Anonymous wrote:Check your aid contract -- they usually have provisions requiring pretty strict confidentiality.

I looked at it and it does not. It only speaks to the fact that the school will never discuss your financial situation with anyone.

Anonymous wrote:I knew a family at Norwood who boasted about the fact their employers paid 75% of their kids school fees. They mentioned it every single time that we saw them. It got old, fast.

Wish I knew what employer this was! That's a pretty nice perk. Yeah can definitely see how it would get old hearing about it on a regular basis.

Do you really think all the rich private school parents go around asking each other how they are paying for tuition?

Family 1: Oh, we are not going to Europe this summer
Family 2: Putting off the new Tesla til next year
Family 3: Decided not to buy a beach house, got a condo instead. Because private school IS WORTH IT!
Family 4: My parents own an oil mine and want their grandchildren to have the best.

OP, this doesn't happen. Everyone just assumes if you're there, you scraped together money from somewhere. It will quickly come out that you don't travel 1st class, and you'll fit in accordingly.

Anonymous wrote:Of course its not embarrassing, but it is also something that you should not discuss or mention. It is a private matter and only the buiness of your family and the school. It is a topic that, for some people, can become a heated topic (just see this forum for examples) so best to just avoid mentioning it at all .

The kids all talk about it. Everyone knows who's on FA. If you ask your kids and they know the student somewhat, chances are they'll know their status. Certainly if they play a sport or other activity with the student they'll likely know.

Of course its not embarrassing, but it is also something that you should not discuss or mention. It is a private matter and only the buiness of your family and the school. It is a topic that, for some people, can become a heated topic (just see this forum for examples) so best to just avoid mentioning it at all .

Check your aid contract -- they usually have provisions requiring pretty strict confidentiality.

I knew a family at Norwood who boasted about the fact their employers paid 75% of their kids school fees. They mentioned it every single time that we saw them. It got old, fast.

No one has ever asked me, but because I'm a single mom in a career field notoriously underpaid, I'm sure everyone knows DC is on a scholarship. We live very modestly and I doubt anyone thinks that we could pay full freight. There are 5-6 families that we all freely discuss waiting for the renewal letter.

Sometimes, more affluent families ask my DC to accompany theirs on outings to nicer places than I could afford and they refuse to accept reimbursement for the expenses.
That said, I fundraise for the school as much as possible and do a ton of volunteering to show how much we appreciate their generosity.

My family receives FA. I don't think it's a "secret" and I wouldn't be embarrassed to tell people if it somehow came up in conversation... that said, it never has.

In other words, I wouldn't worry about it. The idea that it is somehow "taboo" is weird, but I don't know why it would even come up.

Anonymous wrote:Why would you talk about money? Are you not from America?

Yes I'm from America. LOL. It's not that I would or generally talk about money out of the blue. It's just that I wouldn't necessarily make it a point to never mention it either if there was a conversation about it. For example, when people ask me how are we affording such an expensive private school I don't hide the fact that we are receiving FA. I don't know what context it would come up in but I was a bit taken back when someone told me to make sure and never tell anyone at the school that we receive FA.

Don't talk about money with people.

Keep it to yourself.

It is no one's business but yours.

Why would you talk about money? Are you not from America?

We will be starting K at a "Big 3" in the fall and receive a substantial FA package. Is this something we should be secretive about? I am a pretty open person and wouldn't naturally think to not speak about receiving FA but I've been told that this is a private thing and the schools would prefer that no one discusses it. What has been your experience in this regards?