Choosing public when you can afford private

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that OP is looking for an argument to stay public if you can afford private and this is on a public school forum, however, we did not have a good experience with MCPS and it is not a universally awesome option. You have to know your child.

We moved to Bethesda because we believed what we were told: the BEST schools. That was not our experience at all. Kids stayed in public through ES, but moved to private for MS and HS. For our kids, public was a disaster and private was excellent. Of course it’s possible for a kid to get a great education/have a great experience in mcps, but the opposite is also true. We chose to forgo elaborate bar mitzvahs, big ticket vacations, and expensive summer camp for our kids so they could continue at private and that’s a choice our family feels good about.

We have friends who stayed. Some of their kids have had what appears to be a fantastic experience at mcps, but others very clearly have not. What’s interesting to me is that those who have not, twist themselves into knots trying to justify why they stayed.

Well aren't you smug.

Too bad your kids are so screwed up that they can't handle a good public school system and have to have their hands held in a private.

NP here. Maybe PP is smug, but you are clearly tightly wound.

That said, I thought I would chime in as I had one who did MCPS through middle school and one who did private all the way through.

The older one moved to private in 9th grade. He was well prepared in math, but sorely unprepared for English/writing. We all know that MCPS does a terrible job preparing our kids as writers and they suffer in college. Luckily we moved him to a private school that helped him become an excellent writer. He went to his dream college.

Younger one is in HS now, but she did private all the way through. First a small Catholic parochial and then an elite all girls HS. She is thriving. Luckily during covid, her middle school opened in September of 2020 and never closed. She didn't miss a beat. Her high school has very small classes (15-20 students) and keeps APs away from students until junior year. This keeps the stress level/competition down until they are more mature. She took many honors classes in the meantime, but by the time she graduates, she will have taken only 6 AP classes. This will still make her eligible for a T20 school as many who do the same curriculum matriculate to ivies and T20 schools. My older one had a similar experience (took 6 APs and got into a T20).

DD just learned she is in Cum Laude Society (private school version of NHS, but more selective). Cum Laude means top 10% of class. For my daughter's school, that's about 10 girls. Very exclusive and she will stand out on her college apps.

All in all, having experienced both MCPS and private schools, if I had to do it over again, I would have never enrolled my kids in MCPS. But we can easily afford private school now. That wasn't the case when my older son was in elementary school, which is why we did MCPS initially. So we didn't break the bank...we did what we could afford. Luckily MCPS was a bit better when my son attended...it has deteriorated since then.

Yea, you're the one blathering on and on on another thread about this society which is so "exclusive" that it has chapters in Ohio, Tennessee and New Jersey public high schools and a bunch of little Christian privates who nobody's ever heard of. So good for you.

We don't "all" think that writing skills aren't adequately taught at MCPS either. You don't speak for "all" of us.

And plenty of kids are getting into top colleges from MCPS without throwing their money away on privates and thinking they're better than everybody else.

Again, if your kids need their hands held that much it's not the school system's fault. Some kids are just of hardier stock than others. Maybe it's the parenting. Who knows.

Wait, what public schools are members of Cum Laude? I think none..certainly none from New Jersey. The most elite private schools are members. Take a look if you are interested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cum_Laude_Society_chapters

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that OP is looking for an argument to stay public if you can afford private and this is on a public school forum, however, we did not have a good experience with MCPS and it is not a universally awesome option. You have to know your child.

We moved to Bethesda because we believed what we were told: the BEST schools. That was not our experience at all. Kids stayed in public through ES, but moved to private for MS and HS. For our kids, public was a disaster and private was excellent. Of course it’s possible for a kid to get a great education/have a great experience in mcps, but the opposite is also true. We chose to forgo elaborate bar mitzvahs, big ticket vacations, and expensive summer camp for our kids so they could continue at private and that’s a choice our family feels good about.

We have friends who stayed. Some of their kids have had what appears to be a fantastic experience at mcps, but others very clearly have not. What’s interesting to me is that those who have not, twist themselves into knots trying to justify why they stayed.

Well aren't you smug.

Too bad your kids are so screwed up that they can't handle a good public school system and have to have their hands held in a private.

NP here. Maybe PP is smug, but you are clearly tightly wound.

That said, I thought I would chime in as I had one who did MCPS through middle school and one who did private all the way through.

The older one moved to private in 9th grade. He was well prepared in math, but sorely unprepared for English/writing. We all know that MCPS does a terrible job preparing our kids as writers and they suffer in college. Luckily we moved him to a private school that helped him become an excellent writer. He went to his dream college.

