Anonymous wrote:It's never a no-brainer. Private schools have down sides -- and public schools have advantages -- beyond financial. What do your kids need?

As someone who’s done both l agree with this. In your shoes l would give public a chance.

For me, it was always a no-one brainer...even when I had no $...city girl...city ( lousy public schools).

How secure are your jobs? What would happen if your kids got enmeshed in their school and then you could no longer afford it?

Anonymous wrote:It's never a no-brainer.
Find the right school for the child at the time. It's great that you have the money to have options - but explore ALL your options, including public.

As a dear friend said about considering schools:
"take it one kid at a time, one year at a time"

+1. My parents did this with my brother and I, and it was such a great way to get an education honestly. Admittedly we moved a lot because my dad was in the military, so we were regularly switching schools no matter what, but the flexible attitude provided a lot of comfort and freedom.

Anonymous wrote:It's never a no-brainer.
Find the right school for the child at the time. It's great that you have the money to have options - but explore ALL your options, including public.

As a dear friend said about considering schools:
"take it one kid at a time, one year at a time"

This is such great advice.

Anonymous wrote:It's never a no-brainer. Private schools have down sides -- and public schools have advantages -- beyond financial. What do your kids need?

This.

It's never a no-brainer.
Find the right school for the child at the time. It's great that you have the money to have options - but explore ALL your options, including public.

As a dear friend said about considering schools:
"take it one kid at a time, one year at a time"

We have a $2.5m HHI and our kids go to public. Considering switching our younger kids. Oldest applied, got in and decided to stay at his local public.

Anonymous wrote:1.5mm HHI is like 800k after taxes? So you are going to pay 3x50 = 150k or about a fifth of your take-home pay for private school tuition. For me, this would be worth it for smaller class sizes, though I do not think the education at the elementary level is better than a good public. If you wait until 4th for private you will save 4x150k, what would you rather do with 550k in cash that can also benefit your child?

A lot more competitive if you wait past PK or K.

We are at 460k and 3 kids in private since PK (currently in elementary and middle school).

We have a low mortgage (3k) and are very careful about every $ we spend. We don’t go on expensive vacations and (almost) never eat out. It’s worth it to us. Our kids are all in top schools (Cathedrals, Sidwell, etc.)… not sure we would do it for less academic schools.

Kids are happy and thriving and doing many activities outside of school.

It has very little to do with income level. There are many wealthy families who choose public, there are tons of students at expensive privates who get financial aid. It is all about what school is the best fit.

Anonymous wrote:I would try to make a call for each kid at each stage. Private isn’t automatically a better option for all kids. Especially if they have special needs or are very affluent.

Agree, but it is nice to have the funds to actually be able to make a choice.

Anonymous wrote:I would live like you make $500k and build a huge savings nest. Apply to private for 3rd or 4th grade entry years.

We did that, but waited until 9th grade because we had great publics k-8.

It's never really a "no-brainer." Private school isn't a great fit for everyone and it does not guarantee better outcomes. Plenty of high-income families go to public school in this area, and oftentimes they have far better college outcomes.

We make 500k. No family money and grandparents think we are nuts to pay for private.

3 kids
All in public until 6th grade and we are moving to private at that point.
We don’t travel much on trips as school is a choice and we cut back in other areas for the tuition. But