Please enlighten us public school parents

[Anonymous]

We've just moved to a nonelite private for HS, after 3 difficult years in a Title I charter ms. DC needs the supports for academics and emotion regulation that a small progressive school provides, and that is just not available in any DC public HS. We knew which side of the Yale or jail divide at Wilson that he would end up on, after being labelled a disciplinary problem in ms.

[Anonymous]

I have 2 things to add to this thread:

1) Janney has a (full sized) kiln. lol

2) As a graduate of an elite private school with small class sizes (12-14) I don't view this as a good thing. I'd much rather have my kids in larger classes. Small classes can be really difficult socially for kids.

[Anonymous]

Exclusivity, obviously. All of the kids are smart and well-adjusted. Teachers can teach instead of helping struggling learners catch up and dealing with behavioral issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exclusivity, obviously. All of the kids are smart and well-adjusted. Teachers can teach instead of helping struggling learners catch up and dealing with behavioral issues.

I went to a private school, and some of the kids were exclusively rich (as in, really f'in rich), but dumb as rocks. It's a business, and some amount of the class has to cover expenses...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well then, it is established that when comparing outstanding public schools (comparison among publics, no claims to private "quality") against privates what you are paying for with private is an elite cohort, guaranteed class sizes and really nice facilities.

So if you have been lucky/strategic enough to send your child to a public school with great facilities and your child is not one to fall through the cracks, you are paying for an elite cohort. That is fine and I am happy to say that my child's excellent public school is not, in fact, "just like private but for free"

Uh, no, there's more. I don't want to out my kids' independent school by posting the document, but the humanities curriculum in no way whatsoever resembles the one presented at Murch, then Deal, our IB schools (except for math). Then there's the science program, which is a little more similar to DCPS curriculum, but they meet 4x a week in ES and 5x a week in MS.

Also, the kids have had real, but not immersive, foreign language instruction since kindergarten. During the school day, multiple times a week.

Just fixing some incorrect implications: Murch (starting in 3rd) and Deal have Science 5x/week with dedicated science teachers. PK and K have science integrated though out the day. First and Second have alternating units of science 5x week. Murch and Deal both have "real" foreign language instruction from preK, during the day, Murch 1x/wk and Deal 5x/week for three years, resulting in 2 high school language credits by 8th grade, allowing students to start high school at Level III (including those who predate the ES language curriculum). Also, neither school has "presented" a "humanities curriculum," so not sure what you were using as your comparison (and, of course, I know nothing about your unnamed school's curriculum since you don't want to "out it" -- but hey, go ahead and "out" false information about other schools). But yes, both Murch and Deal are very strong in math with targeted, differentiated, and, when appropriate, compressed instruction, plus enrichment.

There are more great things about the schools, but I just wanted to correct PP's errors.

Don't all middle schools offer some type of foreign language and dedicated science teachers? It is more unique to find at the elementary level and that is what private school posters at present referring to.

Had the comment been a generalization, I'd agree with you. But the PP named two schools and got the facts wrong. Worth correcting.

[Anonymous]

Lafayette has science 5x week and Spanish starting in K.

Just throwing that out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette has science 5x week and Spanish starting in K.

Just throwing that out there.

See, even the generalization doesn't seem hold. So much misinformation out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:18:16 here

My kids' private schools are more diverse than many public schools that have few OOB kids. More kids of color, and thanks to large endowments and great FA, kids from many different SES levels. In the DC area, it's a myth that all privates are filled with rich white kids.

Every time I see a post like this I will call the BS. Even at the very best private schools in DC, 80 percent of the kids are full pay -- 40k plus a year -- while only a small fraction of the remaining 20 percent are no pay. Most of those on FA are still paying 10k, 20k, etc. Yes, there's racial diversity in many of the top DC privates but there isn't economic diversity. The schools skew rich rich rich, and even the minorities are mostly from professional/wealthy families who live in white neighborhoods and have more in common with their white classmates from Upper NW than the kids EOTP.

Interesting how the same folks who argue that affirmative action shouldn't apply to rich, privileged AA kids also argue that their private schools are "diverse" because they have those same kids. You can't have it both ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 things to add to this thread:

1) Janney has a (full sized) kiln. lol

2) As a graduate of an elite private school with small class sizes (12-14) I don't view this as a good thing. I'd much rather have my kids in larger classes. Small classes can be really difficult socially for kids.

At private schools, the kids move around a lot to different teachers with different combinations of students in that same grade. So it wouldn't be the same 12 faces for 9 months. There's no mainstream independent school in DC with only 13 kids in the whole grade, except maybe Lowell's 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

It depends on what you want and what works for your kids. I think a lot of the JKLM schools are like privates due to demographics. They don't have to worry about testing and they have a wealthy student body. The only reason to go to Beauvoir, Sidwell or maybe GDS is that it gets harder to get in the older grades. Though with improving publics and charters it may not be so competitive so there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:18:16 here

My kids' private schools are more diverse than many public schools that have few OOB kids. More kids of color, and thanks to large endowments and great FA, kids from many different SES levels. In the DC area, it's a myth that all privates are filled with rich white kids.

