Anonymous wrote:There are very few things I would rather invest in than DCs education. Housing (only 1) and healthcare are the only high priorities. IMO, I would rather pay for a better HS than a better college.

I’m with you on the better HS than college. I’d extend that down to elementary. If you shape the way kids perceive themselves and learning our job is 80% done and it doesn’t matter as much where they go for college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just wondering how parents with two or more kids manage to sleep well at night knowing how expensive it is to send them to private school for 12 years, especially when that cost means having less money for college. I’m genuinely curious if others worry about this too, or if most people just don’t feel the weight of it.

They have to believe this is the best long-term investment.

+1
This is our truth. It’s best for our kids. We believe in strong foundations early.

Sending this much money out the door is not a great feeling and we feel the weight of it, but we sleep better at night now that we’re not dealing with the stress of DCPS. I consider it an investment in my own sanity, not just my kids’ education.

I work ancillary to higher ed, and on that basis am convinced the money deployed on education K-12 beats money deployed on lazy rivers and unlimited sushi 13-17.

I send my kids to a cheap K-12, though.

I do stress about the cost of tuition. However, I sleep better knowing my kids have been in a smaller, nurturing environment, have made great connections with teachers who really care, rarely come across a bad teacher, are exposed only to kids who work hard and are ambitious, have learned to think critically, not just take tests, have gotten tons of writing practice, are regularly exposed to the arts, don’t walk through metal detectors or have safety concerns at school. In pretty much every aspect, I think my kids have had a better experience K-12 than they would have had in public school and that has been one of my top priorities for them.

Anonymous wrote:I’m just wondering how parents with two or more kids manage to sleep well at night knowing how expensive it is to send them to private school for 12 years, especially when that cost means having less money for college. I’m genuinely curious if others worry about this too, or if most people just don’t feel the weight of it.

Have less children. Seriously, this is a factor.

There are very few things I would rather invest in than DCs education. Housing (only 1) and healthcare are the only high priorities. IMO, I would rather pay for a better HS than a better college.

Anonymous wrote:I’m just wondering how parents with two or more kids manage to sleep well at night knowing how expensive it is to send them to private school for 12 years, especially when that cost means having less money for college. I’m genuinely curious if others worry about this too, or if most people just don’t feel the weight of it.

I only have one kid and we get grandparent help. But if the cost of tuition is making you so anxious you can’t sleep, private school may not be the right financial choice for your family.

I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to be sleeping well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just wondering how parents with two or more kids manage to sleep well at night knowing how expensive it is to send them to private school for 12 years, especially when that cost means having less money for college. I’m genuinely curious if others worry about this too, or if most people just don’t feel the weight of it.

They have to believe this is the best long-term investment.

I don’t think that at all.

One big factor is the country has given schools huge tax advantages. So for any family over the estate limit, they’re going to see it as something of a wash. That’s a huge part of why so many grandparents pay tuition.

But mainly, we have more than we need and this is the school we picked and we could afford it and after that I didn’t stress about it very much. Truthfully neither one of us has ever been very interested or good at amassing money, one of us is just very good at making it.

Anonymous wrote:The tuition is not expensive for us. We spend more on vacations.

I would need to spend a couple of months in Monaco to make my vacation costs comparable to to my school tuition (considering 60k per kid).

The tuition is not expensive for us. We spend more on vacations.

Anonymous wrote:I’m just wondering how parents with two or more kids manage to sleep well at night knowing how expensive it is to send them to private school for 12 years, especially when that cost means having less money for college. I’m genuinely curious if others worry about this too, or if most people just don’t feel the weight of it.

They have to believe this is the best long-term investment.

Some families use the $ they would otherwise spend on a second/third home. It doesn't impact their day to day or college savings. On the opposite spectrum, some families are getting aid so don't feel it as much. Its the middle class group that really feels the pinch.

I’m just wondering how parents with two or more kids manage to sleep well at night knowing how expensive it is to send them to private school for 12 years, especially when that cost means having less money for college. I’m genuinely curious if others worry about this too, or if most people just don’t feel the weight of it.