Sorry for all the typos. It's that time of day! Good luck with the whole process and you are right to go with your gut whichever school that may lead you too. There were some schools that everybody loves, like Sidwell, that after touring I knew would not be the right fit and didn't apply to. To each their own.

I think that Beauvoir has really amped up their focus on math and reading and both areas very strong. Really I kind of miss their old approach but am still very happy with the academics. From our perspective, at least during the elementary years, most schools are really teaching the same thing. It's Beauvoir's early child hood education philosophy of really letting children be children, ie lots of outdoor exploration time whether it be on the playground or a walk through Olmstead woods, that drew us to the school. I will say that their reading support system is absolutely fabulous. I have found the school to be extremely responsive to all concerns, big or small. I know they have math specialist on hand as well. We have found the teachers to go above and beyond. They have done a good job of find teachers who clearly love what they do and the students. Just to preemptively head off any Beauvoir bashers--yes there is no doubt that other schools are great too but because the OP poster asked, I'm sharing my personal experience.

How is their math program in reality?

Let's go back to the petty moms.

Anonymous wrote:Anybody choose not to go to Beauvoir? I didn't think it was that great.

The acceptance letters go out in March. Why don't you wait to see what schools you have been accepted to and then have the discussion and think about it then? Statistically, very few peoples choose other schools over Beauvoir but it is done and I'm assuming those people are very happy with their decision. There are many great schools, such as Beauvoir, but that doesn't mean that they are a great fit for every family and child. We love Beauvoir, but if it didn't feel right to you or your family then maybe it's not a good fit for you. Was there anything specific you had a question about or anything that seemed concerned about that we could answer? Best of luck to you and your family!

This thread has been hijacked by a financial aid discussion. There are two other threads talking about financial aid. Please post there. The OP asked people to report if they chose another school over Beauvoir.

Anonymous wrote:I want to see the annual fund numbers. I want to understand what portion of tuition/annual fund/endowment money creates financial aid. Because, my sense is that they have to pull from all three income streams, in some percentage, to provide FA. Or, do they just establish budgets based on 100 students, but in reality, only enroll 95? Those five are "free"? Maybe that's why tuition keeps going up?

Look at their website.

Financial aid is more than $1.6 million per year: http://www.beauvoirschool.org/financialaid

The target for annual giving this year is $750,000: http://www.beauvoirschool.org/annualgiving

In recent years the auction has raised about $600,000: http://www.beauvoirschool.org/podium/default.aspx?t=204&tn=About+the+Beauvoir+Scholarship+Auction&nid=883683&ptid=153918&sdb=False&pf=pgt&mode=0&vcm=False

One endowment fund is devoted to financial aid: http://www.beauvoirschool.org/podium/default.aspx?t=153982

Anonymous wrote:And here in lies the problem--moral relativism. There are some who believe that if they want something, like private school, and they have the ability to pay for it, even if that means great sacrifice, handouts or assistance are not justified. It really does come down to the question of who should benefit from financial aid. And many of us who do not even think that we can qualify for FA, but probably can, do not apply or even consider it because we believe that FA should be for those who truly truly could not afford private school otherwise. When you are working your tail off and making sacrifices yes it does seem that other similarly situated people on FA are gaming the system. If you cannot afford something, you should not ask someone else to buy it for you. These are hard but simple lessons that seem to be lost on many of the limousine liberals many of whom got everything handed to them.

I agree with that statement but not when it comes to an excellent education. A highly intelligent, capable child should be given the opportunity to receive an excellent education just as much as any other child. IMO, the bulk of FA should go to these kids. I think that every family should pay, even kids on FA. I have one of these kids. I am not asking parents to pay for my child. They have freely donated their money and some of it goes to FA. I am a teacher. I work hard just like a PP mentioned. I worked hard to get to where I am now. I've never asked for a handout but I qualify for FA and I applied. I would be very surprised if I got anywhere near what I would need to send my child to any of the schools she applied to. Why? Schools would rather give out a few smaller awards rather than one large award. I truly cannot afford private school but I doubt the FA will go to my child. I also believe that college students should party fund their education through PT work or a student loan. I cannot afford most things but if FA is being awarded, why not apply? If people don't want to pay for other kids' tuition, maybe they shouldn't donate to the annual fund.

We chose St. Pats over Beauvoir. We absolutely loved Beauvoir and it was a difficult choice but something about the visit, playdate and how the staff at St. Pats interacted with our DS just gave them an edge. It "felt" right.

And here in lies the problem--moral relativism. There are some who believe that if they want something, like private school, and they have the ability to pay for it, even if that means great sacrifice, handouts or assistance are not justified. It really does come down to the question of who should benefit from financial aid. And many of us who do not even think that we can qualify for FA, but probably can, do not apply or even consider it because we believe that FA should be for those who truly truly could not afford private school otherwise. When you are working your tail off and making sacrifices yes it does seem that other similarly situated people on FA are gaming the system. If you cannot afford something, you should not ask someone else to buy it for you. These are hard but simple lessons that seem to be lost on many of the limousine liberals many of whom got everything handed to them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to see the annual fund numbers. I want to understand what portion of tuition/annual fund/endowment money creates financial aid. Because, my sense is that they have to pull from all three income streams, in some percentage, to provide FA. Or, do they just establish budgets based on 100 students, but in reality, only enroll 95? Those five are "free"? Maybe that's why tuition keeps going up?

