Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's worth every penny. My children have the attention they need and deserve. I feel that I'm able to talk to administration when issues occur and teachers are genuinely interested in my child's education. My girls are not exposed to many social elements - media, rock stars, or clothing. They are encouraged to think outside the box and are in a community where their socio economic status is welcomed and not ostracized.

I'm curious what you refer to. Do you mean they are accepted instead of ostracized for being wealthy?

Yes that's right. I like that my kids have friends in the same socio economic level.
I was ostracized as a kid for my family's wealth and it took a toll on me.

Excuse an anecdote. Were you the kid of the biggest car dealership guy in my hometown? And you lived in a house with grass that was spray-painted green (kids used to make a game out of stealing green pine cones), a goofy sign on your mailbox (kids kept stealing the mailboxes) and probably apocryphal rumors about a swimming pool in the shape of the car your dad sold? Even at our private school, the most prestigious private school in our town, you were teased a lot (I felt bad for you).

My point: private school is no panacea.

Sorry for the personal story. But the idea that private schools consist of majority rich kids--and that that's a good thing--is sort of repugnant. The idea that there are no rich kids in Bethesda or McLean public schools is untrue. The idea that private schools have a majority of extremely wealthy (as opposed to just fairly wealthy) families is untrue. And the idea that the kid of flashy parents will be protected at private schools is untrue.

Agreed it's no panacea. But it is nice and a comfort to have friends who are in the same situation that have shared experiences. No matter what those experiences may be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a very thoughtful response. Thank you. I appreciate the perspective you bring to the discussion. Just out of curiosity, considering your education background, which DC privates do you consider worth he money since you mentioned that are some that are a "waste."

Thanks. Again, for us, none are "worth the money" at this point because I would still choose our current charter school over the options that I have investigated if there was no financial difference. I really am making this decision without much thought to the money that any of the options would cost our family.

But, I will let you in to a little of my thought process. My educational philosophy aligns more with a very progressive, diverse (both racially and socio-economically) school that is difficult to create within a private school environment. For us, immersion and experiential learning are important as well. So, when I was looking at early elementary schools, WIS stuck out as a great option. But, I still had hesitations because I did not get the feeling (and maybe I was mistaken, and I'm not claiming to have all the information on any of these school, just giving my general impression) that it was otherwise as progressive as I would have preferred. I think at that time, I would have really liked a combination of WIS and GDS. I did not have to go too far down this path, as we got our child into her current school when she was three. I will say that I have relatives at Beauvior that absolutely love it, and I'm certain that we would too. If I had another child and I was now making that early childhood decision, Beauvoir may be my first choice, despite my earlier hesitation regarding the religious focus and the path to NCS, which I thought at the time would be more strict than I would prefer (for some reason, rightly or wrongly, I had less hesitation about St. Albans in that regard). As that child has gotten older, however, I actually think that NCS may be my first choice upper school if we were to switch to private. WIS would also be in the running, but maybe not GDS. This change in preference stems only from getting to know the child more, my general educational philosophy hasn't changed and my impressions of the schools have remained pretty constant.

I realize I am not mentioning a lot of other schools, many of which are amazing. There are several reasons for that. First, I have not completed this research, and I know that I would have to do much more if we were to feel that a change was needed, and that would broaden my scope. Second, we are bound by location, and these are schools that work for us location-wise in ways that, for example, Lowell or Burgundy Farm, would not. Third, there are many schools that are great for one child that may not be great for others, and there are many schools that I think are beautiful learning environments that I don't think would be the right fit for us at this point.

Also, I think we have a ton of great private schools here. Most of the ones that we all hear about are really pretty good if they are the right fit for the child. But, there are many private schools that many people have not heard about. Some are beautiful neighborhood schools that fill a particular need, but some are not. Some are just trying to fill spots and have to do whatever they can to do so. Just because a school is private does not mean that the teaching is necessarily better (remember that salaries are generally much higher in public schools than private schools), that the student body is better behaved/prepared (parents sometimes choose private school because their kid was not able to behave/learn in a different setting and the private school may take them because the parent can pay), or the parent community is more beneficial to the children's learning (some parents choose private because they don't have enough time to support their children's education, and they think they can outsource that through private school).

