I feel guilty not sending my kids to private

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you make up your mind OP? Are you going to start preparing to apply to private schools in the coming school year?

We will do a few applications for my middle child. It is an entry year for him. Not sure if we should do applications for my youngest.

My oldest is adamant about not switching to private. He does not want to leave his friend group.

If your oldest is happy, why change things for your other two? He is the best indication of where you are going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to McLean from Alexandria for their good public schools. It feels like everyone in our neighborhood sends their kids to private. It seems like the families who can afford private sent their kids to private during the pandemic if they weren’t already in private. We have a seven figure income and can easily afford private tuition.

Would you send your kid to private if you could easily afford it?

OMG just stop. My income is higher than yours I raised 6 kids that went to schools like MIT & Yale from public. We did both so I have samples at both.

No private school is not better than public for every kid.

Op every kid is different.

What type of private school? Religious? LOL no.

Stop bashing your local public you want to waste your money go ahead. If you want to go private have a better reason because the one you came up with is absurd.

Public were far better 10 years ago

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, you moved to the wrong area, that's all

Op here. We moved to one of the best pyramids in the area. Oddly the average good neighborhoods are the ones where majority go public. Langley pyramid probably has the most going to private, which is why Langley High is underenrolled despite having a huge boundary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For most kids, yes, I would pay for private for high school if you can find a good fit.

I would not do twelve years of private because those kids are usually completely out of touch with the world most people live in.

-Big three grad who went to public and private, whose kids are on public but we can’t afford it. Felt fine with public till high school and now I wish I could give my kids the private high school education I had.

If your Big 3 education was so awesome, how come it didn't position you to be able to pay for your own kids to go private?

Here’s the flip side. Private schools coddle kids. They don’t learn how to advocate for themselves or look for resources because everything is handed to them. Who do you think has more drive or resilience?

Advocate for yourselves at public school? Not a thing. You get what you get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to McLean from Alexandria for their good public schools. It feels like everyone in our neighborhood sends their kids to private. It seems like the families who can afford private sent their kids to private during the pandemic if they weren’t already in private. We have a seven figure income and can easily afford private tuition.

Would you send your kid to private if you could easily afford it?

Yes, I would. We don't have a seven figure income, but we still make sacrifices to send our children to private school. We've experienced both FCPS and private school, and the difference is night and day. Education is an important value in our family. It seems to go without saying that people would send their children to "the best" university that they can, but they often overlook the critical younger years where education and social development are even more important.

For the record, both my wife and I went to public school and the thought of sending my children to private school never occurred to me until failure after failure with FCPS drove us away. We can never go back.

Op here. Dh and I are also public school kids. We originally liked and wanted our children to go to school with kids like us when we were younger. They are doing well, get good grades, have been in the AAP program so have a solid peer group of smart UMC students and happy. That is why we have stayed in public. My kids are well liked and well behaved. I think they would do well in any environment.

If we didn’t have the youngest who started in preschool and friends all went to private, I probably would not feel as guilty since older kids have always been in public.

So I’m confused, your kids friends at UMC and at public, but I thought you said everyone went private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have the "Joneses" and that's not a good thing. Many have faltered with the disease. You do what is best for your kid not what others are doing. Private did provide a peace of mind during the pandemic peak. Things should return to normal this year. I hope you don't think privates are some utopian society.

I am not trying to keep up with the Joneses at all. This is entirely about quality of education and what would be best for my children.

So you moved for the schools but now you realize the majority of your neighbors are in privates. As a result, you are reconsidering. Not sure what you would call it but good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to McLean from Alexandria for their good public schools. It feels like everyone in our neighborhood sends their kids to private. It seems like the families who can afford private sent their kids to private during the pandemic if they weren’t already in private. We have a seven figure income and can easily afford private tuition.

Would you send your kid to private if you could easily afford it?

OMG just stop. My income is higher than yours I raised 6 kids that went to schools like MIT & Yale from public. We did both so I have samples at both.

No private school is not better than public for every kid.

Op every kid is different.

What type of private school? Religious? LOL no.

Stop bashing your local public you want to waste your money go ahead. If you want to go private have a better reason because the one you came up with is absurd.

Public were far better 10 years ago

What changed so drastically in 10 years?

[Anonymous]

OP, you sound easily influenced by others. Maybe a little immature or a young mom? Trust your instincts. If your child is happy, has friends and is doing well academically, why would you switch schools? We live in Virginia and my kids go to a Big3. Yes, the education is amazing. Do I think my kids could get a great education at Langley, McLean, Oakton or any other FCPS high school? Of course I do! We make a lot of money ($1.5 to $2 million a year) and probably 90% of our friends send their kids to various private schools. We just don’t give it a lot of thought as it is the norm in our social circle and with our work colleagues. That is likely what you are seeing in your McLean neighborhood. It is just the norm and not really an opinion on the public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to McLean from Alexandria for their good public schools. It feels like everyone in our neighborhood sends their kids to private. It seems like the families who can afford private sent their kids to private during the pandemic if they weren’t already in private. We have a seven figure income and can easily afford private tuition.

Would you send your kid to private if you could easily afford it?

OMG just stop. My income is higher than yours I raised 6 kids that went to schools like MIT & Yale from public. We did both so I have samples at both.

No private school is not better than public for every kid.

Op every kid is different.

What type of private school? Religious? LOL no.

Stop bashing your local public you want to waste your money go ahead. If you want to go private have a better reason because the one you came up with is absurd.

Public were far better 10 years ago

What changed so drastically in 10 years?

Duh, really? Think about all the changes around here in the past ten years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you sound easily influenced by others. Maybe a little immature or a young mom? Trust your instincts. If your child is happy, has friends and is doing well academically, why would you switch schools? We live in Virginia and my kids go to a Big3. Yes, the education is amazing. Do I think my kids could get a great education at Langley, McLean, Oakton or any other FCPS high school? Of course I do! We make a lot of money ($1.5 to $2 million a year) and probably 90% of our friends send their kids to various private schools. We just don’t give it a lot of thought as it is the norm in our social circle and with our work colleagues. That is likely what you are seeing in your McLean neighborhood. It is just the norm and not really an opinion on the public schools.

I am not easily influenced at all. Dh and I are both ivy grad school educated. I am aware that this puts our children at non legacy status.

During Covid, I was disappointed during virtual school as were almost every other parent that I know. Many families switched during this time. We supplemented. Now that the kids have been back in person for a year, I’m not very impressed.