Younger one is in HS now, but she did private all the way through. First a small Catholic parochial and then an elite all girls HS. She is thriving. Luckily during covid, her middle school opened in September of 2020 and never closed. She didn't miss a beat. Her high school has very small classes (15-20 students) and keeps APs away from students until junior year. This keeps the stress level/competition down until they are more mature. She took many honors classes in the meantime, but by the time she graduates, she will have taken only 6 AP classes. This will still make her eligible for a T20 school as many who do the same curriculum matriculate to ivies and T20 schools. My older one had a similar experience (took 6 APs and got into a T20).

DD just learned she is in Cum Laude Society (private school version of NHS, but more selective). Cum Laude means top 10% of class. For my daughter's school, that's about 10 girls. Very exclusive and she will stand out on her college apps.

All in all, having experienced both MCPS and private schools, if I had to do it over again, I would have never enrolled my kids in MCPS. But we can easily afford private school now. That wasn't the case when my older son was in elementary school, which is why we did MCPS initially. So we didn't break the bank...we did what we could afford. Luckily MCPS was a bit better when my son attended...it has deteriorated since then.

Yea, you're the one blathering on and on on another thread about this society which is so "exclusive" that it has chapters in Ohio, Tennessee and New Jersey public high schools and a bunch of little Christian privates who nobody's ever heard of. So good for you.

We don't "all" think that writing skills aren't adequately taught at MCPS either. You don't speak for "all" of us.

And plenty of kids are getting into top colleges from MCPS without throwing their money away on privates and thinking they're better than everybody else.

Again, if your kids need their hands held that much it's not the school system's fault. Some kids are just of hardier stock than others. Maybe it's the parenting. Who knows.

LOL well aren't we triggered this morning!! That didn't take long!

Yeah, well, there's nothing worse than somebody new to money.

You said "we can easily afford private school now. That wasn't the case when my older son was in elementary school, which is why we did MCPS initially."

In other words, you chose public because you couldn't afford private so you don't belong on this thread at all in the first place. OP asked for the thoughts of folks who chose public when they COULD afford private.

You are so angry...have you tried anger management therapy? You could really benefit from it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get that OP is looking for an argument to stay public if you can afford private and this is on a public school forum, however, we did not have a good experience with MCPS and it is not a universally awesome option. You have to know your child.

We moved to Bethesda because we believed what we were told: the BEST schools. That was not our experience at all. Kids stayed in public through ES, but moved to private for MS and HS. For our kids, public was a disaster and private was excellent. Of course it’s possible for a kid to get a great education/have a great experience in mcps, but the opposite is also true. We chose to forgo elaborate bar mitzvahs, big ticket vacations, and expensive summer camp for our kids so they could continue at private and that’s a choice our family feels good about.

We have friends who stayed. Some of their kids have had what appears to be a fantastic experience at mcps, but others very clearly have not. What’s interesting to me is that those who have not, twist themselves into knots trying to justify why they stayed.

I’m usually mostly interested and humored by those twisting themselves in knots trying to justify why they are paying so much for private or in what ways it’s better that justify the increased cost.

I honestly think if people paid more taxes to the tune of half the cost of private school kids public schools would be even better and no one would bat an eye.

Having done both, the main difference of private is that it’s a selected group of students and families. Based upon that and the cost it should be worlds better but often isn’t. The marketing is awesome though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that OP is looking for an argument to stay public if you can afford private and this is on a public school forum, however, we did not have a good experience with MCPS and it is not a universally awesome option. You have to know your child.

We moved to Bethesda because we believed what we were told: the BEST schools. That was not our experience at all. Kids stayed in public through ES, but moved to private for MS and HS. For our kids, public was a disaster and private was excellent. Of course it’s possible for a kid to get a great education/have a great experience in mcps, but the opposite is also true. We chose to forgo elaborate bar mitzvahs, big ticket vacations, and expensive summer camp for our kids so they could continue at private and that’s a choice our family feels good about.

We have friends who stayed. Some of their kids have had what appears to be a fantastic experience at mcps, but others very clearly have not. What’s interesting to me is that those who have not, twist themselves into knots trying to justify why they stayed.

Well aren't you smug.

Too bad your kids are so screwed up that they can't handle a good public school system and have to have their hands held in a private.

NP here. Maybe PP is smug, but you are clearly tightly wound.

