Anonymous
06/23/2026 01:45
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Mom of three kids. All enrolled at the same "Big 5" (whatever that means). Very disappointed. My experience: our private school it is just another big business, very little care for the children, plus the parent community is asphyxiating.
Anonymous
06/22/2026 22:49
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is plenty of bad behavior in prestigious private schools documented in the press: ncs, Sidwell, Maret, Landon, to name a few.
There is bad teenage behavior at most high schools after school hours , but what you are referring to is not in the class room. The difference is that private schools are more likely to expel or suspend kids, even for off grounds behavior.
Yes, this isn’t about character of kids writ large but impact as the classroom level. I don’t think Big 3 kids are necessarily of better character or better humans than the at-risk kids at our prior Title1 school. But they do have different impacts the academic climate.
Exactly. I'm not arguing that kids that go to private school have better character, but under current policies, public schools have an inability to remove kids with behavioral issues from the classroom. Private schools can screen before admitting, and then, counsel out or expel if necessary.
This is true at many privates (not all of course) too when the parents are big donors. Money covers up a lot. I’ve known kids who got kicked out of public schools for behavior and so went to private schools. There their bad behavior was ignored because of money.
Didn’t happen, impossible to get kicked out of public school. Nice try though.
I teach at DCPS and my kid goes to a private. Expulsion is a thing in public.
At our private, the school coaches out or exits children who have behavior issues AND are POC’s. But there have been some very problematic little white boys who seem to get all the chances in the world.
When my kids went to private school, there were some big donor families, also families with multiple kids/tuition payments at the school, who got all the chances in the world. I'm sure racism is a factor, too.
Anonymous
06/22/2026 22:47
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Firstly, I suspect op is a troll. Just send your kid to public, no one really cares.
As someone who actually had my kids in public before private, more than happy to pay for an experience that has been better in every respect, including college matriculation.
+1
I would pay double the already high tuition having seen the gap in quality between the public schools my kids were attending and the private they moved to. And the college matriculation is better.
The college matriculation has been amazing at our public. But supposedly people don’t send their children to private for this. Yet they keep mentioning it.
Yes, it's absolutely fascinating to me that so many parents have convinced themselves that college matriculation is better at private schools, elite or otherwise. The data simply doesn't bear that out. I picked a school with a specialized curriculum that I wanted for my own children, but I have no illusions that it'll make any impact at all on where they end up going to college.
It certainly is at my private. Roughly 20 percent of the class is going to an Ivy or Stanford--total of 16 kids, only two hooked kids Also sending kids to most of the NESACs, including multiple to Amherst, Middlebury and Williams. Also sending at least one kid (and often two) to Hopkins, Northwestern, Wash U, Notre Dame, Georgetown, GaTech, Duke, UCLA, and UNC (oos). Last year, two to Cal Tech. Class of around 120.
Our local public is sending two kids to Ivies out of a class of 375, and no one to three quarters of the schools I just listed. Upper middle -middle class suburb of a midatlantic city.
There are many hooks, legacy is not the only one. I suspect the percentage of hooked kids going to Ivies is much higher than you happen to know about.
Not legacy, donor, athletic recruit, urm, or first gen/low income. Please tell me the hook I am missing? Just admit you are not correct.
NP. Being full-pay isn't usually considered a "hook" but it's always a thumb on the scale. Full-pay families can apply ED without having to worry about financial aid offers. And colleges want full-pay families to offset the financial aid kids.
Private school families are much more likely than public school families to swing Ivy tuition. We credit being full-pay for DD's acceptance to a "top" ivy (from public). The ivy actually accepted a number of kids from DD's public, but DD was one of the few who matriculated because we were one of the few families that could actually pay full tuition.
Anonymous
06/22/2026 17:52
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is plenty of bad behavior in prestigious private schools documented in the press: ncs, Sidwell, Maret, Landon, to name a few.
There is bad teenage behavior at most high schools after school hours , but what you are referring to is not in the class room. The difference is that private schools are more likely to expel or suspend kids, even for off grounds behavior.
Yes, this isn’t about character of kids writ large but impact as the classroom level. I don’t think Big 3 kids are necessarily of better character or better humans than the at-risk kids at our prior Title1 school. But they do have different impacts the academic climate.
