415k HHI, started sending one kid to a 50k/yr private last year. Yes, at this income we felt the expense, as we have a larger mortgage due to buying fairly recently, still some student loans, and no family support. But of course it is doable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most classes in high school and college are lectures, so does it really matter how many kids are in the room. Elementary school is where small classes really make a difference. With a good 504/IEP, your child should have all the available tools, beyond just a small class size. At least where my kids went to public high school, classes were usually small, around 20 kids due to classroom size.

None of my kids' classes in private school are lectures.

Yeah, zero classes are lectures for my kids.

Anonymous wrote:Most classes in high school and college are lectures, so does it really matter how many kids are in the room. Elementary school is where small classes really make a difference. With a good 504/IEP, your child should have all the available tools, beyond just a small class size. At least where my kids went to public high school, classes were usually small, around 20 kids due to classroom size.

None of my kids' classes in private school are lectures.

Anonymous wrote:Most classes in high school and college are lectures, so does it really matter how many kids are in the room. Elementary school is where small classes really make a difference. With a good 504/IEP, your child should have all the available tools, beyond just a small class size. At least where my kids went to public high school, classes were usually small, around 20 kids due to classroom size.

This is not how it is at either our kids private HS or the local public schools. The public schools here can be great. But class sizes can easily be 27-29 with one teacher, starting in K. A kid needs to be able to handle that to thrive. And all it takes is one disruptive kid to for the situation to go sideways.

Most classes in high school and college are lectures, so does it really matter how many kids are in the room. Elementary school is where small classes really make a difference. With a good 504/IEP, your child should have all the available tools, beyond just a small class size. At least where my kids went to public high school, classes were usually small, around 20 kids due to classroom size.

Anonymous wrote:When we made the decision to move our kid from public to private, we made a spreadsheet estimating 3-5% tuition increases to estimate how much we would need to save to afford 6-12.
It's a good exercise. Don't send your kids to private unless you are comfortable with the math.

It gave us realistic savings targets and we planned ahead.

I thought I was smart doing this with a 4% increase… This year is over 5%. 😱 it’s OK, the difference is small enough not to give us too much of a shock, but still, I did not see that coming.

Four more years to go!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gotta love the wisdom of parents who pay 25% more for a 3% increase in education over 4 years x 2. OP, look at the statistics for public schools vs. private college acceptance rates in 2023 and do the math not the emotions.

We don’t do it for college acceptance. My kids will be studying in a different country for university.

We do it because we want smarter, better educated kids, more involved teachers and a student population that sets the standard high.

+1

There are so many important things to think about besides "college acceptance" statistics.

Make $400k+, one kid, in private from K. 401k funding, college savings, great vacations. But yes, bought house years and years ago and while we could move and buy a bigger/fancier house, chose not to because... one kid who is two years away from college. Would rather not have a huge home and be house poor/pay the extra dollars towards mortgage. I know someone upthread said you get equity back but not tuition however, I look at what we pay for private as an investment in my DC's education and future. Payback is their development, education, their future. More than fine with it. Still have tons of equity.

That would be almost if not equally as ridiculous as claiming that millionaires are "poor" when surrounded by billionaires.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:400k in this area is definitely middle class.

You couldn't be more wrong.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/12/how-much-money-you-need-to-make-to-be-in-the-top-5-percent-in-dc.html

They could be right is “this area” were, say Great Falls or Kenwood.

Anonymous wrote:400k in this area is definitely middle class.

You couldn't be more wrong.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/12/how-much-money-you-need-to-make-to-be-in-the-top-5-percent-in-dc.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Income is fine at $400k combined salary but we have 3 kids. 2 have special needs and will require small class sizes. All kids did public but now with middle and high school approaching, we think it’s time to move 1-2 kids over to private. Income is enough to not qualify for aid yet 2 tuitions of 40k or so, feels constraining. We don’t typically take lavish trips but wondering how others see this, finance it?

400k in this area is definitely middle class. Most would take advantage of the publics. I'd move to a Whitman cluster in MoCo.

I cannot begin to express how out of touch this is.

We are at 200 and send a kid at 50. What is wrong with all of you. Seriously.

Anonymous wrote:Gotta love the wisdom of parents who pay 25% more for a 3% increase in education over 4 years x 2. OP, look at the statistics for public schools vs. private college acceptance rates in 2023 and do the math not the emotions.

....like my choices about my kid's educational choices are exclusively based on what college they go to....um no.