But, of course, there are many pitfalls of public and charter schools too. Moreover, no school is perfect, so you just have to look at your child, your family, and the school and take an educated guess at which actual school will be the best fit.

It's interesting that in your very long post you don't once talk about the ~6 Progressive schools in the immediate area. (GDS really isn't). Did you even visit them?

But perhaps someone who is 'spiritually full' has fewer bills because he or she does not feel that it's necessary to buy a bunch of material crap, fancy car, fancy clothes, consumer goods, etc. Of course, he or she does have pay for food and housing and healthcare, but beyond that ...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen, it's not where you went to school that counts, but what you major in that will determine how successful you will be after college. I know way too many people with liberal arts degrees from ivies that don't have jobs where they earn as much as the kids in my family- bottom tier schools, but kick ass majors= fat paychecks.

What a horribly limiting way to think about education and success. How crass and spiritually empty to measure success by the size of someone's paycheck. I never viewed education solely as a direct route to a paycheck. I acquired two liberal arts Ivy degrees which I'm sure you would deem worthless. However, my parents and I saw education as a way to enrich the mind and develop some thinking skills along the way. I did graduate work -- also at top Ivies -- and had many doors open to me. I chose work that I found meaningful and hopefully would make a social contribution. I did not go for the largest paycheck, though hat certainly was an option.

Go to hell. You are jealous because we are doing great and we are smart enough to know how to be successful without wasting money-- we all got academic scholarships to college too. Now you are even more jealous. By the way what makes you think we aren't helping people? You have NO idea how much we help people. It makes me sick how people who never had to worry about money can walk around and say obnoxious crap like how "crass" it is to think about money. Try living without making money, idiot.

I am not the PP but I think you have proven her point.

I'm not any of the PPs but you have to admit the "spiritually empty" poster was very patronizing. the response wasn't very nice, but being spiritually full doesn't pay the bills.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen, it's not where you went to school that counts, but what you major in that will determine how successful you will be after college. I know way too many people with liberal arts degrees from ivies that don't have jobs where they earn as much as the kids in my family- bottom tier schools, but kick ass majors= fat paychecks.

What a horribly limiting way to think about education and success. How crass and spiritually empty to measure success by the size of someone's paycheck. I never viewed education solely as a direct route to a paycheck. I acquired two liberal arts Ivy degrees which I'm sure you would deem worthless. However, my parents and I saw education as a way to enrich the mind and develop some thinking skills along the way. I did graduate work -- also at top Ivies -- and had many doors open to me. I chose work that I found meaningful and hopefully would make a social contribution. I did not go for the largest paycheck, though hat certainly was an option.

Go to hell. You are jealous because we are doing great and we are smart enough to know how to be successful without wasting money-- we all got academic scholarships to college too. Now you are even more jealous. By the way what makes you think we aren't helping people? You have NO idea how much we help people. It makes me sick how people who never had to worry about money can walk around and say obnoxious crap like how "crass" it is to think about money. Try living without making money, idiot.

I am not the PP but I think you have proven her point.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen, it's not where you went to school that counts, but what you major in that will determine how successful you will be after college. I know way too many people with liberal arts degrees from ivies that don't have jobs where they earn as much as the kids in my family- bottom tier schools, but kick ass majors= fat paychecks.

What a horribly limiting way to think about education and success. How crass and spiritually empty to measure success by the size of someone's paycheck. I never viewed education solely as a direct route to a paycheck. I acquired two liberal arts Ivy degrees which I'm sure you would deem worthless. However, my parents and I saw education as a way to enrich the mind and develop some thinking skills along the way. I did graduate work -- also at top Ivies -- and had many doors open to me. I chose work that I found meaningful and hopefully would make a social contribution. I did not go for the largest paycheck, though hat certainly was an option.

Go to hell. You are jealous because we are doing great and we are smart enough to know how to be successful without wasting money-- we all got academic scholarships to college too. Now you are even more jealous. By the way what makes you think we aren't helping people? You have NO idea how much we help people. It makes me sick how people who never had to worry about money can walk around and say obnoxious crap like how "crass" it is to think about money. Try living without making money, idiot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's worth every penny. My children have the attention they need and deserve. I feel that I'm able to talk to administration when issues occur and teachers are genuinely interested in my child's education. My girls are not exposed to many social elements - media, rock stars, or clothing. They are encouraged to think outside the box and are in a community where their socio economic status is welcomed and not ostracized.

