Is there a market for a cheaper no frills private school

[Anonymous]

11:24 again.

A more appropriate term for Grace is moderately progressive. Their curriculum is rigorous, they follow developmentally appropriate practices (not pushing early reading, but teaching pre-literacy skills, recognizing the importance of play and physical activity, for example).

[Anonymous]

Grace follows a pretty traditional curriculum, too, at least when my last kid was there about 3 years ago. I doubt it's changed much.

It's progressive in the sense that several teachers are gay, there's lots of talk about the environment, and the religious aspect is, as another poster said, basically "golden rule."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, sorry for the confusion. I am not in any position to start my own school, but I was curious about how such a school would be received. The school that best fits my description is the British School of Washington, but still 2 K more than I would like. We live in the suburbs, so the commute would be next to impossible. I might have posted on the general schools forum to see if there would be an interest at that price point.
There is no way with the current economic conditions and uncertainty, we can put two kids through a 25-30K school, but I would prefer a school like BSW to our local public school. DC 1 is in private now, DC 2 is in public, I would love to have them together. I love our private school, but it has more frills than we need.

I think you've gotten some great responses and suggestions. Grace may be too liberal for you, as I understand that BSW follows a fairly traditional curriculum. Please correct me if I am wrong on this point.

OP again, my nephew went to Grace many years ago, and it was a disaster, so I am biased, things might have changed. The big problem is that he had trouble in math (they were using EDM, and still are). He did something like KUMON on the side, and that helped, but the teachers were not receptive of the problems with the curriculum.
I am not liberal or conservative, but in the reading that I have done, religious schools can have trouble for various reasons, so I am not a fan of them. Plus, I love the diversity that non religious schools see. I actually don't mind that BSW is for profit, as long as the product is good.
Feynman might develop into a good school for some kids, but their bias towards exceptionally gifted kids goes a bit too far to me, it does not seem warm and fuzzy. We will see, it may be MD's Nysmith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Feynman might develop into a good school for some kids, but their bias towards exceptionally gifted kids goes a bit too far to me, it does not seem warm and fuzzy. We will see, it may be MD's Nysmith.

It can't be a school for exceptionally gifted kids and survive. Exceptionally gifted kids are few and far between, they have a variety of other options locally, and few parents are going to be willing to schlep to Darnestown. Also, if you admit kids at age 3, you aren't going to able to do so on the basis of reliable IQ data, which means that, somewhere down the road, the school is either forcing kids out or not living up to its claims re cohort.

So would it be a good thing or a bad thing if Feynman became MD's Nysmith?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, sorry for the confusion. I am not in any position to start my own school, but I was curious about how such a school would be received. The school that best fits my description is the British School of Washington, but still 2 K more than I would like. We live in the suburbs, so the commute would be next to impossible. I might have posted on the general schools forum to see if there would be an interest at that price point.
There is no way with the current economic conditions and uncertainty, we can put two kids through a 25-30K school, but I would prefer a school like BSW to our local public school. DC 1 is in private now, DC 2 is in public, I would love to have them together. I love our private school, but it has more frills than we need.

I think you've gotten some great responses and suggestions. Grace may be too liberal for you, as I understand that BSW follows a fairly traditional curriculum. Please correct me if I am wrong on this point.

OP again, my nephew went to Grace many years ago, and it was a disaster, so I am biased, things might have changed. The big problem is that he had trouble in math (they were using EDM, and still are). He did something like KUMON on the side, and that helped, but the teachers were not receptive of the problems with the curriculum.
I am not liberal or conservative, but in the reading that I have done, religious schools can have trouble for various reasons, so I am not a fan of them. Plus, I love the diversity that non religious schools see. I actually don't mind that BSW is for profit, as long as the product is good.
Feynman might develop into a good school for some kids, but their bias towards exceptionally gifted kids goes a bit too far to me, it does not seem warm and fuzzy. We will see, it may be MD's Nysmith.

