We can't afford private for our kids, so it's a non-issue. They go/went to public. #3 is off to college in the fall. It's a state school and a good fit. #1 went to an Ivy and 2 attends an SLAC. Maybe their AP History wasn't as rigorous as a Big 3 private, but I can live with that.

Anonymous wrote:I went from public school to a highly competitive institute for university and was afraid of the competition. It turns out many friends from TJ, private schools, etc. we're no more or less prepared than me for our university. In other words we all struggled. There were a singulair few, mostly public school grads, that were genius. Their genius had very little to do with hard work or education background.

I drank from the firehose and we were all in the same boat together. That's the reason I won't pay for private school. It doesn't offer enough to justify the cost.

It does if you live in DC

Anonymous wrote:

I don't care what people think about my choice but I don't like it when people think my choice is a rejection of theirs.

I love this comment, especially the last part.

This exactly. Each to their own.

I have two in private (ES and HS), and one in MoCo MS, in a magnet program in a low performing, low SES, hi FARMS school. My two in private work incredibly hard and love school. There are no easy A's at their schools. My MS child gets straight A's without doing much, except showing up. He is not learning the value of hard work, nor is he working collaboratively or on projects with peers. He hates school, and is bored out of his head. It is clear to me that they are passing him through (yes, it happens). He does well on MSA's, so he and the other kids in his group are helping the school.

Good grades at a crappy school is not a quality education. We are pulling him for private. And FWIW, I don't care about exmissions, I care about what my kids are learning now, and how their current experiences will help them in the future. And both kids who are currently in privates attend schools with diverse student populations, including SES, thanks to large endowments. The difference is that in private school, the students and parents are the customers. Not true in public.

Anonymous wrote:(a) don't truly understand the differences or (b) understand the difference but can't afford private.

For us, it's not about college admissions. It's about our kids loving their K-12 experience and being nurtured and encouraged to be their personal best.

And sadly many who are in the (b) category think that the top private schools are not for "people like us", and don't realize how much aid is available.

Me, I would do anything to avoid DC replicating my own miserable public school experience. I don't know if this path will be perfect, but I think it'll be better.

Anonymous wrote:We shell out $60K/year instead of sending our kids to our top-rated MoCo School because we feel it's a vastly better experience. We wouldn't do it otherwise. Yes, I think public schools provide the same quality academic education, but there is so much more to school and life than academics and public schools do not offer the same well-rounded experience. Not even close. And while I'd never say this to anyone IRL, I think public school parents either (a) don't truly understand the differences or (b) understand the difference but can't afford private.

For us, it's not about college admissions. It's about our kids loving their K-12 experience and being nurtured and encouraged to be their personal best.

x1000. To us it was about school culture. The sense of community and tradition our DCs get through their (smaller) private school helps to mitigate the transient nature of growing up in DC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I laugh when public school parents try to act like it's the same experience as a private school.

I laugh at the college admissions outcomes. My public school kid is at a USNWR top 5 school. DC's friends at the Big 3 are now at lower-tier SLACs, except for the one who got recruited from the Big 3 for athletics.

So your kid is at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia or Stanford? Congrats to him. You do not seem to be aware of how many kids from STA, Sidwell and GDS go on to these schools too. The fact that, evidently, all of your DC's friends went to tier four LACs like Green Mountain College after graduating St. Albans (which I don't believe, but whatever) doesn't change the first reality.

We shell out $60K/year instead of sending our kids to our top-rated MoCo School because we feel it's a vastly better experience. We wouldn't do it otherwise. Yes, I think public schools provide the same quality academic education, but there is so much more to school and life than academics and public schools do not offer the same well-rounded experience. Not even close. And while I'd never say this to anyone IRL, I think public school parents either (a) don't truly understand the differences or (b) understand the difference but can't afford private.

For us, it's not about college admissions. It's about our kids loving their K-12 experience and being nurtured and encouraged to be their personal best.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is abundantly clear to me that 11:43 is comparing the very best MoCo magnet schools to middle-of-the-pack private schools -- if 11:43 has indeed really had a child in a private school past Kindergarten at all. (11:43's assessment of, say, takoma park magnet does sound about right)

Those of us with an older tween or teen in Holton, gds or Sidwell don't think that the language and science and math piece "levels out" and becomes par with, say, Westland MS or BCC, as 11:43 suggests.

Oh for Pete's sake. I'm 11:43 and I did indeed have kids, two of them, in private schools and they stayed there way, way beyond kindergarten. And this was much more than a "middle-of-the-pack" private school - it's a very well-regarded around independent school in this area. However, sorry, but I'm not going to out my kids by naming their school just to satisfy an unhappy curmudgeon like you.

You're wrong about the science in public high schools. You seem unfamiliar with the magnet choices in MoCo in MS and HS. However, only one of my kids went through a math/science magnet so I can speak with authority about the science offerings in regular MoCo publics.

You seem to be exactly the type of private school parent to whom OP is referring! You know, the kind of parent who denigrates other parents' choices and even their experiences.

11:43 I thought your post was spot on. There is only one school in this area, TJ that really matches the ex missions of the top privates. That's what the facts support.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is abundantly clear to me that 11:43 is comparing the very best MoCo magnet schools to middle-of-the-pack private schools -- if 11:43 has indeed really had a child in a private school past Kindergarten at all. (11:43's assessment of, say, takoma park magnet does sound about right)

Those of us with an older tween or teen in Holton, gds or Sidwell don't think that the language and science and math piece "levels out" and becomes par with, say, Westland MS or BCC, as 11:43 suggests.