That said, I thought I would chime in as I had one who did MCPS through middle school and one who did private all the way through.

The older one moved to private in 9th grade. He was well prepared in math, but sorely unprepared for English/writing. We all know that MCPS does a terrible job preparing our kids as writers and they suffer in college. Luckily we moved him to a private school that helped him become an excellent writer. He went to his dream college.

Younger one is in HS now, but she did private all the way through. First a small Catholic parochial and then an elite all girls HS. She is thriving. Luckily during covid, her middle school opened in September of 2020 and never closed. She didn't miss a beat. Her high school has very small classes (15-20 students) and keeps APs away from students until junior year. This keeps the stress level/competition down until they are more mature. She took many honors classes in the meantime, but by the time she graduates, she will have taken only 6 AP classes. This will still make her eligible for a T20 school as many who do the same curriculum matriculate to ivies and T20 schools. My older one had a similar experience (took 6 APs and got into a T20).

DD just learned she is in Cum Laude Society (private school version of NHS, but more selective). Cum Laude means top 10% of class. For my daughter's school, that's about 10 girls. Very exclusive and she will stand out on her college apps.

All in all, having experienced both MCPS and private schools, if I had to do it over again, I would have never enrolled my kids in MCPS. But we can easily afford private school now. That wasn't the case when my older son was in elementary school, which is why we did MCPS initially. So we didn't break the bank...we did what we could afford. Luckily MCPS was a bit better when my son attended...it has deteriorated since then.

Yea, you're the one blathering on and on on another thread about this society which is so "exclusive" that it has chapters in Ohio, Tennessee and New Jersey public high schools and a bunch of little Christian privates who nobody's ever heard of. So good for you.

We don't "all" think that writing skills aren't adequately taught at MCPS either. You don't speak for "all" of us.

And plenty of kids are getting into top colleges from MCPS without throwing their money away on privates and thinking they're better than everybody else.

Again, if your kids need their hands held that much it's not the school system's fault. Some kids are just of hardier stock than others. Maybe it's the parenting. Who knows.

Wait, what public schools are members of Cum Laude? I think none..certainly none from New Jersey. The most elite private schools are members. Take a look if you are interested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cum_Laude_Society_chapters

From your list: Cherry Hill High School East is one in New Jersey. I didn't check any others, because literally the first school I clicked on in New Jersey was a public school.

(I think this is arguing about the exclusivity of high school honor societies is dumb, but being wrong and dumb is worse than simply being dumb)

[Anonymous]

Grandparents offered to pay 100% for private as they did for my siblings two kids. We are sticking with a dcps public for now because it’s fun to have friends in the neighborhood and I want my kid to feel like she’s part of the community. My friends who went to private got a great academic education but are sort of scared of anyone who is not as wealthy. Plus they’re very anxious and disappointed if they can’t send their own kids to privates. I want my kid to understand that public is a totally acceptable option and that school is what you make of it. She takes advantage of everything her not-well-regarded DC public school has to offer. Maybe we will make a different decision for high school, but for now, the trade off with public works for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that OP is looking for an argument to stay public if you can afford private and this is on a public school forum, however, we did not have a good experience with MCPS and it is not a universally awesome option. You have to know your child.

We moved to Bethesda because we believed what we were told: the BEST schools. That was not our experience at all. Kids stayed in public through ES, but moved to private for MS and HS. For our kids, public was a disaster and private was excellent. Of course it’s possible for a kid to get a great education/have a great experience in mcps, but the opposite is also true. We chose to forgo elaborate bar mitzvahs, big ticket vacations, and expensive summer camp for our kids so they could continue at private and that’s a choice our family feels good about.

We have friends who stayed. Some of their kids have had what appears to be a fantastic experience at mcps, but others very clearly have not. What’s interesting to me is that those who have not, twist themselves into knots trying to justify why they stayed.

Well aren't you smug.

Too bad your kids are so screwed up that they can't handle a good public school system and have to have their hands held in a private.

NP here. Maybe PP is smug, but you are clearly tightly wound.

That said, I thought I would chime in as I had one who did MCPS through middle school and one who did private all the way through.

The older one moved to private in 9th grade. He was well prepared in math, but sorely unprepared for English/writing. We all know that MCPS does a terrible job preparing our kids as writers and they suffer in college. Luckily we moved him to a private school that helped him become an excellent writer. He went to his dream college.

