If you are Wealthy and in MCPS, what made you decide to stay in public school?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a private school lifer and hated it.

Would have actually had access to better colleges if I had attended the local public schools, with more STEM classes and more activities, and without the long bus ride.

I also think it's important to interact with different people; my lilly white and Asian private school with mostly UMC families didn't prepare me appropriately for life.

Yet you self-affiliate as wealthy, indicating that it did prepare you to be a successful contributor to society.

I think you also misunderstand how college access in public school works. Yes, kids can go to excellent colleges, particularly STEM. Kids also go to substantially worse colleges in large numbers, community college and even at “W” schools a lot of kids don’t go to college at all. These are all equal options and actually when you understand how exceptional the public students are that make it to top colleges, you realize that it’s less likely your child will be one of them.

Just be forewarned now, in public school you are in your own and there are big, potentially life-altering consequences for relatively small mistakes. That’s what growing up poor and being a public school lifer taught me.

To each their own, but just be prepared that the safety net is gone and there is a bottom that I don’t think you contemplate existing.

Dp. Those were ominous statements. Can you elaborate, please?

MCPS is trying to change this dynamic, but stupid mistakes in public school can easily leave students with criminal records. At private school, you might get expelled but unless kids do something with irreparable harm they are unlikely to call the police.

In public school, parents can be surprised by C and D grades at the end of the marking period if kids are telling you everything is fine. One semester with a 2.0 will clearly have a dramatic impact on college applications. Alternatively, private schools monitor performance closely and will intervene quickly for even just an abnormally poor result on one test.

And just to be real for a moment, kids can get lost and I’ve seen it. Fall in with the “wrong crowd” (like not just suburban privileged bad, but legitimately will end up in prison bad) and it takes a long time to deprogram that mindset. While private is not perfect and there are lots of issues, I would never believe that the bottom that private school kids could fall through would be anything close to what I’ve seen at the school I went to. I feel a great degree of sadness for what happened to some of the people I went to school with.

I don’t know about this. I have two high schoolers and know a lot of upper middle class kids in what you would probably consider “bad” MCPS high school, and literally there is zero overlap between “UMC going to college” kids and “headed to prison” kids. Like, they never even cross paths. My nerdy clarinet player is not getting invited to go rob people.

You are so naive. I was valedictorian, and my academic peer made friends with the druggies in an elective art class and it was all downhill from there. I went to an Ivy League and have a typical DC life, she ended up as a vet tech at petsmart. Still a nice person and not in prison, but as a parent not the life I want for my children.

DP.. oh please... I went to a "rough" HS and knew people who got pregnant in HS, did drugs, etc We hung out together sometimes. But, I went onto college, and started making six figures by 30, back in the 90s.

Association in and of itself doesn't mean much.

I'm sure there are private school kids who end up on drugs and in expensive rehabs, get pregnant, and have their parents pay for their abortion. Do the kids who associate with "those" private school kids end up in rehab, too?

My point was the PP who said their UMC would never cross paths with the “prison” crowd. They take classes together.

It’s bizarre right? These same folks yelling about segregated schools then say that good kids and bad kids don’t interact at all in school.

It depends when people choose to take the same classes they'd interact, but there aren't a lot of future prisoners in calc bc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a private school lifer and hated it.

Would have actually had access to better colleges if I had attended the local public schools, with more STEM classes and more activities, and without the long bus ride.

I also think it's important to interact with different people; my lilly white and Asian private school with mostly UMC families didn't prepare me appropriately for life.

Yet you self-affiliate as wealthy, indicating that it did prepare you to be a successful contributor to society.

I think you also misunderstand how college access in public school works. Yes, kids can go to excellent colleges, particularly STEM. Kids also go to substantially worse colleges in large numbers, community college and even at “W” schools a lot of kids don’t go to college at all. These are all equal options and actually when you understand how exceptional the public students are that make it to top colleges, you realize that it’s less likely your child will be one of them.

Just be forewarned now, in public school you are in your own and there are big, potentially life-altering consequences for relatively small mistakes. That’s what growing up poor and being a public school lifer taught me.

To each their own, but just be prepared that the safety net is gone and there is a bottom that I don’t think you contemplate existing.

Dp. Those were ominous statements. Can you elaborate, please?

MCPS is trying to change this dynamic, but stupid mistakes in public school can easily leave students with criminal records. At private school, you might get expelled but unless kids do something with irreparable harm they are unlikely to call the police.

In public school, parents can be surprised by C and D grades at the end of the marking period if kids are telling you everything is fine. One semester with a 2.0 will clearly have a dramatic impact on college applications. Alternatively, private schools monitor performance closely and will intervene quickly for even just an abnormally poor result on one test.

