Anonymous wrote:Straight As? 2nd grade? Going into debt?
Why move? Why hire tutors? Why do anything now? You still have some time before her middle school.

This!

Straight As? 2nd grade? Going into debt?
Why move? Why hire tutors? Why do anything now? You still have some time before her middle school.

Wait to see what happens to #2. If you don't get the spot do #3 and should be doing some #1. But don't hire tutors, you are the tutor.

move to the suburbs to better school options.

Three.

Keep your house in DC; it's likely to appreciate in value.
Keep your family in DC for commute, diversity.
Keep your community -- if you (parents, not kid) have friends/a support group here.

Don't sell your house (assuming it is in DC). That's your greatest asset and there are many reasons to believe it will continue to appreciate. Any suburb, or even another city, will probably not give you the same kind of appreciation. Try to get financial aid, or stick with Charters. Your child is smart and you are clearly an involved parent. She/he will be fine, a star!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to use home equity to go to private. Up to around 600k you are safe as everybody needs a place to live.
If you lreside in a million dollar home, then yes you might have to dip in. retirement accounts are also protected. We are at private and get FA. What grade are you talking? Elementary school or older? Schools give more aid the older and more academically proven prospective students are. good luck!

Is this accurate because I was told by one of the schools that this was considered a way to fund education. I really don't want to use it! Our house is worth half that.

Yes, it is true. Your school of choice might not have a larege enough endowment. Generally speaking, the wealthier schools can give more. You might want to put your numbers in the online financial aid calculator that most schools use. It will tell you your expected family contribution based on your income and assets. Most schools will give aid close to that number. It costs $40 http://sssbynais.org
Average award at sidwell is close to $26000 and 23% of students receive it. http://www.sidwell.edu/admissions/financial-aid/index.aspx
If you are a minority there is also the latino fund, black student fund or dc opportunity scholarship.

+1 Try Sidwell, STA, and GDS. All have generous financial aid. Also do not over look the parochial schools. Some are excellent, and they are affordable. The big Catholic HS ( Gonzaga, Prep) give financial aid to non Catholic students who come from parish schools. In our experience, Catholic schools are very open to a diversity of students including AA non- Catholic students.

I think you need to look at why you are going in to debt (not that I'm saying you shouldn't be on 80k HHI) but what aspect is costing a lot? Is it your mortgage? Other items? If it is the mortgage - then yes - moving somewhere cheaper makes sense.

what charter school?

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, rigor doesn't really kick in in any school until 4th. Up until 2nd the focus is learning to read; after that the focus is reading to learn.

Instead of a tutor, have you tried 'after schooling'? There a a ton of free resources and some good books out there that are way less expensive than your other options.

Just don't ever speak of it, especially on these forums, lest you be called a Tiger Mom

Anonymous wrote:Never heard of after schooling. What is that PP?

Doing extra stuff afterschool. Look at welltrained mind afterschooling forum to get ideas, BUT at grade 2, do not try to have your child sit down and do loads of homework and afterschooling materials. Instead, make sure you get them out to the museums, free concerts, do mathy-type games (Set, Chess, Ticket to Ride, etc) rather than spending time doing textbooks. How well do they read and do math? By non-rigor do you mean, teaching is terrible and they accept mediocre work from students or that there isn't a large above grade level cohort in second grade.

My vote is wait for charter lottery number. Then rent your current place, rent another in a better neighborhood school or county, but that depends if you can get into a decent space for about the same amount you can rent your current place out.

What are your opportunities for employment if you move to a surrounding county? Would you keep the same job?

Anonymous wrote:4 or 5. In fact, I'm looking at doing 4 or 5 right now myself.

Which 4? The first one on the list or the second?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to use home equity to go to private. Up to around 600k you are safe as everybody needs a place to live.
If you lreside in a million dollar home, then yes you might have to dip in. retirement accounts are also protected. We are at private and get FA. What grade are you talking? Elementary school or older? Schools give more aid the older and more academically proven prospective students are. good luck!

Is this accurate because I was told by one of the schools that this was considered a way to fund education. I really don't want to use it! Our house is worth half that.

Yes, it is true. Your school of choice might not have a larege enough endowment. Generally speaking, the wealthier schools can give more. You might want to put your numbers in the online financial aid calculator that most schools use. It will tell you your expected family contribution based on your income and assets. Most schools will give aid close to that number. It costs $40 http://sssbynais.org
Average award at sidwell is close to $26000 and 23% of students receive it. http://www.sidwell.edu/admissions/financial-aid/index.aspx
If you are a minority there is also the latino fund, black student fund or dc opportunity scholarship.

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to use home equity to go to private. Up to around 600k you are safe as everybody needs a place to live.
If you lreside in a million dollar home, then yes you might have to dip in. retirement accounts are also protected. We are at private and get FA. What grade are you talking? Elementary school or older? Schools give more aid the older and more academically proven prospective students are. good luck!

Is this accurate because I was told by one of the schools that this was considered a way to fund education. I really don't want to use it! Our house is worth half that.