Younger one is in HS now, but she did private all the way through. First a small Catholic parochial and then an elite all girls HS. She is thriving. Luckily during covid, her middle school opened in September of 2020 and never closed. She didn't miss a beat. Her high school has very small classes (15-20 students) and keeps APs away from students until junior year. This keeps the stress level/competition down until they are more mature. She took many honors classes in the meantime, but by the time she graduates, she will have taken only 6 AP classes. This will still make her eligible for a T20 school as many who do the same curriculum matriculate to ivies and T20 schools. My older one had a similar experience (took 6 APs and got into a T20).

DD just learned she is in Cum Laude Society (private school version of NHS, but more selective). Cum Laude means top 10% of class. For my daughter's school, that's about 10 girls. Very exclusive and she will stand out on her college apps.

All in all, having experienced both MCPS and private schools, if I had to do it over again, I would have never enrolled my kids in MCPS. But we can easily afford private school now. That wasn't the case when my older son was in elementary school, which is why we did MCPS initially. So we didn't break the bank...we did what we could afford. Luckily MCPS was a bit better when my son attended...it has deteriorated since then.

Yea, you're the one blathering on and on on another thread about this society which is so "exclusive" that it has chapters in Ohio, Tennessee and New Jersey public high schools and a bunch of little Christian privates who nobody's ever heard of. So good for you.

We don't "all" think that writing skills aren't adequately taught at MCPS either. You don't speak for "all" of us.

And plenty of kids are getting into top colleges from MCPS without throwing their money away on privates and thinking they're better than everybody else.

Again, if your kids need their hands held that much it's not the school system's fault. Some kids are just of hardier stock than others. Maybe it's the parenting. Who knows.

Wait, what public schools are members of Cum Laude? I think none..certainly none from New Jersey. The most elite private schools are members. Take a look if you are interested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cum_Laude_Society_chapters

From your list: Cherry Hill High School East is one in New Jersey. I didn't check any others, because literally the first school I clicked on in New Jersey was a public school.

(I think this is arguing about the exclusivity of high school honor societies is dumb, but being wrong and dumb is worse than simply being dumb)

Sorry, I forgot to specify that I'm a new poster.

[Anonymous]

They do great in public and are happy.
They want to go where most of their public school friends go, which was public middle and high school.
I was worried that paying for private means the kid has to do hours of homework.
I'm more interested in school staying out of schooling. My kids go to school to socialize.
Older one just got 30 credits transferred to college, so public school can't be too bad. He is also doing well in college. The only surprise was the low level of classmates.
I want to be a bigger influence on their education than school. I also want school to stay out of my life. I think public school is better at that. I may be wrong.
And ofcourse there is the money. They have investment accounts I would not touch for education k-12 education.
They need nothing special or extra to do well in life. The money is their adult life. We haven't even used it on extras. Both have really cheap interests and hobbies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grandparents offered to pay 100% for private as they did for my siblings two kids. We are sticking with a dcps public for now because it’s fun to have friends in the neighborhood and I want my kid to feel like she’s part of the community. My friends who went to private got a great academic education but are sort of scared of anyone who is not as wealthy. Plus they’re very anxious and disappointed if they can’t send their own kids to privates. I want my kid to understand that public is a totally acceptable option and that school is what you make of it. She takes advantage of everything her not-well-regarded DC public school has to offer. Maybe we will make a different decision for high school, but for now, the trade off with public works for us.

IMO, there are quite a few DCPS elementary schools that are better than private schools. It’s when you hit middle school that the problems begin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that OP is looking for an argument to stay public if you can afford private and this is on a public school forum, however, we did not have a good experience with MCPS and it is not a universally awesome option. You have to know your child.

We moved to Bethesda because we believed what we were told: the BEST schools. That was not our experience at all. Kids stayed in public through ES, but moved to private for MS and HS. For our kids, public was a disaster and private was excellent. Of course it’s possible for a kid to get a great education/have a great experience in mcps, but the opposite is also true. We chose to forgo elaborate bar mitzvahs, big ticket vacations, and expensive summer camp for our kids so they could continue at private and that’s a choice our family feels good about.

We have friends who stayed. Some of their kids have had what appears to be a fantastic experience at mcps, but others very clearly have not. What’s interesting to me is that those who have not, twist themselves into knots trying to justify why they stayed.

Well aren't you smug.

Too bad your kids are so screwed up that they can't handle a good public school system and have to have their hands held in a private.

NP here. Maybe PP is smug, but you are clearly tightly wound.

