CC MD public school mom here, there are lots of parents who send their kids to private around here especially starting in 6th grade. I don't understand the reticence to tell people, lots of people have one in public and one in private. One of my DD best friends will be in private next year. It's been no big deal and we are planning on keeping the friendship going.

I certainly don't think anyone believes they are better than our family if they send their child to private??? If you can afford to provide that option to your child I think it's great. Don't quite understand why you would keep it quiet? I'm always struggling to remember a fact or something about a person to talk about when I see them, so asking how their kid likes the new school, etc.. would just be a conversation starter for me. I think if you tell people then they just have something to talk to you about. Maybe you and DH feel like they will be talking about you?

We moved to private in 4th grade and it was terrific for my DS. but, it's really school specific. Look at a bunch of different schools with your kid and your DS and see what you think and compare it to the neighborhood vibe. There are always good and bad in every school - so try to figure out what those are and what are the things you care about.

Anonymous wrote:Would you mind sharing your experience?

We live in FCPS Alexandria and DH convinced me to try out our public school options first. While I like that DS has made many neighborhood friends, I'm not satisfied with the attention he is receiving at our neighborhood public school. He has 27 kids in his class and the school is 30% FARMS/ESOL. My child is bright but probably not gifted. He will probably get into AAP in 3rd grade.

We did the same, though did AAP in 3rd and 4th. While DS is doing well based on report cards, we are not happy in most other areas. Our McLean public is just a mile away and had to give it a try. We're going private beginning 5th.

We moved our children from a large public elementary school in California to a small, exclusive private school. Then we moved to MD.

What I can tell you is this, that year in private gave them both increased confidence, both socially and academically. The classes were tiny, about 10-15 kids depending on the grade.

Having said that, when we moved to Md they wanted to dispense with uniforms, foreign languages and private school. And they are both thriving in our local public.

There is no comparing West coast publics with East coast publics, but that almost "gap" year in private did help them both enormously.

Why wouldn't you wait until after 3rd grade to move, then?

Would you mind sharing your experience?

We live in FCPS Alexandria and DH convinced me to try out our public school options first. While I like that DS has made many neighborhood friends, I'm not satisfied with the attention he is receiving at our neighborhood public school. He has 27 kids in his class and the school is 30% FARMS/ESOL. My child is bright but probably not gifted. He will probably get into AAP in 3rd grade.