Tuition in private schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We only do a parochial school and for K-8 its $20,000 for our 3 kids. High school will definitely be more expensive ($20,000 per kid) but we will cross that bridge when we get there. Yes thinking about spending $160,000 per kid for 12 years of school seems ridiculous but I think laying a strong foundation for our kids education at the K-12 grade level is almost more important than their college years. If they can't read or write what is the point of spending $200,000 on college?

FWIW HHI is around $700,000 so its not a huge hit for us but we do watch our budget.

You sound like my spouse, who insists on private, and we have more kids. Do you honestly think they couldn't learn to read and write if attending public school? And private and good OOS colleges are more like $360,000+ now per kid.

DP. I’ve taught in both: public and Catholic. I send my own kids to Catholic.

One of them is now at a well-regarded OOS flagship. She received a merit scholarship worth $30K a year, bringing the cost down to in-state costs.

I have never regretted the choice to send my kids to Catholic schools.

[Anonymous]

I suppose the same way I sleep paying my mortgage. You can’t take it with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just wondering how parents with two or more kids manage to sleep well at night knowing how expensive it is to send them to private school for 12 years, especially when that cost means having less money for college. I’m genuinely curious if others worry about this too, or if most people just don’t feel the weight of it.

I am also wondering, for a family with HHI less than 500K, whether it is worth it. Private schools have amazing facilities and often have elite and exclusive peers. The resources on extra curriculum activities are also great. It might be generally safe in terms of gun violence (but really no data backing this up because there are also a few school shootings in small privates).

But there is a downside of it, too. Your kid has to socialize with super privileged kids (mostly, maybe 1 or 2 on significant financial aids). I do think there is a drawback. They might become successful bankers or lawyers. But they might not develop the broad views to do really amazing things. So just think about this.

I don’t think about my HHI all the time, or how we compare to others financially. And we encourage our kids to do the same. Within every socioeconomic class, there are nice people and not so nice people. You just try to stick with the nice people. And there are pluses and minuses to every school too—just do your best to make sure your kids get a good education (whether public or private) and call it a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

How unsophisticated of you, if you think families are paying for better looking teachers and landscaping. Public school sounds like a good fit for you anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Take away the small class sizes and nurturing environment and the school experience is not even close to the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Yes! There are lots of great public schools in the area with a vast variety of opportunities, academic and extracurricular, if your child is motivated enough to take advantage. The cost of private in this area is so high, you really have to wonder if the tuition is worth it.

Anything above 30k is not worth it.

If you are poor, save your money for essentials like retirement and college tuition.

If you have the money like we do, we would be willing to pay a lot more for what we are getting out of private school. Worth every penny.

I visited a 60k school today and really couldn’t tell the difference with my public school in terms of facilities and teachers. It’s good that is worth it for you, but not for me.

Especially for the lower and middle school, I wonder people try to get in so that their kid can go to a better high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Just chiming in to say that other than the smaller, nurturing environment, my kids have gotten every single one of these priorities at public. We don’t have metal detectors! The teachers, with the exception of one, have been top notch. Our arts programs are outstanding because we have a critical mass of students for things like a marching band or high level theatrical production. It is not perfect, but as far as the things you specifically care about, I think your perception of public doesn’t match reality.

Take away the small class sizes and nurturing environment and the school experience is not even close to the same.

I agree that the experience is different, but small class sizes can also have downsides. Socially, it can become stifling if your peer options are too limited in a small classroom of children. That’s not to say there aren’t upsides, but there are other factors and complexities to consider. I also found all of our elementary teachers very nurturing in public, and my kids had a very nurturing home life.

[Anonymous]

I agree that some public schools are good schools (and some public’s are clearly not good schools), but I’ve always wondered why so many public school parents spend time posting about how great public school is on this forum. Why bother if you are not at least considering private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that some public schools are good schools (and some public’s are clearly not good schools), but I’ve always wondered why so many public school parents spend time posting about how great public school is on this forum. Why bother if you are not at least considering private?

Meant to say why bother reading and posting on the private school forum if you aren’t at least considering private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that some public schools are good schools (and some public’s are clearly not good schools), but I’ve always wondered why so many public school parents spend time posting about how great public school is on this forum. Why bother if you are not at least considering private?

Meant to say why bother reading and posting on the private school forum if you aren’t at least considering private?

I think they are considering. But given the tuition, they wonder in what ways it is truly better, just the facility and opportunities to extracurricular, or a truely high quality education.