That said, I thought I would chime in as I had one who did MCPS through middle school and one who did private all the way through.

The older one moved to private in 9th grade. He was well prepared in math, but sorely unprepared for English/writing. We all know that MCPS does a terrible job preparing our kids as writers and they suffer in college. Luckily we moved him to a private school that helped him become an excellent writer. He went to his dream college.

Younger one is in HS now, but she did private all the way through. First a small Catholic parochial and then an elite all girls HS. She is thriving. Luckily during covid, her middle school opened in September of 2020 and never closed. She didn't miss a beat. Her high school has very small classes (15-20 students) and keeps APs away from students until junior year. This keeps the stress level/competition down until they are more mature. She took many honors classes in the meantime, but by the time she graduates, she will have taken only 6 AP classes. This will still make her eligible for a T20 school as many who do the same curriculum matriculate to ivies and T20 schools. My older one had a similar experience (took 6 APs and got into a T20).

DD just learned she is in Cum Laude Society (private school version of NHS, but more selective). Cum Laude means top 10% of class. For my daughter's school, that's about 10 girls. Very exclusive and she will stand out on her college apps.

All in all, having experienced both MCPS and private schools, if I had to do it over again, I would have never enrolled my kids in MCPS. But we can easily afford private school now. That wasn't the case when my older son was in elementary school, which is why we did MCPS initially. So we didn't break the bank...we did what we could afford. Luckily MCPS was a bit better when my son attended...it has deteriorated since then.

Yea, you're the one blathering on and on on another thread about this society which is so "exclusive" that it has chapters in Ohio, Tennessee and New Jersey public high schools and a bunch of little Christian privates who nobody's ever heard of. So good for you.

We don't "all" think that writing skills aren't adequately taught at MCPS either. You don't speak for "all" of us.

And plenty of kids are getting into top colleges from MCPS without throwing their money away on privates and thinking they're better than everybody else.

Again, if your kids need their hands held that much it's not the school system's fault. Some kids are just of hardier stock than others. Maybe it's the parenting. Who knows.

Wait, what public schools are members of Cum Laude? I think none..certainly none from New Jersey. The most elite private schools are members. Take a look if you are interested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cum_Laude_Society_chapters

Look more closely at your list, my friend. Cherry Hill East High School, the 77th best PUBLIC high school in New Jersey, is on the list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that OP is looking for an argument to stay public if you can afford private and this is on a public school forum, however, we did not have a good experience with MCPS and it is not a universally awesome option. You have to know your child.

We moved to Bethesda because we believed what we were told: the BEST schools. That was not our experience at all. Kids stayed in public through ES, but moved to private for MS and HS. For our kids, public was a disaster and private was excellent. Of course it’s possible for a kid to get a great education/have a great experience in mcps, but the opposite is also true. We chose to forgo elaborate bar mitzvahs, big ticket vacations, and expensive summer camp for our kids so they could continue at private and that’s a choice our family feels good about.

We have friends who stayed. Some of their kids have had what appears to be a fantastic experience at mcps, but others very clearly have not. What’s interesting to me is that those who have not, twist themselves into knots trying to justify why they stayed.

Well aren't you smug.

Too bad your kids are so screwed up that they can't handle a good public school system and have to have their hands held in a private.

NP here. Maybe PP is smug, but you are clearly tightly wound.

That said, I thought I would chime in as I had one who did MCPS through middle school and one who did private all the way through.

The older one moved to private in 9th grade. He was well prepared in math, but sorely unprepared for English/writing. We all know that MCPS does a terrible job preparing our kids as writers and they suffer in college. Luckily we moved him to a private school that helped him become an excellent writer. He went to his dream college.

Younger one is in HS now, but she did private all the way through. First a small Catholic parochial and then an elite all girls HS. She is thriving. Luckily during covid, her middle school opened in September of 2020 and never closed. She didn't miss a beat. Her high school has very small classes (15-20 students) and keeps APs away from students until junior year. This keeps the stress level/competition down until they are more mature. She took many honors classes in the meantime, but by the time she graduates, she will have taken only 6 AP classes. This will still make her eligible for a T20 school as many who do the same curriculum matriculate to ivies and T20 schools. My older one had a similar experience (took 6 APs and got into a T20).

DD just learned she is in Cum Laude Society (private school version of NHS, but more selective). Cum Laude means top 10% of class. For my daughter's school, that's about 10 girls. Very exclusive and she will stand out on her college apps.