Exactly. I'm not arguing that kids that go to private school have better character, but under current policies, public schools have an inability to remove kids with behavioral issues from the classroom. Private schools can screen before admitting, and then, counsel out or expel if necessary.
This is true at many privates (not all of course) too when the parents are big donors. Money covers up a lot. I’ve known kids who got kicked out of public schools for behavior and so went to private schools. There their bad behavior was ignored because of money.
Didn’t happen, impossible to get kicked out of public school. Nice try though.
I teach at DCPS and my kid goes to a private. Expulsion is a thing in public.
At our private, the school coaches out or exits children who have behavior issues AND are POC’s. But there have been some very problematic little white boys who seem to get all the chances in the world.
Sounds horrible, not remotely how it works at my private. Why do you stay? Which school are you referring to? Would be doing a public service in identifying, assuming you are being truthful.
Anonymous
06/22/2026 17:40
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is plenty of bad behavior in prestigious private schools documented in the press: ncs, Sidwell, Maret, Landon, to name a few.
There is bad teenage behavior at most high schools after school hours , but what you are referring to is not in the class room. The difference is that private schools are more likely to expel or suspend kids, even for off grounds behavior.
Yes, this isn’t about character of kids writ large but impact as the classroom level. I don’t think Big 3 kids are necessarily of better character or better humans than the at-risk kids at our prior Title1 school. But they do have different impacts the academic climate.
Exactly. I'm not arguing that kids that go to private school have better character, but under current policies, public schools have an inability to remove kids with behavioral issues from the classroom. Private schools can screen before admitting, and then, counsel out or expel if necessary.
This is true at many privates (not all of course) too when the parents are big donors. Money covers up a lot. I’ve known kids who got kicked out of public schools for behavior and so went to private schools. There their bad behavior was ignored because of money.
Didn’t happen, impossible to get kicked out of public school. Nice try though.
I teach at DCPS and my kid goes to a private. Expulsion is a thing in public.
At our private, the school coaches out or exits children who have behavior issues AND are POC’s. But there have been some very problematic little white boys who seem to get all the chances in the world.
This is so depressing, but does sound right.
Anonymous
06/22/2026 17:30
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is plenty of bad behavior in prestigious private schools documented in the press: ncs, Sidwell, Maret, Landon, to name a few.
There is bad teenage behavior at most high schools after school hours , but what you are referring to is not in the class room. The difference is that private schools are more likely to expel or suspend kids, even for off grounds behavior.
Yes, this isn’t about character of kids writ large but impact as the classroom level. I don’t think Big 3 kids are necessarily of better character or better humans than the at-risk kids at our prior Title1 school. But they do have different impacts the academic climate.
Exactly. I'm not arguing that kids that go to private school have better character, but under current policies, public schools have an inability to remove kids with behavioral issues from the classroom. Private schools can screen before admitting, and then, counsel out or expel if necessary.
This is true at many privates (not all of course) too when the parents are big donors. Money covers up a lot. I’ve known kids who got kicked out of public schools for behavior and so went to private schools. There their bad behavior was ignored because of money.
Didn’t happen, impossible to get kicked out of public school. Nice try though.
I teach at DCPS and my kid goes to a private. Expulsion is a thing in public.
At our private, the school coaches out or exits children who have behavior issues AND are POC’s. But there have been some very problematic little white boys who seem to get all the chances in the world.
Anonymous
06/22/2026 14:22
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Firstly, I suspect op is a troll. Just send your kid to public, no one really cares.
As someone who actually had my kids in public before private, more than happy to pay for an experience that has been better in every respect, including college matriculation.
+1
I would pay double the already high tuition having seen the gap in quality between the public schools my kids were attending and the private they moved to. And the college matriculation is better.
The college matriculation has been amazing at our public. But supposedly people don’t send their children to private for this. Yet they keep mentioning it.
Yes, it's absolutely fascinating to me that so many parents have convinced themselves that college matriculation is better at private schools, elite or otherwise. The data simply doesn't bear that out. I picked a school with a specialized curriculum that I wanted for my own children, but I have no illusions that it'll make any impact at all on where they end up going to college.
It certainly is at my private. Roughly 20 percent of the class is going to an Ivy or Stanford--total of 16 kids, only two hooked kids Also sending kids to most of the NESACs, including multiple to Amherst, Middlebury and Williams. Also sending at least one kid (and often two) to Hopkins, Northwestern, Wash U, Notre Dame, Georgetown, GaTech, Duke, UCLA, and UNC (oos). Last year, two to Cal Tech. Class of around 120.
