Anonymous wrote:We had the money for private and decided on a DC private for our child for whom ACHS might not have been appropriate. SSSAS has a huge emphasis on sports, and many of their top college admits are recruited athletes. If that’s your DC’s focus, great. However, the non-recruited college acceptances are not that great at all. Compare those acceptances to ACHS, and ACHS looks like a pretty good deal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would try George Mason before you do private or move. You may be pleasantly surprised. Yes, it might be harder to switch to a different school midway through elementary, but with so much money at stake, don’t you want to know that you gave the least expensive option a shot?

I attended a different private school in Alexandria from prek-8, then went to T.C. Williams (now ACHS) for high school. I got a good education at both. I have friends who did private prek-12 (including SSSAS), and friends who did ACPS all the way through. We all got into similarly selective colleges and have had similar life outcomes. Granted, that was over 20 years ago, but I think the same holds true today based on the families I know now.

So if you have typical children, I’d try public. However, if there are special circumstances (ADHD, learning disabilities, extreme giftedness), then maybe that changes your calculations.

Did the schools 20 years ago have all the problems they do now? Accredidation, safety issues, etc? I ask seriously and appreciate your insight!

I'm the PP of this post. I think that parents have been concerned about ACPS for a long time. My parents were in the '90s, which is why my sister and I went to private school through 8th grade. But two private school tuitions were tough for two feds to afford even back then. When our neighbors' kids graduated from T.C. and got into colleges like Princeton and UVA, my parents figured that ACPS must be doing something right, so we went to public high school. And it was fine. A culture shock at first after private, but we found our way. I did well in honors and AP classes and mostly hung out with the "smart" kids. I don't remember too many behavior issues. I maybe heard about a few fights, but I don't think I witnessed one.

Is it worse now? Maybe. Certainly the stabbing at the McDonald's a few years ago was very concerning, as are the reports of fights. While those incidents tend to be confined to a small population, they are still not something I would want my own kids witnessing. However, private schools are not without their issues either. Probably fewer problems in elementary, but certainly at the high school level there are still issues with sex, drugs, and alcohol. Even back in the day, I remember I had several classmates at public school who at all been kicked out of SSSAS because of a sex scandal there.

As for academics, the accreditation system has changed over the years. It now has a lot more to do with whether special populations are showing progress. This may have the effect of diverting resources away from special programming for talented and gifted, if that's something you are interested in. (I don't know enough about how it is affecting elementary TAG programs, so maybe someone else can chime in here.) But I think there are still a lot of opportunities in ACPS for motivated kids, particularly at the upper levels. ACHS has so many more AP, dual enrollment, and special academy options than it did when I was a student.

Is George Mason right for you? I don't know. Depends on your kids and a bit on luck. One student or teacher or administrator could make or break it for you. But you won't know whether it's a good fit until you've tried it. If it's a bad fit, then you can explore other options. Spending $45k+ per kid per year is a lot, and if you are going to spend that kind of money on SSSAS or a similar school, you should feel confident that it's worth it. While it's never bad to spend money on your child's education, that money could go a long way toward helping your kids in other ways. Same goes for moving. It's expensive and a huge pain, and if you are doing it for the schools you should feel like you are moving to somewhere better. And how will you know that unless you've tried George Mason? It's the easiest and most affordable option, and it has been good for a lot of kids. Maybe it will work for you or maybe it won't, but if you try it you'll know for sure.

This 100%. The schools in Fairfax County and Alexandria are kind of amazing if you look around the country and compare. If your kids are motivated and intelligent, they will find their people and get into good colleges. I'm amazed at how many people send their kids to private schools in this area and can't really afford to do so. The outcomes are so similar for the same kinds of kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would try George Mason before you do private or move. You may be pleasantly surprised. Yes, it might be harder to switch to a different school midway through elementary, but with so much money at stake, don’t you want to know that you gave the least expensive option a shot?

I attended a different private school in Alexandria from prek-8, then went to T.C. Williams (now ACHS) for high school. I got a good education at both. I have friends who did private prek-12 (including SSSAS), and friends who did ACPS all the way through. We all got into similarly selective colleges and have had similar life outcomes. Granted, that was over 20 years ago, but I think the same holds true today based on the families I know now.

So if you have typical children, I’d try public. However, if there are special circumstances (ADHD, learning disabilities, extreme giftedness), then maybe that changes your calculations.

Did the schools 20 years ago have all the problems they do now? Accredidation, safety issues, etc? I ask seriously and appreciate your insight!

I'm the PP of this post. I think that parents have been concerned about ACPS for a long time. My parents were in the '90s, which is why my sister and I went to private school through 8th grade. But two private school tuitions were tough for two feds to afford even back then. When our neighbors' kids graduated from T.C. and got into colleges like Princeton and UVA, my parents figured that ACPS must be doing something right, so we went to public high school. And it was fine. A culture shock at first after private, but we found our way. I did well in honors and AP classes and mostly hung out with the "smart" kids. I don't remember too many behavior issues. I maybe heard about a few fights, but I don't think I witnessed one.

