Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in independent schools and the rising costs are going to shut us down. It's unrealistic to think that we can continue to raise the prices, year after year, and NOT have it squeeze everyone... remember tuition doesn't even cover the full cost of the entire program, so you have to give ON TOP of that. Everyone is always wondering about the "Big 3" in DC - and every one of them (whether it's STA, NCS, Maret, GDS, Sidwell) will hit $50K before too long. These schools (and I work for one) are in an arms race...nicer gyms, nicer science labs, etc... and it's madness. Because the teachers are NOT getting huge raises year after year...we get minimal raises, just like the average parents out there. And I wouldn't blame Bryan G. for this one...I'd blame the BOARD at every one of these schools...getting greedier every tuition increase along the way.

As a parent who is working hard to afford tuition, one of the really bothersome facts for me is that the money really is not resulting in a better quality of life for my child's teachers. It is the small classes, warm environment, and teachers that I care about. Also extras like having a great art teacher and program. But that it not the same thing as building new state of the art facilities that are nicer than my college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell’s new gym is fabulous but pretty over the top. High school kids don’t need such top notch facilities - nicer than the college I. went to. I’m a Sidwell parent and annoyed about this tuition increase. Sidwell has the name and prestige already. They don’t need to keep spending $ to have the best facilities. School used to be less materialistic but that has changed.

They needed a new gym because the old facilities, built in the 1950's, were inadequate to fulfill the program mission. There were too many teams, particularly in Middle School, competing for court space in the winter, and not enough locker room space for both middle and upper school students. Should they have spent less and built a facility that they couldn't grow into?

Anonymous wrote:I work in independent schools and the rising costs are going to shut us down. It's unrealistic to think that we can continue to raise the prices, year after year, and NOT have it squeeze everyone... remember tuition doesn't even cover the full cost of the entire program, so you have to give ON TOP of that. Everyone is always wondering about the "Big 3" in DC - and every one of them (whether it's STA, NCS, Maret, GDS, Sidwell) will hit $50K before too long. These schools (and I work for one) are in an arms race...nicer gyms, nicer science labs, etc... and it's madness. Because the teachers are NOT getting huge raises year after year...we get minimal raises, just like the average parents out there. And I wouldn't blame Bryan G. for this one...I'd blame the BOARD at every one of these schools...getting greedier every tuition increase along the way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out of curiosity, what are the least expensive, completely secular independent high schools in the DC area?

I think this one:

http://www.blythtempleton.org/tuition-and-fees

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell’s new gym is fabulous but pretty over the top. High school kids don’t need such top notch facilities - nicer than the college I went to. I’m a Sidwell parent and annoyed about this tuition increase. Sidwell has the name and prestige already. They don’t need to keep spending $ to have the best facilities. School used to be less materialistic but that has changed.

Anonymous wrote:I'd blame the parents, too, who are guilty of expecting that their schools have *everything* that any other school has -- and nicer and better at that. Parents have anxiety about their kids having every competitive edge when applying to college, and parents are guilty of plain, old affluenza. So parents complain when another school has more international travel opportunities or more ipads or a slightly better teacher ratio or whatever.

It's an arms race to perfection, whatever the costs, and the boards and HOSs are leading the charge, but the parents are egging them on.

Anonymous wrote:I work in independent schools and the rising costs are going to shut us down. It's unrealistic to think that we can continue to raise the prices, year after year, and NOT have it squeeze everyone... remember tuition doesn't even cover the full cost of the entire program, so you have to give ON TOP of that. Everyone is always wondering about the "Big 3" in DC - and every one of them (whether it's STA, NCS, Maret, GDS, Sidwell) will hit $50K before too long. These schools (and I work for one) are in an arms race...nicer gyms, nicer science labs, etc... and it's madness. Because the teachers are NOT getting huge raises year after year...we get minimal raises, just like the average parents out there. And I wouldn't blame Bryan G. for this one...I'd blame the BOARD at every one of these schools...getting greedier every tuition increase along the way.

Anonymous wrote:Out of curiosity, what are the least expensive, completely secular independent high schools in the DC area?

Anonymous wrote:2017-18

STA 44,144
NCS 41,975
Sidwell 40,840
GDS, 40,000 (no lunch program)
Potomac 39,770
Maret 37,700