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[quote=Anonymous]There was some interesting talk on one of the many GDS threads about wrapping your head around paying $40K annually for private school.

So that brings up the question - has it been worth it for your kids?

For me, with a boy finishing 11th Grade and a girl finishing 6th, the answer is yes, but it's been a definite sacrifice. After paying tuition and the mortgage, we have about $5K left over each month to live our lives on. $1k per month for groceries, $1k for various bills, $500 for gas and insuring a teenage boy to drive - it adds up quick and we are driving old cars without a payment.

From a strictly financial point of view, it probably hasn't been worth it. Our suburban public schools are in the "fine to good" range and I'm sure the kids would have done reasonably well there. And we've made some friends (my son started in 9th, my daughter this year) but certainly aren't fully involved in the parent community, which seems tilted toward those who have been there longer and/or have way more than $5k to live on each month.

But I have been completely won over by the experience my kids are having. They both love going to school every day. They have made great friendships. But most of all, they have been actively engaged by their teachers. In public school, almost every teacher was more like an overseer than a mentor. In their current school, their teachers know, respect, like and inspire our kids. They enjoy learning. And, since both my kids are on the more academic side of things, the greatest surprise and unexpected benefit has been the extra-curricular opportunities. My son, never much of an athlete, has found himself thriving in track - a sport he never would have attempted in public school because he had no experience, but one he now loves after having been quasi-forced into participation. Same for my daughter with the arts.

So I guess what I'm seeing is the difference between the "reasonably well" that I expect they would have done in public school, and the "incredible" they are getting now. In fact, the difference was significant enough that after seeing the benefits for our son in high school, we bit the bullet and started his sister in middle school instead of waiting.

So, we aren't taking great vacations now (or in the foreseeable future) and I'm keeping my fingers crossed and checking the oil regularly on our cars, and we're very purposeful about when and where we go out to eat, but so far it's been worth the effort for us.[/quote]

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