I'm curious what you refer to. Do you mean they are accepted instead of ostracized for being wealthy?

Yes that's right. I like that my kids have friends in the same socio economic level.
I was ostracized as a kid for my family's wealth and it took a toll on me.

Excuse an anecdote. Were you the kid of the biggest car dealership guy in my hometown? And you lived in a house with grass that was spray-painted green (kids used to make a game out of stealing green pine cones), a goofy sign on your mailbox (kids kept stealing the mailboxes) and probably apocryphal rumors about a swimming pool in the shape of the car your dad sold? Even at our private school, the most prestigious private school in our town, you were teased a lot (I felt bad for you).

My point: private school is no panacea.

Sorry for the personal story. But the idea that private schools consist of majority rich kids--and that that's a good thing--is sort of repugnant. The idea that there are no rich kids in Bethesda or McLean public schools is untrue. The idea that private schools have a majority of extremely wealthy (as opposed to just fairly wealthy) families is untrue. And the idea that the kid of flashy parents will be protected at private schools is untrue.

Anonymous wrote:What a very thoughtful response. Thank you. I appreciate the perspective you bring to the discussion. Just out of curiosity, considering your education background, which DC privates do you consider worth he money since you mentioned that are some that are a "waste."

Thanks. Again, for us, none are "worth the money" at this point because I would still choose our current charter school over the options that I have investigated if there was no financial difference. I really am making this decision without much thought to the money that any of the options would cost our family.

But, I will let you in to a little of my thought process. My educational philosophy aligns more with a very progressive, diverse (both racially and socio-economically) school that is difficult to create within a private school environment. For us, immersion and experiential learning are important as well. So, when I was looking at early elementary schools, WIS stuck out as a great option. But, I still had hesitations because I did not get the feeling (and maybe I was mistaken, and I'm not claiming to have all the information on any of these school, just giving my general impression) that it was otherwise as progressive as I would have preferred. I think at that time, I would have really liked a combination of WIS and GDS. I did not have to go too far down this path, as we got our child into her current school when she was three. I will say that I have relatives at Beauvior that absolutely love it, and I'm certain that we would too. If I had another child and I was now making that early childhood decision, Beauvoir may be my first choice, despite my earlier hesitation regarding the religious focus and the path to NCS, which I thought at the time would be more strict than I would prefer (for some reason, rightly or wrongly, I had less hesitation about St. Albans in that regard). As that child has gotten older, however, I actually think that NCS may be my first choice upper school if we were to switch to private. WIS would also be in the running, but maybe not GDS. This change in preference stems only from getting to know the child more, my general educational philosophy hasn't changed and my impressions of the schools have remained pretty constant.

I realize I am not mentioning a lot of other schools, many of which are amazing. There are several reasons for that. First, I have not completed this research, and I know that I would have to do much more if we were to feel that a change was needed, and that would broaden my scope. Second, we are bound by location, and these are schools that work for us location-wise in ways that, for example, Lowell or Burgundy Farm, would not. Third, there are many schools that are great for one child that may not be great for others, and there are many schools that I think are beautiful learning environments that I don't think would be the right fit for us at this point.

Also, I think we have a ton of great private schools here. Most of the ones that we all hear about are really pretty good if they are the right fit for the child. But, there are many private schools that many people have not heard about. Some are beautiful neighborhood schools that fill a particular need, but some are not. Some are just trying to fill spots and have to do whatever they can to do so. Just because a school is private does not mean that the teaching is necessarily better (remember that salaries are generally much higher in public schools than private schools), that the student body is better behaved/prepared (parents sometimes choose private school because their kid was not able to behave/learn in a different setting and the private school may take them because the parent can pay), or the parent community is more beneficial to the children's learning (some parents choose private because they don't have enough time to support their children's education, and they think they can outsource that through private school).

