If you live in area with excellent publics, why did you choose private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on 2023/2024 from Montgomerypublicschools.org

Student populations:

Grades 9-12
MCPS - 52227
Private - 9109
% at Private - 17.4%

Grades 1-8
MCPS - 93158
Private - 15681
% at Private - 16.8

What this demonstrates is that a little less than 1 in 5 students are not in the “excellent “ public schools.

I’m just guessing, but I think it’s reasonable that the percentage of students at private schools from the areas where the best MCPS schools are is higher than 17%.

So a very large number of people in the more affluent areas have arrived at the conclusion that they would rather pay than attend these top public schools.

Without a breakdown by school attendance zone and religious vs independent privates you really cannot draw any useful conclusion from these stats.

Nonsense.

You can conclude that 17% of the high school students are in private schools.

You can bet the MCPS people are well aware of this.

From this, using your own common sense and experience, you can make some educated guesses. I, for example, would believe that the percentage of of high schoolers at private schools is greater in Bethesda and Potomac than it is in Montgomery Village or Derwood.

The MCPS doesn’t differentiate between religious and secular privates. To them Prep and Landon are the same thing as I suspect they are to most.

This data doesn’t shed any light on the question of why people in the sending areas of the “best” free public high schools pay to send their kids to private ones. But it certainly shows there are a whole lot of them that do this. (9,000 of them or enough to fill six additional high schools with 1500 students each).

The why matters because sending your kid to a religious school is a decision often made somewhat independently of the nearby public school quality, especially for Catholics.

You could make your guess on the geographic breakdown. But you could also make a guess that privates are overrepresented in “lesser” public school zones to make up for the lower quality.

The only “nonsense” is trying to use this data to confirm your priors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people think they live somewhere with “excellent public schools” or even move for the schools and then find out it’s not true. MCPS and APS are prime examples.

This.

And it’s so frustrating because mcps used to be very good before it was run into the ground.

And mcps could improve dramatically if it tried.

Yeah. And the Democratic party could win elections if it stopped catering to the fringe looney left. But that's not going to happen either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you need a broad answer, you should asked also in public forum and hear what they say, there is plenty families who is very wealthy and highly educated and keep their kids in public school, especially in highly regarded area.
If you are only asked here your heart are already set to private, you only seek certain approval you need…, which is fine.

Very wealthy and highly educated families are keeping their kids in public school? Thanks for the laugh. Maybe if they dislike their kids.

+1

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't be too harsh on the MCPS.

Much of the decline might be traced to the change in demographics. 33.4% of the students are Hispanic or Latino. Many of these are recent arrivals who struggle with language.

This wasn't close to being true in the HeyDay of MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on 2023/2024 from Montgomerypublicschools.org

Student populations:

Grades 9-12
MCPS - 52227
Private - 9109
% at Private - 17.4%

Grades 1-8
MCPS - 93158
Private - 15681
% at Private - 16.8

What this demonstrates is that a little less than 1 in 5 students are not in the “excellent “ public schools.

I’m just guessing, but I think it’s reasonable that the percentage of students at private schools from the areas where the best MCPS schools are is higher than 17%.

So a very large number of people in the more affluent areas have arrived at the conclusion that they would rather pay than attend these top public schools.

Without a breakdown by school attendance zone and religious vs independent privates you really cannot draw any useful conclusion from these stats.

Nonsense.

You can conclude that 17% of the high school students are in private schools.

You can bet the MCPS people are well aware of this.

From this, using your own common sense and experience, you can make some educated guesses. I, for example, would believe that the percentage of of high schoolers at private schools is greater in Bethesda and Potomac than it is in Montgomery Village or Derwood.

The MCPS doesn’t differentiate between religious and secular privates. To them Prep and Landon are the same thing as I suspect they are to most.

This data doesn’t shed any light on the question of why people in the sending areas of the “best” free public high schools pay to send their kids to private ones. But it certainly shows there are a whole lot of them that do this. (9,000 of them or enough to fill six additional high schools with 1500 students each).