NP here. You make some interesting assumptions, OP, and I would encourage you to consider whether they are valid -- especially if your one experience of a school is from "many years ago." Most schools in this area use Everyday Math, and this subject has been revisited on the DCUM forums ad infinitum (or at least ad nauseum). In addition, many of the top schools in this area are religious, as you probably know. Many of those schools are also among the most racially, ethnically, and economically diverse. Independent religious schools, such as Stoneridge or NCS, are very different from parochial schools. I suspect the reading you've done is related to parochial schools, as many researchers don't make a distinction between independent and parochial schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:cheap, no frills private school = public school in wealthy counties

Yeah, unfortunately I don't have an extra $200K lying around to afford a home in one of those areas.

Also a no frills private could offer a focus on content without having to spend a ton of classroom time on test prep for the standardized testing. You can also probably get a better student/teacher ratio of less than 30 to 1. Wealthy public schools aren't immune to these things.

But you have an extra $20k / year to spend on private school? Your math makes no sense. An extra $200k in mortgage does not = $20k more a year in mortgage payments...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, sorry for the confusion. I am not in any position to start my own school, but I was curious about how such a school would be received. The school that best fits my description is the British School of Washington, but still 2 K more than I would like. We live in the suburbs, so the commute would be next to impossible. I might have posted on the general schools forum to see if there would be an interest at that price point.
There is no way with the current economic conditions and uncertainty, we can put two kids through a 25-30K school, but I would prefer a school like BSW to our local public school. DC 1 is in private now, DC 2 is in public, I would love to have them together. I love our private school, but it has more frills than we need.

I think you've gotten some great responses and suggestions. Grace may be too liberal for you, as I understand that BSW follows a fairly traditional curriculum. Please correct me if I am wrong on this point.

OP again, my nephew went to Grace many years ago, and it was a disaster, so I am biased, things might have changed. The big problem is that he had trouble in math (they were using EDM, and still are). He did something like KUMON on the side, and that helped, but the teachers were not receptive of the problems with the curriculum.
I am not liberal or conservative, but in the reading that I have done, religious schools can have trouble for various reasons, so I am not a fan of them. Plus, I love the diversity that non religious schools see. I actually don't mind that BSW is for profit, as long as the product is good.
Feynman might develop into a good school for some kids, but their bias towards exceptionally gifted kids goes a bit too far to me, it does not seem warm and fuzzy. We will see, it may be MD's Nysmith.

Feynman parent here again. I would like to clarify that the school is not just for exceptionally gifted kids. My child doesn't fit that profile and he loves the school and is thriving. The school can accomodate kids in the exceptional and profoundly gifted category but that is not their sole focus. They simply can and will accomodate for that type of child. I think as long as a child can comfortably and happily work two grades ahead they will fit in just fine. Their ratio is 7:1 so they are able to provide a good deal of individual attention.

It is also a very warm and caring environment. We have a wonderful family community as well and socialize a good bit outside of the school.

I'm certainly not trying to sell you on our school; I just wanted to address your comments.

By the way, I have a neighbor with a child at Grace and they just love the school. She mentioned that it had a few rough years but has definitely made a comeback. That being said, it might be worth a look.

I wish you luck in your search!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:cheap, no frills private school = public school in wealthy counties

Yeah, unfortunately I don't have an extra $200K lying around to afford a home in one of those areas.

Also a no frills private could offer a focus on content without having to spend a ton of classroom time on test prep for the standardized testing. You can also probably get a better student/teacher ratio of less than 30 to 1. Wealthy public schools aren't immune to these things.

But you have an extra $20k / year to spend on private school? Your math makes no sense. An extra $200k in mortgage does not = $20k more a year in mortgage payments...

It makes no sense because I didn't do the math before posting.

Personally I'd rather have my kid in a private than a wealthy public anyways for the reasons I pointed out above. The extra mortgage wouldn't be worth a wealthy public school if I can afford a no-frills private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Feynman might develop into a good school for some kids, but their bias towards exceptionally gifted kids goes a bit too far to me, it does not seem warm and fuzzy. We will see, it may be MD's Nysmith.

