Anonymous wrote:Well, it's settled then. We will put her is a bad school and hope for the best. Thanks for all of your help!

The school wasn't bad when you signed the 2 year lease?

PP: not true....you can not go to any...the over crowded schools to not accept out of boundary students. For example, if your base is Shrevewood, finding daycare in Haycock will not help your child go to Haycock. Same with Louise Archer.

If the schools are failing (by NCLB standards), you can transfer to another school, based on federal law.

not sure if this is an option or not but in Fairfax county where I live, your child can go to any elementary school as long as their childcare is in that school district. Parent has to enroll their child at their home base school and have an IEP done and it has to be approved, but I have never seen a child get turned down for the request. I do daycare and a majority of my kids who attend my daycare do not live in this school district. They go because I take care of them. See if that is an option where you live.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to Montgomery County because we heard the schools were fantastic. We were crushingly disappointed in my son's elementary school. His teacher was an beyond horrible. She appeared functionally illiterate for lack of a better term. I have no idea how she managed to obtain her teaching certificate. I volunteered in the classroom and was appalled by the way she talked to the students. I went to the principal and he was sympathetic but implied that she had been in the school for twenty years and that there was nothing he could do about it.

There is no way we could have afforded private schools at that point and we were locked into a year lease. I pulled my son out and homeschooled him the remainder of the year. I am a former teacher, but am definitely NOT the homeschool type.

We moved to Fairfax County the day our lease was up and enrolled him in what turned out to be a fantastic school.

There are alternatives to expensive private schools.

Big ups to FCPS, suck it MoCo.

Yea big ups , cause 1 bad teacher means the whole system sucks.
Looks like OP is not the only idiot on this thread

Based on this thread, there are 2 bad teachers + 1 self-righteous principle. Go scratch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to Montgomery County because we heard the schools were fantastic. We were crushingly disappointed in my son's elementary school. His teacher was an beyond horrible. She appeared functionally illiterate for lack of a better term. I have no idea how she managed to obtain her teaching certificate. I volunteered in the classroom and was appalled by the way she talked to the students. I went to the principal and he was sympathetic but implied that she had been in the school for twenty years and that there was nothing he could do about it.

There is no way we could have afforded private schools at that point and we were locked into a year lease. I pulled my son out and homeschooled him the remainder of the year. I am a former teacher, but am definitely NOT the homeschool type.

We moved to Fairfax County the day our lease was up and enrolled him in what turned out to be a fantastic school.

There are alternatives to expensive private schools.

Big ups to FCPS, suck it MoCo.

Yea big ups , cause 1 bad teacher means the whole system sucks.
Looks like OP is not the only idiot on this thread

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:omg go PUBLIC!!! it may not be ideal but people who "drown" over ELEMENTARY school tuition are practicing such poor life management.

+1

The other option is to talk to your landlord and tell them that you NEED to break your lease and that you understand you are on the hook for the security deposit but that you cannot afford to lose it. Either he is going to a giant prick and hold you to it or will let you out of it. And make sure to tell him why you need to break the lease, be honest with him. We had to break a lease a few years ago for similar reasons (no molestation though) and he was a bit of a jerk about it but DH got creative. Told him that if we could find the PERFECT tenant to take over the lease would he be willing to let us out of our lease without losing our deposit...and to entice interested tenants we would subsidize the new tenant's rent for the first year by kicking in $100 a month on top of their rent. This meant that the house was advertised for $3300 a month (below market) instead of $3400 a month - but the landlord was still getting his full rent for the year.

I do think the financial strain this is putting on you is far worse than you sticking it out in your public school for 2 years - in case you cant move. Paying tuition you clearly cannot afford is crazy and not smart on your part. What if your car broke down and needed repairs, what if one of you had an emergency medical issue that required you to dip into savings? You are walking a really fine line and need to be careful. I am sorry that you find yourself in this position - It sucks for you and your family. Take control of the situation, dont let it control you.

So the landlord is a dick, if he doesn't say 'hey, no worries keep the rent money, move out now and leave me holding the bag!"
I'm going to try this with AMEX next month, hope they won't be a big dick about it.
DA!

OP, you're being obtuse and, um, a bit self-righteous. This is not rocket science. Pull your kid out of private OR break your fucking lease. Or wait till your lease is up and then move. Your child will survive in public school.

