Has anyone chosen Bethesda Elementary over Sidwell for K?

[Anonymous]

If so, did you have any regrets?

[Anonymous]

I would definitely choose Sidwell over Bethesda Elementary in a heartbeat. Nothing against Beth. Elem. (and I'm not a parent at Sidwell) but I think that the smaller class sizes, greater resources, excellent faculty, and the piece of mind in knowing that your child can stay there through 12 grade would make my decision.

[Anonymous]

Of course, the comparison isn't just between BE and Sidwell, it's between BE and paying 30,000 a year for Sidwell. I think you have to be pretty well off to say you would make that decision in a heartbeat.

[Anonymous]

or just someone who prioritizes your child's education. Not everyone who sends their kids to these schools is very well off. A lot make many sacrifices in order to pay the tuition but feel it is worth if for their child's education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:or just someone who prioritizes your child's education. Not everyone who sends their kids to these schools is very well off. A lot make many sacrifices in order to pay the tuition but feel it is worth if for their child's education

My point was only that if you were going to make sacrifices, you would want to carefully consider whether the differences between BE and Sidwell were worth it. Personally, I don't think the differences are so great that someone who had to sacrifice a lot to send their kid to Sidwell would be able to reach the decision "in a heartbeat."

[Anonymous]

Is Sidwell lower school better than Bethesda Elementary?

[Anonymous]

6:59 here. Just so you know, we did make the decision to send our children to private schools. We are not well off by any means, but we would rather put our money towards a private school education for our children at one of the big 3 than send them to public. Education is a real priority in our family, and it means that we have to scale back in other areas (ie: how big of a house we can afford, vacations, eating out etc) But at the end of the day, the decision has been so worth it, and we couldn't be happier scaling back, knowing what our children are getting in return.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:6:59 here. Just so you know, we did make the decision to send our children to private schools. We are not well off by any means, but we would rather put our money towards a private school education for our children at one of the big 3 than send them to public. Education is a real priority in our family, and it means that we have to scale back in other areas (ie: how big of a house we can afford, vacations, eating out etc) But at the end of the day, the decision has been so worth it, and we couldn't be happier scaling back, knowing what our children are getting in return.

We are in the same boat financially and do the same thing. Worth every penny!

[Anonymous]

Is Sidwell better than Beth. Elem.? For K? Yes, probably. But it's not $30K better. For $30K better than one of the best public elementary schools around I expect the child to be speaking a foreign language or playing in a symphony or doing calculus.

[Anonymous]

With the exception of calculus, the others happen.

[Anonymous]

I didn't mean an hour a day of FLES, I meant full immersion. And I don't mean playing the recorder, I mean Mozart & Opera. Like Potomac Elementary.

[Anonymous]

It's not just a difference of $30k (or $50K in pre-tax income)
It's a difference of $350,000 of pre-tax income over the course of PK-5th.
That is startling when for $0 you could get what is considered by most to be an excellent education at Bethesda elementary.

To me $700,000 (for 2 kids) is not worth paying so my kids can have a questionable advantage when it comes to middle school (and high school) . We are close friends with 2 families who just had kids accepted into grade 6 at Sidwell after coming out of DC public schools (and not Mann). Quite a savings of $350,000/kid! In the mean time, those kids travelled the globe, have fully funded college accounts, etc.

[Anonymous]

I would choose Bethesda Elementary over Sidwell in a heartbeat. And no, its not a question of education NOT being a priority in my house. Education is also a top priority in my house, but I don't believe that Sidwell's elementary program meets that priority any better than Bethesda Elementary. Now I would agree with an arguement that states that paying 30,000 for Sidwell is part of paying for connections, small class sizes, better facilities, and a *possibly* better highschool experience, but I wouldn't agree that you are paying for a better education at the elementary level when compared to Bethesda Elementary.

If someone can point me to some empircal evidence for this, I'd gladly change my mind.

[Anonymous]

Everyone makes their own choices. No reason to denigrate on either side.

[Anonymous]

I am also hearing that the area private school's lower schools are their Achilles' Heels (for those of you who didn't take Greek Mythology, it's the weak point). As a District resident who lucked into a pretty good elementary school district (Key), I am seriously considering not sending my child to a private pre-K through 4th or 5th grade. While money is not an issue, I hate the idea of wasting money on a questionable benefit. I understand that kids who enter Sidwell or St. Albans at 4th or above do just as well, if not better, than kids who went from private Ks....