Oh for Pete's sake. I'm 11:43 and I did indeed have kids, two of them, in private schools and they stayed there way, way beyond kindergarten. And this was much more than a "middle-of-the-pack" private school - it's a very well-regarded around independent school in this area. However, sorry, but I'm not going to out my kids by naming their school just to satisfy an unhappy curmudgeon like you.

You're wrong about the science in public high schools. You seem unfamiliar with the magnet choices in MoCo in MS and HS. However, only one of my kids went through a math/science magnet so I can speak with authority about the science offerings in regular MoCo publics.

You seem to be exactly the type of private school parent to whom OP is referring! You know, the kind of parent who denigrates other parents' choices and even their experiences.

But, none of your kids went thru 12th grade at Sidwell, Holton or GDS. So you can't really speak knowledgeably about the rigor of sidwell's language or history program. Or the caliber of gds's very highest math offerings for its top math students compared to, say, Wooten. That's my point. You asserted that "public" schools "catch up" to "privates" in humanities and science offerings after elementary school. Those are your exact words. I assert that it totally depends on which two schools you are comparing. Blair magnet vs. St. Andrews math? I'm with you. BCC non- honors general history vs. any Sidwell US history course? Advantage, Sidwell.

This is the problem with blanket statements just like the ones you made.

You can't make blanket assertions either, because your kids are in private. You can't speak knowledgeably about BCC's IB or RM IB offerings, the arts programs in the downcounty consortium, or other public school offerings. Pot, meet kettle.

But, you're a thoroughly nasty person. To wit, your ad hominem attacks, criticizing public schools you don't have any experience with, the list goes on. Yuck. Nice parents -- advantage public schools!

Anonymous wrote:It is abundantly clear to me that 11:43 is comparing the very best MoCo magnet schools to middle-of-the-pack private schools -- if 11:43 has indeed really had a child in a private school past Kindergarten at all. (11:43's assessment of, say, takoma park magnet does sound about right)

Those of us with an older tween or teen in Holton, gds or Sidwell don't think that the language and science and math piece "levels out" and becomes par with, say, Westland MS or BCC, as 11:43 suggests.

Um, if your DD is at Holton, how do you *know* this about public schools? Didn't OP saying something about people criticizing things they are ignorant about?

Objectively, we can compare course offerings at area publics and privates. In fact, the publics are more likely to have math beyond AP Calc, for example, and broader science offerings. You might have a point about smaller class sizes at the privates, but the publics are more likely to have certified teachers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is abundantly clear to me that 11:43 is comparing the very best MoCo magnet schools to middle-of-the-pack private schools -- if 11:43 has indeed really had a child in a private school past Kindergarten at all. (11:43's assessment of, say, takoma park magnet does sound about right)

Those of us with an older tween or teen in Holton, gds or Sidwell don't think that the language and science and math piece "levels out" and becomes par with, say, Westland MS or BCC, as 11:43 suggests.

Oh for Pete's sake. I'm 11:43 and I did indeed have kids, two of them, in private schools and they stayed there way, way beyond kindergarten. And this was much more than a "middle-of-the-pack" private school - it's a very well-regarded around independent school in this area. However, sorry, but I'm not going to out my kids by naming their school just to satisfy an unhappy curmudgeon like you.

You're wrong about the science in public high schools. You seem unfamiliar with the magnet choices in MoCo in MS and HS. However, only one of my kids went through a math/science magnet so I can speak with authority about the science offerings in regular MoCo publics.

You seem to be exactly the type of private school parent to whom OP is referring! You know, the kind of parent who denigrates other parents' choices and even their experiences.

But, none of your kids went thru 12th grade at Sidwell, Holton or GDS. So you can't really speak knowledgeably about the rigor of sidwell's language or history program. Or the caliber of gds's very highest math offerings for its top math students compared to, say, Wooten. That's my point. You asserted that "public" schools "catch up" to "privates" in humanities and science offerings after elementary school. Those are your exact words. I assert that it totally depends on which two schools you are comparing. Blair magnet vs. St. Andrews math? I'm with you. BCC non- honors general history vs. any Sidwell US history course? Advantage, Sidwell.

This is the problem with blanket statements just like the ones you made.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I laugh when public school parents try to act like it's the same experience as a private school.

I laugh at the college admissions outcomes. My public school kid is at a USNWR top 5 school. DC's friends at the Big 3 are now at lower-tier SLACs, except for the one who got recruited from the Big 3 for athletics.

If we're playing with anecdotes, my big 3 kid is at a USNWR top 5 school, and most of his classmates are at high ranked schools. Most of his public schppl friends are at lower ranked, middling universities.

Anonymous wrote:I laugh when public school parents try to act like it's the same experience as a private school.

I laugh at the college admissions outcomes. My public school kid is at a USNWR top 5 school. DC's friends at the Big 3 are now at lower-tier SLACs, except for the one who got recruited from the Big 3 for athletics.

Anonymous wrote:I laugh when public school parents try to act like it's the same experience as a private school.

I laugh at nasty private school parents like this. Particularly the really pathetic ones who are trying to convince themselves they are getting $30K in value. Thank God I don't have to deal with your type!