Every time I see a post like this I will call the BS. Even at the very best private schools in DC, 80 percent of the kids are full pay -- 40k plus a year -- while only a small fraction of the remaining 20 percent are no pay. Most of those on FA are still paying 10k, 20k, etc. Yes, there's racial diversity in many of the top DC privates but there isn't economic diversity. The schools skew rich rich rich, and even the minorities are mostly from professional/wealthy families who live in white neighborhoods and have more in common with their white classmates from Upper NW than the kids EOTP.

Interesting how the same folks who argue that affirmative action shouldn't apply to rich, privileged AA kids also argue that their private schools are "diverse" because they have those same kids. You can't have it both ways.

I cry BS on your BS. This may be true at the some of the schools (I have no idea where you got your stats, or what schools you are referring to), but I have three kids in three different, excellent and often mentioned privates. One school is 40% Caucasian, and 32% of families receive FA. Another school has about the same level of FA, and it is probably 60% Caucasian. My oldest DC's school is about the same diversity-wise, but nearly 40% of families are on FA. All three schools have families that pay full tuition and are also big donors, and those families are also ethnically diverse. So I don't know what schools you are talking about, but the schools I know make it part of their mission to be inclusive in as many ways as possible.

I'm not sure why you brought affirmative action into your post, as no one is claiming that anyone is gaming the system, or that DC privates are practicing affirmative action. Unless you are just trying to stir the pot.

[Anonymous]

Eh private schools in DC are kind of hyped in the lower grades and pretty soon middle school. Wilson has a little way to go before it could hold it's own against Sidwell. What I really want to know why are all the private school parents are obsessed with Maret? It is no different than the area public schools.

Many of the private schools have super wealthy families who bankroll FA and new buildings. If you are in a not so good school district and can't get into a good charter, then maybe you should go with FA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eh private schools in DC are kind of hyped in the lower grades and pretty soon middle school. Wilson has a little way to go before it could hold it's own against Sidwell. What I really want to know why are all the private school parents are obsessed with Maret? It is no different than the area public schools.

Many of the private schools have super wealthy families who bankroll FA and new buildings. If you are in a not so good school district and can't get into a good charter, then maybe you should go with FA.

Wilson will NEVER hold its own against Sidwell. Or any other elite private high school. Anyone who thinks that's within the realm of possibility didn't grow up privileged and in elite prep schools. If you want to argue diversity, etc, go ahead and play that card. But it is INSANE to think Wilson or any public school can touch Sidwell's environment, quality of teaching, student caliber, college admissions success, resources etc. Seriously people. Can you be that delusional?

[Anonymous]

But it's just like Janney!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh private schools in DC are kind of hyped in the lower grades and pretty soon middle school. Wilson has a little way to go before it could hold it's own against Sidwell. What I really want to know why are all the private school parents are obsessed with Maret? It is no different than the area public schools.

Many of the private schools have super wealthy families who bankroll FA and new buildings. If you are in a not so good school district and can't get into a good charter, then maybe you should go with FA.

Wilson will NEVER hold its own against Sidwell. Or any other elite private high school. Anyone who thinks that's within the realm of possibility didn't grow up privileged and in elite prep schools. If you want to argue diversity, etc, go ahead and play that card. But it is INSANE to think Wilson or any public school can touch Sidwell's environment, quality of teaching, student caliber, college admissions success, resources etc. Seriously people. Can you be that delusional?

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Wilson seems to be in ill favor with Kaya - like what has happened at Walls, that does not bode well. However, if you are on the Yale (as opposed to Jail) track at Wilson, you can get a fairly decent education and with enough Honors and AP courses get into an Ivy more easily than many kids in private schools. All colleges have their quotas - in terms of how many kids per state (unfortunate we count as one) and how many from private v. public. I would never say they were equal - they are not - but many elite kids manage and of course race plays a part (the 13% of white kids who are in DC PS or PCS score the highest in the nation on the NAEP) but private schools don't take the test. DC is a very competitive environment for college admissions, and Wilson is one established path to get to the gold at the end of the rainbow. So is Walls. And hopefully Latin and BASIS will soon be up there as well.

If you feel your child will be safe, everyone knows here that public school students have the edge in admissions absent connections. But we are at a charter and our kids will be legacies at two HYP schools and their individual educations are not suffering. We supplement, but then we have the money to be able to afford trips to Europe etc. If I had a kid with problems, I would absolutely get them into one of the private schools my family attended here and/or graduated from as a "lifer" so it would be hard to kick them out. But so far so good.

AS someone who grew up in DC, and went to two private schools, I do not get the obsession with Maret. Back in the day it was absolutely a second tier school. But as someone else pointed out, in real life dollars, absent insanity, going to private school right now should still cost only $9k not 40, and I DO NOT want my kids around that type of wealth and the sense of entitlement that goes with it - although in NYC it is more money, here it is more politics.