It can't be a school for exceptionally gifted kids and survive. Exceptionally gifted kids are few and far between, they have a variety of other options locally, and few parents are going to be willing to schlep to Darnestown. Also, if you admit kids at age 3, you aren't going to able to do so on the basis of reliable IQ data, which means that, somewhere down the road, the school is either forcing kids out or not living up to its claims re cohort.

So would it be a good thing or a bad thing if Feynman became MD's Nysmith?

Feynman parent again. I'm of course not going to speak about the specifics of my child's admissions process but I wanted to let you know that the directors of the school certainly did their due diligence in researching the most appropriate ways to accurately identify young, advanced learners. They did so by visiting and speaking with the heads of very well respected gifted schools around the country which have years of experience to offer. They are using the best practices compiled by these programs. I believe that IQ testing is required in either K or 1st grade and higher but they understand it's not an appropriate way to indentify young children.

I don't believe that the admissions process for any school is an exact science and there will be occasions in most, if not all schools where a school turns out not to be the right fit for a child. It happens and it's unfortunate but all schools certainly do their best to avoid this.

[Anonymous]

Well pp, two grade levels ahead is not my kid, so Feynman is out. That said, when I looked at their web site, I did not get a good sense of enrichment like music and arts, also PE?

[Anonymous]

Feynman is in Darnestown. If you're going to drive all the way out there, why not consider one of the more established and even less expensive schools in the area such as Seneca Academy (prek-6 $10,000) or Butler Montessori (prek - 8 $13,000)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well pp, two grade levels ahead is not my kid, so Feynman is out. That said, when I looked at their web site, I did not get a good sense of enrichment like music and arts, also PE?

As far as enrichment goes....

They have a music teacher that comes to the school for music classes. My child also receives piano lessons which he loves. They do a great deal of arts and crafts as well and art, music and play are incorporated generously into daily lessons. They also have a dance instructor who comes for creative movement classes which are a big hit with the little guys.

Just this last weekend the children presented a little 5 minute play at the Destination Imagination event at Clarksburg highschool. They developed the story, worked on the lines and wrote a song to go with it. They made all of their own costumes. It was a great team building challenge and they were so thrilled and proud after their performance.

Thanks for asking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Feynman is in Darnestown. If you're going to drive all the way out there, why not consider one of the more established and even less expensive schools in the area such as Seneca Academy (prek-6 $10,000) or Butler Montessori (prek - 8 $13,000)?

Perhaps from the point of someone in DC, Darnestown is far away, but there are a lot of people in mid- to north-Montgommery county (see latest census on where the growth is) - they don't have good access to the downtown DC private schools - so these three schools have a robust market of smart kids to draw from. The DC metro area is larger than the district!

[Anonymous]

Why did Feynman choose to locate in Darnestown? I'm just curious. I would think that lower MoCo would be more fertile ground, just because it has a denser population, and the magnets have to turn away tons of qualified kids. The commute from lower MoCo to Darnestown is not an easy one, however.

I'm guessing the answer may have something to do with finding an affordable campus?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well pp, two grade levels ahead is not my kid, so Feynman is out. That said, when I looked at their web site, I did not get a good sense of enrichment like music and arts, also PE?

As far as enrichment goes....

They have a music teacher that comes to the school for music classes. My child also receives piano lessons which he loves. They do a great deal of arts and crafts as well and art, music and play are incorporated generously into daily lessons. They also have a dance instructor who comes for creative movement classes which are a big hit with the little guys.

Just this last weekend the children presented a little 5 minute play at the Destination Imagination event at Clarksburg highschool. They developed the story, worked on the lines and wrote a song to go with it. They made all of their own costumes. It was a great team building challenge and they were so thrilled and proud after their performance.

Thanks for asking.

When I spoke with them, it did not seem like the level of art, music, and PE that I would want.
WRT location, they have to move, or get a nice bus service if they want to grow.