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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yes we are zoned for One of these and went private.

Very poor handling of pandemic education.

Poor communication between home and school.

Hard to get on the sports teams unless you are top athlete.

Bureaucratic approaches that lack common sense.

Academics and writing more rigorous so we fell student will be better prepared for college.

We prefer private although college outcomes are probably similar or better at the public due to grade inflation.

Our DC prefers private.
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Same here, all of the above reasons.  Will stay and graduate from private[/quote]

No snark but I would really like to know what private has better academics and more specifically writing than public here. That was touted at my child’s school and it is not better and has a reputation of a well-respected private. [/quote]

This is the only area I have lived in that people actually think publcs are any good. It is shocking to me.[/quote]

NP. It is a peculiarly DC area thing. I think it’s because there are so many people with government ties here. They are very invested in this belief. Even Massachusetts parents don’t sound like this. [/quote]
 
Thank you! You provided an interesting answer. I have lived/traveled all over the US, and while the vast majority of people could never afford private-- they certainly don't brag about their public schools.[/quote]

It’s definitely a little weird. The odd thing is that many DC area parents persist with this belief even in the face of educational data.  The belief in the universal excellence of the public schools in the DC area is not always tethered to reality. [/quote]

Neither is the belief in the universal excellence of the private schools in the DC area (or other areas)always tethered to reality. [/quote]

But nobody is saying that. What PP observed is that the DC area is a little weird in the insistence on how good the public schools are. Even in other areas of the country where there are public schools that are good, parents don’t talk the way DC parents do about the public schools. It is a little weird tbh. [/quote]

I live in a city with very poor public schools that is right next to a city with very good public schools. I also grew up in a city (on the west coast) with very poor public schools that was right next to a city with very good public schools.

In both cases, the cities with poor public schools have a plethora of private schools, and the cities with good public schools have fewer or no private schools.

In DC, you have both good public schools AND a ton of private schools, so I think it makes for more defensive posturing on the part of BOTH sets of parents - those who send their kids to public and those who send their kids to private.

My parents never had to "justify" sending me to private school. No one ever questioned why they did it, because clearly our public schools weren't a good choice. I have also never had anyone question why I send my kids to private, given our local public schools. But on DCUM and probably in the DMV in real life as well, the choice between a good public and a private is a closer call so people are questioned more so they are more defensive.

That's just my two cents. I could be wrong. [/quote]

This definitely has some merit.  I’ve had three kids in privates - one at GDS, one at Sidwell and one at a lesser known private that is rarely discussed on here. I pulled both from Sidwell and GDS. One child was being bullied and so I decided to try both kids at our neighborhood school, hoping that at a minimum if there was anymore bullying, at least my kids would have each other. Honestly, my kids were still challenged and had great teachers. And they weren’t “ahead” in anything by any means but one was behind in one subject. During the pandemic I put my last one in a small private but will be pulling him and returning to MCPS next Fall.  The school is pretty and all of the teachers really know the students very well (which I love!) but the academics aren’t better than MCPS and the peers in his class aren’t necessarily smarter or as smart as the kids who were previously in his public school class).  I know people don’t like to hear this but it is my experience. Also it’s important to know that some people don’t just go to privates for the academics alone  - there are newer and nicer facilities, better field trips, peers with more things in common, better teacher student ratios, etc. So a public school being more challenging/rigorous is not a selling point. What if you have an average kid that doesn’t self advocate and can easily get lost?  Private might be perfect and public could end up being a nightmare. Just honor peoples choices - they know their kids best.  [/quote]

THIS. We did public at a MoCo non W school and my DC got into a great state school where a few of her W friends were either waitlisted or did just as well, not better in terms of college admissions. My spouse also received an email from a graduate of one of the privates you mentioned. [b]We were shocked by the subpar writing, sentence structure, etc.[/b] js ….We had money for private and access to a W school. My DC graduated college a few years ago and is doing just fine.  So happy with the outcome and wouldn’t have changes a thing. It depends on the kid IMO.  Just my experience. And, yes, people use private schools to show their status in this area. Anyone arguing against that hasn’t lived here long enough.  As I was reading through the thread, I was wondering  how our kids were perceive this conversation. Would they think that we were so concerned with their welfare that we chose a certain school/ environment or would they think this was just all about the parents and how they were viewed or perceived? hmmm…[/quote]

Well our experience taking a kid out of a W middle school and enrolling in private jesuit HS is that he was NOT AT ALL prepared for the rigorous writing curriculum at his new HS.  MCPS does a horrible job of preparing students for written communications.  I have seen it time and time again.[/quote]

I would love to know that school you are talking about because my kid’s “rigorous” Catholic certainly doesn’t. That’s great if your school does, but I believe most people just spout that statement that “Catholic or private school have a handle on teaching writing.” It’s not being done in public either, but certainly not something that privates are immune to. [/quote]

True. My kid is not a better writer having gone to private. Don’t let that be your reason. [/quote]

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