The why matters because sending your kid to a religious school is a decision often made somewhat independently of the nearby public school quality, especially for Catholics.

You could make your guess on the geographic breakdown. But you could also make a guess that privates are overrepresented in “lesser” public school zones to make up for the lower quality.

The only “nonsense” is trying to use this data to confirm your priors.

The results of my own scientifically-conducted survey are in.

Turns out there are 10 times more SUVs with Landon, Prep, STA, Bullis, Holton Arms, Stone Ridge and Visitation stickers on River Road than there are on Colesville Road.

[Anonymous]

We moved the oldest of our three boys to a private school starting in 9th grade. We live in the Carderock Springs, Pyle, Whitman district.

We hadn’t had a lot of contact with the schools. We aren’t particularly demanding parents.

We moved the other two boys to private schools the following year after understanding the differences.

While the public schools administrators and teachers seemed primarily interested in the programs and dictates of the MCPS bureaucracy, the private schools seemed to focus on the boys. I don’t think the basic academics were all that much better. But everything else was.

The root cause of this is that in the Public schools the money comes from the school district who get it from the taxpayers who are required to give it. In the privates, the money comes from the parents and everybody gets that. So the school and everybody in it strives to meet the expectations of the parents. And the expect of the parents is that this be a quality experience for their kids in every area.

The athletic programs were vastly superior from coaching to facilities to fan support. Teachers and staff knew our kids and developed relationships with them beyond lecturing and grading tests. The families we met appeared to share our values and we felt confident that when our kids were at these homes things would be well controlled. We knew that when they graduated they would be welcomed into a large, loyal alumni group.

I went to a very good public high school in a wealthy town. I got a good education. But the total experience my kids got at a private school here was significantly better. It has been expensive, but worth it in our estimation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on 2023/2024 from Montgomerypublicschools.org

Student populations:

Grades 9-12
MCPS - 52227
Private - 9109
% at Private - 17.4%

Grades 1-8
MCPS - 93158
Private - 15681
% at Private - 16.8

What this demonstrates is that a little less than 1 in 5 students are not in the “excellent “ public schools.

I’m just guessing, but I think it’s reasonable that the percentage of students at private schools from the areas where the best MCPS schools are is higher than 17%.

So a very large number of people in the more affluent areas have arrived at the conclusion that they would rather pay than attend these top public schools.

Without a breakdown by school attendance zone and religious vs independent privates you really cannot draw any useful conclusion from these stats.

Nonsense.

You can conclude that 17% of the high school students are in private schools.

You can bet the MCPS people are well aware of this.

From this, using your own common sense and experience, you can make some educated guesses. I, for example, would believe that the percentage of of high schoolers at private schools is greater in Bethesda and Potomac than it is in Montgomery Village or Derwood.

The MCPS doesn’t differentiate between religious and secular privates. To them Prep and Landon are the same thing as I suspect they are to most.

This data doesn’t shed any light on the question of why people in the sending areas of the “best” free public high schools pay to send their kids to private ones. But it certainly shows there are a whole lot of them that do this. (9,000 of them or enough to fill six additional high schools with 1500 students each).

The why matters because sending your kid to a religious school is a decision often made somewhat independently of the nearby public school quality, especially for Catholics.

You could make your guess on the geographic breakdown. But you could also make a guess that privates are overrepresented in “lesser” public school zones to make up for the lower quality.

The only “nonsense” is trying to use this data to confirm your priors.

The results of my own scientifically-conducted survey are in.

Turns out there are 10 times more SUVs with Landon, Prep, STA, Bullis, Holton Arms, Stone Ridge and Visitation stickers on River Road than there are on Colesville Road.

Lol. In all seriousness, though, this is exactly the type of analysis I would expect to see around here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on 2023/2024 from Montgomerypublicschools.org

Student populations:

Grades 9-12
MCPS - 52227
Private - 9109
% at Private - 17.4%

Grades 1-8
MCPS - 93158
Private - 15681
% at Private - 16.8

What this demonstrates is that a little less than 1 in 5 students are not in the “excellent “ public schools.

