Anonymous wrote:This was us a few years ago. Older kid struck out in 5th grade and 6th grade lotteries so ended up at our IB Jefferson. Had a FANTASTIC experience there - took Algebra in 7th, geometry in 8th and got into a top application HS and is on honor roll there. While Jefferson gets knocked on here often, our experience (now with 2 kids since our younger followed the same pathway) has been great.

Biggest piece of advice is to talk to parents at the school. They will have much better feedback on the actual experience there than an annonymous forum.

Talk to parents at the school, and also get real about your own expectations. People want/expect different things, and what you want/expect might not be the same as what others want/expect, and that is ok. It's like the endless BASIS threads -- BASIS is a particular way. Some people like that way, some people hate it, some people are ok with it for a limited time, etc. Decide what is important for *you*, and realize that may be different from all the people you know, and be ok with it.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was us a few years ago. Older kid struck out in 5th grade and 6th grade lotteries so ended up at our IB Jefferson. Had a FANTASTIC experience there - took Algebra in 7th, geometry in 8th and got into a top application HS and is on honor roll there. While Jefferson gets knocked on here often, our experience (now with 2 kids since our younger followed the same pathway) has been great.

Biggest piece of advice is to talk to parents at the school. They will have much better feedback on the actual experience there than an annonymous forum.

DP. We talk to parents with kids at Jefferson. They once described an extreme bullying incident the school did nothing about. The parents seemed mostly unfazed by the situation and their kid is still there, but that conversation is what convinced me that the school is definitely not an option for us.

That was never our experience but obviously my kids didn't know every single kid at the school so I can only speak to our experience. We've found the staff to be very on top of everything and my kids never reported anything unsafe.

NP and current Jefferson parent. I have asked my child about bullying in the school several times, and they said they don't see it or hear about it at all. That's obviously not a comprehensive perspective, but it makes me think it's not pervasive. It is middle school and I don't doubt that there are incidents and some more serious issues, but my child feels safe, has very strong relationships with their teachers, has made many new friends, and is generally happy to go to school, and that seems to be true of the other families I know currently attending.

NP with a kid at EH. I think kids are all different in how they process this. My kid knows there are fights at EH but could not care less about it. But I’m sure some sensitive kids could be more affected. That said he is in 8th grade and has started to complain about disruptions in class for the first time this year. I think that is because he is taking school more seriously and for some reason the classroom behavior is more disruptive in 8th and bothers him more because he would like to do the assignments in peace. At the end of the day though we are happy with the school - many more positives than negatives.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was us a few years ago. Older kid struck out in 5th grade and 6th grade lotteries so ended up at our IB Jefferson. Had a FANTASTIC experience there - took Algebra in 7th, geometry in 8th and got into a top application HS and is on honor roll there. While Jefferson gets knocked on here often, our experience (now with 2 kids since our younger followed the same pathway) has been great.

Biggest piece of advice is to talk to parents at the school. They will have much better feedback on the actual experience there than an annonymous forum.

DP. We talk to parents with kids at Jefferson. They once described an extreme bullying incident the school did nothing about. The parents seemed mostly unfazed by the situation and their kid is still there, but that conversation is what convinced me that the school is definitely not an option for us.

That was never our experience but obviously my kids didn't know every single kid at the school so I can only speak to our experience. We've found the staff to be very on top of everything and my kids never reported anything unsafe.

NP and current Jefferson parent. I have asked my child about bullying in the school several times, and they said they don't see it or hear about it at all. That's obviously not a comprehensive perspective, but it makes me think it's not pervasive. It is middle school and I don't doubt that there are incidents and some more serious issues, but my child feels safe, has very strong relationships with their teachers, has made many new friends, and is generally happy to go to school, and that seems to be true of the other families I know currently attending.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was us a few years ago. Older kid struck out in 5th grade and 6th grade lotteries so ended up at our IB Jefferson. Had a FANTASTIC experience there - took Algebra in 7th, geometry in 8th and got into a top application HS and is on honor roll there. While Jefferson gets knocked on here often, our experience (now with 2 kids since our younger followed the same pathway) has been great.

Biggest piece of advice is to talk to parents at the school. They will have much better feedback on the actual experience there than an annonymous forum.

DP. We talk to parents with kids at Jefferson. They once described an extreme bullying incident the school did nothing about. The parents seemed mostly unfazed by the situation and their kid is still there, but that conversation is what convinced me that the school is definitely not an option for us.

That was never our experience but obviously my kids didn't know every single kid at the school so I can only speak to our experience. We've found the staff to be very on top of everything and my kids never reported anything unsafe.

