Where in the world did you get that idea about private schools? Where are you from? Are you Jewish by chance? The only people I know with that idea are from the sticks. Every place where I have lived (very urban and big city) ... the top 5% of the economic class goes to private and everyone else is SOL!

Anonymous wrote:in most parts of the country, private school IS for kids who can't hack it in public (for whatever reason.) but in the DC/NYC/Boston corridor the answer is more complex - bring in social status, family expectations, and buying into a certain group. A kind of branding, so you can easily identify people who share your financial and philosophical positions.

Anonymous wrote:We sent our DC to Sidwell because we wanted the very best education we could find for him. He is a very bright muti talented kid who would do well in any school but we wanted him in a school which would allow him to grow intellectually and socially, while getting individualized attention and all sorts of extraordinary learning experiences not available in public. We love our choice. We get lots of FA, but we still watched every penny to afford our part of the tuition. It has definitely been worth it. He is a great kid, and although this was not the reason we went to Sidwell, he will be attending an Ivy this fall.

Yes 9th grade. Sibling will start next year also in 9 th.
By 9 th kids have an academic and extracurricular record so you are more likely to get in without a hook.

*hope not home

We were very poor when I was growing up. Couldn't buy food poor. My parents sent me to private starting in sixth grade. Carried a lot of guilt for a long time over sacrifices they made. Way beyond not buying nice things. Not buying any things full stop. Some financial aid but we also paid. Why do it? I went to college. A "real" one not a community college for a year. I was the first. I went to graduate school. I ended up having a professional and a career. My kids feel safe and are happy. They know a little bit about music and art and travel. They know nothing about the anxiety of the price rising on Mac and cheese. Five for a dollar when I was young. I try to teach them to be good citizens of the world. I try to put them in a position to give back. I think my parents did private for me because it opened doors public couldn't. Because it can really catapult kids. It can literally be a walk through the looking glass experience in terms of life experience and opportunity. That isn't the be all and end all. But it gave them home. Like putting me on a raft in a turbulent ocean. Still carry the burden though of the sacrifice it required.

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Anonymous wrote:Poor as in will have to borrow money and eat beans for dinner.

If you are that poor you would qualify for a full ride.
Why would you not take it if offered?

I am poor by DCUM standards and I got nada from private schools although my kid was admitted. They basically said I needed too much FA.

Sorry, then you are not poor enough.

Wrong, they just didn't have the funds to give away, happens more often in the primary years than for high school for instance.

They did say to apply again for HS since they have more aid available then. Our HHI is appr. $75K.

I would really encourage you to reapply if you still believe the private school hype.
In a way I feel they are buying superior grades at that level instead of grooming/ producing it themselves. Think hard if you want your child do be used this way, but for free ride maybe.

Could you explain what you mean? By hype do you mean that the education is the same as public school?

Must be a private school hater. Not all private schools are better than public schools and not all public schools are better than private schools. I think my DD school absolutely lives up to the hype and I wouldn't make any other decision about where to send her.

Not a private school hater, but these are my observations. Fwiw, I have two great kids in a top tier private school with some FA.

I stand corrected. I misunderstood what you meant by "they buy superior grades instead of producing them themselves." I originally thought the "they" was the parents paying for high grades instead of the kids earning them.

I see your point about them admitting kids who would produce high grades anywhere. However, I think for the child there is something they receive on the benefit end -- smaller classes, schools that encourage self advocacy, the ability to dig deeper into curriculum, the resources to expand the curriculum beyond the basic subject offerings, etc. So while yes, these schools benefit from only teaching already bright kids I think the kids receive a lot in return. For us, we want our DC around other kids whose parents believe in the same philosophy in terms of education. I think that can be a crap shoot in public. We also find that in private we are surrounded by older parents like ourselves. Having kids later in life we always had some concerns their might be some challenges when it came to parenting styles of younger parents. I experienced this as a child myself with older parents. In our DC private school the average age of the parents looks to me about late 30's to early 40's. So all in all it just feels like a good fit environment.

