Frank Discussion and Honest Answers on tuition affordability

[Anonymous]

PP -- would you be willing to name the schools you found disappointing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP -- so your top MOCO school isnt helping your SN child?

Can i ask what SN child's issues are?

ADHD, expressive language and exec functioning.
I think that the SpecEd teacher at his school is sub-par. So to be fair, perhaps the school is not failing him but the spec ed teacher is..

[Anonymous]

PP -- sounds exactly like mine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP -- sounds exactly like mine

Are you in MoCo as well? Are you supplementing with tutors?

[Anonymous]

I'm in DC, not Montgomery county. Supplementing, but its not enough

[Anonymous]

Is this post only for SN? We tried private for one year. Lovely school. We are just not in the financial bracket for private. Suddenly things we never worried about before -- cars broke down, dental expenses, insurance, were budget items. It is too much strain and relies too much on never having an emergency need for money. Public will be fine for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this post only for SN? We tried private for one year. Lovely school. We are just not in the financial bracket for private. Suddenly things we never worried about before -- cars broke down, dental expenses, insurance, were budget items. It is too much strain and relies too much on never having an emergency need for money. Public will be fine for us.

Cost of private is not a concern that is just for SN kids - but the stakes may be different. Many may put their kids in private to have a better chance at an Ivy or a better college in general.

But since some SN kids have serious issues with school that are not addressed in their local public school and since this can lead to self confidence issues and depression a choice of school becomes a mental health issue not just "hey will I get into a better college". Also, some SN kids (this is true for my boys) have a higher rate of substance abuse and serious issues in adulthood like depression when they don't go to school in the right setting and have a support system. So it is a little bit different.

If public works great. If it does not then you may try a private that does not work either. Then you may move to a different private or public and have a great experience.

Moving a whole household is more disruptive than moving 1 child to a different school. Sometime families know the private is better and their child is thriving (this is us) but have to put contemplate putting them in a situation that is terrible based on finances and there may be other kids that need to be considered. So yes - it would be less of a strain on the whole family if we had an extra $20K to spend on vacations, new cars, braces, sports, etc.

But you have to weigh the positives and negatives. For me it was a no brainer because we had a child suffereing from depression that was headed to severe depression (from the perspective of a phyciatrist) and moving him was the only option - even though it is a strain.

Now that he is "stable" do I take a chance and move him back - we decide each year. But to me if feels like playing russian roulette. So maybe it's the same but on the other hand it is very different.

[Anonymous]

Public failed our child for two years. She was net serviced correctly and every accommodation had to be fought for... It was a terrible waste of time.

We left public and enrolled her at a $35K school for LD kids. That school was a huge waste of time and money. She gained nothing academically and had very few peers at it was a small school.

Unless a private is a really good fit, you may as well stay in public.

[Anonymous]

PP -- would you be willing to say which school it was?