If you can afford parochial/ private, why do you stay in MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parochial schools and faith mismatch is a bad combination. "After adjustment for confounders, pupils attempted suicide, suicide-risk and self-harm were all more likely among pupils with low school engagement (15-18% increase in odds for each SD change in engagement). While holding Catholic religious beliefs was protective, attending a Catholic school was a risk factor for suicidal behaviours. This pattern was explained by religious 'mismatch': pupils of a different religion from their school were approximately 2-4 times more likely to attempt suicide, be a suicide-risk or self-harm."

https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-11-874

Wow...so glad we're Catholic then.

[Anonymous]

No private school matches the magnet program.

MCPS teachers have more academic qualification than private school teachers.

The diversity of MCPS does not scare us because we are neither White nor Christian.

Quality of K-12 education is poor in the entire USA compared to the Asian country we immigrated from, so no K-12 school is worth our money. We will have to supplement and enrich on our own and being in MCPS saves us the money to do so.

The chances of my kid getting into a top college from a private school drops even more than public school because we are not hooked. Staying in MCPS and saving education dollars in K-12 years, will however allow our donut-hole kid to never have student debt, confidently play the ED card, have enough money left to have a leg-up after college. There are many ways to get ahead.

Any benefit in education or deportment that private school offers (grammer, handwriting, table manners) can be learned on YouTube. Anyways, US class distinction is based on wealth and not some genteel ways of the upper class. There is no value whatsoever that a private school gives for my kid.

A low cost structure at home (duh! my kid goes to public) allows me to be at home. If MCPS is virtual and my kid has to study from home, it does not topple the apple cart at my home. There is no reason to crave private schools because they may be in person. At the end, the health of my children and my family is of the utmost importance. We also have a significant safe bubble with other families for the continued socialization of my children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No private school matches the magnet program.

MCPS teachers have more academic qualification than private school teachers.

The diversity of MCPS does not scare us because we are neither White nor Christian.

Quality of K-12 education is poor in the entire USA compared to the Asian country we immigrated from, so no K-12 school is worth our money. We will have to supplement and enrich on our own and being in MCPS saves us the money to do so.

The chances of my kid getting into a top college from a private school drops even more than public school because we are not hooked. Staying in MCPS and saving education dollars in K-12 years, will however allow our donut-hole kid to never have student debt, confidently play the ED card, have enough money left to have a leg-up after college. There are many ways to get ahead.

Any benefit in education or deportment that private school offers (grammer, handwriting, table manners) can be learned on YouTube. Anyways, US class distinction is based on wealth and not some genteel ways of the upper class. There is no value whatsoever that a private school gives for my kid.

A low cost structure at home (duh! my kid goes to public) allows me to be at home. If MCPS is virtual and my kid has to study from home, it does not topple the apple cart at my home. There is no reason to crave private schools because they may be in person. At the end, the health of my children and my family is of the utmost importance. We also have a significant safe bubble with other families for the continued socialization of my children.

What does "hooked" mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No private school matches the magnet program.

MCPS teachers have more academic qualification than private school teachers.

The diversity of MCPS does not scare us because we are neither White nor Christian.

Quality of K-12 education is poor in the entire USA compared to the Asian country we immigrated from, so no K-12 school is worth our money. We will have to supplement and enrich on our own and being in MCPS saves us the money to do so.

The chances of my kid getting into a top college from a private school drops even more than public school because we are not hooked. Staying in MCPS and saving education dollars in K-12 years, will however allow our donut-hole kid to never have student debt, confidently play the ED card, have enough money left to have a leg-up after college. There are many ways to get ahead.

Any benefit in education or deportment that private school offers (grammer, handwriting, table manners) can be learned on YouTube. Anyways, US class distinction is based on wealth and not some genteel ways of the upper class. There is no value whatsoever that a private school gives for my kid.

A low cost structure at home (duh! my kid goes to public) allows me to be at home. If MCPS is virtual and my kid has to study from home, it does not topple the apple cart at my home. There is no reason to crave private schools because they may be in person. At the end, the health of my children and my family is of the utmost importance. We also have a significant safe bubble with other families for the continued socialization of my children.

What does "hooked" mean?

legacy, athlete, URM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no one - and certainly no one worth working for - cares about where you went to college

public school kids are even if not further ahead than their private counterparts from a career standpoint, and that's without the legacy and nepotistic hookups

Is that why the top tech employers only recruit from a handful of schools? Do you think Goldman Sachs would take a graduate of Longwood as an entry level employee on any kind of track that had a shot of advancement? Are consulting companies hiring from Coppin State?