Our local public is sending two kids to Ivies out of a class of 375, and no one to three quarters of the schools I just listed. Upper middle -middle class suburb of a midatlantic city.
There are many hooks, legacy is not the only one. I suspect the percentage of hooked kids going to Ivies is much higher than you happen to know about.
Not legacy, donor, athletic recruit, urm, or first gen/low income. Please tell me the hook I am missing? Just admit you are not correct.
Anonymous
06/22/2026 13:49
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Firstly, I suspect op is a troll. Just send your kid to public, no one really cares.
As someone who actually had my kids in public before private, more than happy to pay for an experience that has been better in every respect, including college matriculation.
+1
I would pay double the already high tuition having seen the gap in quality between the public schools my kids were attending and the private they moved to. And the college matriculation is better.
The college matriculation has been amazing at our public. But supposedly people don’t send their children to private for this. Yet they keep mentioning it.
Yes, it's absolutely fascinating to me that so many parents have convinced themselves that college matriculation is better at private schools, elite or otherwise. The data simply doesn't bear that out. I picked a school with a specialized curriculum that I wanted for my own children, but I have no illusions that it'll make any impact at all on where they end up going to college.
It certainly is at my private. Roughly 20 percent of the class is going to an Ivy or Stanford--total of 16 kids, only two hooked kids Also sending kids to most of the NESACs, including multiple to Amherst, Middlebury and Williams. Also sending at least one kid (and often two) to Hopkins, Northwestern, Wash U, Notre Dame, Georgetown, GaTech, Duke, UCLA, and UNC (oos). Last year, two to Cal Tech. Class of around 120.
Our local public is sending two kids to Ivies out of a class of 375, and no one to three quarters of the schools I just listed. Upper middle -middle class suburb of a midatlantic city.
There are many hooks, legacy is not the only one. I suspect the percentage of hooked kids going to Ivies is much higher than you happen to know about.
Anonymous
06/22/2026 13:08
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is plenty of bad behavior in prestigious private schools documented in the press: ncs, Sidwell, Maret, Landon, to name a few.
There is bad teenage behavior at most high schools after school hours , but what you are referring to is not in the class room. The difference is that private schools are more likely to expel or suspend kids, even for off grounds behavior.
Yes, this isn’t about character of kids writ large but impact as the classroom level. I don’t think Big 3 kids are necessarily of better character or better humans than the at-risk kids at our prior Title1 school. But they do have different impacts the academic climate.
Exactly. I'm not arguing that kids that go to private school have better character, but under current policies, public schools have an inability to remove kids with behavioral issues from the classroom. Private schools can screen before admitting, and then, counsel out or expel if necessary.
This is true at many privates (not all of course) too when the parents are big donors. Money covers up a lot. I’ve known kids who got kicked out of public schools for behavior and so went to private schools. There their bad behavior was ignored because of money.
Didn’t happen, impossible to get kicked out of public school. Nice try though.
Kids get kicked out for murder all the time, but that’s about it and even then no guarantee.
Anonymous
06/22/2026 12:53
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is plenty of bad behavior in prestigious private schools documented in the press: ncs, Sidwell, Maret, Landon, to name a few.
There is bad teenage behavior at most high schools after school hours , but what you are referring to is not in the class room. The difference is that private schools are more likely to expel or suspend kids, even for off grounds behavior.
Yes, this isn’t about character of kids writ large but impact as the classroom level. I don’t think Big 3 kids are necessarily of better character or better humans than the at-risk kids at our prior Title1 school. But they do have different impacts the academic climate.
Exactly. I'm not arguing that kids that go to private school have better character, but under current policies, public schools have an inability to remove kids with behavioral issues from the classroom. Private schools can screen before admitting, and then, counsel out or expel if necessary.
This is true at many privates (not all of course) too when the parents are big donors. Money covers up a lot. I’ve known kids who got kicked out of public schools for behavior and so went to private schools. There their bad behavior was ignored because of money.
Didn’t happen, impossible to get kicked out of public school. Nice try though.
Anonymous
06/22/2026 11:40
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is plenty of bad behavior in prestigious private schools documented in the press: ncs, Sidwell, Maret, Landon, to name a few.
