Anonymous wrote:As soon as you need your kid to go to a "great school" or you become a "but the schools" parent, you are in trouble. I went to mediocre schools in working-class neighborhoods and ended up with a Ph.D. from a top 5 program in my field. I send my daughter to a very diverse public school with about 50% low-income kids and middling test scores. I'm really happy with the education she is getting and I think it will give her a lot of choices. If she wants to follow a highly academic path like I did, she will be able to push herself to do that, and if she wants an entirely different path she has such a wide range of role models who are happy and successful people.

What school does she attend, PP?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public school. Not in Bethesda or Potomac.

This.

In MOCO: Walter Johnson, BCC, Quince Orchard, Northwest, Clarksburg, Richard Montgomery, Wootton, Blair, Sherwood, Damascus, Einstein. I'm sure there are others.

Anonymous wrote:Public school. Not in Bethesda or Potomac.

This.

Anonymous wrote:I like our neighborhood school- Kensington Parkwood. The parents I've met are smart but not snobby. Many work at NIH, nonprofits, government. The kids have been great- haven't met really snobby kids either

+1

Anonymous wrote:We want our son to get a great education but don't want him to turn into Brett Kavanaugh.

He's only a year old, so I think we have time, (unless we were supposed to start with some elite playgroup when he was a zygote where Ruth Bader Ginsburg reads him Goodnight Moon or something).

We're focused on private schools in MD or DC because don't want to squeeze into Barbie's dream house in order to live in Potomac.

And yes, I know that parental influence is the main factor in my kid not becoming a total douchebag. But school plays a role, too.

Not surprisingly, Google is no help in this matter.

Just send him to a charter and get over being so judgemental and nasty.

I have 3 teenagers. I don’t think the school has nearly as much to do with it as the friend group and the parents. Granted the friend group will likely come from school, but every school has a range of kids and which group your child gravitates to is wide open. (Now two of my kids also have a stronger friend group from an outside activity) I know some of the nicest kids at the most elitist schools . . . And vice versa. Truly the only way I see my kids being influenced by their schools is that the ones who have had religious influences have stronger discipline and preach a moral code. But truly, it’s not the school - it’s the family and the families that have raised the friends.

As soon as you need your kid to go to a "great school" or you become a "but the schools" parent, you are in trouble. I went to mediocre schools in working-class neighborhoods and ended up with a Ph.D. from a top 5 program in my field. I send my daughter to a very diverse public school with about 50% low-income kids and middling test scores. I'm really happy with the education she is getting and I think it will give her a lot of choices. If she wants to follow a highly academic path like I did, she will be able to push herself to do that, and if she wants an entirely different path she has such a wide range of role models who are happy and successful people.

We are doing private k-8 and then public MCPS

I will answer your question OP. St. Anslem's Abbey in NE. Excellent education, no elitism. (Not affiliated with the school, just toured it and got a great impression.)

Send him to public school in DC and then, if that is not working out, send him to Edmund Burke starting in 6th grade.

I think a lot just depends on the schools whether private or public that you are looking at. I have met some pretty entitled kids from the W public schools and some great down to earth kids from some of the top private schools. A lot may depend on the particular grade too. But to say that all private school kids are entitled is a disservice to all the great kids who do go there. And vice versa. All public school kids are not perfect either. Some of them just have a chip on their shoulder or their families do and thus are entitled and just jerks. Just do your research and really get to know the school before you commit to moving or applying to a school.

Anonymous wrote:Public school. Not in Bethesda or Potomac.

Not McLean

Anonymous wrote:Second the public school suggestion. Isn’t the point of private school so that your kid will be surrounded by privilege and will only interact with maybe one acceptable poor? My guess is anyone in that environment is gonna be a bit clueless about how life works for the other 99% and be a bit entitled as a result.

This is wrong. It depends on where you live. Do you need to be close to DC for work? As far away as you can get would be ideal!

Private if you can. It will generate networking oppotunites for you and them.

Smaller grades means it is easier to be on sports teams, school plays, student government and the like.

I like our neighborhood school- Kensington Parkwood. The parents I've met are smart but not snobby. Many work at NIH, nonprofits, government. The kids have been great- haven't met really snobby kids either