Anonymous wrote:This was us a few years ago. Older kid struck out in 5th grade and 6th grade lotteries so ended up at our IB Jefferson. Had a FANTASTIC experience there - took Algebra in 7th, geometry in 8th and got into a top application HS and is on honor roll there. While Jefferson gets knocked on here often, our experience (now with 2 kids since our younger followed the same pathway) has been great.

Biggest piece of advice is to talk to parents at the school. They will have much better feedback on the actual experience there than an annonymous forum.

DP. We talk to parents with kids at Jefferson. They once described an extreme bullying incident the school did nothing about. The parents seemed mostly unfazed by the situation and their kid is still there, but that conversation is what convinced me that the school is definitely not an option for us.

This was us a few years ago. Older kid struck out in 5th grade and 6th grade lotteries so ended up at our IB Jefferson. Had a FANTASTIC experience there - took Algebra in 7th, geometry in 8th and got into a top application HS and is on honor roll there. While Jefferson gets knocked on here often, our experience (now with 2 kids since our younger followed the same pathway) has been great.

Biggest piece of advice is to talk to parents at the school. They will have much better feedback on the actual experience there than an annonymous forum.

this. you will get some aid but it wont be easy (might mean you wont be putting money aside in a 529, maxing retirement, taking big vacations).

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Anonymous wrote:Why not apply to private and apply for financial aid? The private schools give out a lot more aid than I think people realize. You may have to pay something but you could be surprised about how much.

OP here. Would love to hear more about this. We attended a financial aid webinar for an expensive private but they are so vague about who qualifies. We have a lot of equity in our house, investments, 401k, kid's college savings account that I assume we wouldn't be eligible but not a high income.

Just apply and then see what they give you. Usually under $300k HHI gets financial aid, but I don't know if things are changing with the economy.

If I were you I would apply to maybe 3 private schools, lottery for all the best public middles, and then see how it shakes out in the spring. Likely you will have at least one option... If you have zero options, move to MD or VA before 6th grade.

Not true. Under 300k with any assets will likely not get you financial aid. If lucky some small negligee amount.

Not OP but what is the threshold? We are at 140k. Own a condo but still owe a lot, some retirement funds but mostly in a pension. Less than 20k in 529. One child.

Do you think we'd get anything? Enough to make the sacrifice worth it?

You absolutely would. I used to work at a DC private school and have friends in admin at others in the area. You would 100 percent get financial aid.

You would, but not necessarily enough to make the school affordable long term. Similar stats as the PP. We pulled our kid out before high school when she got into a selective school. The private school years were good from the academic side, but we are all — including our kid here — happy to be done with it. The selective school is more rigorous and has more offerings that fit her interests and she’s developed great friendships that she missed out on at her private. The social side of the school was pretty rough.

DH and I are dumping money into our retirement now to catch up.

People will give you all different scenarios about who will get what amount aid or not get any aid. You're not going to know until you apply. Every school is different and has different budgets for financial aid.

Our kid goes to an expensive private and we are the only family in our friend group who even applied because everyone assumes they will not get anything so they just don't apply to the schools at all.

We got about 1/3 off. So, yes, we still pay, but we're comfortable with what we're paying vs. the alternative of moving, losing the low interest rate on our mortgage, and uprooting our kids. We are also dedicated to staying in DC vs. moving to the suburbs.

No one can tell you what you will or won't get. If you have assets you will pay something. If you have assets and you're wondering if you will get a full ride, the answer is likely no--but you could be surprised at how much you do get.

If you are able/willing to pay $1000/$1500/$2000/$2500/$3000 a month you should apply and see what happens.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not apply to private and apply for financial aid? The private schools give out a lot more aid than I think people realize. You may have to pay something but you could be surprised about how much.

OP here. Would love to hear more about this. We attended a financial aid webinar for an expensive private but they are so vague about who qualifies. We have a lot of equity in our house, investments, 401k, kid's college savings account that I assume we wouldn't be eligible but not a high income.

Just apply and then see what they give you. Usually under $300k HHI gets financial aid, but I don't know if things are changing with the economy.

If I were you I would apply to maybe 3 private schools, lottery for all the best public middles, and then see how it shakes out in the spring. Likely you will have at least one option... If you have zero options, move to MD or VA before 6th grade.

Not true. Under 300k with any assets will likely not get you financial aid. If lucky some small negligee amount.

Not OP but what is the threshold? We are at 140k. Own a condo but still owe a lot, some retirement funds but mostly in a pension. Less than 20k in 529. One child.