Anonymous wrote:We sent our DC to Sidwell because we wanted the very best education we could find for him. He is a very bright muti talented kid who would do well in any school but we wanted him in a school which would allow him to grow intellectually and socially, while getting individualized attention and all sorts of extraordinary learning experiences not available in public. We love our choice. We get lots of FA, but we still watched every penny to afford our part of the tuition. It has definitely been worth it. He is a great kid, and although this was not the reason we went to Sidwell, he will be attending an Ivy this fall.

Congrats! Did you join for high school or earlier?

We sent our DC to Sidwell because we wanted the very best education we could find for him. He is a very bright muti talented kid who would do well in any school but we wanted him in a school which would allow him to grow intellectually and socially, while getting individualized attention and all sorts of extraordinary learning experiences not available in public. We love our choice. We get lots of FA, but we still watched every penny to afford our part of the tuition. It has definitely been worth it. He is a great kid, and although this was not the reason we went to Sidwell, he will be attending an Ivy this fall.

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Anonymous wrote:Specifically for the elementary years. What reasons do you have for eating up all your extra money other than you have no other decent school option. Really curious. By the way, I am poor too.

Because my neighborhood ES refuses to recognize my DS has a diagnosis and give him services (none--no IEP, no 504). We decided to use the money we would need to hire a lawyer and fight it to pay for private school instead. Best decision we ever made. We drive OLD cars. We don't take vacations. We don't eat out. We buy clothes on clearance or consignment. We really do not spend except on essentials. We make it work so our DS can get the education he deserves.

What is the diagnosis, and is it a private school with a special focus or just a regular private school?

Anonymous wrote:Specifically for the elementary years. What reasons do you have for eating up all your extra money other than you have no other decent school option. Really curious. By the way, I am poor too.

Because my neighborhood ES refuses to recognize my DS has a diagnosis and give him services (none--no IEP, no 504). We decided to use the money we would need to hire a lawyer and fight it to pay for private school instead. Best decision we ever made. We drive OLD cars. We don't take vacations. We don't eat out. We buy clothes on clearance or consignment. We really do not spend except on essentials. We make it work so our DS can get the education he deserves.

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Anonymous wrote:Poor as in will have to borrow money and eat beans for dinner.

If you are that poor you would qualify for a full ride.
Why would you not take it if offered?

I am poor by DCUM standards and I got nada from private schools although my kid was admitted. They basically said I needed too much FA.

Sorry, then you are not poor enough.

Wrong, they just didn't have the funds to give away, happens more often in the primary years than for high school for instance.

They did say to apply again for HS since they have more aid available then. Our HHI is appr. $75K.

I would really encourage you to reapply if you still believe the private school hype.
In a way I feel they are buying superior grades at that level instead of grooming/ producing it themselves. Think hard if you want your child do be used this way, but for free ride maybe.

Could you explain what you mean? By hype do you mean that the education is the same as public school?

Presumably they would accept your kid because You have a great kid but in all honesty, you , the parent, got him where he is and DC himself of course as well. So the school did not really help "produce" an all star. At the high school level they buy the all star with FA to inflate their own success with their lifers.
Maybe I am too nihilistic, but it would put me off as a parent. However, at HHI 75k I would take the FA and milk it as far as the ride takes you. Hopefully, this made sense. Good luck!

Okay. I see your point. They accept an already high achiever and claim it was their wonderful education that made him that way. I'm a teacher in a Title One school and if we could pick and choose who we admit, we'd look like rockstar teachers. Lol. My kid does check a box for these private schools (URM) but I'm quite alright with the school claiming how they produced such a great student in exchange for an education he would not get on our local public. My neighbors graduated from that school and they've spent thousands taking remedial classes in college because the HS didn't really prepare them for college (even though it is rated quite high as a school). Maybe it just prepares the high flyers like kids who are in AP courses.

