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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, apologize in advance for being long but wanted to give you some level of detail. We are similar to you, our current HHI is about 350K but it was about 200K when we started this journey several years ago.  We decided we wanted our kids to go to private school (for a number of reasons that really don’t matter to anyone else) but were not willing to shell out 20% of our pre-tax income to do it. I applaud those who can commit to living like paupers for the next 15-20 years but I am not one of them.

We are NOT Catholic, but we did send our kids to Catholic school. We sent them to a nice parish school where we found committed, loving teachers, most of whom had Master’s degrees and many, many years of teaching experience.  We love the school to this day and continue to remember them with a donation at tax time. Most of the teachers are still there and we keep in touch with them. We have 2 kids, here’s how the money stacks up (I’m using today’s dollars)

DS: 9 years at Catholic school =  $54,000 + 4 years at Georgetown Prep = $112,000
Total for DS = $166,000.

DD: 9 years at Catholic school = $54000 + 4 years at Stone Ridge = $100,000
Total for DD = $154,000

The same number of years at a "Big 3" would cost in the neighborhood of 450K EACH.

So where are they now??  DS is a junior at Duke where he is an engineering major on the Dean’s list. He applied to 10 colleges and got accepted to 9 with his lowest merit based aid package being 80K (over the 4 years).  DS is a bit of a “special snowflake” that the Catholic school happily accommodated to allow him to move right along in Math & Science while staying mainstreamed for English, Spanish, History, etc. His level of merit based aid at Duke is such that his college education will be practically free.

DD is still at Stone Ridge where she is very happy, plays sports, sings, acts and is generally the polar opposite of her brother. They are very happy, productive and caring people.  DD did not require any accommodations.

As I said, we are not Catholic but at our school that was truly not a big deal. DD best friend from elementary school is Jewish and she fit in just fine. I would let the homeroom teachers know early in the  year that my kids could attend all the lessons, practices, etc. for the sacraments the only part they would not do was the actual participation in the sacrament itself. They attended religion class every day and both enjoyed it very much. As long as you don’t have a list as long as your arm for the teacher about religion, it won’t be a big deal.

So, because we spent significantly less on school, we were able to travel. My kids have been to Greece, Spain, France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, The Vatican, and pretty much all over Europe. They have been to Alaska and Hawaii. We have seen the Grand Canyon and Mt. Rushmore. They ski, scuba and engage in a variety of activities. We have a nice lifestyle, they have nice schools, they got to travel, we could afford to buy them some (not all) of the stuff they want and still they ended up with good educations that didn’t cost half a million apiece.

You are in the difficult spot of making too much to qualify for significant FA, yet not making enough to afford  the more expensive schools without a good bit of sacrifice on your part. I would encourage you to look at some of the Catholic parish schools and see what they offer. They are the best bargain in town. The other thing to remember is to keep it in perspective.  Once you become an adult, no one really cares where you went to elementary school (let alone pre-K) and  no one has asked where I went to high school in probably over 20 years - but if anyone really wants to know, I graduated from public.

So, you don't have to pay a minimum of 30K each per year for private school. You only have to do that if your heart is set on a 30K school. There are plenty of other options, just go out and find what fits your kids AND your bank account. That's what we did and we are totally happy and wouldn't change a thing.
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Good post - only problem is being able to get into ^ HS in the 9th with limited spots....[/quote]

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