[quote=Anonymous]Farmland Elementary 4% Black
Beverly Farms Elementary 7% Black
Lakewood Elementary 3% Black
Stonemill Elementary 8% Black
Dufief Elementary 4% Black
Fallsmead Elementary 7% Black
Coldspring Elementary 3 % Black
Wyngate Elementary 3% Black
Bradley Hills Elementary 3% Black
Burning Tree Elementary 5% Black
Potomac Elementary 6% Black
Carderock Elementary 1% Black

Should I continue? By the way - the MCPS as a whole is more than 21% Black - so the lack of diversity is in pockets -- which happen to correspond to the areas where parents who might shell out $20K-30K for a private school education live.[/quote]

So you cherry-picked a handful of MoCo schools and ignored dozens (hundreds?) of others with high minority rates. And you're avoiding the whole SES issue. Then you compounded this bad logic with more bad logic: for reasons that should be obvious, you're wrong about the parents shelling out for private, who are more likely to live in more wealthy, not less wealthy, parts of the county.

I don't care about convincing you, though, so I'm done arguing here. Others here can read my points and your cherry- picked bad logic, and unless they're as ideological as you are, I'm confident facts and logic will speak for themselves about the greater diversity in MoCo.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those in Montgomery County, a not so well understood benefit of private lower school education is diversity. The public lower schools are pretty homogeneous whereas the leading private schools strive for diversity by offering financial aid to a significant number of students. I personally think exposure to a diverse environment is more important at a young age than at any other time.

As a Moco parent who switched DC to private in third grade, I can say that diversity was NOT a benefit of private school. Far from it. Our private school was maybe 1/3 racial minorities, but almost all the families were well off, and some of the minority families were much richer than we were. There was much more diversity in the public ES we left (and DCs are now back in a very diverse MoCo high school).

For the poster who is sure to chime in about how Chevy Chase schools are not diverse, let me remind you that we had this argument recently. About 8-9% of ES kids in Chevy Chase are on FARMS, which basically means below the poverty line of about $13,000. To equal this, a private school would need to offer FULL scholarships to more than 8-9% of its students, which doesn't happen. You're welcome.

Most private schools provide financial aid (not always a full ride) to 1 in 6 students (more than 15%). What is the % of underrepresented minorities in elementary schools in Potomac?

The FULL rides in private schools are much less than 8-9% of the class, you know that's true. In fact, the FARMS figure only identifies families with HHI below about $13,000 K (the poverty line). But we know that families with HHI <$50,000 would all need full rides too if they were to switch from MoCo to private. I can't believe you think you have an argument--either you're not very bright, or you're deliberately obtuse.

I send my kid to public school in Chevy Chase (Westland, FARMS 10.7%), and agree it's more economically diverse than most private schools, but the FARMS cut off isn't the same as a poverty line. A family of 4 can get reduced meals with an income of $42,463 or below.

Having said that, my understanding is that a significant portion of financial aid families make well over $42K.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those in Montgomery County, a not so well understood benefit of private lower school education is diversity. The public lower schools are pretty homogeneous whereas the leading private schools strive for diversity by offering financial aid to a significant number of students. I personally think exposure to a diverse environment is more important at a young age than at any other time.

As a Moco parent who switched DC to private in third grade, I can say that diversity was NOT a benefit of private school. Far from it. Our private school was maybe 1/3 racial minorities, but almost all the families were well off, and some of the minority families were much richer than we were. There was much more diversity in the public ES we left (and DCs are now back in a very diverse MoCo high school).

For the poster who is sure to chime in about how Chevy Chase schools are not diverse, let me remind you that we had this argument recently. About 8-9% of ES kids in Chevy Chase are on FARMS, which basically means below the poverty line of about $13,000. To equal this, a private school would need to offer FULL scholarships to more than 8-9% of its students, which doesn't happen. You're welcome.

Most private schools provide financial aid (not always a full ride) to 1 in 6 students (more than 15%). What is the % of underrepresented minorities in elementary schools in Potomac?

