What happened at Potomac?

I do not understand why someone would pay big money for private school in elementary—or at least k-3. I do, however, think that the class sizes combined with the teachers actually knowing your kid makes a huge difference in upper elementary, middle school, and high school. We have experienced both public and private with our children and while private is not perfect, we will never go back to public school. It’s not about ROI or college admissions, it’s about quality of experience on a day to day basis.

I’d also like to know what “just happened at Potomac.” Someone has alluded to that on a couple of different posts. Did a student take his/her own life because of pressure? Was there a teacher or admin with a problem?

Is private school really worth it over AAP in elementary? 30k x 2 kids is a lot of money to me and one day I feel yes it's worth it, the next day no, I'd be better off saving the money.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Small class sizes, sense of community, relationship with teachers, attention for quiet competent kids that usually fly under the radar.

This exactly. My firstborn is an orchid child. She is completely NT with an above-average IQ (WISC in the mid-120s) but she can easily fly under the radar and it’s wonderful to see how private school has drawn her out of her shell.

My second child is a scrappy assertive dandelion who could thrive anywhere and I am seriously debating whether spending $45k per year on her will give good ROI versus public. But I will probably have her join her sister just to be fair, and make it easier on us in terms of logistics.

Parents are influenced by their upbringing- no one right answer. My brother and I were poor and from a single mom who attended public high school in the northern suburbs of Chicago . The school was excellent and as a consequence there were very few private schools nearby. My brother and I were national level athletes and the level of competition in the private school league was nowhere the publics. Schools from the south suburbs and East St Louis were the teams to beat and it was a big deal to beat them. We did receive tuition grant offers to an excellent private in Lake Forest but a very small school wasn't going to work. When I moved here my kids thrived in the public schools and TJ so it never occurred to my wife and me to look at private. They went to top 5 colleges so saving money was helpful. My brother- an portfolio manager managing billions could afford to send his kids to K-12 anywhere many times over. But he and his wife are public school grads and sent their kids to the local IB program. They are doing great today. My brother and I have no social needs and wouldn't do things like join a country club although affording one would not be an issue. To each his own.

+1 private writing. With 20+ kids/class, there are only so many pages teachers can read/suggest revisions to. Function of numbers.

Anonymous wrote:Small class sizes, sense of community, relationship with teachers, attention for quiet competent kids that usually fly under the radar.

This exactly. My firstborn is an orchid child. She is completely NT with an above-average IQ (WISC in the mid-120s) but she can easily fly under the radar and it’s wonderful to see how private school has drawn her out of her shell.

My second child is a scrappy assertive dandelion who could thrive anywhere and I am seriously debating whether spending $45k per year on her will give good ROI versus public. But I will probably have her join her sister just to be fair, and make it easier on us in terms of logistics.