to the city and they send an officer once in a while but it's still a little out of control. |
Anonymous
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Back to the original question...
There is no such thing as a 'neighborhood' PRIVATE school. Maybe I'm ignorant but private is private and public is public. I would be peeved if someone from DC took a spot in my Arlington neighborhood PUBLIC school; a school who gets its money from my tax dollars. But a private school is exactly that... private. Paid for with private dollars (or scholarships). |
Anonymous
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I know plenty of people who live in Prince George's Co who attend private school in DC and frankly many our public schools are worse (as are our private options) than the elem. schools in Upper NW so the argument that suburbanites have superior schools just isn't true. Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Arlington are NOT the only DC burbs.
And the argument that DC residents should have a preference at a DC private school is just sour grapes. My friend in NW sends her kid to a Bethesda school should she be at a disadvantage or does she deserve a preference there too by virtue of the fact that her parents are doing DC a favor by living there? |
Anonymous
Excellent point! And a commuter tax and parking garage taxes of 22 percent (the last point comes courtesy of NYC). Oh yeah, and every time we have a demonstration on the National Mall, you guys can chip in and pay our police overtime. |
Anonymous
oooooh. what's so scary about it? Don't tell me--are too many big scary black people. You poor thing. What to do? Leave maybe? Those of you with this "it's privates or nothing!" should really leave DC. You are making this whole upper NW area a toxic wasteland of shallow values. Don't stay and try to fix the schools with people that are sensible, you would'nt know where to begin. |
Anonymous
Fix the DC public school system? You're funny! |
Anonymous
| I'm a single working mother living in Northern VA with two small children. I could send them to our local public school, which is okay but not great, or to a local private school, but decided instead on a DC private school for a single reason: it's right near my workplace. If they were in school in VA it would be hard for me to be an active participant in school events, hard to pick them up quickly if they were sick, etc. As it is now, I can drop by their classrooms for half an hour, bring in things they forgot, etc. |
Anonymous
| Ok, totally shocked by this post, may be I should not be given the earlier craziness about schools, but you made a CHOICE to llive in DC with kids, knowing most of the public schools are not too good. This is the oddest post I have seen in a long time and speaks to some very odd thinking in this town. And some serious whining on the part of parents. |
Anonymous
| I know PP - entitlement much? |
Anonymous
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"They do tell me some of the kids from poorer backgrounds are scary/hoodlums and lots are pregnant but, like in most high-schools, there is very little interaction among different groups. Its intersting to hear these kids talk about Wilson."
I had to laugh at this one. Like kids from upper middle class NW and suburban families don't get pregnant? No, they just get it taken care of ... There are some pretty remarkable programs at Wilson and plenty of up and coming charter school options for those of us who live in the District and believe in public education. The only way DC schools will improve will be if parents demand it. |
Anonymous
| to PP: Hey - I am just telling you what a teenager at Wilson highschool told me, a teenager who used to be at NCS and Madeira and has older sisters. She is encountering different behaviors then she has ever seen before. Teenagers of course tend to be generalists, but there is certainly some truth and some interesting commentary to be found in what she had to say. Also, like it or not there is a direct correlation to socio-economic levels and these behaviors/results. It hs been demonstrated in mulitple sociology studies. It most ceratinly is also related to levels of parental involvement, which is WHY the public are often problematic - less parental involvement. |
Anonymous
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This is very simple. If you don't like DC public schools, you have two options:
1) Don't live in the District. You knew about the schools before you moved there. 2) Send your kids to public schools, but get involved and help drive change. If enough people stopped the madness of private schools and got involved in the DC schools, you could make a change. It shocks me to see the energy put into the application process. If as much energy were spent volunteering in the DC public schools, we all might have some better options. And, even more scary is to think about what would happen if people donated even a fraction of what they pay for private school to the public schools. |