City of Alexandria here. Older DC is at TC Williams (public high school) and having a great, productive time. Younger DC might not thrive in such a large environment, so we are going private this time around (if DC gets in). I am very impressed with the teachers at TC -- for children on the AP track. And I am incredibly impressed by TC's administration.

Yes -- MCPS BCC cluster. Our kids went to public ES; math and reading instruction were excellent, but everything else just "meh". In particular, the writing curriculum was dull and dogmatic; science and social studies were virtually non-existent. We tried middle school for a year with the oldest, then switched to private; our youngest is now a senior.

What we like about our independent school: our kids learned to write well, think critically and creatively, and to be confident public speakers. The curriculum was challenging in all areas, so they developed great work habits. The small class size facilitated great relationship with teachers who had the time to become mentors and friends. Our 2 oldest, who are now in college, were very well prepared to be successful students at great schools; we have every reason to expect that the same will be true of the youngest.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Alexandria City and were not impressed with the public school options and did not want to move.

I'm the OP and in the same boat. I can't give up my short commute.

New poster here. Also an Alexandria family. Lots of us commuting to DC for schools. Would never leave Old Town, though.

Live in MoCo but both parents went to DC privates and we wanted the same for our kids.

Anonymous wrote:We are in Alexandria City and were not impressed with the public school options and did not want to move.

I'm the OP and in the same boat. I can't give up my short commute.

We are in Alexandria City and were not impressed with the public school options and did not want to move.

We live in DC and thought private school was a better option for our DC, based on the fact that this is the intellectual environment at our neighborhood DCPS :

http://www.greatschools.org/modperl/achievement/dc/95

At DC's private the average reading and math comprehension scores on the ERB ( 5th stanine) is 99th % when compared against the public school norm.

Anonymous wrote:I am curious to see how many students live in good school districts but still go to private school.

We live in Ward 1 and thought private school was a better option than Bancroft Elementary, Bell Multi-Cultural Middle School and Lincoln HS.

...on the bank account reference...if we couldn't afford private we would have either moved to another city or state where it's not an issue, or we would have borrowed/worked extra jobs if we lived in the District. when families make a choice to take city living -- in its entirety-- as the priority of lifestyle, paying for private at a certain point is part of the deal. we've done public all the way till MS and HS, and I must say I don't miss all of the parent-led drama of how to pay for extras.

Ditto 19:52. Hoping to get in.

City of alexandria.. Private all the way

JKLMM, started kids at K. Despite all the hoopla, we didn't think public K would be the right choice for our first kid, and the second one went along with the first when old enough. If others think it is the right choice for their kids, I envy their bank accounts - and I mean that sincerely. 2 kids in private K-12 (I assume) for me - ugh.

Yes, we live in a great school cluster in Fairfax County. We chose private. I went to FCPS and know how bad it can be even when it is supposed to be so great. We also wanted smaller classes, a smaller community, a greater focus on discipline, less emphasis on standardized testing, etc. Plus academically our child has had Spanish instruction in school each day since pre school. She participates in the music program and has music lessons in school so I don't have to schlep her anywhere after school if I want her to have music lessons.

I have a zillion other reasons, but the above are a handful.

Private for MS and HS, I don't believe Rhee/Henderson have done anything to improve schools for high achieving kids, and the best teachers are weighted down with test prep and an unfair evaluation system, many of the most brilliant teachers have left in frustration for other counties or private. Every year is a roll of the dice in DCPS, even in the better schools --not risking it for upper grades.

Anonymous wrote:Zoned for Montgomery Blair H.S. Had planned to send DC there, but admitted to incredible DC private. Consider Blair a decent backup should something go wrong at current school.

Name?