Do you think we'd get anything? Enough to make the sacrifice worth it?

You absolutely would. I used to work at a DC private school and have friends in admin at others in the area. You would 100 percent get financial aid.

(maybe it would cover half the tuition).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not apply to private and apply for financial aid? The private schools give out a lot more aid than I think people realize. You may have to pay something but you could be surprised about how much.

OP here. Would love to hear more about this. We attended a financial aid webinar for an expensive private but they are so vague about who qualifies. We have a lot of equity in our house, investments, 401k, kid's college savings account that I assume we wouldn't be eligible but not a high income.

Just apply and then see what they give you. Usually under $300k HHI gets financial aid, but I don't know if things are changing with the economy.

If I were you I would apply to maybe 3 private schools, lottery for all the best public middles, and then see how it shakes out in the spring. Likely you will have at least one option... If you have zero options, move to MD or VA before 6th grade.

Not true. Under 300k with any assets will likely not get you financial aid. If lucky some small negligee amount.

Not OP but what is the threshold? We are at 140k. Own a condo but still owe a lot, some retirement funds but mostly in a pension. Less than 20k in 529. One child.

Do you think we'd get anything? Enough to make the sacrifice worth it?

You absolutely would. I used to work at a DC private school and have friends in admin at others in the area. You would 100 percent get financial aid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not apply to private and apply for financial aid? The private schools give out a lot more aid than I think people realize. You may have to pay something but you could be surprised about how much.

OP here. Would love to hear more about this. We attended a financial aid webinar for an expensive private but they are so vague about who qualifies. We have a lot of equity in our house, investments, 401k, kid's college savings account that I assume we wouldn't be eligible but not a high income.

Just apply and then see what they give you. Usually under $300k HHI gets financial aid, but I don't know if things are changing with the economy.

If I were you I would apply to maybe 3 private schools, lottery for all the best public middles, and then see how it shakes out in the spring. Likely you will have at least one option... If you have zero options, move to MD or VA before 6th grade.

Not true. Under 300k with any assets will likely not get you financial aid. If lucky some small negligee amount.

Not OP but what is the threshold? We are at 140k. Own a condo but still owe a lot, some retirement funds but mostly in a pension. Less than 20k in 529. One child.

Do you think we'd get anything? Enough to make the sacrifice worth it?

Not sure where you live, but why stretch so hard (and give up gaining better financial security) when there are decent public options? A number of reasonably easy to get into middle schools have been mentioned here several times. As someone with a kid at a MS that went through its small waitlist by June, we are very happy there and know lots of other families (including with very high achieving kids) that feel the same way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not apply to private and apply for financial aid? The private schools give out a lot more aid than I think people realize. You may have to pay something but you could be surprised about how much.

OP here. Would love to hear more about this. We attended a financial aid webinar for an expensive private but they are so vague about who qualifies. We have a lot of equity in our house, investments, 401k, kid's college savings account that I assume we wouldn't be eligible but not a high income.

Just apply and then see what they give you. Usually under $300k HHI gets financial aid, but I don't know if things are changing with the economy.

If I were you I would apply to maybe 3 private schools, lottery for all the best public middles, and then see how it shakes out in the spring. Likely you will have at least one option... If you have zero options, move to MD or VA before 6th grade.

Not true. Under 300k with any assets will likely not get you financial aid. If lucky some small negligee amount.

Not OP but what is the threshold? We are at 140k. Own a condo but still owe a lot, some retirement funds but mostly in a pension. Less than 20k in 529. One child.

Do you think we'd get anything? Enough to make the sacrifice worth it?

The better and best privates are competitive. I would not assume it’s a guarantee at all to get in, let alone get any financial aid.

The only sure thing is moving.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not apply to private and apply for financial aid? The private schools give out a lot more aid than I think people realize. You may have to pay something but you could be surprised about how much.

OP here. Would love to hear more about this. We attended a financial aid webinar for an expensive private but they are so vague about who qualifies. We have a lot of equity in our house, investments, 401k, kid's college savings account that I assume we wouldn't be eligible but not a high income.

Just apply and then see what they give you. Usually under $300k HHI gets financial aid, but I don't know if things are changing with the economy.

If I were you I would apply to maybe 3 private schools, lottery for all the best public middles, and then see how it shakes out in the spring. Likely you will have at least one option... If you have zero options, move to MD or VA before 6th grade.

Not true. Under 300k with any assets will likely not get you financial aid. If lucky some small negligee amount.