Anonymous wrote:Class size, class size, class size. That’s what you’re paying for.

Class sizes are the same at least at the elementary level at my local public versus local parochial schools. In fact the parochial class sizes may be slightly larger. But the public school classes so far have had 15% of the kids be so disruptive and the lack of leveling has been dragging the whole class' achievement down. My kid's growth tests showed flat progress for the year and his math scores are actually consistenly lower than he tested at the beginning of the year.

Looking at parochial not for class size, but for 1) more compliant kids who aren't going to derail the class 2) traditional curriculum and 3) standards based and evidenced based teaching/curriculum through textbooks vs teaching literacy and math "skills" on ipads. I'm hoping parochials still teach kids how to organize and write.

We attended a well-regarded school. I realized the school test scores were so much better because of all of the supplementing parents were doing outside of school while the school was cutting out advancement opportunities. I didn’t want my kids spending their nights and weekends at RSM and with tutors, so we switched schools.

Class size, class size, class size. That’s what you’re paying for.

I live in the boundary of a top MD/top MCPS magnet high school, which is why we moved there. However, it has become crystal clear that if you child is not part of the magnet program, the education is lack-luster. The majority of the energy goes towards the magnet kids.

I have kids at both public and private. There are so many different reasons why one would send their kid to private. Really depends on the kid and which private school. Some parents send their kid to more elite schools. There are only very few that I would say are academically stronger than the strong publics. The rest of the privates kind of coddle the kids and the kids are basically the same as the public school kids who live in their same neighborhoods.

I have seen bad behavior in both public and private. The bad behavior may be different. My private school kid hangs out with the cooler popular kids and I do not think these kids are nice kids. He is learning jerky rich kid entitled behavior and I don’t like it.

so, does anybody have data for whether seniors at Landon place better in college than those seniors at Whitman HS?

I live in one of those areas with excellent, town-based not county-based, publics in the Northeast--we moved out of the DMV before kids started elementary. Our local elementary school has been nothing short of magical for my two kids. Middle school and high school will be another thing entirely and we'll take it as it comes. I hope that public will continue to work well for us but I can't rule out the idea of private entirely because I want to do whatever is best for my kids.

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Anonymous wrote:I think the county-run publics in the DC region can be solid but aren’t going to deliver top-tier education in the way that smaller public districts further north like Brookline, MA, Short Hills, NJ, or Scarsdale, NY can.

I wouldn’t say those are top tier. If you live in those towns, go to Roxbury Latin, Lawrenceville, and Horace Mann, respectively.

Lawrenceville is like an hour and 30 minutes away from Short Hills. PP has no idea what they're talking about. Millburn High School (which services Short Hills) is a great public school, but not even the best in NJ. Most of the people I knew in Short Hills that went private went to Pingry, Kent Place and Newark Academy for independent schools, or if they were Catholic they went to Delbarton or Oak Knoll.

Delbarton and Pingry arent good and anything with Newark in it is a sign to run for the hills. Nonetheless, all are better options than any NJ public school.

Lawrenceville is the best HS in NJ. It’s convenient to board there from Short Hills.

If you're boarding, almost any option is convenient. Get out of here with that nonsense. This is not a common option even for people choosing private over public.

Boarding in New England if you live in Texas or Georgia is not convenient. Boarding 90 minutes away within the same state is convenient, and that is why I said Lawrenceville and not Woodberry Forest.

Boarding schools are more generous with aid than day schools, and often less expensive than DC NYC Boston day schools.

Please keep defending public education, I'll get my popcorn.

Most kids are not attending boarding school as a boarding student in state…

About half of the boarders at Madeira are local boarders (DC, MD or VA). Episcopal also has a good number of local boarders.

Exactly. That poster attacking the idea of someone from Short Hills attending Lawrenceville is out of his or her depth.

I'm just saying I don't think it's a particularly common option. 30% of students are not boarders. 20% are international, which leaves fewer than 500 students K-12 presumably coming from all over New Jersey and perhaps other parts of the country. The number of students from Short Hills is likely low.

Going to boarding school is not common but going to private school AT ALL (including parochial schools) is uncommon, as in well south of one in six students in the U.S. at any given time. To my original response to you, though, the elite privates in a major metro are better than the best publics in terms of academic rigor and educational quality.