And just to be real for a moment, kids can get lost and I’ve seen it. Fall in with the “wrong crowd” (like not just suburban privileged bad, but legitimately will end up in prison bad) and it takes a long time to deprogram that mindset. While private is not perfect and there are lots of issues, I would never believe that the bottom that private school kids could fall through would be anything close to what I’ve seen at the school I went to. I feel a great degree of sadness for what happened to some of the people I went to school with.

I don’t know about this. I have two high schoolers and know a lot of upper middle class kids in what you would probably consider “bad” MCPS high school, and literally there is zero overlap between “UMC going to college” kids and “headed to prison” kids. Like, they never even cross paths. My nerdy clarinet player is not getting invited to go rob people.

You are so naive. I was valedictorian, and my academic peer made friends with the druggies in an elective art class and it was all downhill from there. I went to an Ivy League and have a typical DC life, she ended up as a vet tech at petsmart. Still a nice person and not in prison, but as a parent not the life I want for my children.

DP.. oh please... I went to a "rough" HS and knew people who got pregnant in HS, did drugs, etc We hung out together sometimes. But, I went onto college, and started making six figures by 30, back in the 90s.

Association in and of itself doesn't mean much.

I'm sure there are private school kids who end up on drugs and in expensive rehabs, get pregnant, and have their parents pay for their abortion. Do the kids who associate with "those" private school kids end up in rehab, too?

My point was the PP who said their UMC would never cross paths with the “prison” crowd. They take classes together.

It’s bizarre right? These same folks yelling about segregated schools then say that good kids and bad kids don’t interact at all in school.

Have to disagree. This is expected. We could have sent our kids to privates easily but wanted them to get used to dealing with the real world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If money is not an issue, what factors caused you to keep your child in MCPS?

The higher-quality of education that's available to those who seek it out mainly. DC is taking complex analysis, cellular physiology, macroeconomics, and Spanish lit. These varied offerings just aren't available at privates.

That’s impressive, it really is.

My kid is smart, but not like yours. What he has gotten from private is a Rolodex and friendships that will follow him for life—think families who are close to billionaire status, Fortune 500 CEOs, high profile entrepreneurs…if you believe America is a pure meritocracy and contacts don’t mean much, I would beg to differ.



It’s not just what you know but who you know that is very important in determining your success in life. And the right private school gives you a Rolodex that is far superior to the best public schools.

You are gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If money is not an issue, what factors caused you to keep your child in MCPS?

The higher-quality of education that's available to those who seek it out mainly. DC is taking complex analysis, cellular physiology, macroeconomics, and Spanish lit. These varied offerings just aren't available at privates.

That’s impressive, it really is.

My kid is smart, but not like yours. What he has gotten from private is a Rolodex and friendships that will follow him for life—think families who are close to billionaire status, Fortune 500 CEOs, high profile entrepreneurs…if you believe America is a pure meritocracy and contacts don’t mean much, I would beg to differ.



Gross or not accurate?



It’s not just what you know but who you know that is very important in determining your success in life. And the right private school gives you a Rolodex that is far superior to the best public schools.

You are gross.

[Anonymous]

Gross or not accurate?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If money is not an issue, what factors caused you to keep your child in MCPS?

The higher-quality of education that's available to those who seek it out mainly. DC is taking complex analysis, cellular physiology, macroeconomics, and Spanish lit. These varied offerings just aren't available at privates.

That’s impressive, it really is.

My kid is smart, but not like yours. What he has gotten from private is a Rolodex and friendships that will follow him for life—think families who are close to billionaire status, Fortune 500 CEOs, high profile entrepreneurs…if you believe America is a pure meritocracy and contacts don’t mean much, I would beg to differ.



It’s not just what you know but who you know that is very important in determining your success in life. And the right private school gives you a Rolodex that is far superior to the best public schools.

You are gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If money is not an issue, what factors caused you to keep your child in MCPS?

The higher-quality of education that's available to those who seek it out mainly. DC is taking complex analysis, cellular physiology, macroeconomics, and Spanish lit. These varied offerings just aren't available at privates.

That’s impressive, it really is.

My kid is smart, but not like yours. What he has gotten from private is a Rolodex and friendships that will follow him for life—think families who are close to billionaire status, Fortune 500 CEOs, high profile entrepreneurs…if you believe America is a pure meritocracy and contacts don’t mean much, I would beg to differ.

It’s not just what you know but who you know that is very important in determining your success in life. And the right private school gives you a Rolodex that is far superior to the best public schools.

exactly.. it's like legacy admissions. You can't hack it on your own merits, smarts and efforts so you have to use connections to succeed in life. Who cares if mommy/daddy got you the connections. As long as you can live that privileged life, that's all that matters. Not that dissimilar to getting the M.R.S. degree of a rich man. Who cares if I'm a trophy wife. I have tons of money, and that's all that matters.

