Percentage of Students on Financial Aid at Major Privates is Depressing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you going to find these poor kids who can do the work at a Big3?

Andover and Exeter take applicant nationally and internationally. Sidwell and NCS are stuck with the DMV.

My kids came from DCPS to two different Big3 schools in 9th. They attended the best DCPS elementary/middle schools and scored 99% on the PARCC (achievement tests). They're the product of two parents with graduate degrees.
They had every advantage that such kids have: top early childhood education (private preschool), parental help all along the way from PK-->8th grade, a house full of books, private tutors if/when needed, international travel, exposure to different cultures through family friends, nanny, etc.
AND STILL---9th grade at the Big3 coming out of DCPS was ROUGTH. They had to repeat a grade in math and start over in foreign language (they were put in Spanish 101 despite having 3 years of Spanish in DCPS). They learned annotate for the first time, they finally learned to write well.

They got through it with a LOT of parental involvement, tutors, teacher office hours, etc.

Now what happens to the kid who attends many of the myriad of DC public schools where only 5% of the kids are at grade level? Kids who have none of the resources that my kids did?

It's not as easy as just giving a poor kid a free ride to Sidwell. It's really hard to find these kids who come from true poverty and will be able to hack the academics and culture at these elite schools with little (or no) support at home.

There is a nonprofit called Prep For Prep in NYC that matches low-income URMs with elite NYC privates starting in middle school. The program has a rigorous training component that the kids must commit to, and NYC is huge with robust public transportation, however.

Yes, but they're in a city of 9 million people and fund about 500 kids. Plus a large percentage are Asian immigrants.

Prep for Prep does not have a large percentage of Asian immigrants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you going to find these poor kids who can do the work at a Big3?

Andover and Exeter take applicant nationally and internationally. Sidwell and NCS are stuck with the DMV.

My kids came from DCPS to two different Big3 schools in 9th. They attended the best DCPS elementary/middle schools and scored 99% on the PARCC (achievement tests). They're the product of two parents with graduate degrees.
They had every advantage that such kids have: top early childhood education (private preschool), parental help all along the way from PK-->8th grade, a house full of books, private tutors if/when needed, international travel, exposure to different cultures through family friends, nanny, etc.
AND STILL---9th grade at the Big3 coming out of DCPS was ROUGTH. They had to repeat a grade in math and start over in foreign language (they were put in Spanish 101 despite having 3 years of Spanish in DCPS). They learned annotate for the first time, they finally learned to write well.

They got through it with a LOT of parental involvement, tutors, teacher office hours, etc.

Now what happens to the kid who attends many of the myriad of DC public schools where only 5% of the kids are at grade level? Kids who have none of the resources that my kids did?

It's not as easy as just giving a poor kid a free ride to Sidwell. It's really hard to find these kids who come from true poverty and will be able to hack the academics and culture at these elite schools with little (or no) support at home.

There is a nonprofit called Prep For Prep in NYC that matches low-income URMs with elite NYC privates starting in middle school. The program has a rigorous training component that the kids must commit to, and NYC is huge with robust public transportation, however.

Yes, but they're in a city of 9 million people and fund about 500 kids. Plus a large percentage are Asian immigrants.

Pretty sure the program is for Black & Hispanic students.

.

It is.

[Anonymous]

We have a 360 HHI and have 3 kids in private (43-55k each). We applied for FA this year when our third child started and got 5-7% in aid for 2 kids and nothing for the third (different school). We bring a lot of diversity I believe (not racial) and are very grateful for the help. It is a lot of money for us and we are not sure whether we can keep the kids in private until college. We love the schools though….

I don’t believe we are poor nor middle class and we favor in the 20-25% of FA recipients.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a 360 HHI and have 3 kids in private (43-55k each). We applied for FA this year when our third child started and got 5-7% in aid for 2 kids and nothing for the third (different school). We bring a lot of diversity I believe (not racial) and are very grateful for the help. It is a lot of money for us and we are not sure whether we can keep the kids in private until college. We love the schools though….

I don’t believe we are poor nor middle class and we favor in the 20-25% of FA recipients.

Of course sending 3 kids to an expensive private is going to be very pricey. More broadly I don’t think financial aid is the answer though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where are you going to find these poor kids who can do the work at a Big3?

Andover and Exeter take applicant nationally and internationally. Sidwell and NCS are stuck with the DMV.