I think this is what a few previous posters were trying to say - is that part of tuition is used to pay for financial aid students. This is hard for some to accept that are really in the middle and paying full tuition to know that their hard earned dollars and maybe that vacation they didn't take to pay for their own tuition is also paying for someone else's. I support financial aid and don't necessarily have this point of view. However, I am a sensible enough person to acknowledge how this situation could be difficult.

My response to that is why don't they apply for FA too? I find that many people who are struggling to full pay never bothered applying and then they sit back and criticize those who did and received some assistance. If they are so principled to not ask for assistance that's their right, but they shouldn't expect everyone to take the same position. Given that FA is truly given on a need basis griping over the fact that those who need it get it makes minimal sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. Just for a point reference so we are all on the same page--what in your book qualifies as middle class? It seems like peoples definition of middle class runs the gamut especially in DC.

In NW DC, Middle class is : college educated , earning between 75 K and 300K a year ( oro slightly less than 75 K if you are a teacher or gov't employee .

I'm a college educated teacher (with a Master's) who makes more than slightly less ($60K). Do I qualify as middle class? If so, what in God's name do I have in common with people who make $300K?

I was wondering the same thing. I am married to a teacher who is in the exact same position as you education wise and salary wise. I am a government attorney so our HHI is close to $175K. His coworkers (who don't know what I do for a living) constantly question how he can afford to live where we do (which is not some rich fancy area) or how he can afford to drive the car he does (a 2005 car with 200,000 miles). When he tells me this I seriously wonder how a single teacher or even two married teachers are living a so called middle class lifestyle? Sorry, but $75K a year is NOT middle class. I do consider my husband and I to be middle class, but given our student loans (over $300K) we are teetering on the lower middle class side. The only thing I have in commone with someone who makes $300K is that my student loan bill is that high. LOL

That being said, as you commented in your most recent post we too are committed to sending our DC to private school even if that means working a second job to make it happen.

Why are you so committed to sending your kid to private? Does your husband teach in a private school?

No, he teaches in pubic for now but he is considering a move to a private school that offers tuition assistance for the children of their staff. His experience teaching in the public system is one of the reasons we are committed to private. He has first hand knowledge of overcrowding, insufficient resources, teacher burn out, piss poor administrators, schools that teach to the middle instead of pushing and encouraging those kids who are ahead of the curve, and a system that is not set up for the success of all of its students. Does this describe every public school? No. However, it does define the public schools we are currently zoned for with all three (elementary, middle and high school) coming in a strong 5 and 6 great schools rating. If and until we have the ability to move to an area with better schools, the local public school is not an option. We would prefer our DC have the time to spend their evenings and weekends enjoying extra curricular activities and not with having to do supplemental academic work. So we are willing to sacrifice financially. I understand some wouldn't but education is important to us whereas most material things are not. So I'm happy to sacrifice for private school and my kids not wear jeans that cost $100 or other trivial material expenses.

Anonymous wrote:I want to see the annual fund numbers. I want to understand what portion of tuition/annual fund/endowment money creates financial aid. Because, my sense is that they have to pull from all three income streams, in some percentage, to provide FA. Or, do they just establish budgets based on 100 students, but in reality, only enroll 95? Those five are "free"? Maybe that's why tuition keeps going up?

I think this is what a few previous posters were trying to say - is that part of tuition is used to pay for financial aid students. This is hard for some to accept that are really in the middle and paying full tuition to know that their hard earned dollars and maybe that vacation they didn't take to pay for their own tuition is also paying for someone else's. I support financial aid and don't necessarily have this point of view. However, I am a sensible enough person to acknowledge how this situation could be difficult.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. Just for a point reference so we are all on the same page--what in your book qualifies as middle class? It seems like peoples definition of middle class runs the gamut especially in DC.

In NW DC, Middle class is : college educated , earning between 75 K and 300K a year ( oro slightly less than 75 K if you are a teacher or gov't employee .

I'm a college educated teacher (with a Master's) who makes more than slightly less ($60K). Do I qualify as middle class? If so, what in God's name do I have in common with people who make $300K?

I was wondering the same thing. I am married to a teacher who is in the exact same position as you education wise and salary wise. I am a government attorney so our HHI is close to $175K. His coworkers (who don't know what I do for a living) constantly question how he can afford to live where we do (which is not some rich fancy area) or how he can afford to drive the car he does (a 2005 car with 200,000 miles). When he tells me this I seriously wonder how a single teacher or even two married teachers are living a so called middle class lifestyle? Sorry, but $75K a year is NOT middle class. I do consider my husband and I to be middle class, but given our student loans (over $300K) we are teetering on the lower middle class side. The only thing I have in commone with someone who makes $300K is that my student loan bill is that high. LOL

That being said, as you commented in your most recent post we too are committed to sending our DC to private school even if that means working a second job to make it happen.

Why are you so committed to sending your kid to private? Does your husband teach in a private school?

I want to see the annual fund numbers. I want to understand what portion of tuition/annual fund/endowment money creates financial aid. Because, my sense is that they have to pull from all three income streams, in some percentage, to provide FA. Or, do they just establish budgets based on 100 students, but in reality, only enroll 95? Those five are "free"? Maybe that's why tuition keeps going up?