Tech companies care about your skills not where you went to college
Goldman Sachs 1) like i said worth working for 2) hardly anyone from privates in the DMV is going on to work there
Coppin State - and there's the arrogant elitism!

there is zero career difference for those who went to private vs public

100%!!! It’s all about your work ethic and the major you choose.

ITA! FWIW, I may be a little too young for this thread but I have a parent who is a World Bank employee (think director/VP level) and could've easily afforded to go private if necessary. Instead, I attended elementary & middle in East County ("yikes" for some people on this thread) and moved to the west side for HS (think B-CC/WJ), choosing that over some nice options I got into after taking the private school test (think Georgetown Day, etc). Ended up earning a full, four-year merit scholarship to a solid Big Ten school with a great business program where I've really thrived academically & socially to this point. So far, I've interned in investment banking at a firm similar to Goldman and I'm moving to private investing next summer (chose this over a tech company that I advanced to final-round interviews with because I can revisit that company for full-time and the former firm was in an area of the country that I'm very fond of). A big reason why I turned down the private school was that I personally knew that I wanted to be in an environment that was as close to the real-world diversity-wise as possible and to know that I've learned a lot about/lived a full life, not to mention that quite a few people from privates ended up in my college class doing the same exact thing I'm doing right now. Also, many of my friends who went to private schools can be very disrespectful to professors, lack independence learning wise and overall, have very fixed views (seeing certain types of people or practices as "lower" instead of just cultural), only hang out in concentrated bubbles, etc. I'm sure we've all seen the recent story with the Wharton undergrads who took that survey re: income inequality. Yes, we push kids hard in this area, but sometimes we overextend them/overplan their futures (out of love, of course, but it can still be pretty damaging). If I'm a parent one day, I'd for sure follow the same formula. Hope this enriches/drives this rich conversation further.

Adding onto this, the tech company I interviewed with has multiple alumni from my school who I networked with. It really just depends on the team/function that you want, but many industries (especially tech) are willing to recruit from everywhere. Even if they recruit on your campus, you still have to put in the necessary legwork and speaking to my friends from top schools, there wasn't a huge difference between how interviewers perceived my background, etc.

There is absolutely a floor below witch you have little to no chance coming out of college at most places. Does the tech company that you interviewed with higher fresh UVA Wise graduates? Elizabeth City State? USC Aiken?

while i can't speak to outcomes at those specific schools, the point is that many people on this thread have an "ivy or nothing" mentality which is harmful to young adults in a time of their lives where healthy development is still happening & very critical. i always thought that if i wasn't attending xyz place, i was nothing, but it's about the goals and the right fit for every student individually. the tech company i want actually has hired from elizabeth city state, among other places, and even if they haven't, that's changing as more people at those schools learn about these opportunities. many times, kids from those schools will want to work there but don't try because history has told them that they don't have a chance. bottom line: talent comes from everywhere. I know of lawyers who went to state schools and majored in education, it's about the plan you have and the execution of it.

[Anonymous]

Almost no-one in my close in Bethesda neighborhood sends their kids to private. Both my kids went through ES, MS and now BCC together and they are all high achieving, although in diff. areas.

Varsity sports, AP, IB, theatre etc. They are at a diverse high school, which more accurately reflects the real world they will be graduating into, and I don't juts mean black and white diversity, and navigating a large high school has really built their confidence.

Now if my child was struggling I would happily consider sending them to private school, but I honestly think of private school kids as sheltered and kind of fragile. And I say this as someone who went to public school and ended up my high school career at a private. I loved it, it was so fun, prettiest campus ever, but yeah, the private school kids lived in a serious bubble. I went on to an Ivy and at least back then there were loads of public school kids and no sign that the private school kids were better prepared.

There is just no benefit to the motivated, high achieving student to got to private instead of a place like Whitman.

[Anonymous]

Kids are in public due to wanting to have a community - walking to school, being able to know kids young and old from down the street due to interactions at school. I went to private starting in mid-elementary and really missed that and was really envious of the kids who could have those impromptu get togethers all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids are in public due to wanting to have a community - walking to school, being able to know kids young and old from down the street due to interactions at school. I went to private starting in mid-elementary and really missed that and was really envious of the kids who could have those impromptu get togethers all the time.

This is a good reason. The OP lives in the Whitman cluster though and a lot of neighborhood kids are already in private so it could change their calculus somewhat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids are in public due to wanting to have a community - walking to school, being able to know kids young and old from down the street due to interactions at school. I went to private starting in mid-elementary and really missed that and was really envious of the kids who could have those impromptu get togethers all the time.