NP here. How much does your private school cost? I would look harder into options for breaking the lease. Perhaps you can find someone to take over the lease. Otherwise, agreed with everyone else that your justifications for private aren't enough.

FCPS saves lives

Anonymous wrote:We moved to Montgomery County because we heard the schools were fantastic. We were crushingly disappointed in my son's elementary school. His teacher was an beyond horrible. She appeared functionally illiterate for lack of a better term. I have no idea how she managed to obtain her teaching certificate. I volunteered in the classroom and was appalled by the way she talked to the students. I went to the principal and he was sympathetic but implied that she had been in the school for twenty years and that there was nothing he could do about it.

There is no way we could have afforded private schools at that point and we were locked into a year lease. I pulled my son out and homeschooled him the remainder of the year. I am a former teacher, but am definitely NOT the homeschool type.

We moved to Fairfax County the day our lease was up and enrolled him in what turned out to be a fantastic school.

There are alternatives to expensive private schools.

Big ups to FCPS, suck it MoCo.

OP, just a quick heads up, but if you intend on putting your child into private college, you best start saving now...

There's no guarenteed she'll want to go or can get in to Annapolis, wait, is that too public for your tastes? I realize UMD is out.

We moved to Montgomery County because we heard the schools were fantastic. We were crushingly disappointed in my son's elementary school. His teacher was an beyond horrible. She appeared functionally illiterate for lack of a better term. I have no idea how she managed to obtain her teaching certificate. I volunteered in the classroom and was appalled by the way she talked to the students. I went to the principal and he was sympathetic but implied that she had been in the school for twenty years and that there was nothing he could do about it.

There is no way we could have afforded private schools at that point and we were locked into a year lease. I pulled my son out and homeschooled him the remainder of the year. I am a former teacher, but am definitely NOT the homeschool type.

We moved to Fairfax County the day our lease was up and enrolled him in what turned out to be a fantastic school.

There are alternatives to expensive private schools.

Anonymous wrote:I think I already mentioned we toured the school because we know that kind of thing can happen anywhere and were no comfortable with the leadership we met with, the class sizes, the test scores, and the overall depressive state of the teaching staff there.

I think some of you are just barreling down the public v. private preach road and not actually looking at what is being said.

PPs are looking at what you wrote. Your choice to send DD to private school is not rational. It is reactionary and fear-based. It makes no sense.

It is insane to be drowning in debt while sending a child to private school. Crazy.

Anonymous wrote:omg go PUBLIC!!! it may not be ideal but people who "drown" over ELEMENTARY school tuition are practicing such poor life management.

+1

The other option is to talk to your landlord and tell them that you NEED to break your lease and that you understand you are on the hook for the security deposit but that you cannot afford to lose it. Either he is going to a giant prick and hold you to it or will let you out of it. And make sure to tell him why you need to break the lease, be honest with him. We had to break a lease a few years ago for similar reasons (no molestation though) and he was a bit of a jerk about it but DH got creative. Told him that if we could find the PERFECT tenant to take over the lease would he be willing to let us out of our lease without losing our deposit...and to entice interested tenants we would subsidize the new tenant's rent for the first year by kicking in $100 a month on top of their rent. This meant that the house was advertised for $3300 a month (below market) instead of $3400 a month - but the landlord was still getting his full rent for the year.

I do think the financial strain this is putting on you is far worse than you sticking it out in your public school for 2 years - in case you cant move. Paying tuition you clearly cannot afford is crazy and not smart on your part. What if your car broke down and needed repairs, what if one of you had an emergency medical issue that required you to dip into savings? You are walking a really fine line and need to be careful. I am sorry that you find yourself in this position - It sucks for you and your family. Take control of the situation, dont let it control you.

OP, my husband and I can afford private but I wanted badly for my kids to stay in our neighborhood public school but because of some extra support they need that the public could not sufficiently offer we had to go the private school route. Like the PPs said there can be child molesters in any school environment, male or female, young or old. They are in our neighborhoods, upscale and working class. I think your concerns for staying out of your public school are misplaced and most people, even with money, save the money for middle or high school if you are going private. The curriculum in ES is pretty standard whether it is public or private. If you have a decent ES in your community, it is best to send your kid there and save your money or pay the IRS so you will have money for it later. Most of the time I think the advice on dcum is crap but the PPs are giving you some good advice but you are not thinking clearly. So, I suggest you take a chill pill and think this through before April 15th.