There is bad teenage behavior at most high schools after school hours , but what you are referring to is not in the class room. The difference is that private schools are more likely to expel or suspend kids, even for off grounds behavior.
Yes, this isn’t about character of kids writ large but impact as the classroom level. I don’t think Big 3 kids are necessarily of better character or better humans than the at-risk kids at our prior Title1 school. But they do have different impacts the academic climate.
Exactly. I'm not arguing that kids that go to private school have better character, but under current policies, public schools have an inability to remove kids with behavioral issues from the classroom. Private schools can screen before admitting, and then, counsel out or expel if necessary.
This is true at many privates (not all of course) too when the parents are big donors. Money covers up a lot. I’ve known kids who got kicked out of public schools for behavior and so went to private schools. There their bad behavior was ignored because of money.
Anonymous
06/22/2026 10:43
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is plenty of bad behavior in prestigious private schools documented in the press: ncs, Sidwell, Maret, Landon, to name a few.
There is bad teenage behavior at most high schools after school hours , but what you are referring to is not in the class room. The difference is that private schools are more likely to expel or suspend kids, even for off grounds behavior.
Yes, this isn’t about character of kids writ large but impact as the classroom level. I don’t think Big 3 kids are necessarily of better character or better humans than the at-risk kids at our prior Title1 school. But they do have different impacts the academic climate.
Exactly. I'm not arguing that kids that go to private school have better character, but under current policies, public schools have an inability to remove kids with behavioral issues from the classroom. Private schools can screen before admitting, and then, counsel out or expel if necessary.
Anonymous
06/22/2026 10:40
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Firstly, I suspect op is a troll. Just send your kid to public, no one really cares.
As someone who actually had my kids in public before private, more than happy to pay for an experience that has been better in every respect, including college matriculation.
+1
I would pay double the already high tuition having seen the gap in quality between the public schools my kids were attending and the private they moved to. And the college matriculation is better.
The college matriculation has been amazing at our public. But supposedly people don’t send their children to private for this. Yet they keep mentioning it.
Yes, it's absolutely fascinating to me that so many parents have convinced themselves that college matriculation is better at private schools, elite or otherwise. The data simply doesn't bear that out. I picked a school with a specialized curriculum that I wanted for my own children, but I have no illusions that it'll make any impact at all on where they end up going to college.
It certainly is at my private. Roughly 20 percent of the class is going to an Ivy or Stanford--total of 16 kids, only two hooked kids Also sending kids to most of the NESACs, including multiple to Amherst, Middlebury and Williams. Also sending at least one kid (and often two) to Hopkins, Northwestern, Wash U, Notre Dame, Georgetown, GaTech, Duke, UCLA, and UNC (oos). Last year, two to Cal Tech. Class of around 120.
Our local public is sending two kids to Ivies out of a class of 375, and no one to three quarters of the schools I just listed. Upper middle -middle class suburb of a midatlantic city.
Anonymous
06/22/2026 10:14
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Firstly, I suspect op is a troll. Just send your kid to public, no one really cares.
As someone who actually had my kids in public before private, more than happy to pay for an experience that has been better in every respect, including college matriculation.
+1
I would pay double the already high tuition having seen the gap in quality between the public schools my kids were attending and the private they moved to. And the college matriculation is better.
The college matriculation has been amazing at our public. But supposedly people don’t send their children to private for this. Yet they keep mentioning it.
Yes, it's absolutely fascinating to me that so many parents have convinced themselves that college matriculation is better at private schools, elite or otherwise. The data simply doesn't bear that out. I picked a school with a specialized curriculum that I wanted for my own children, but I have no illusions that it'll make any impact at all on where they end up going to college.
Anonymous
06/21/2026 21:02
Subject: Is the obsession with private schools justified?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is plenty of bad behavior in prestigious private schools documented in the press: ncs, Sidwell, Maret, Landon, to name a few.
There is bad teenage behavior at most high schools after school hours , but what you are referring to is not in the class room. The difference is that private schools are more likely to expel or suspend kids, even for off grounds behavior.
There are levels to bad teenage behavior. The difference is that at my children’s DCPS, the bad (and very disruptive) behavior occurred inside and outside the classroom, and off campus. At their Big 3 (moved there in high school), the bad behavior occurs almost exclusively off campus. It’s not disrupting their learning environment.