Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Yep, our private all boys school in DC hasn’t turned out to be worth the full tuition we pay at over 30 grand a year.

At least you're honest instead of trying to justify value that's not there.....

Thank you, many posts get angry when anything unfavorable is said about the school even though it’s the case or they will spin it to downplay it.
I did not anticipate this and really hoped it would’ve turned out to what I was sold on, I’m actually quite sad about it for my child. But it’s too much of a disappointment. It didn’t have to be as wonderful as the school and parents touted, I just would’ve appreciated more honesty. Take what they say with a grain of salt, there is major bias and you’ll only get information of what they want you to know and all the polish.

This. I wish the school had been what I wanted but it wasn't. Hate to move my kid but this will be the final move back to public. At least he's looking forward to it. He's been bored.

Could it perhaps be that your kid is more used to public and its less demanding requirements for behavior, attitude and writing requirements? The complainers who spend a year in private think money was going to guarantee a happy kid. Not a good fit.

Could it be just what the PP said? Could it be you greatly underestimate how many parents are faking how much they love a particular private school because they feel stuck and somewhat ashamed? Some kids do better in a bigger environment with more options for academics, more independence, more options for friends.

No, that would erode the DCUM narrative that the worst private is better than any public.

Equal to your defense of the public school experience is the defense of private school parents who appreciate the focused and attentive teacher, the opportunity to engage in advanced courses without the public school institutional constraints, etc etc. I have no issue with public school parents nor any sense of longing to be one - nor should public school parents constantly look for ways to degrade a private school education on these DCUM threads. You appreciate your choice as will I.

You can defend YOUR private school experience and love your private school without being dismissive of another person's experience that may not mirror your own. That’s what someone was alluding to when they said it ruined the narrative. Because it is a true narrative on this forum by many that private school is heads above public, despite studies and personal testimony to the contrary.

As of 4pm, we have 1 kid in private returning to public and 1 kid in public going to private (1st choice for each).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep, our private all boys school in DC hasn’t turned out to be worth the full tuition we pay at over 30 grand a year.

At least you're honest instead of trying to justify value that's not there.....

Thank you, many posts get angry when anything unfavorable is said about the school even though it’s the case or they will spin it to downplay it.
I did not anticipate this and really hoped it would’ve turned out to what I was sold on, I’m actually quite sad about it for my child. But it’s too much of a disappointment. It didn’t have to be as wonderful as the school and parents touted, I just would’ve appreciated more honesty. Take what they say with a grain of salt, there is major bias and you’ll only get information of what they want you to know and all the polish.

This. I wish the school had been what I wanted but it wasn't. Hate to move my kid but this will be the final move back to public. At least he's looking forward to it. He's been bored.

Could it perhaps be that your kid is more used to public and its less demanding requirements for behavior, attitude and writing requirements? The complainers who spend a year in private think money was going to guarantee a happy kid. Not a good fit.

Could it be just what the PP said? Could it be you greatly underestimate how many parents are faking how much they love a particular private school because they feel stuck and somewhat ashamed? Some kids do better in a bigger environment with more options for academics, more independence, more options for friends.

No, that would erode the DCUM narrative that the worst private is better than any public.

Equal to your defense of the public school experience is the defense of private school parents who appreciate the focused and attentive teacher, the opportunity to engage in advanced courses without the public school institutional constraints, etc etc. I have no issue with public school parents nor any sense of longing to be one - nor should public school parents constantly look for ways to degrade a private school education on these DCUM threads. You appreciate your choice as will I.

Well, that’s what we expected at private-attentive and focused teachers. Unfortunately, they aren’t immune to those issues and have this happening at his private with several teachers who are don’t want to be bothered. That’s not what I signed up for when I pay over $30 grand annually. Going back to public where what I’ve seen academically is pretty homogenous to this “stellar” private.

We have been in one of the top private the past two years during the pandemic but are considering moving back to public for middle school, and will reassess for high school. Very thankful that the private remained open during the pandemic, but my child has encountered quite some issues there, some from classmates and some from teachers. Academics are solid but not impressive as compared to gifted in public where my child used to be in. Facilities and offerings of extra curriculum activities are definitely better, but my child's main activities are still outside of school at this stage. We are lucky enough to win a lottery in one of the public schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am curious about parents moving kids in and out of various schools in the matter of a few years. How do the the kids react to so much change? Changing schools is HARD. It takes a few months to adjust. Even kids returning to their old schools will have to adjust to changes in friendships, teachers, etc. I am wondering if my kids are just creatures of habit. It was hard for them to start a new school for 9th in high school!

For that reason we reluctantly continued with the Abbey to gave it a chance to prove what it touts. Unfortunately, we have decided to leave as it hasn’t proved to be worth what we pay and cannot say that it is better than public. I cannot say that for all privates, but I am now skeptical as I think a lot of folks like myself are sold on the “polish.”

This school seems to be polarizing. There was recently a thread wishing for a girl version!

Interesting, although, I would not favor sending my daughter if there were a female version of that school after seeing what it was like for my sons. There’s a desperate need for a sister school that the school missed the boat on and can’t remedy; possibly that is why.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep, our private all boys school in DC hasn’t turned out to be worth the full tuition we pay at over 30 grand a year.

At least you're honest instead of trying to justify value that's not there.....

