Anonymous
12/29/2011 10:56
Subject: Re:Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private Schoo
I think this is a great question. There is no doubt I would buy in a great public school system. Parents are nicer and more involved. Money is not the focus. Anyone who thinks private school gives you peace of mind has not raised a teenager.
Anonymous
12/29/2011 10:07
Subject: Re:Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private Schoo
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
Aside from needing to take my children to craft stores and the library occasionally for projects (school doesn't do that, which is a shame because I hate craft stores), we've evidently been getting a private school experience at our public school.
Must go roll around in the money we've saved now.
Congratulations! Where do your kids go to school?
Anonymous
12/29/2011 06:20
Subject: Re:Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private Schoo
Anonymous wrote: I've had kids in public and private. One thing about private school - you are buying peace of mind. You will know what your child is doing and the teachers will communicate with you regularly. You won't be asked to work on school projects with your child at home; this will be done at school. You will get written comments from teachers at report-card time, not just letter grades. You will have easier access to school administration because they are invested. In my experience this isn't so much the case in public schools. I'd say that in most public schools parents need to be more actively involved and advocate for their children. Does this justify the massive tuition of private school? I think this is a difficult judgment call every family must make based on their individual circumstances.
Aside from needing to take my children to craft stores and the library occasionally for projects (school doesn't do that, which is a shame because I hate craft stores), we've evidently been getting a private school experience at our public school.
Must go roll around in the money we've saved now.
Anonymous
12/28/2011 22:29
Subject: Re:Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private Schoo
Anonymous wrote:
In McLean most of the families you know go private? Are most of the families that you know in McLean friends you met through your private school? This is really surprising to me. I thought people moved to McLean because it has the best public schools in the state.
People mostly move to McLean because it's close to DC and Tysons and it's safe and prosperous. Some may move there specifically for the public schools, but a lot of people do send their kids to privates. If you travel in certain circles, it's more likely that most of the people you know in McLean will send their kids to privates. Bethesda is no different.
Anonymous
12/28/2011 18:11
Subject: Re:Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private Schoo
Anonymous wrote:We just bought a house in Alexandria and plan to send the kids to private.
Most all the families we know in McLean send their kids to private school.
In McLean most of the families you know go private? Are most of the families that you know in McLean friends you met through your private school? This is really surprising to me. I thought people moved to McLean because it has the best public schools in the state.
Anonymous
12/28/2011 17:45
Subject: Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private School
We are facing a similar question, except that we are going to be paying the same: sell our house at a loss to move to a better school district or pay about the same to send our child to private school for the duration. (We weren't planning to have a child when we bought here, and now are stuck in the house because of the market.)
I lean toward staying and going private because we don't know whether we can actually afford a home in a good school district and/or whether our child would be better off in a private setting anyway. I remind DH all the time that if we could have afforded a nice neighborhood in Montgomery County, we would have bought there 6 years ago!
I lean toward staying and going private because we don't know whether we can actually afford a home in a good school district and/or whether our child would be better off in a private setting anyway. I remind DH all the time that if we could have afforded a nice neighborhood in Montgomery County, we would have bought there 6 years ago!
Anonymous
12/28/2011 16:52
Subject: Re:Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private Schoo
I've had kids in public and private. One thing about private school - you are buying peace of mind. You will know what your child is doing and the teachers will communicate with you regularly. You won't be asked to work on school projects with your child at home; this will be done at school. You will get written comments from teachers at report-card time, not just letter grades. You will have easier access to school administration because they are invested. In my experience this isn't so much the case in public schools. I'd say that in most public schools parents need to be more actively involved and advocate for their children. Does this justify the massive tuition of private school? I think this is a difficult judgment call every family must make based on their individual circumstances.
Anonymous
12/27/2011 15:35
Subject: Re:Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private Schoo
We are city people. Left our DC neighborhood when I got pregnant with second. 1.7 miles across the river were free, phenomenal public schools in an urban/walkable environment. The 60k year we are saving was the right choice for us. We probably could have done public Until middle, but the particular DC school was inferior and the playground was a matchbox size blacktop. We decided to move somewhere where public education was very high quality through high school.
