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Can't commit. Tuition is scary.
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Anonymous
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It is an interesting question. We are on the fence. We can afford private school. We live in MOCO (Bethesda/Potomac) and were admitted to a good school this year. We decided to wait for K applications to give us a little more space to think this through. We have two children (the oldest will be in PreK next year). Our oldest is at a "feeder" to private type preschool, almost all go on to private. We are strongly thinking about public though, for a number of reasons: 1) we hear the gifted and talented programs in the public in MOCO are really good; 2) our elem. is small (Seven Locks) but I have yet to go up there and do a visit, and it is well-regarded 3) we like the sports and other activities in a bigger public school down the road; 4) we value economic and ethnic diversity (frankly though is this area, not sure how much economic diversity there really is; 5) clearly saving money would help us with some other things for the kids (college fund, mom can continue staying at home, etc.); 6) worry about "entitled" nature of many children in this area, especially at private schools.
The downside-- I don't like the teaching to the test mentality, I hope for creativity in the classroom; I want accountability; I think my child will need a challenging, tuned in teacher/s; there are more enrichment and activities for parents to get involved and know each other at the private schools that we have looked at. Welcome divergent views to the above-- we are really grappling with this. |
Anonymous
PP, do you live in a Bethesda/Chevy Chase/Potomac kind of area with really good public schools? |
Anonymous
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FYE - A School That Cost $20,000 Not To Go (NYTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/nyregion/23bigcity.html?ex=1212206400&en=f0f4efde7f12f480&ei=5070&emc=eta1 |
Anonymous
| 11:17, this is a good example of rolling the dice. It's also a good reminder that signing the contract does obligate parents to pay the tuition in full. In the case of the Times story, the parents knew the risk and chose to take it. But it is certainly unfortunate that public and private schools don't make more of an effort to coordinate their application and notification efforts. |
Anonymous
We live in the city of Alexandria. The schools are not fabulous... but most of them are absolutely 100% fine. Here's the thing: we don't want our kids to grow up as little hothouse flowers... we don't want them to be in a pressure cooker... DH and I both went to Ivy League universities and are affluent and successful and we read and talk to our kids, and we have no doubt at all that our kids are smart and creative, so why not just let them have as close to a normal American childhood as possible? I mean, one in which not every child they meet comes from the top 5% income bracket? One in which not every school experience will be perfectly tailored to them? Isn't that a useful part of growing up: learning about difference, learning, even, about the limitations of the world around you? (That not every teacher is great, that not every experience is scintillating, that not all of life is a consumer experience, that being a little bored from time to time never killed anyone, etc.). |
Anonymous
| Great points, PP. I agree completely. We are in the city of Alexandria and are debating T.C. Williams versus private high school in DC. Do you have children at TC Williams? What has been your experience? |
Anonymous
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The thing that concerns me about today's public schools is the whole NCLB problem, where the teachers end up just prepping the kids for the tests. I truly wonder that a school that might have been fine pre-NCLB is not fine today.
We are on the fence, too, but gosh - this is one of the main things that keeps tipping things over to the private school in our debates. |
Anonymous
| 15:21, this is 14:28-- no, our kids are still in elementary school-- but we hear very good things about TC Williams. I can't remember where/when exactly but there was a thread about TC Williams a while back-- if you search up you will find it. I was speaking recently to some families who sent their kids to Burgundy Farm through middle school, then to TC WIlliams, and were very pleased, FWIW.... |
Anonymous
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For many parents, the public v. private decision seems to come down to NCLB and the negative impact it's had on public schools. Still, public schools always had testing. I've spoken with some Arlington County high school teachers who said that it hasn't impacted them in any way-Virginia state tests have always been administered and their pass rate has always exceeded NBLB standards anyway. It also seems to me that the tuition money saved could purchase a lot in the way of extracurricular activities that we personally would never afford if also paying private school tuition. We're in Montgomery County. I've gone to open houses at public and private schools. Frankly, so far I'm more impressed with MCPS.
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Anonymous
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The difference between past standardized testing and NCLB is that some public schools are actually changing their curriculum so that they cover specifically what's likely to be on the tests. Kids are also sometimes even taught test-taking strategies. What we get then are a bunch of good standardized test takers. And since the scores on the tests look high everyone is happy.
I just spoke to a teacher this evening, by chance. She said esp. the veteran teachers are just throwing up their hands, disgusted. They feel that their hands are tied in terms of really being able to teach and spend time on topics in ways that they know are more likely to foster interest and solid learning. She said many of them are getting out. The younger teachers seem to be more comfortable with the whole teaching to the test concept and curriculum and so they don't resent it as much or think that it is as much of a problem (this is her perspective; I have no idea if it is accurate). She almost made me cry. |
Anonymous
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DH and I have discussed this very topic over and over again. We have a top 10 Fairfax Co elementary school, Waynewood, and still cannot wrap our arms around public schools since NCLB. I want our son to love to learn-have fun and be stimulated. To pay taxes, and have a great school-but send our child to a private school, drives my husband nuts! We've decided to go Montessori-and then who knows where for middle school.
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Anonymous
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21:40, we feel your pain. And since we don't know yet what will happen with the elections, there is just no guarantee that NCLB will be... well... left behind. Although it seems clear to many of us that it is hurting & not helping things there are others who disagree.
I agree with those who say that school can be supplemented with outside activities, but still... the child is spending a HUGE amount of time at school and I dread the possibility that my kid will become a clock-watcher instead of really being engaged. And if they do get rid of NCLB and curriculum is being re-vamped and teachers are allowed to teach, will it already be too late for my kid? That love of learning, etc. is nourished during the early years. By then my kid might already hate school! |
Anonymous
| 21:40 here-EXACTLY 23:11! I can't take that risk. It helps that we like the Montessori method of teaching-my husband is on board (but still says "We pay taxes for a rated 10 elementary school") |
Anonymous
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it does seem like many of us are grappling with this issue and for many of the same reasons.
So, 21:40 and others who have grappled and made the final decision to go private.... what in the end brought you to the conclusion that the check needed to be written? What clinched it? And for those of you who wrote the checks and ripped them up before the deadline, what sent you the other way, since money may not have been the driving decision-maker if you could afford private? I swear, every day I wake up and think, "But the public school would be great, because..." and by the time I am ready to go to sleep it's more "how can I do this to the children, especially if we can actually afford it?" Wake up next day and repeat. |
Anonymous
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We are family that will be receiving financial aid next school year to attend a top 4 school. Although we will not be paying full flight we are still having the same struggle with the amount we are having to pay. The one thing that makes it easier for us is that DC is very excited about going to a new school for K. We have gone to several events at the school that have sparked this excitment - if the events make DC this excited we are antcipating the response when DC attends each day. That is what we believe makes it worth it -
Happy child = Love of Learning !! Which is the fundamental reason for education. FWIW - I am a public school educator and have decided not to send DC to public school. Not because of the curriculum mainly because of the environment - Unsupportive Parents, Discipline Issues with Children, Lack of the Arts, Teaching to the Test, Focus on Academics vs Building the whole child, and Teacher Committment and Dedication. |