The FULL rides in private schools are much less than 8-9% of the class, you know that's true. In fact, the FARMS figure only identifies families with HHI below about $13,000 K (the poverty line). But we know that families with HHI <$50,000 would all need full rides too if they were to switch from MoCo to private. I can't believe you think you have an argument--either you're not very bright, or you're deliberately obtuse.

I think the point you are trying to make is one of “economic diversity” – not exposure to underrepresented minorities. It is fair to say that a student in an elite private school will not have exposure to many lower middle class students. They will, however, typically be in class with lower class students commuting from DC or PG County. In the public schools, the only place you’ll find economic diversity of any kind is at the schools in urbanized areas. BUT, again, parentsin the Caderrock, Wyngate, Bradley Hills (as examples) districts don’t have access to those schools.

Can we stop talking about the racial diversity of a handful of schools and get back to the OP's question? It's a good one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Farmland Elementary 4% Black
Beverly Farms Elementary 7% Black
Lakewood Elementary 3% Black
Stonemill Elementary 8% Black
Dufief Elementary 4% Black
Fallsmead Elementary 7% Black
Coldspring Elementary 3 % Black
Wyngate Elementary 3% Black
Bradley Hills Elementary 3% Black
Burning Tree Elementary 5% Black
Potomac Elementary 6% Black
Carderock Elementary 1% Black

Should I continue? By the way - the MCPS as a whole is more than 21% Black - so the lack of diversity is in pockets -- which happen to correspond to the areas where parents who might shell out $20K-30K for a private school education live.

How many private elementary schools have fewer than 10% African American students?

How many mirror the population of DC or whatver jurisdiction they are in?

Also not sure what all this has to do with college admissions, which was the OPs question.

Definitely worth it for one of my kids. The fact that he is in college at all is because of the personal attention he got in private school and accomodations for learning disabilities. I have another one in public school who will, I expect, go to a much higher ranked college. But very different kids who needed different things. I am not measuring it by the rank of the college outcome. I do think my public school kid is actually much better off in public school - loves school and doing extremely well and is better positioned as a college applicant than I think (but don't know) would have been the case in private school.

Anonymous wrote:Farmland Elementary 4% Black
Beverly Farms Elementary 7% Black
Lakewood Elementary 3% Black
Stonemill Elementary 8% Black
Dufief Elementary 4% Black
Fallsmead Elementary 7% Black
Coldspring Elementary 3 % Black
Wyngate Elementary 3% Black
Bradley Hills Elementary 3% Black
Burning Tree Elementary 5% Black
Potomac Elementary 6% Black
Carderock Elementary 1% Black

Should I continue? By the way - the MCPS as a whole is more than 21% Black - so the lack of diversity is in pockets -- which happen to correspond to the areas where parents who might shell out $20K-30K for a private school education live.

How many private elementary schools have fewer than 10% African American students?

Farmland Elementary 4% Black
Beverly Farms Elementary 7% Black
Lakewood Elementary 3% Black
Stonemill Elementary 8% Black
Dufief Elementary 4% Black
Fallsmead Elementary 7% Black
Coldspring Elementary 3 % Black
Wyngate Elementary 3% Black
Bradley Hills Elementary 3% Black
Burning Tree Elementary 5% Black
Potomac Elementary 6% Black
Carderock Elementary 1% Black

Should I continue? By the way - the MCPS as a whole is more than 21% Black - so the lack of diversity is in pockets -- which happen to correspond to the areas where parents who might shell out $20K-30K for a private school education live.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those in Montgomery County, a not so well understood benefit of private lower school education is diversity. The public lower schools are pretty homogeneous whereas the leading private schools strive for diversity by offering financial aid to a significant number of students. I personally think exposure to a diverse environment is more important at a young age than at any other time.

As a Moco parent who switched DC to private in third grade, I can say that diversity was NOT a benefit of private school. Far from it. Our private school was maybe 1/3 racial minorities, but almost all the families were well off, and some of the minority families were much richer than we were. There was much more diversity in the public ES we left (and DCs are now back in a very diverse MoCo high school).

For the poster who is sure to chime in about how Chevy Chase schools are not diverse, let me remind you that we had this argument recently. About 8-9% of ES kids in Chevy Chase are on FARMS, which basically means below the poverty line of about $13,000. To equal this, a private school would need to offer FULL scholarships to more than 8-9% of its students, which doesn't happen. You're welcome.

