Anonymous wrote:Public was much more flexible about letting DC take more advanced options in math, CS & science and when he was allowed to take them. Also, how many he could take in a given year. He also had a very strong peer group that was a positive influence.

What I was most surprised about was how the large public school understood DC's academic needs much better than the top private he'd been attending. I thought that's part of what we were paying for with private school but it turned out not to be the case.

We are fortunate to have excellent public schools. Without them, my answer might be different. That said, I give the nod to the private on writing, among a few other things.

How did the public understand his needs in a way the private didn't?

Anonymous wrote:Because the MCPS math magnets offer far more than any private can.

Agree. Not specific to MCPS, but we’ve done something similar. Kids went to private through middle school, and are very bright and accelerated learners. We switched to public this year and have been pleased. Our public schools are terrible in general, BUT there are some amazing programs for academically advanced kids that are far superior to what our private schools offer. If my kids couldn’t get accepted to these programs, I would stay private. Taking advantage of these amazing programs plus other leadership opportunities that are readily available at an under preforming high school (because of low general interest/participation), I feel my kids are getting top STEM classes plus some great experiences and opportunities to shine that would be otherwise hard to have access to in a more competitive environment.

Finances are also not the driver for our decision, & we sent our kids to public for K-12. I won't lie, the pandemic has had a really negative effect on our system (MCPS) but our entire family is happy that our 2 kids (one is in college now) had the 'real world' taste of which you speak.

Anonymous wrote:I really want our DS to go to the local public HS after he finishes up at his well-regarded K-8 next year. I feel like he should have a taste of the “real world” with larger classes and community where he will have to practice advocating for himself. He could have a decent shot at getting into a top private US, and finances are not an issue. Should I feel guilty about making him go public? Fwiw he or DH haven’t expressed a preference either way.

The math and science options were much better in their public school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really want our DS to go to the local public HS after he finishes up at his well-regarded K-8 next year. I feel like he should have a taste of the “real world” with larger classes and community where he will have to practice advocating for himself. He could have a decent shot at getting into a top private US, and finances are not an issue. Should I feel guilty about making him go public? Fwiw he or DH haven’t expressed a preference either way.

Elite universities cap the number they admit from any particular private. With much of the student body at a private HS vying for the same elite

universities, a kid could have more WL and rejections than if they had gone to a public school, where most of their classmates are aiming lower.

Lol no

Can confirm the above is true. TJ is Fairfax county isn’t even a private school, but there are caps now. The school went from having 25 students attend each of the top schools (other than Brown) to 1-3.

Wow, seriously? So do the rest go to UVA then or is there a cap on that too?

I don't have recent data but found a list from TJ 2019 graduating class online, of 303 listed, 37 (12%) went to UVA. MIT had 7, HYPS combined for 17. The other schools with highest numbers matriculating were 28 W&M, 16 VT, 16 Pitt, 14 Mich, 13 Cornell, 12 Carnegie Mellon, 11 Illinois, 9 Purdue, 8 George Mason, 8 Berkeley, 8 Chicago, and 8 VCU.

Public was much more flexible about letting DC take more advanced options in math, CS & science and when he was allowed to take them. Also, how many he could take in a given year. He also had a very strong peer group that was a positive influence.

What I was most surprised about was how the large public school understood DC's academic needs much better than the top private he'd been attending. I thought that's part of what we were paying for with private school but it turned out not to be the case.

We are fortunate to have excellent public schools. Without them, my answer might be different. That said, I give the nod to the private on writing, among a few other things.

I wanted him to be a normal well-adjusted kid, not a cloistered weirdo.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of two very smart kids in pubic (no choice) I would put them in private if I could. Public honestly sucks but we have no choice if we want to send them to college debt free. The behavioral issues and attitude problems (not my kids but so many others), vaping, drugs, apathy, etc are a real issue. All but one bathroom is locked at all times, and the open one is manned by a teacher to prevent vaping and other bathroom shenanigans. Sometimes DD has to wander around for 10 minutes searching for the open bathroom.

Hmm, you are the sole dissenter on the thread. Would you say your kids’ experience is atypical of most HS? I am sorry they are having to deal with that. Is it primarily behavioral issues that concern you? Ie you like the academics and extracurriculars

I will vouch for what the dissenter is saying. Very much in line with what I've seen. Plenty of brilliant kids in public, but they have to put up with this all this BS. Plenty of great teachers too, but they are increasingly burnt out and annoyed by district policies. I think she is the only dissenter here because the thread specifically asks, "tell me why you chose public for your really smart DS." This is why you are hearing from all the people with advanced kids who had a really great experience. This is probably due to the fact that they are zoned for a great public or have access to a good magnet. Experiences are SO location specific.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 kids in public school, one is a good student and the other is an outstanding student--she is one of the smartest people I've ever met. She is driven and wants the hardest math and the hardest science classes, she wants to compete in the science fairs, and our public school provides so many opportunities. And it's free. I went to private school for 12 years, but I never had these opportunities.

Make sure she knows about (and how to study for) the AMC competition. AoPS, Integirls, and Math Prize for Girls are all terms she should be familiar with.

Thank you!

TJ

We didn’t but that’s great that others are happy with their decisions.

Our kid started at a private where there were 1 or 2 outstanding kids in the class. At TJ, there were hundreds, and the teachers were better too.

OP, if you do choose public, help your DC choose their classes. Make sure they know about dual enrollment, and that prerequisites are suggestions.

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 kids in public school, one is a good student and the other is an outstanding student--she is one of the smartest people I've ever met. She is driven and wants the hardest math and the hardest science classes, she wants to compete in the science fairs, and our public school provides so many opportunities. And it's free. I went to private school for 12 years, but I never had these opportunities.

Make sure she knows about (and how to study for) the AMC competition. AoPS, Integirls, and Math Prize for Girls are all terms she should be familiar with.

In hindsight no, but it was certainly part of the conversation and I was trying to be honest about that. My DC had much more opportunity to pursue what they were interested in at public. And most importantly my kids were happy there, even when I got a little frustrated during COVID. But who didn’t?