I’m just guessing, but I think it’s reasonable that the percentage of students at private schools from the areas where the best MCPS schools are is higher than 17%.

So a very large number of people in the more affluent areas have arrived at the conclusion that they would rather pay than attend these top public schools.

I can see why you sent your kids to private schools. Math and common sense are not your forte.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people think they live somewhere with “excellent public schools” or even move for the schools and then find out it’s not true. MCPS and APS are prime examples.

This.

And it’s so frustrating because mcps used to be very good before it was run into the ground.

And mcps could improve dramatically if it tried.

Yeah. And the Democratic party could win elections if it stopped catering to the fringe looney left. But that's not going to happen either.

Actually, they lost because they keep pandering to the right (see Liz Cheney and AIPAC).

[Anonymous]

Kids in private school are coddled and can struggle in the real world when they don’t get all the handholding and individual attention they got in school. Public all the way. You learn to be resilient and advocate for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Switched to private when publics closed during Covid (private was open). Not a lot of overly religious families, but a lot of money, which means the teens are frequently driving jeeps, tesla and even more expensive cars. There are a lot of drugs available to these teens as well.

There's good:
-smaller class sizes
-more attention from teachers when needed
-more attention from staff when needed
-more opportunity to participate in sports/music/theater because your not in an overcrowded public

And bad:
-the best and the brightest in MoCo are in MCPS magnets and IB programs, not private school

You can always try public, and if you don't like it go private. Or go private and you don't like it, go public.

Genuine question - I thought the “best and brightest” were at big 3 schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids in private school are coddled and can struggle in the real world when they don’t get all the handholding and individual attention they got in school. Public all the way. You learn to be resilient and advocate for yourself.

This is a line that public school proponents love to repeat, but in our experience it’s not true. In HS all of our kids schools made a point of putting responsibilities on the students (not parents) to advocate for themselves, communicate with teachers/coaches, and navigate things like the college application process. They actively told parents to give their kids space and let them figure things out with the guidance of faculty/staff. They knew our kids well so we felt comfortable with that and DCs do just fine advocating for themselves and managing their lives in college. Obviously not all parents stepped back as much as we did but the point is that’s an option at private school. My friends with kids at public are involved in their kids everything at school because (I think) their kids don’t have anyone looking out for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You get what you pay for.

Not true. It takes more than just money. Some pull their kid out of good public high school for a private one. Then the kid ends up going to a mediocre college anyways. Look at the local private HS College Commitments Websites.

Families with money don’t always obsess about college placement and rankings. Our kids have already won in life. You do get what you pay for.

Yeah, tell yourself that. But whose kid would an engineering co would hire? A kid with middling grade from Clemson or top student from UMD? Of course, families with money don’t obsess about where their kids go to college, because there’s always mommy’s basement. Good luck caring for special child for life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You get what you pay for.

Not true. It takes more than just money. Some pull their kid out of good public high school for a private one. Then the kid ends up going to a mediocre college anyways. Look at the local private HS College Commitments Websites.

Families with money don’t always obsess about college placement and rankings. Our kids have already won in life. You do get what you pay for.

Yeah, tell yourself that. But whose kid would an engineering co would hire? A kid with middling grade from Clemson or top student from UMD? Of course, families with money don’t obsess about where their kids go to college, because there’s always mommy’s basement. Good luck caring for special child for life.

You have no idea how the world really works. Our kids aren’t looking for the same entry level jobs your kids apply for. Our kids may be hiring your kids though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You get what you pay for.

Not true. It takes more than just money. Some pull their kid out of good public high school for a private one. Then the kid ends up going to a mediocre college anyways. Look at the local private HS College Commitments Websites.

Families with money don’t always obsess about college placement and rankings. Our kids have already won in life. You do get what you pay for.

Yeah, tell yourself that. But whose kid would an engineering co would hire? A kid with middling grade from Clemson or top student from UMD? Of course, families with money don’t obsess about where their kids go to college, because there’s always mommy’s basement. Good luck caring for special child for life.

Nice try, dummy!

You appear to think Clemson is a private school. It’s not. It’s a South Carolina public school.