My kids came from DCPS to two different Big3 schools in 9th. They attended the best DCPS elementary/middle schools and scored 99% on the PARCC (achievement tests). They're the product of two parents with graduate degrees.
They had every advantage that such kids have: top early childhood education (private preschool), parental help all along the way from PK-->8th grade, a house full of books, private tutors if/when needed, international travel, exposure to different cultures through family friends, nanny, etc.
AND STILL---9th grade at the Big3 coming out of DCPS was ROUGTH. They had to repeat a grade in math and start over in foreign language (they were put in Spanish 101 despite having 3 years of Spanish in DCPS). They learned annotate for the first time, they finally learned to write well.

They got through it with a LOT of parental involvement, tutors, teacher office hours, etc.

Now what happens to the kid who attends many of the myriad of DC public schools where only 5% of the kids are at grade level? Kids who have none of the resources that my kids did?

It's not as easy as just giving a poor kid a free ride to Sidwell. It's really hard to find these kids who come from true poverty and will be able to hack the academics and culture at these elite schools with little (or no) support at home.

Heck, I went from doing K-8th at Potomac to NCS in 9th and even that was brutal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What other schools?

milton academy: nearly 60%
roxbury latin: 40%
philips andover: 45%
philips exeter: 50%

many could do better. but still, would like to see the DC schools step it up.

The DC schools don't have the same endowments andover and exeter do. Also, the top boarding schools and some of the NYC day schools benefit from links to nonprofits like Prep for Prep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you going to find these poor kids who can do the work at a Big3?

Andover and Exeter take applicant nationally and internationally. Sidwell and NCS are stuck with the DMV.

My kids came from DCPS to two different Big3 schools in 9th. They attended the best DCPS elementary/middle schools and scored 99% on the PARCC (achievement tests). They're the product of two parents with graduate degrees.
They had every advantage that such kids have: top early childhood education (private preschool), parental help all along the way from PK-->8th grade, a house full of books, private tutors if/when needed, international travel, exposure to different cultures through family friends, nanny, etc.
AND STILL---9th grade at the Big3 coming out of DCPS was ROUGTH. They had to repeat a grade in math and start over in foreign language (they were put in Spanish 101 despite having 3 years of Spanish in DCPS). They learned annotate for the first time, they finally learned to write well.

They got through it with a LOT of parental involvement, tutors, teacher office hours, etc.

Now what happens to the kid who attends many of the myriad of DC public schools where only 5% of the kids are at grade level? Kids who have none of the resources that my kids did?

It's not as easy as just giving a poor kid a free ride to Sidwell. It's really hard to find these kids who come from true poverty and will be able to hack the academics and culture at these elite schools with little (or no) support at home.

There is a nonprofit called Prep For Prep in NYC that matches low-income URMs with elite NYC privates starting in middle school. The program has a rigorous training component that the kids must commit to, and NYC is huge with robust public transportation, however.

Yes, but they're in a city of 9 million people and fund about 500 kids. Plus a large percentage are Asian immigrants.

Prep for Prep does not have a large percentage of Asian immigrants.

Asian kids aren't URMs...emphasis on the U. They don't really qualify for Prep for Prep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where are you going to find these poor kids who can do the work at a Big3?

Andover and Exeter take applicant nationally and internationally. Sidwell and NCS are stuck with the DMV.

My kids came from DCPS to two different Big3 schools in 9th. They attended the best DCPS elementary/middle schools and scored 99% on the PARCC (achievement tests). They're the product of two parents with graduate degrees.
They had every advantage that such kids have: top early childhood education (private preschool), parental help all along the way from PK-->8th grade, a house full of books, private tutors if/when needed, international travel, exposure to different cultures through family friends, nanny, etc.
AND STILL---9th grade at the Big3 coming out of DCPS was ROUGTH. They had to repeat a grade in math and start over in foreign language (they were put in Spanish 101 despite having 3 years of Spanish in DCPS). They learned annotate for the first time, they finally learned to write well.

They got through it with a LOT of parental involvement, tutors, teacher office hours, etc.

Now what happens to the kid who attends many of the myriad of DC public schools where only 5% of the kids are at grade level? Kids who have none of the resources that my kids did?

It's not as easy as just giving a poor kid a free ride to Sidwell. It's really hard to find these kids who come from true poverty and will be able to hack the academics and culture at these elite schools with little (or no) support at home.