All in all, having experienced both MCPS and private schools, if I had to do it over again, I would have never enrolled my kids in MCPS. But we can easily afford private school now. That wasn't the case when my older son was in elementary school, which is why we did MCPS initially. So we didn't break the bank...we did what we could afford. Luckily MCPS was a bit better when my son attended...it has deteriorated since then.

Yea, you're the one blathering on and on on another thread about this society which is so "exclusive" that it has chapters in Ohio, Tennessee and New Jersey public high schools and a bunch of little Christian privates who nobody's ever heard of. So good for you.

We don't "all" think that writing skills aren't adequately taught at MCPS either. You don't speak for "all" of us.

And plenty of kids are getting into top colleges from MCPS without throwing their money away on privates and thinking they're better than everybody else.

Again, if your kids need their hands held that much it's not the school system's fault. Some kids are just of hardier stock than others. Maybe it's the parenting. Who knows.

LOL well aren't we triggered this morning!! That didn't take long!

Yeah, well, there's nothing worse than somebody new to money.

You said "we can easily afford private school now. That wasn't the case when my older son was in elementary school, which is why we did MCPS initially."

In other words, you chose public because you couldn't afford private so you don't belong on this thread at all in the first place. OP asked for the thoughts of folks who chose public when they COULD afford private.

You are so angry...have you tried anger management therapy? You could really benefit from it.

Nah, I'm not angry. I just have a visceral reaction to snobbery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that OP is looking for an argument to stay public if you can afford private and this is on a public school forum, however, we did not have a good experience with MCPS and it is not a universally awesome option. You have to know your child.

We moved to Bethesda because we believed what we were told: the BEST schools. That was not our experience at all. Kids stayed in public through ES, but moved to private for MS and HS. For our kids, public was a disaster and private was excellent. Of course it’s possible for a kid to get a great education/have a great experience in mcps, but the opposite is also true. We chose to forgo elaborate bar mitzvahs, big ticket vacations, and expensive summer camp for our kids so they could continue at private and that’s a choice our family feels good about.

We have friends who stayed. Some of their kids have had what appears to be a fantastic experience at mcps, but others very clearly have not. What’s interesting to me is that those who have not, twist themselves into knots trying to justify why they stayed.

Well aren't you smug.

Too bad your kids are so screwed up that they can't handle a good public school system and have to have their hands held in a private.

NP here. Maybe PP is smug, but you are clearly tightly wound.

That said, I thought I would chime in as I had one who did MCPS through middle school and one who did private all the way through.

The older one moved to private in 9th grade. He was well prepared in math, but sorely unprepared for English/writing. We all know that MCPS does a terrible job preparing our kids as writers and they suffer in college. Luckily we moved him to a private school that helped him become an excellent writer. He went to his dream college.

Younger one is in HS now, but she did private all the way through. First a small Catholic parochial and then an elite all girls HS. She is thriving. Luckily during covid, her middle school opened in September of 2020 and never closed. She didn't miss a beat. Her high school has very small classes (15-20 students) and keeps APs away from students until junior year. This keeps the stress level/competition down until they are more mature. She took many honors classes in the meantime, but by the time she graduates, she will have taken only 6 AP classes. This will still make her eligible for a T20 school as many who do the same curriculum matriculate to ivies and T20 schools. My older one had a similar experience (took 6 APs and got into a T20).

DD just learned she is in Cum Laude Society (private school version of NHS, but more selective). Cum Laude means top 10% of class. For my daughter's school, that's about 10 girls. Very exclusive and she will stand out on her college apps.

All in all, having experienced both MCPS and private schools, if I had to do it over again, I would have never enrolled my kids in MCPS. But we can easily afford private school now. That wasn't the case when my older son was in elementary school, which is why we did MCPS initially. So we didn't break the bank...we did what we could afford. Luckily MCPS was a bit better when my son attended...it has deteriorated since then.

Yea, you're the one blathering on and on on another thread about this society which is so "exclusive" that it has chapters in Ohio, Tennessee and New Jersey public high schools and a bunch of little Christian privates who nobody's ever heard of. So good for you.

We don't "all" think that writing skills aren't adequately taught at MCPS either. You don't speak for "all" of us.

And plenty of kids are getting into top colleges from MCPS without throwing their money away on privates and thinking they're better than everybody else.

Again, if your kids need their hands held that much it's not the school system's fault. Some kids are just of hardier stock than others. Maybe it's the parenting. Who knows.

