Why did you choose private school over the local public school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our private, breakfast, snack and lunch are included and are very tasty. Nothing like public school slop.

Not having to make breakfast or pack lunch everyday is priceless. Very appreciative of that.

Now I was excited when my DC moved from private with no lunch to public with lunch and I didn't have to pack a lunch anymore. I didn't care what he was eating as long as I didn't have to make it.

GDS does not have lunch, and pretty soon the high schoolers wont even be able to go to Safeway. Field has a crazy lunch system where parents have to provide lunch for the whole school a couple times a year. Several of the K-8s have no lunch programs.

Yup. Grace had no lunch program. Maybe because we weren't paying $30k a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This tread is of course! So let's keep it going. Better question to all the public school parents on this tread say why you choose public minus the cost? Seems like private school parents always have to defend their choice.

I didn't choose public school. My children need to go to school, so they go to public school.

I did choose to live in Montgomery County instead of somewhere else in the area because of the public schools in Montgomery County -- does that address your question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This tread is of course! So let's keep it going. Better question to all the public school parents on this tread say why you choose public minus the cost? Seems like private school parents always have to defend their choice.

A question for you - it's only fair!

Are you the poster who bashes publics on practically every thread here? Or are you the poster who lets a few public school posters drive her bonkers, absolutely around the bend?

And why do you let this bother you so much? Insecure? Wondering about all the $$$ committed?

[Anonymous]

Con: COST!!! and meeting different friends.

Pros:
Very small class size
Family atmosphere
Shared core values
More extracurricular activities
You can take your kid on trips with you and not have to overly explain why you did it
The body of students behave better

This is the private that we are at compared to our public school. This is absolutely not true compared to other public schools.

[Anonymous]

PP who asked the question -- cost is THE reason. I do believe that my children would probably get a better, more personal education with more fun learning in a private school. While we *could* stretch to pay $60K/yr for the two of them, it just isn't something we're willing to pay when there is a sufficient alternative for $0. I will say, my child in AAP is getting a better education than my child in gen. ed. So, even in public school, there are degrees of quality.

We are o.k. with a "sufficient" education given that it means we save at least $600,000.

As a side note. I know someone whose husband works at a well known private in NoVa. He has been there for many years, but is not a teacher. They could send their kids to that school, but they choose to send them to public elementary -- and they have recently re-chosen to send their kids to public ms/hs (as that is coming up next year for the oldest). Friend's husband says that of all the teachers/admins he knows at this school, the ones he likes the most are the ones who went to public school. The ones he finds to be odd went to private schools.

I'm not going to claim that public school is better quality than private, and there have been times I've really wondered about whether we could/should look into privates, but ultimately, we're more frugal/practical and we aren't willing to put ourselves in a financial straightjacket when an acceptable alternative is three blocks down the street.

I'm sure a Lexus IS nicer than a Toyota... but we drive Toyotas.... one is a 2004, the other is a 2009. They get us where we need to go. Public school is like a Toyota.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I've always wondered how privates can have more of everything, yet still do the basics with math and writing--and ostensibly better than the publics. Where is the time for all this? Especially when you add in current events like Nelson Mandela dying. Private school isn't a longer day.

Well, remember also that private schools select their students, and public schools by design take everyone. If you pick kids who are not having difficulties in any academic area, you might get away with moving through the basics at a faster pace to free time for other stuff. I can't remember if it was on this thread or another, but there's a Post article from 2013 that says that DCPS elementary schools must spend 3.5 hours of instruction time every day on reading and math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you with kids in private school . . . what makes private a better choice than the public school in your neighborhood? Advantages/disadvantages? FWIW I am currently weighing the pro and cons for my dc. Thank you!

local PS: one in three students has a family member who has served time in prison

private: one in three students comes from a home where one or both parents went to Harvard

public: 70 percent of student body fail to meet grade level in reading/math

private: the 5th stanine in private equals the 9th stanine in public on standardized test scores

DC gets a scholarship

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

At MCPS, PE and all other specials are once a week and ranges from 25-40min depending on how overcrowded they are. And they NEVER EVER EVER take them outside for PE. That was a huge pet peeve of mine when my child went to public. At private, some teachers take the kids outside for their classes if they day is nice. My DD had a math teacher that took them out for Four Square Math problems. She loved that. PE is almost 100% outside at our private. And lower school gets 2 recesses a day for 20-25min each. They also have a garden they work on in science. For my child moving around, fresh air, learning all work together. Sitting in a chair with 30 other kids ALL day long in public, did not. If it rained in public, they watched a show. Mindless. No movement, no creativity. Sucked.

Are you kidding? My MCPS kid went outside every day, unless it was raining or freezing. You can't make generalizations about MCPS like that.

Also, I know several MCPS schools that have gardens, and that's just the public schools I know.

Also, you make no sense. If your MCPS public supposedly *always* had PE inside, then why did you write that they sit "ALL day long" (your caps)? And if PE is allegedly "always" indoors, why are you claiming that they switched it up with a movie when it was raining *outside*, as if the weather outdoors actually mattered for this mythical indoor PE?

Go away, troll.

Signed, parent of kids who went to public and private elementary schools. I could complain about PE at the publics (not enough supervision, for example, or replaced with useless rallies), but you just can't claim they "NEVER EVER EVER" go outside.

You are an idiot. PE = physical education, not recess. I was talking about both things in the comment above.


My daughter had PE for 25 minutes A WEEK total and they never went outside. It was 100% always inside in the gym, even on a beautiful 80 degree day. At private, PE is 4x a week for 30min each, always outside unless below 30 degrees or raining.