Anonymous
12/27/2011 10:59
Subject: Re:Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private Schoo
We just bought a house in Alexandria and plan to send the kids to private.
Most all the families we know in McLean send their kids to private school.
Most all the families we know in McLean send their kids to private school.
Anonymous
12/26/2011 22:26
Subject: Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private School
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:As a parent of with 2 kids in private school, I say don't do it!! Biggest mistake I ever made. I am just biding my time until they graduate from 8th grade and then it is off to public school. The return on the investment just isn't there.
I've been sending three kids to private school for many years and other than the $$ I've been very happy. The problem is...the money. I don't want to think about how much we've spent on tuition over the years. As great as their experiences have been in private I'm not sure if I'd still go the private school route unless you really are wealthy enough to swing it comfortably. And remember -- private school tuition only goes UP, never down.
The way to think about this is to ask whether or not your kid is really getting an education that's worth $30,000 per year MORE than what they will get at a public?
I will never forget the annoyance of a mom who sent her dd to Burgundy Farms when she found out ACPS was using the exact same curriculum.
The answer is unless the school itself offers connections or is otherwise elite, it's probably NOT worth the money relative to what your kid will get out of the public school
Anonymous
12/26/2011 20:07
Subject: Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private School
Anonymous wrote:As a parent of with 2 kids in private school, I say don't do it!! Biggest mistake I ever made. I am just biding my time until they graduate from 8th grade and then it is off to public school. The return on the investment just isn't there.
I've been sending three kids to private school for many years and other than the $$ I've been very happy. The problem is...the money. I don't want to think about how much we've spent on tuition over the years. As great as their experiences have been in private I'm not sure if I'd still go the private school route unless you really are wealthy enough to swing it comfortably. And remember -- private school tuition only goes UP, never down.
Anonymous
12/10/2011 21:15
Subject: Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private School
We used to live in Alexandria and moved because of schools. We decided to move before our oldest started K. We couldn't have been okay in our old elementary, it was the middle school and high school that we considered most problematic. But for us it was important not to change schools once the kids started K.
Anonymous
12/10/2011 08:26
Subject: Re:Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private Schoo
Anonymous wrote:Just saw this discussion and wanted to ask a follow up. We don't have school age kids yet but aren't in love with the (Alexandria) school we are zoned for. At what age does it make sense to move to "better" schools-- ideally we would want a better idea of the school situation (to avoid districting at either the old house or new house) and the child. We'd have to be somewhat flexible as we'd be selling first then buying so the process could take a while.
Another Alexandria resident here. We chose Alexandria for the short commute. The schools seem fine but are ranked low amongst the Fairfax public schools.
My older child is 2 years old so we have some time to think about it.
DH and I go back and forth. We both think the foundation is important. We will most likely send our children to private school elementary when the time comes. If a kid has a strong foundation, I feel s/he can excel in high school. If the child has a weak foundation, s/he won't do well in high school (public or private).
Anonymous
12/09/2011 15:33
Subject: Re:Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private Schoo
Just saw this discussion and wanted to ask a follow up. We don't have school age kids yet but aren't in love with the (Alexandria) school we are zoned for. At what age does it make sense to move to "better" schools-- ideally we would want a better idea of the school situation (to avoid districting at either the old house or new house) and the child. We'd have to be somewhat flexible as we'd be selling first then buying so the process could take a while.
Anonymous
11/11/2011 19:07
Subject: Private vs Public, Move to a good Public School area, or move to a cheaper area and Private School
If you have more than one kid buy in the good school district. We had our 3 kids in private when the private decided they didn't want our middle kid. At the time we were in a poor public school district. It is virtually impossible to move multiple kids to a new (good) private b/c of lack of available spaces in a grade you need. We pulled all 3 kids out of the private, although we had originally been committed to keeping all 3 in the private until graduation. We bought a house in a great school district and moved the kids. It turned out fantastic for us. We are still open to private if needed, but so far (1.5 yrs later) we are loving the public. The 80K savings/yr is a nice bonus!