Wait, what public schools are members of Cum Laude? I think none..certainly none from New Jersey. The most elite private schools are members. Take a look if you are interested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cum_Laude_Society_chapters

Look more closely at your list, my friend. Cherry Hill East High School, the 77th best PUBLIC high school in New Jersey, is on the list.

An anomaly. Seems like a pretty exclusive list to me!

[Anonymous]

MCPS doesn’t teach writing. Go to private if you want your kid to be able to communicate effectively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the topic of safety, I’m curious why this topic was shut down so quickly by one of the PPs here, in response to another PP saying shootings motivated her friend to choose private.

I’m all for going to a local public to save money and build community.

But we KNOW that school shootings are far more likely to happen at a public school (9-10x as likely, per the Cato Institute and Washington Post’s latest reporting). In the last few years, Bethesda Today magazine has regularly reported (weekly!) allegations of unsafe classrooms, bomb threats, and lockdowns. This must do a real number on kids’ and parents’ mental health. And it’s getting worse, not better, nationally.

Can someone explain why this isn’t a valid case for private?

NP. "Valid" for some parents maybe, but I don't find it persuasive. School shootings are incredibly rare at any kind of school, bomb threats are almost universally hoaxes, and lockdowns are mostly the unnecessary result of hyper vigilance, rather than an actual safety issue. The real dangers in a K-12 classroom are things like bullying which you'll find at both kinds of schools.

+1.

Thinking you're insulated from random acts of violence because you pay for school (likely in a building that's far less monitored and regulated) is silly. No one is safe, but people like to feel as if they have control. School shooting are more common in public schools, but by no means "do not occur" in private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that OP is looking for an argument to stay public if you can afford private and this is on a public school forum, however, we did not have a good experience with MCPS and it is not a universally awesome option. You have to know your child.

We moved to Bethesda because we believed what we were told: the BEST schools. That was not our experience at all. Kids stayed in public through ES, but moved to private for MS and HS. For our kids, public was a disaster and private was excellent. Of course it’s possible for a kid to get a great education/have a great experience in mcps, but the opposite is also true. We chose to forgo elaborate bar mitzvahs, big ticket vacations, and expensive summer camp for our kids so they could continue at private and that’s a choice our family feels good about.

We have friends who stayed. Some of their kids have had what appears to be a fantastic experience at mcps, but others very clearly have not. What’s interesting to me is that those who have not, twist themselves into knots trying to justify why they stayed.

Well aren't you smug.

Too bad your kids are so screwed up that they can't handle a good public school system and have to have their hands held in a private.

NP here. Maybe PP is smug, but you are clearly tightly wound.

That said, I thought I would chime in as I had one who did MCPS through middle school and one who did private all the way through.

The older one moved to private in 9th grade. He was well prepared in math, but sorely unprepared for English/writing. We all know that MCPS does a terrible job preparing our kids as writers and they suffer in college. Luckily we moved him to a private school that helped him become an excellent writer. He went to his dream college.

Younger one is in HS now, but she did private all the way through. First a small Catholic parochial and then an elite all girls HS. She is thriving. Luckily during covid, her middle school opened in September of 2020 and never closed. She didn't miss a beat. Her high school has very small classes (15-20 students) and keeps APs away from students until junior year. This keeps the stress level/competition down until they are more mature. She took many honors classes in the meantime, but by the time she graduates, she will have taken only 6 AP classes. This will still make her eligible for a T20 school as many who do the same curriculum matriculate to ivies and T20 schools. My older one had a similar experience (took 6 APs and got into a T20).

DD just learned she is in Cum Laude Society (private school version of NHS, but more selective). Cum Laude means top 10% of class. For my daughter's school, that's about 10 girls. Very exclusive and she will stand out on her college apps.

All in all, having experienced both MCPS and private schools, if I had to do it over again, I would have never enrolled my kids in MCPS. But we can easily afford private school now. That wasn't the case when my older son was in elementary school, which is why we did MCPS initially. So we didn't break the bank...we did what we could afford. Luckily MCPS was a bit better when my son attended...it has deteriorated since then.

Yea, you're the one blathering on and on on another thread about this society which is so "exclusive" that it has chapters in Ohio, Tennessee and New Jersey public high schools and a bunch of little Christian privates who nobody's ever heard of. So good for you.

We don't "all" think that writing skills aren't adequately taught at MCPS either. You don't speak for "all" of us.

And plenty of kids are getting into top colleges from MCPS without throwing their money away on privates and thinking they're better than everybody else.

