Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Is private school worth it?" Well, I'm not sure it's "worth" $30,000, exactly (sheesh, couldn't they do it for a BIT less??!?) but now that it's done and we've paid the $30,000 we don't have regrets.

I'm at times flabbergasted by how great the curriculum is. It's just really great, very thought provoking and well meshed. The teachers are so good. I love how technology is used in the classroom and how well that fits with DC's personality, skills and interests. Even something like P.E. is enhancing DC's life -- learning actual athletic skills (how to play field hockey, the rules for volleyball, whatever). Learning to read music and play instruments in music class, looking at music theory and history (not just singing some random songs with a 6-hour per week freelance musician a couple of times a week). Art studios that you wish you could take a class in.

I like the small class sizes (12 or so) and the fact that every teacher knows DC so well (skills and weaknesses). The communications with parents are awesome (the calendar planned a year in advance).

Considering our other options, yes, this was the right thing to do for now. I reevaluate all the time and think about what else we could be doing with the money for tuition. Things are tight, we don't have cleaners anymore, we hardly ever eat out, we don't eat as much meat. We buy most of our clothes at thrift stores. Our cars are crap. That said we still support the same charities that we did before. We just don't save much, if anything, except for our retirement.

I'd like to offer a quick comment on the idea that one must always save for college before considering spending money on private school. My brother determined that he could not afford to do both and so he saved only for college and put his kids in public schools. I realize this story is terribly anecdotal, BUT, his kids had a terrible schooling experience for a variety of reasons. None of the three ended up being able to attend college at all and many of their issues could have been better addressed in an environment where the classes were small, the teachers knew and understood the various issues, the parents were better informed and involved, and so forth. So think carefully about your own children and how they learn and what their strengths and weaknesses are ... only a small proportion of students would fall into the situation of my brother's children. But some do and in those instances, getting them successfully through high school is more important than whether they might need to take out loans or defer college attendance for a few years to work or join the army or something to raise the cash.


don't you save for college?

For those who asked for a link to some studies, here's one. It also summarizes previous literature. The Coleman (1982) study that everyone cites does find returns to private school, but after controlling for family income, the gains look pretty small to me.

http://www.edline.com/uploads/pdf/PrivateSchoolsReport.pdf

Anonymous wrote:For those who asked for a link to some studies, here's one. It also summarizes previous literature. The Coleman (1982) study that everyone cites does find returns to private school, but after controlling for family income, the gains look pretty small to me.
http://www.edline.com/uploads/pdf/PrivateSchoolsReport.pdf