Thank you, many posts get angry when anything unfavorable is said about the school even though it’s the case or they will spin it to downplay it.
I did not anticipate this and really hoped it would’ve turned out to what I was sold on, I’m actually quite sad about it for my child. But it’s too much of a disappointment. It didn’t have to be as wonderful as the school and parents touted, I just would’ve appreciated more honesty. Take what they say with a grain of salt, there is major bias and you’ll only get information of what they want you to know and all the polish.

This. I wish the school had been what I wanted but it wasn't. Hate to move my kid but this will be the final move back to public. At least he's looking forward to it. He's been bored.

Could it perhaps be that your kid is more used to public and its less demanding requirements for behavior, attitude and writing requirements? The complainers who spend a year in private think money was going to guarantee a happy kid. Not a good fit.

Could it be just what the PP said? Could it be you greatly underestimate how many parents are faking how much they love a particular private school because they feel stuck and somewhat ashamed? Some kids do better in a bigger environment with more options for academics, more independence, more options for friends.

No, that would erode the DCUM narrative that the worst private is better than any public.

Equal to your defense of the public school experience is the defense of private school parents who appreciate the focused and attentive teacher, the opportunity to engage in advanced courses without the public school institutional constraints, etc etc. I have no issue with public school parents nor any sense of longing to be one - nor should public school parents constantly look for ways to degrade a private school education on these DCUM threads. You appreciate your choice as will I.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am curious about parents moving kids in and out of various schools in the matter of a few years. How do the the kids react to so much change? Changing schools is HARD. It takes a few months to adjust. Even kids returning to their old schools will have to adjust to changes in friendships, teachers, etc. I am wondering if my kids are just creatures of habit. It was hard for them to start a new school for 9th in high school!

For that reason we reluctantly continued with the Abbey to gave it a chance to prove what it touts. Unfortunately, we have decided to leave as it hasn’t proved to be worth what we pay and cannot say that it is better than public. I cannot say that for all privates, but I am now skeptical as I think a lot of folks like myself are sold on the “polish.”

This school seems to be polarizing. There was recently a thread wishing for a girl version!

Anonymous wrote:I am curious about parents moving kids in and out of various schools in the matter of a few years. How do the the kids react to so much change? Changing schools is HARD. It takes a few months to adjust. Even kids returning to their old schools will have to adjust to changes in friendships, teachers, etc. I am wondering if my kids are just creatures of habit. It was hard for them to start a new school for 9th in high school!

My child will end up at 3 schools in 4 years.

Finished K in Montessori at his preschool (only went through K)
Went private for 1/2 to get in person for Covid
Back to public (where he should have gone for 1st)

He isn’t great at change, but is excited to go to public because we’ve hyped up all the things it has that the tiny private doesn’t (music, multiple playgrounds, etc) Also, of his class of 10 kids, only 3 are returning for the fall, so it was going to be a big change with all new kids anyway.

At the end of the day it doesn’t matter though. I can’t pay $20k/year for the next 10 years so that he doesn’t have a difficult month of transition. I would rethink if he were in high school and it were short term, maybe.

Anonymous wrote:I am curious about parents moving kids in and out of various schools in the matter of a few years. How do the the kids react to so much change? Changing schools is HARD. It takes a few months to adjust. Even kids returning to their old schools will have to adjust to changes in friendships, teachers, etc. I am wondering if my kids are just creatures of habit. It was hard for them to start a new school for 9th in high school!

People always say change is HARD yet its a constant factor of life. Kids change teachers every year and in MS/HS they have 7-8 of them. Many kids who moved from public likely still have public school friends and neighbors. The switch will not be a horror show if they have reasonable parents who support them.

Anonymous wrote:I am curious about parents moving kids in and out of various schools in the matter of a few years. How do the the kids react to so much change? Changing schools is HARD. It takes a few months to adjust. Even kids returning to their old schools will have to adjust to changes in friendships, teachers, etc. I am wondering if my kids are just creatures of habit. It was hard for them to start a new school for 9th in high school!

For that reason we reluctantly continued with the Abbey to gave it a chance to prove what it touts. Unfortunately, we have decided to leave as it hasn’t proved to be worth what we pay and cannot say that it is better than public. I cannot say that for all privates, but I am now skeptical as I think a lot of folks like myself are sold on the “polish.”

I am curious about parents moving kids in and out of various schools in the matter of a few years. How do the the kids react to so much change? Changing schools is HARD. It takes a few months to adjust. Even kids returning to their old schools will have to adjust to changes in friendships, teachers, etc. I am wondering if my kids are just creatures of habit. It was hard for them to start a new school for 9th in high school!

No - staying with excellent private

Our HS student is not returning to their former W school. They will stay in private and graduate from there. We didn't even consider it, as MCPS is an absolute disaster area (many of their friends are still in MCPS, and our child, and us, are still friends with many MCPS families).

Our eldest has been in private for the last two years. We had originally intended to keep her there for the rest of middle school and then return to public for high school, but she got into to a great charter school through the lottery and will go there instead next year. Younger siblings are preschool aged and will go to Montessori kindergarten. We’ll reassess next spring whether to stay at Montessori or transfer to our local public.

Anonymous wrote:You are incorrect. WJ was not considered one of the original "W" schools. Whitman, Winston Churchill and Wootton. From what I am currently seeing, WJ is the lesser of the current "W" schools.

See, you know nothing about the W schools