Again, if your kids need their hands held that much it's not the school system's fault. Some kids are just of hardier stock than others. Maybe it's the parenting. Who knows.

Wait, what public schools are members of Cum Laude? I think none..certainly none from New Jersey. The most elite private schools are members. Take a look if you are interested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cum_Laude_Society_chapters

Look more closely at your list, my friend. Cherry Hill East High School, the 77th best PUBLIC high school in New Jersey, is on the list.

An anomaly. Seems like a pretty exclusive list to me!

Yea, you're right. Anderson High School is the 12th best public school in the Cincinnati area, Byram Hills the 38th best public in the NYC Metro, and Collierville is the fourth best public school in Memphis. My bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that OP is looking for an argument to stay public if you can afford private and this is on a public school forum, however, we did not have a good experience with MCPS and it is not a universally awesome option. You have to know your child.

We moved to Bethesda because we believed what we were told: the BEST schools. That was not our experience at all. Kids stayed in public through ES, but moved to private for MS and HS. For our kids, public was a disaster and private was excellent. Of course it’s possible for a kid to get a great education/have a great experience in mcps, but the opposite is also true. We chose to forgo elaborate bar mitzvahs, big ticket vacations, and expensive summer camp for our kids so they could continue at private and that’s a choice our family feels good about.

We have friends who stayed. Some of their kids have had what appears to be a fantastic experience at mcps, but others very clearly have not. What’s interesting to me is that those who have not, twist themselves into knots trying to justify why they stayed.

Well aren't you smug.

Too bad your kids are so screwed up that they can't handle a good public school system and have to have their hands held in a private.

NP here. Maybe PP is smug, but you are clearly tightly wound.

That said, I thought I would chime in as I had one who did MCPS through middle school and one who did private all the way through.

The older one moved to private in 9th grade. He was well prepared in math, but sorely unprepared for English/writing. We all know that MCPS does a terrible job preparing our kids as writers and they suffer in college. Luckily we moved him to a private school that helped him become an excellent writer. He went to his dream college.

Younger one is in HS now, but she did private all the way through. First a small Catholic parochial and then an elite all girls HS. She is thriving. Luckily during covid, her middle school opened in September of 2020 and never closed. She didn't miss a beat. Her high school has very small classes (15-20 students) and keeps APs away from students until junior year. This keeps the stress level/competition down until they are more mature. She took many honors classes in the meantime, but by the time she graduates, she will have taken only 6 AP classes. This will still make her eligible for a T20 school as many who do the same curriculum matriculate to ivies and T20 schools. My older one had a similar experience (took 6 APs and got into a T20).

DD just learned she is in Cum Laude Society (private school version of NHS, but more selective). Cum Laude means top 10% of class. For my daughter's school, that's about 10 girls. Very exclusive and she will stand out on her college apps.

All in all, having experienced both MCPS and private schools, if I had to do it over again, I would have never enrolled my kids in MCPS. But we can easily afford private school now. That wasn't the case when my older son was in elementary school, which is why we did MCPS initially. So we didn't break the bank...we did what we could afford. Luckily MCPS was a bit better when my son attended...it has deteriorated since then.

Yea, you're the one blathering on and on on another thread about this society which is so "exclusive" that it has chapters in Ohio, Tennessee and New Jersey public high schools and a bunch of little Christian privates who nobody's ever heard of. So good for you.

We don't "all" think that writing skills aren't adequately taught at MCPS either. You don't speak for "all" of us.

And plenty of kids are getting into top colleges from MCPS without throwing their money away on privates and thinking they're better than everybody else.

Again, if your kids need their hands held that much it's not the school system's fault. Some kids are just of hardier stock than others. Maybe it's the parenting. Who knows.

Wait, what public schools are members of Cum Laude? I think none..certainly none from New Jersey. The most elite private schools are members. Take a look if you are interested. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cum_Laude_Society_chapters

Look more closely at your list, my friend. Cherry Hill East High School, the 77th best PUBLIC high school in New Jersey, is on the list.

An anomaly. Seems like a pretty exclusive list to me!

Yea, you're right. Anderson High School is the 12th best public school in the Cincinnati area, Byram Hills the 38th best public in the NYC Metro, and Collierville is the fourth best public school in Memphis. My bad.

Do we even know if this list is legit? The cum laude website doesn’t list its chapters so there is no way to know if this is accurate. Around here there seems to be only high performing private schools.