But, of course, there are many pitfalls of public and charter schools too. Moreover, no school is perfect, so you just have to look at your child, your family, and the school and take an educated guess at which actual school will be the best fit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen, it's not where you went to school that counts, but what you major in that will determine how successful you will be after college. I know way too many people with liberal arts degrees from ivies that don't have jobs where they earn as much as the kids in my family- bottom tier schools, but kick ass majors= fat paychecks.

not the goal for my kids. In fact, I really hope to raise my kids how I was raised - to think of money as pretty inconsequential and college as an opportunity to learn. I got an English degree and don't have a fat paycheck and am happy and fulfilled, wanting nothing. My brother actually fell in love with the law, because a big-law lawyer and now makes a fat paycheck, but finds money inconsequential and lives much the way I live. I think our houses cost the same!

"money as pretty inconsequential" = my parents paid for my English degree and I don't have to worry about saving money or making money because my parents are my emergency fund.
Money is not inconsequential. It pays for education and housing and food and safety.

Anonymous wrote:From what I've seen, it's not where you went to school that counts, but what you major in that will determine how successful you will be after college. I know way too many people with liberal arts degrees from ivies that don't have jobs where they earn as much as the kids in my family- bottom tier schools, but kick ass majors= fat paychecks.

not the goal for my kids. In fact, I really hope to raise my kids how I was raised - to think of money as pretty inconsequential and college as an opportunity to learn. I got an English degree and don't have a fat paycheck and am happy and fulfilled, wanting nothing. My brother actually fell in love with the law, because a big-law lawyer and now makes a fat paycheck, but finds money inconsequential and lives much the way I live. I think our houses cost the same!

Its interesting that the thread title is 'worth it to you" yet that turns into people who never went to private school telling others its not worth it to them. Its a free internet but the answers from people who went to are sending their DCs to private are the ones that answer the thread. the others are just trolls. I noticed that people who earn enough to send their DCs to private are also aware that it does not guarantee Ivy admissions. Although thee are a lot of legacies at our school. Far more than in public school.

The only ones that seem "worth" it are ones that have a progressive model - because or selse it is eventually all the same. Learn about each schools offerings and how they teach and you begin to see how progressive models have a value most privates and publics cannot offer. The rest is just prestigue, smaller class sizes (which don't prove to be better for learning- unless you have a special circumstance).

What a very thoughtful response. Thank you. I appreciate the perspective you bring to the discussion. Just out of curiosity, considering your education background, which DC privates do you consider worth he money since you mentioned that are some that are a "waste."

I moved a lot as a child, and I went to a lot of different types of schools: Private, public, gifted, religious (Jewish and Episcopalian), university-based, and even homeschooled for a while. So I have seen a lot of different types of schools. Moreover, most of my family is in academia in some way or another, so education is a very important and oft-discussed/studied subject among us.

I think that this question can't be about private v. public, but about school A v. school B. There are some areas where the public school might be the right choice for a child, and some where the private school might. For instance, in New Orleans, we went private, and it was an amazing school. But the public school that I attended in New Jersey was just as good; in fact, it was so good that the privates nearby were such an odd choice that they really weren't able to be very good.

In some areas, the decision is clear for whatever reason. But in DC, I think it depends on the kid, the school, and the options. There are some privates here that are amazing, and there are some that are wastes. Same with public. I think it makes no sense to compare them as if they are apples v. oranges

As for what I am doing with my own child, I am in the very fortunate position of having parents who would gladly pay for private school if I thought that was the best option. At this point, however, we have chosen (and were lucky enough to get into) a charter school that we love, and we plan to stay there for as long as it is meeting our needs. Hopefully that is for the entirety of my children's schooling, as I really do love it and the community within it. But if it stops feeling like it is our best option, we will reconsider, and that very well may be to a private; I am almost certain it will not be our inboundary school at any level. But for now, I'm confident that we are getting exactly what we want from our charter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's worth every penny. My children have the attention they need and deserve. I feel that I'm able to talk to administration when issues occur and teachers are genuinely interested in my child's education. My girls are not exposed to many social elements - media, rock stars, or clothing. They are encouraged to think outside the box and are in a community where their socio economic status is welcomed and not ostracized.

I'm curious what you refer to. Do you mean they are accepted instead of ostracized for being wealthy?

Yes that's right. I like that my kids have friends in the same socio economic level.
I was ostracized as a kid for my family's wealth and it took a toll on me.