Recess at public is outside for 25min once a day. If it is below 35, raining or snowing, snow on the ground or even a little wet outside, the kids are plopped in front of a tv watching a show for recess. That is 80% of the days from Nov-March. Recess at private is 25min twice a day, once in the morning and once after lunch. Only stay in for rain and below 30 degrees. Teachers also have the option of teaching class outside.

Do you understand now??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This tread is of course! So let's keep it going. Better question to all the public school parents on this tread say why you choose public minus the cost? Seems like private school parents always have to defend their choice.

I feel like it is the opposite. Private families chose private after having a choice. No need to defend. They might act like that to appease public school families.

Most public school parents defend their choice because even though they have an option with FA, rather say pubic is better.

[Anonymous]

They don't devote weeks to test prep, announcements about test prep, and testing. Frees up tons of time. More homogeneous groupings (ability, effort, behavior) = get more done, faster. My DC had to repeat a year of MCPS "IM / pre algebra) in private instead of taking algebra in 8th grade, but says they move through the work much more quickly. AND when the kids spell words wrong in the word problems, the teacher addressed the issue. In fact, the math teacher not only taught them how to spell Wednesday but taught them the meanings / Latin derivations for each day of the week! Thank you, Mrs. Sparling!

What a waste of time that was! When we transferred to private our DS transcripts showed 100% on the SOL year after year. So easy for a good student. So much wasted time catching up for the rest of the class. It was an individual decision -- just di not work for us. However, the schools seem to be changing for the better, so perhaps in the next few years our public will be wonderful. Just did not happen in time for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This tread is of course! So let's keep it going. Better question to all the public school parents on this tread say why you choose public minus the cost? Seems like private school parents always have to defend their choice.

I feel like it is the opposite. Private families chose private after having a choice. No need to defend. They might act like that to appease public school families.

Most public school parents defend their choice because even though they have an option with FA, rather say pubic is better.

You seem to assume that everybody has a choice. To me, that's a private-school attitude.

[Anonymous]

Although DH and I went to private schools ourselves, we were not sure if we would send our 2 kids to private.

First, a chance encounter with 5 public primary school teachers at a social event. I was seated at their table. They were complaining that their classes sizes of 28+ are so problematic that it makes it near impossible to get anything done with the students, especially when some students arrive to public kindergarten with virtually no exposure to enrichment activities or barely speak English. These teachers also told me that their "dream" class size would be 12 students and they went on to say "oh the things I could do if I only had 12 students." They told me that if I could finally manage it, they would recommend private until 8th grade and then do public for high school.

Second, our public elementary school has 97% of the students on meal assistance vouchers. Yet, I still decided to take a tour and saw overcrowding with my own eyes. There were at least 7 or 8 trailers in the back, lunch time was so rushed, and as the students lined up to go outside for recess the smaller younger kids were literally trampled on as the older rowdier kids rushed past them to get outside. No supervision, no order, and the look on the faces of those little kids was just heartbreaking.

Finally, at my firm I have an intern, a young lady in her 20's who was born and raised in NOVA. After overhearing a conversation with one of my colleagues regarding whether I should do public or private for my kids, she came to me and said that she begged her parents to send her to private school, but they could not afford it even with financial aid. According to the intern, she took a tour of the Potomac school as a young girl and that it felt like school was a place for rainbows and butterflies. She said she never realized that school could be a fun beautiful place because her public school was so depressing and there was no love of learning. She said she did not develop a relationship with a single teacher throughout her entire 12 year public school education.

I thought about all these things and my own private school experience when making the decision. I loved my private school (outside the DMV) and till this day I keep in touch with my teachers. I even attended the funeral of my high school principal. DH similarly loved his school years at his private (inside the DMV). We are not the smartest, but have truly love to learn and educate ourselves by reading about various subjects. We do not wish nor expect our kids to go to ivy league universities, but we want them to love learning, develop relationships with educators, and look back on their school years with fond memories. The gift of a good education is the biggest most important gift you can give your children.

[Anonymous]

Better academics, greater student/classroom control, uniforms, removal of problem kids, manners. Public schools are basically free-for-alls compared to most private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
You are an idiot. PE = physical education, not recess. I was talking about both things in the comment above.

My daughter had PE for 25 minutes A WEEK total and they never went outside. It was 100% always inside in the gym, even on a beautiful 80 degree day. At private, PE is 4x a week for 30min each, always outside unless below 30 degrees or raining.

Recess at public is outside for 25min once a day. If it is below 35, raining or snowing, snow on the ground or even a little wet outside, the kids are plopped in front of a tv watching a show for recess. That is 80% of the days from Nov-March. Recess at private is 25min twice a day, once in the morning and once after lunch. Only stay in for rain and below 30 degrees. Teachers also have the option of teaching class outside.

Do you understand now??

Dear PP,

You're one of the reasons that people think some private school parents are elitist and not-very-bright a$$holes. Thanks for nothing, a$$hole.

I know public school kids who go outside for PE, not just for gym. The parents I know don't complain about TV instead of recess 80% of the time - do you think that's even remotely believable? And let's not get started on your use of CAPITAL LETTERS and your horrid understanding of percentages (80%? really?), all of which tend to make you look like somewhat hysterical.

If you can't understand how wrong it is to (a) generalize from your tiny little experience to a whole school system, and (b) to substitute hyperbole for facts, then you don't deserve a job let alone a bank account.

Signed, another private school parent

[Anonymous]

We tried private school for a few years for both kids. We were hoping for the moon, but we got something less. Some of the teachers were mediocre and one was actually bad. This was at a private school that DCUM loves, not one of the ones that's routinely denigrated or yawned at here. Kids are now back in public.