Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel better, our kids are at a NYC private and tuition for next year is $63,000. Both in Elementary.

Anonymous wrote:The annual announcement of outsize tuition increases at Sidwell just came out. For 2023-24

Grades PK-2: $49,680 (ages 4-8 LOL)
Grades 3-4: $52,110
Grades 5-8: $54,700
Grades 9-12: $55,140



Dear Parents and Guardians,

Each January, the Board of Trustees of Sidwell Friends School approves the preliminary budget for the following academic year. It is the culmination of a data-intensive process that assesses needs and priorities, considers economic trends, and benchmarks key financial indicators, including compensation, against other top independent day schools in the region and the country.

This is the second consecutive year we have engaged this work at a time of high inflation. By now, we are all aware of the impact inflation is having on our economy and on the budgets of so many households. And while there are some encouraging signs—inflation has been declining over the past six months—the future remains uncertain. What we do know is that the cost of food, energy, contracted services, and materials required for campus maintenance have risen significantly, and further increases are likely.

Tuition accounts for 86 percent of the School’s revenue, and because of that fact we devote the majority of our budget discussion to the amount of the annual increase. Last year, the School increased aggregate tuition by 6.7 percent, which was up from 3 percent the prior year, before inflation had set in. In both years, the increase trailed the rate of inflation.

For next year, the board has authorized a 6.5 percent aggregate increase. The percentage increase by grade level will vary as we continue the gradual shift to a tiered tuition model that better reflects the higher costs of educating students in the upper grades. Tuition rates for the 2023-24 academic year will be:

Grades PK-2: $49,680
Grades 3-4: $52,110
Grades 5-8: $54,700
Grades 9-12: $55,140

I know this tuition increase will be an unwelcome development for many. However, given today’s economic circumstances, it is our duty as a board to ensure that Sidwell Friends School continues to provide the finest educational experience it can while also ensuring the long-term financial health of the institution. To that end, I want to assure you of three things:

The board has committed to invest additional tuition revenue in faculty and staff. Faculty and staff compensation accounts for 60 percent of our operating expenses, and more than 85 percent of the tuition increase will go directly to faculty and staff benefits. We must recruit, reward, and retain outstanding staff in a competitive market to ensure we continue to deliver the highest quality education for our students. This is particularly true today, when many schools are vying for talented educators and some teachers are rethinking their careers after a very difficult three years.

Socio-economic diversity remains a core value at Sidwell Friends. We are increasing the financial aid budget at a rate at least equal to the tuition increase. Moreover, for the second year in row, we will have a financial aid contingency to assist families particularly challenged by this high inflationary environment. Families who wish to inquire about that support may contact Frankie Brown to discuss your specific situation.

Every dollar of the tuition increase will go toward current spending that supports the education of your child or children. None of the increase will be applied to long-term development plans, which are being financed through philanthropic giving.
In closing, and on behalf of the board, I want to thank you for the trust you have shown in Sidwell Friends this year and in years past. The board recognizes that families have choices and that economic pressures in our society are very real. We also acknowledge how much work faculty, staff, and administrators continue to put in to provide the finest educational experience possible to the 1,140 students who come to the School each day. We remain grateful for the contribution everyone makes to this community.

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Anonymous wrote:Sidwell isn't homogeneous, fwiw. It is very diverse, both economically and racially.

It’s very diverse. In every grade they have a handful of carefully curated poors.

That is a terrible way to speak about people, let alone children.

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Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel better, our kids are at a NYC private and tuition for next year is $63,000. Both in Elementary.

I follow an influencer type lady on Instagram who will have put three daughters through Chapin k-12. So over $2M.

Anonymous wrote:If it makes you feel better, our kids are at a NYC private and tuition for next year is $63,000. Both in Elementary.

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Anonymous wrote:This thread makes me so happy my kids don't go to private school. Everyone is justifying spending all that $$ to ensure that their kids make a lot of money and are in the right social class. Those values are not my values so I am extremely glad my kids aren't a part of it.

Those aren’t the reasons we sent our kid to private. We don’t even look at report card.

This. We were both lost amid huge public schools. I was a high school valedictorian, but I was never diagnosed with ADHD because I was able to do the work. I fell apart when I got to college (yes, an Ivy for those judging.)

The progressive school we chose is teaching kids so more than academics, which are top notch.

My ADHD (and later diagnosed as ASD) kid tried Potomac Summer School Camp to get a feel for what it might be like to go to a private instead of a public and it wasn't pretty. I recognize that the staff for the camp is different but the fact that my kid couldn't handle the stress of a summer camp at the private suggested to me that we'd never be able to make it at one of these higher tier privates during the regular school year. We have the money to send our kid to one of these schools, but none that we've seen would be a better fit than the public we have.

I went to a private as a (scholarship) kid and there were no minorities there. Now there are privates with no kids on the spectrum. That was all people knew to do at the time I guess.

Other than using the facilities, the summer camps have absolutely no relationship to the host schools.

Eh. A bunch of the same kids go there. It’s not completely unrelated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell isn't homogeneous, fwiw. It is very diverse, both economically and racially.

It’s very diverse. In every grade they have a handful of carefully curated poors.

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Anonymous wrote:I know you’re being sarcastic but let’s role play this and you might feel better. So let’s say that a something somewhat headline worthy happens in your school. I don’t know, a kid brings a knife in. So instead of saying a kid brought get a knife in, your fellow parents posts the entire thing, the names and the gory details and all. How do you feel? If you feel great and think go for it, we simply will have to agree to disagree.

No issue with the privileged OP sending out her summary and interpretation of any announcement. But I do take an exception to copying an internal email. It’s uncouth and breaks an unspoken social contract. And if you don’t know it, you’re an oaf like the OP, imho. And I wasn’t even going to comment.

Not how no single fellow parent thought OP was correct in doing it in this particular way. Do it, it’s a free country and public info, but to be breathlessly sharing something internal before it’s made public, which it was, is pathetic and low

Posting personal information about a minor child is not a good example of what you are trying to illustrate.

The SFS parents really need to rein each other in. Does no one address this with this parent in person?

Anonymous wrote:AS IF the equivalent situation is a kid bringing a knife in, and you not seeing a problem with your equivalency here is one reason why many of us don’t want to be anywhere near your privates.

Heh.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell isn't homogeneous, fwiw. It is very diverse, both economically and racially.

It’s very diverse. In every grade they have a handful of carefully curated poors.

That is a terrible way to speak about people, let alone children.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell isn't homogeneous, fwiw. It is very diverse, both economically and racially.

It’s very diverse. In every grade they have a handful of carefully curated poors.