Most private schools provide financial aid (not always a full ride) to 1 in 6 students (more than 15%). What is the % of underrepresented minorities in elementary schools in Potomac?

The FULL rides in private schools are much less than 8-9% of the class, you know that's true. In fact, the FARMS figure only identifies families with HHI below about $13,000 K (the poverty line). But we know that families with HHI <$50,000 would all need full rides too if they were to switch from MoCo to private. I can't believe you think you have an argument--either you're not very bright, or you're deliberately obtuse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those in Montgomery County, a not so well understood benefit of private lower school education is diversity. The public lower schools are pretty homogeneous whereas the leading private schools strive for diversity by offering financial aid to a significant number of students. I personally think exposure to a diverse environment is more important at a young age than at any other time.

As a Moco parent who switched DC to private in third grade, I can say that diversity was NOT a benefit of private school. Far from it. Our private school was maybe 1/3 racial minorities, but almost all the families were well off, and some of the minority families were much richer than we were. There was much more diversity in the public ES we left (and DCs are now back in a very diverse MoCo high school).

For the poster who is sure to chime in about how Chevy Chase schools are not diverse, let me remind you that we had this argument recently. About 8-9% of ES kids in Chevy Chase are on FARMS, which basically means below the poverty line of about $13,000. To equal this, a private school would need to offer FULL scholarships to more than 8-9% of its students, which doesn't happen. You're welcome.

Most private schools provide financial aid (not always a full ride) to 1 in 6 students (more than 15%). What is the % of underrepresented minorities in elementary schools in Potomac?

Anonymous wrote:For those in Montgomery County, a not so well understood benefit of private lower school education is diversity. The public lower schools are pretty homogeneous whereas the leading private schools strive for diversity by offering financial aid to a significant number of students. I personally think exposure to a diverse environment is more important at a young age than at any other time.

As a Moco parent who switched DC to private in third grade, I can say that diversity was NOT a benefit of private school. Far from it. Our private school was maybe 1/3 racial minorities, but almost all the families were well off, and some of the minority families were much richer than we were. There was much more diversity in the public ES we left (and DCs are now back in a very diverse MoCo high school).

For the poster who is sure to chime in about how Chevy Chase schools are not diverse, let me remind you that we had this argument recently. About 8-9% of ES kids in Chevy Chase are on FARMS, which basically means below the poverty line of about $13,000. To equal this, a private school would need to offer FULL scholarships to more than 8-9% of its students, which doesn't happen. You're welcome.

For those in Montgomery County, a not so well understood benefit of private lower school education is diversity. The public lower schools are pretty homogeneous whereas the leading private schools strive for diversity by offering financial aid to a significant number of students. I personally think exposure to a diverse environment is more important at a young age than at any other time.

For high school absolutely, for LS and MS perhaps not as much. The level of academic instruction and the intensity of personal attention in HS at two different local privates was so much higher than I ever experienced in even one of the very best public high schools, and much higher than their friends in local top public schools seemed to be getting even in the top academic tracks at those schools. They are far far better writers and analytic thinkers than I believe they would have been in a larger and less well-resourced school. I think the foundations they got will stand them in great stead for the rest of their academic careers and in life. They have ongoing fantastic relationships with teachers and administrators that have shaped their academic interests even in college. They have been extremely well-prepared for college compared to many of their new peers in college, and have done extremely well in terms of grades etc in two very selective and notoriously difficult schools. They got to play sports at a varsity level throughout HS and participate in many other ECs, I suspect that would have been more difficult in a huge public school.

10 years of private school (about 300K) - high school was worth it. MAYBE middle school. Elementary, not worth it.

Knowing what I know now, I'd wait for high school.

Now that most college decisions are in, what do the parents of private high school graduates think – was it worth it? Depending on when and where you sent your DC to private school you invested in the range of $40K-$250, possibly more, into DC’s education. Are you happy with the results? Why? What advantages did private school offer over public school? Is your DC in a better place because of that investment? What lessons can you share?