Is it worse now? Maybe. Certainly the stabbing at the McDonald's a few years ago was very concerning, as are the reports of fights. While those incidents tend to be confined to a small population, they are still not something I would want my own kids witnessing. However, private schools are not without their issues either. Probably fewer problems in elementary, but certainly at the high school level there are still issues with sex, drugs, and alcohol. Even back in the day, I remember I had several classmates at public school who at all been kicked out of SSSAS because of a sex scandal there.

As for academics, the accreditation system has changed over the years. It now has a lot more to do with whether special populations are showing progress. This may have the effect of diverting resources away from special programming for talented and gifted, if that's something you are interested in. (I don't know enough about how it is affecting elementary TAG programs, so maybe someone else can chime in here.) But I think there are still a lot of opportunities in ACPS for motivated kids, particularly at the upper levels. ACHS has so many more AP, dual enrollment, and special academy options than it did when I was a student.

Is George Mason right for you? I don't know. Depends on your kids and a bit on luck. One student or teacher or administrator could make or break it for you. But you won't know whether it's a good fit until you've tried it. If it's a bad fit, then you can explore other options. Spending $45k+ per kid per year is a lot, and if you are going to spend that kind of money on SSSAS or a similar school, you should feel confident that it's worth it. While it's never bad to spend money on your child's education, that money could go a long way toward helping your kids in other ways. Same goes for moving. It's expensive and a huge pain, and if you are doing it for the schools you should feel like you are moving to somewhere better. And how will you know that unless you've tried George Mason? It's the easiest and most affordable option, and it has been good for a lot of kids. Maybe it will work for you or maybe it won't, but if you try it you'll know for sure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George Mason vs SSSAS. Is the money really worth it?

OP- we went through a similar journey with our eldest before entering K, though different ACPS elementary school and different local private. We ended up deciding private school was not worth the substantial investment at the elementary level, and we do not regret that decision. There were definitely points of frustration in elementary school, and advocacy is needed to ensure your kids’ needs are being met, but both our kids received a great education. There are also more support services in public, that you may not anticipate needing. There are many dedicated teachers in ACPS, but of course, not all. Kid is now in a local private in middle school and they are more academically prepared than most of their peers.

Private school has typical student population- some great families, but many more kids (than public) who come from wealthy families and clearly get whatever they want. We (including kids) connected more with the ACPS community.

Biggest benefit of private for us is more individualized attention and decreased screen usage.

Considering what has been coming out for years now about the impact of screen "learning" on young brains, this is a major consideration. Personalized attention is also important to the child's social development and mental health.

It used to be that you could get both of those in public schools. Likely, you still can in some places. But your kid gets one childhood and one shot at brain development. I'd spend the money (or homeschool and supplement with tutors/enrichment classes where necessary).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George Mason vs SSSAS. Is the money really worth it?

OP- we went through a similar journey with our eldest before entering K, though different ACPS elementary school and different local private. We ended up deciding private school was not worth the substantial investment at the elementary level, and we do not regret that decision. There were definitely points of frustration in elementary school, and advocacy is needed to ensure your kids’ needs are being met, but both our kids received a great education. There are also more support services in public, that you may not anticipate needing. There are many dedicated teachers in ACPS, but of course, not all. Kid is now in a local private in middle school and they are more academically prepared than most of their peers.

Private school has typical student population- some great families, but many more kids (than public) who come from wealthy families and clearly get whatever they want. We (including kids) connected more with the ACPS community.

Biggest benefit of private for us is more individualized attention and decreased screen usage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being at the other end of things, I don't really see the ROI for SSSA in terms of college placement. Their graduates seem to go to very average colleges--they would get into the same or better from public schools. However, there is a big difference with respect to parent communication and interaction. So, if you need to have your hand held and get immediate responses from teachers and admin about everything, SSSA and probably many other privates are much better.

I mean, if you look at the ACHS matriculations in the Alexandria Times every year they are pretty average too.

Anonymous wrote:Being at the other end of things, I don't really see the ROI for SSSA in terms of college placement. Their graduates seem to go to very average colleges--they would get into the same or better from public schools. However, there is a big difference with respect to parent communication and interaction. So, if you need to have your hand held and get immediate responses from teachers and admin about everything, SSSA and probably many other privates are much better.

Anonymous wrote:George Mason vs SSSAS. Is the money really worth it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, not even remotely worth it at $420,000.

- a guy who went to Landon K-12, but sent two kids to Maury- GW- TC

Really now? You started Landon in kindergarten?

Anonymous wrote:Hi all - OP here. The tuition would obviously be a major sacrifice. And we have more than one child. Definitely not skipping a couple lattes I guess we could use the money to leave Alexandria altogether, sadly.

Anonymous wrote:No, not even remotely worth it at $420,000.

- a guy who went to Landon K-12, but sent two kids to Maury- GW- TC