Because no FA will help pay my mortgage in a decent school district. And honestly? Even the decent school district can't compare in terms of class size, facilities, specials, etc. Why would I not grab this chance for my kid?

Anonymous wrote:dyslexia....

(Since somebody asked above)

I would recommend Landon, Bullis and St. Andrews for high functioning dyslexia with Orton Gillingham tutoring, or a cheaper route would be some Catholic schools (with tutoring) not all (StE, Mercy, Heights)

More severe I would look at Sienna and Lab.

OLGCHS, St. Johns and PVI are Catholics schools that are less expensive HS options for dyslexic kids

I went to Stone Ridge like in the 90's and they had an excellent program for ADHD/dyslexia etc. . kids. The girls who had it went on to become highly successful despite the LD/ADHD. Like professors and tv presenter successful. If you have a girl, that might be a good choice. They do have FA and are a welcoming environment- ei no-one cares who's rich or poor, very progressive Social Justice Catholics.

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Anonymous wrote:Poor as in will have to borrow money and eat beans for dinner.

If you are that poor you would qualify for a full ride.
Why would you not take it if offered?

I am poor by DCUM standards and I got nada from private schools although my kid was admitted. They basically said I needed too much FA.

Sorry, then you are not poor enough.

Wrong, they just didn't have the funds to give away, happens more often in the primary years than for high school for instance.

They did say to apply again for HS since they have more aid available then. Our HHI is appr. $75K.

I would really encourage you to reapply if you still believe the private school hype.
In a way I feel they are buying superior grades at that level instead of grooming/ producing it themselves. Think hard if you want your child do be used this way, but for free ride maybe.

Could you explain what you mean? By hype do you mean that the education is the same as public school?

Must be a private school hater. Not all private schools are better than public schools and not all public schools are better than private schools. I think my DD school absolutely lives up to the hype and I wouldn't make any other decision about where to send her.

Not a private school hater, but these are my observations. Fwiw, I have two great kids in a top tier private school with some FA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor as in will have to borrow money and eat beans for dinner.

If you are that poor you would qualify for a full ride.
Why would you not take it if offered?

I am poor by DCUM standards and I got nada from private schools although my kid was admitted. They basically said I needed too much FA.

Sorry, then you are not poor enough.

Wrong, they just didn't have the funds to give away, happens more often in the primary years than for high school for instance.

They did say to apply again for HS since they have more aid available then. Our HHI is appr. $75K.

I would really encourage you to reapply if you still believe the private school hype.
In a way I feel they are buying superior grades at that level instead of grooming/ producing it themselves. Think hard if you want your child do be used this way, but for free ride maybe.

Could you explain what you mean? By hype do you mean that the education is the same as public school?

Presumably they would accept your kid because You have a great kid but in all honesty, you , the parent, got him where he is and DC himself of course as well. So the school did not really help "produce" an all star. At the high school level they buy the all star with FA to inflate their own success with their lifers.
Maybe I am too nihilistic, but it would put me off as a parent. However, at HHI 75k I would take the FA and milk it as far as the ride takes you. Hopefully, this made sense. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor as in will have to borrow money and eat beans for dinner.

If you are that poor you would qualify for a full ride.
Why would you not take it if offered?

I am poor by DCUM standards and I got nada from private schools although my kid was admitted. They basically said I needed too much FA.

Sorry, then you are not poor enough.

Wrong, they just didn't have the funds to give away, happens more often in the primary years than for high school for instance.

They did say to apply again for HS since they have more aid available then. Our HHI is appr. $75K.

I would really encourage you to reapply if you still believe the private school hype.
In a way I feel they are buying superior grades at that level instead of grooming/ producing it themselves. Think hard if you want your child do be used this way, but for free ride maybe.

Could you explain what you mean? By hype do you mean that the education is the same as public school?

Must be a private school hater. Not all private schools are better than public schools and not all public schools are better than private schools. I think my DD school absolutely lives up to the hype and I wouldn't make any other decision about where to send her.