Working hard and earning your privilege is so last century. Let the poors work for their keep. I'm going to use my connections I didn't earn at the private school.

[Anonymous]

Private lifer here (in Pennsylvania); DH went to public mostly and some private. DC was in private through 2d grade. In MCPS starting in 3rd and now in MS. Stayed because: Special needs services; diversity; and DC very comfortable socially and surprised us, frankly, that he wasn't overwhelmed by the public size. We're open to moving for HS, especially with WJ/Woodward uncertainty. Truth be told, I loved my private MS/HS and made lifetime friends. If there was a similar school down here I would have pushed for private.

[Anonymous]

Looks like a private school parent started this thread, looking to troll and did not get what he wanted so is steadily arguing with parents why private is better.

Signed,

A current private school parent who is returning to MCPS due to a variety of the same reasons listed in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We actually put our kid in a highly regarded private during COVID. The academics are just simply not better than MCPS and it is hard to differentiate for math in some private schools due to size. There is also an incentive to overlook bad behavior because the school relies on tuition. Also, my kid consistently scored higher on tests and assignments than his peers, which we believe is largely based upon the foundation he received in MCPS. Plus, the friend thing - I loved him having neighborhood friends and being able to have impromptu meetups and pool time. Private school makes that hard and the longer we keep him in the private school environment, those good friendships will naturally fade. So we are going back to MCPS.

Haha, you think public schools kids are better behaved? The level of disruption to get expelled is very high. Don’t you remember public high school?

I’m sorry if your zoned school is a sh*t show but ours isn’t. Also in a private school, especially if there is no differentiation, you can have a class of 15 kids, of which 5 are repeatedly disruptive and you could potentially have these kids in ALL of your classes. AND then you have to socialize with them because there aren’t really enough kids to be selective about socializing and friendships. In public there is some differentiation so at lesser you can have classes with people who are on par with you academically, not to mention you have much better social options.

[Anonymous]

* least not lesser

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If money is not an issue, what factors caused you to keep your child in MCPS?

The higher-quality of education that's available to those who seek it out mainly. DC is taking complex analysis, cellular physiology, macroeconomics, and Spanish lit. These varied offerings just aren't available at privates.

That’s impressive, it really is.

My kid is smart, but not like yours. What he has gotten from private is a Rolodex and friendships that will follow him for life—think families who are close to billionaire status, Fortune 500 CEOs, high profile entrepreneurs…if you believe America is a pure meritocracy and contacts don’t mean much, I would beg to differ.

It’s not just what you know but who you know that is very important in determining your success in life. And the right private school gives you a Rolodex that is far superior to the best public schools.

Rolodex ain't what it used to be, my friend. Strong Math/STEM education will beat it any day of the week. Make sure your kid has more than just a premium Linkedin access.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private lifer here (in Pennsylvania); DH went to public mostly and some private. DC was in private through 2d grade. In MCPS starting in 3rd and now in MS. Stayed because: Special needs services; diversity; and DC very comfortable socially and surprised us, frankly, that he wasn't overwhelmed by the public size. We're open to moving for HS, especially with WJ/Woodward uncertainty. Truth be told, I loved my private MS/HS and made lifetime friends. If there was a similar school down here I would have pushed for private.

There's really almost 0 uncertainty with Woodward and WJ. They'll both be fine schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We wanted out kids to engage in the bus stop experience and meet their neighbors. Besides private high school is the one that really matters and if there is a problem we can go from there before then.

A minor point but as a MCPS parent living in a wealthy neighborhood, we find that most of our neighbors do not use the public schools. So going to MCPS was not the way to meet the neighborhood kids.

Of course, the same is true for any particular private school -- most neighborhood kids will not be going to that school.

I guess the best way to meet neighborhood kids is to join the right swim club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because I didn't want to produce another Kavanaugh? Seriously, my kids are already entitled enough. And there are bad teachers/messed up admin everywhere. At least in public school there are formal requirements of certification. Also, privates traditionally aren't as good at STEM. I'd rather save my money and have kids who are a little more resilient and used to all types of people. Really. My HS kids will be pros at arguing their way into classes by college!

This is a missive from someone who is clueless about private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because my kids thrive in our public school which is - gasp! - downcounty. The range of programs, the STEM offerings, and the diversity of the school community (racial, ethnic, and SES) is not something any private school could match. And while I do sometimes envy the smaller class sizes of privates or the lush campuses - literally worlds apart from our DCs’ public schools - I think the benefits of public for my children far outweigh those things.

Lastly, to what another poster noted, to send all three of my kids through private would total big money and I’d rather use that money for other things. The ROI on private school isn’t there for us.

You are wealthy and you live downcounty?