Agreed. At the end of the day, the kid(s) just want to feel normal and accepted. When they have that, they'll thrive. Crazy how our kids today are more sane than half of this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No private school matches the magnet program.

MCPS teachers have more academic qualification than private school teachers.

The diversity of MCPS does not scare us because we are neither White nor Christian.

Quality of K-12 education is poor in the entire USA compared to the Asian country we immigrated from, so no K-12 school is worth our money. We will have to supplement and enrich on our own and being in MCPS saves us the money to do so.

The chances of my kid getting into a top college from a private school drops even more than public school because we are not hooked. Staying in MCPS and saving education dollars in K-12 years, will however allow our donut-hole kid to never have student debt, confidently play the ED card, have enough money left to have a leg-up after college. There are many ways to get ahead.

Any benefit in education or deportment that private school offers (grammer, handwriting, table manners) can be learned on YouTube. Anyways, US class distinction is based on wealth and not some genteel ways of the upper class. There is no value whatsoever that a private school gives for my kid.

A low cost structure at home (duh! my kid goes to public) allows me to be at home. If MCPS is virtual and my kid has to study from home, it does not topple the apple cart at my home. There is no reason to crave private schools because they may be in person. At the end, the health of my children and my family is of the utmost importance. We also have a significant safe bubble with other families for the continued socialization of my children.

No bubble is safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids are in public due to wanting to have a community - walking to school, being able to know kids young and old from down the street due to interactions at school. I went to private starting in mid-elementary and really missed that and was really envious of the kids who could have those impromptu get togethers all the time.

This is a good reason. The OP lives in the Whitman cluster though and a lot of neighborhood kids are already in private so it could change their calculus somewhat.

Ive read this argument on these threads and I'm always confused. Our kids have attended both private and public schools. Our private school has fostered more of a community feel than the public school. Being in close proximity to kids who go to your school does not make it Mayberry. Why can't your child talk to the neighbor kid even if they go to different schools? My kids hang out with our neighbor's kids who attend a different private school than they do. It's never been an issue. If you want to foster a sense of community for your children, you need to actively participate in your community. Do you kids not play sports in the neighborhood? Hang out at a pool in the summer? Go to scouts?

Maybe we go to a different type of private school or live in a different type of neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Most parochial schools have classes of 20-20+, and the education is more rigid so not something I would want to pay $20k on. There are only a few schools at that $40-50+k that I think are worthwhile, mostly at the HS level.

and they spend about 30% of the class time on indoctrination so any possible advantages are lost

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids are in public due to wanting to have a community - walking to school, being able to know kids young and old from down the street due to interactions at school. I went to private starting in mid-elementary and really missed that and was really envious of the kids who could have those impromptu get togethers all the time.

This is a good reason. The OP lives in the Whitman cluster though and a lot of neighborhood kids are already in private so it could change their calculus somewhat.

We're in the Whitman cluster too. 1/5 to 1/4 of the kids are in private, but there's still a really strong community for the public school kids. Some of the feeder schools are overcrowded in fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids are in public due to wanting to have a community - walking to school, being able to know kids young and old from down the street due to interactions at school. I went to private starting in mid-elementary and really missed that and was really envious of the kids who could have those impromptu get togethers all the time.

This is a good reason. The OP lives in the Whitman cluster though and a lot of neighborhood kids are already in private so it could change their calculus somewhat.

Ive read this argument on these threads and I'm always confused. Our kids have attended both private and public schools. Our private school has fostered more of a community feel than the public school. Being in close proximity to kids who go to your school does not make it Mayberry. Why can't your child talk to the neighbor kid even if they go to different schools? My kids hang out with our neighbor's kids who attend a different private school than they do. It's never been an issue. If you want to foster a sense of community for your children, you need to actively participate in your community. Do you kids not play sports in the neighborhood? Hang out at a pool in the summer? Go to scouts?

Maybe we go to a different type of private school or live in a different type of neighborhood.

My child does have private school friends from the neighborhood and we are active in lots of community activities including swim, but I don't think my child's experience would have been the same if they had been in private. I'm glad you're happy with your decision but please don't put down others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids are in public due to wanting to have a community - walking to school, being able to know kids young and old from down the street due to interactions at school. I went to private starting in mid-elementary and really missed that and was really envious of the kids who could have those impromptu get togethers all the time.

I agree but many. of the posters here just hate the idea of public schools and will do almost anything to undermine them.