This is a good point. Andover and Exeter (and to some extent, their peers) put a ton of work into recruiting a certain type of kid who is very talented and self-motivated and can clearly do the work and whose needs can no longer be met by living at home and any local options for whatever reason. They might not necessarily be poor (they might be middle class), but they're limited by anything close to them...think the kid who attracted their attention by winning several national level writing awards but lives on an isolated farm (this was a friend of mine)

[Anonymous]

You can donate to cure cancer or alleviate homelessness. Or you could boost financial at luxury private schools for children who already have access to public schools.

I think the limitations on fundraising for financial aid are obvious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying to figure out there OP's complaint. Is the complaint that local DMV schools don't have bigger endowments to fund more aid? Or that they, specifically, did not receive the aid they hoped for?

OP here. There's dismay at the numbers generally. There's dismay at the lack of commitment to building an endowment for financial aid (as opposed to tons of other things). There's dismay at the perpetuation of wide economic inequality and the continued stratification of a wider range of kids to relate to people who are different from them. There's dismay at the relatively low numbers compared to schools that have made similar commitments. I don't deny the endowment effect, but where is the endowment going? Why are you building the endowment? There are some schools raising tens of millions so they can have bigger gyms. The priorities, imo, are off. Especially in light of some of the stated missions of the schools.

I find this sentiment intriguing. You're trying to turn your favorite private into the diversity fantasy of your imagination. Which, to me, doesn't reconcile with the concept of an expensive private school. The funny thing is that if it did become what you hope for, it wouldn't be the privates any more but something else entirely. At that point might as well just go to a good public.

As it is, 20-25% of student body on financial aid seems normal for day private schools to me. In many ways it's pretty impressive it's this high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my opinion, donations would do more good elsewhere and financial aid at these schools should not exist.

Like, to a different nonprofit where all the money goes to overhead salaries?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you going to find these poor kids who can do the work at a Big3?

Andover and Exeter take applicant nationally and internationally. Sidwell and NCS are stuck with the DMV.

My kids came from DCPS to two different Big3 schools in 9th. They attended the best DCPS elementary/middle schools and scored 99% on the PARCC (achievement tests). They're the product of two parents with graduate degrees.
They had every advantage that such kids have: top early childhood education (private preschool), parental help all along the way from PK-->8th grade, a house full of books, private tutors if/when needed, international travel, exposure to different cultures through family friends, nanny, etc.
AND STILL---9th grade at the Big3 coming out of DCPS was ROUGTH. They had to repeat a grade in math and start over in foreign language (they were put in Spanish 101 despite having 3 years of Spanish in DCPS). They learned annotate for the first time, they finally learned to write well.

They got through it with a LOT of parental involvement, tutors, teacher office hours, etc.

Now what happens to the kid who attends many of the myriad of DC public schools where only 5% of the kids are at grade level? Kids who have none of the resources that my kids did?

It's not as easy as just giving a poor kid a free ride to Sidwell. It's really hard to find these kids who come from true poverty and will be able to hack the academics and culture at these elite schools with little (or no) support at home.

There is a nonprofit called Prep For Prep in NYC that matches low-income URMs with elite NYC privates starting in middle school. The program has a rigorous training component that the kids must commit to, and NYC is huge with robust public transportation, however.

Yes, but they're in a city of 9 million people and fund about 500 kids. Plus a large percentage are Asian immigrants.

Prep for Prep does not have a large percentage of Asian immigrants.

Asian kids aren't URMs...emphasis on the U. They don't really qualify for Prep for Prep.

Minorities who aren’t URM’s take advantage of these programs too. The schools they are applying to just need to be interested in the individual student for the situation to work.

[Anonymous]

I see at least 15 local schools listed here:
https://abetterchance.org/program/member-schools/

Consider donating to this org as well as your local financial aid fund if this is a true priority for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw those same numbers and thought they seemed very positive. It's expensive to run a school and it's great that 1 out of 4 or 5 kids is on financial aid.
Why do you find it depressing?

Compare with many other private schools across the country which are closer to 40-50%.

complete bullshit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw those same numbers and thought they seemed very positive. It's expensive to run a school and it's great that 1 out of 4 or 5 kids is on financial aid.
Why do you find it depressing?

Compare with many other private schools across the country which are closer to 40-50%.

Published citation which supports that preposterous claim ?