Anonymous wrote:

pbraverman wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely disagree with Peter. Our kids did MCPS for elementary and it was fine . Our middle school experience at a big 3 was light years better than friends' kids had at MCPS and the high school was even better. I think elementary is where you should save the $$$ and invest in middle and then high school. If you have to choose I'd send them to private in middle.

I'm not sure we disagree. My only point is that I sense most people begin by assuming that the upper grades are a better, ahem, investment, without considering the "inverse" approach. I mean only to encourage people to consider that, as there is a case to be made for either path, and reasonable parents can certainly do it either way.

It does seem we agree that middle school is not the gem in the crown of most public school systems.

That's also true of independent schools. Caveat emptor.

Anonymous wrote:

pbraverman wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely disagree with Peter. Our kids did MCPS for elementary and it was fine . Our middle school experience at a big 3 was light years better than friends' kids had at MCPS and the high school was even better. I think elementary is where you should save the $$$ and invest in middle and then high school. If you have to choose I'd send them to private in middle.

I'm not sure we disagree. My only point is that I sense most people begin by assuming that the upper grades are a better, ahem, investment, without considering the "inverse" approach. I mean only to encourage people to consider that, as there is a case to be made for either path, and reasonable parents can certainly do it either way.

It does seem we agree that middle school is not the gem in the crown of most public school systems.

That's also true of independent schools. Caveat emptor.

pbraverman wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely disagree with Peter. Our kids did MCPS for elementary and it was fine . Our middle school experience at a big 3 was light years better than friends' kids had at MCPS and the high school was even better. I think elementary is where you should save the $$$ and invest in middle and then high school. If you have to choose I'd send them to private in middle.

I'm not sure we disagree. My only point is that I sense most people begin by assuming that the upper grades are a better, ahem, investment, without considering the "inverse" approach. I mean only to encourage people to consider that, as there is a case to be made for either path, and reasonable parents can certainly do it either way.

It does seem we agree that middle school is not the gem in the crown of most public school systems.

Anonymous wrote:Completely disagree with Peter. Our kids did MCPS for elementary and it was fine . Our middle school experience at a big 3 was light years better than friends' kids had at MCPS and the high school was even better. I think elementary is where you should save the $$$ and invest in middle and then high school. If you have to choose I'd send them to private in middle.

pbraverman wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sure there are lots of theories on this. I have a 5th grader in a charter I am happy with but I am less confident about the middle school options she has. A co-worker whose kids were lifers at Georgetown Day told me that looking back on it, she isn't sure that her kids needed to attend all those years and would have been just as successful if they'd only attended for high school. She thought her kids did as well as the kids who entered in 9th. Do you guys have thoughts on whether the money is worth it for middle school? Also, I would love to hear thoughts on whether it seems harder or easier to get in in middle school vs high school. We just have one kid so while it would be a big stretch for us, we could pull off private.

I've seldom found anybody who thinks that middle schools are the long suit at MCPS, FCPS, or DCPS.

For whatever it's worth, my own kids attended independent school through grade 8 and then an MCPS high school. My bias is that families with limited funds (for whatever reason) should consider whether investing earlier, rather than later, makes sense. What happens earlier gets into their DNA in a way that makes for a much more *lifelong* outlook on education. And middle school is much more likely to be dicey than high school. For those who consider the same route, strong independent college counseling is widely available in this area, and much less expensive than four years of independent school.

Here's a piece I wrote some time ago encouraging families to consider K–8 schools seriously, in addition to K-12 options. For the sake of full disclosure, I was running a middle school at a K–8, but I wouldn't have been able to write it if I didn't believe it, and I still use it frequently.

https://peterbraverman.com/school-that-ends-in-grade-8

pbraverman wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sure there are lots of theories on this. I have a 5th grader in a charter I am happy with but I am less confident about the middle school options she has. A co-worker whose kids were lifers at Georgetown Day told me that looking back on it, she isn't sure that her kids needed to attend all those years and would have been just as successful if they'd only attended for high school. She thought her kids did as well as the kids who entered in 9th. Do you guys have thoughts on whether the money is worth it for middle school? Also, I would love to hear thoughts on whether it seems harder or easier to get in in middle school vs high school. We just have one kid so while it would be a big stretch for us, we could pull off private.

I've seldom found anybody who thinks that middle schools are the long suit at MCPS, FCPS, or DCPS.

For whatever it's worth, my own kids attended independent school through grade 8 and then an MCPS high school. My bias is that families with limited funds (for whatever reason) should consider whether investing earlier, rather than later, makes sense. What happens earlier gets into their DNA in a way that makes for a much more *lifelong* outlook on education. And middle school is much more likely to be dicey than high school. For those who consider the same route, strong independent college counseling is widely available in this area, and much less expensive than four years of independent school.

Here's a piece I wrote some time ago encouraging families to consider K–8 schools seriously, in addition to K-12 options. For the sake of full disclosure, I was running a middle school at a K–8, but I wouldn't have been able to write it if I didn't believe it, and I still use it frequently.

https://peterbraverman.com/school-that-ends-in-grade-8

Anonymous wrote:I am sure there are lots of theories on this. I have a 5th grader in a charter I am happy with but I am less confident about the middle school options she has. A co-worker whose kids were lifers at Georgetown Day told me that looking back on it, she isn't sure that her kids needed to attend all those years and would have been just as successful if they'd only attended for high school. She thought her kids did as well as the kids who entered in 9th. Do you guys have thoughts on whether the money is worth it for middle school? Also, I would love to hear thoughts on whether it seems harder or easier to get in in middle school vs high school. We just have one kid so while it would be a big stretch for us, we could pull off private.