Anonymous wrote:Our kids are in early elementary at a well-regarded independent school that we really like. We feel fortunate to be there but are questioning whether the cost is the right long-term choice.

We can afford tuition now, but we’re high earners with some income volatility and no family support for tuition. We’re mindful that committing to private school for the next 15–20 years could limit career flexibility—and that investing those funds elsewhere could meaningfully impact our long-term financial picture.

At the same time, we place a high value on education and are open to making tradeoffs for our kids.

Since enrolling, we’ve moved in-bounds for a highly regarded DCPS elementary and are seriously considering switching our two younger children for elementary school, with the possibility of returning to independent school for middle school.

A few factors we’re weighing:

School experience: We’ve been happy with our current school but have also heard strong things about our in-bounds option. One child in particular benefits from a more attentive environment, and we’re unsure how they’d do in a larger setting.
Future plans: We’re not certain we’d stay on our current school’s full K–12 path and would likely explore other independent options later regardless. That makes the value of staying now less clear.
Logistics: Our oldest would remain in private school, so we’d be managing different schedules and school experiences.

For those who’ve made similar decisions, I’d especially appreciate hearing what actually happened for your family (vs. general advice):

- If you did public for elementary and private later, how did your child adjust—academically and socially? Anything they were behind on or especially well-prepared for?
- For kids who benefit from more attention or have some anxiety, how did they do in a larger public elementary setting?
- Looking back, do you feel private elementary was worth it—or not? What ended up mattering more or less than you expected?
- For anyone who made a similar decision: what do you wish you had known or prioritized beforehand?

We know there’s no single right answer but would really value others’ lived experiences as we think this through. I am especially interested in those for whom private school tuition was feasible but involved real consequence in terms of long-term career flexibility. We can pull this off but the trade-off is very real.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you on track to fully pay for undergrad even if your kid goes to private ES? If so, then stay private.

This is our priority list:

1. Fully paid undergraduate
2. Private High School
3. 50% contribution towards graduate school
4. Private middle
5. Private ES

We think our kids are going to be more thankful about getting a big contribution to graduate school than being glad they went to a private ES. But that’s our belief, not everyone. Private ES when you have a good public is for the benefit of the parents not the kids. Maybe you could justify it if you wanted to attend the high school. But that doesn’t seem to be the case here.

I'm thinking through all of this now with a 2 and 4 year old. The above points reflect a 2010 world where the assumption is that the pipeline leads to degrees. In a world that's rapidly shifting, should we treat K-12 like college?

Fair point. That line of thought leads to using good enough public schools for as long as possible and investing the saved tuition money in homesteads and AI companies.