<p>Well I read that in an article, can't remembe which publication. I would, without doubt, go to 9-12 pivate as opposed to a k-8 private. I doubt the delta between top schools and public schools has inhibited itself before a high school environment.The economy is linked only in that people do not want to put extra money for an unestablished delta. Of course there may be many other reasons. Boston area public schools are also pretty competitive. Any comments?</p>
<p>Where we are from, people will scrounge to send their children to private secondary schools but less so for elementary. Most feel the public system does well enough at teaching in the lower grades but that the discrepancy occurs more from grade 7 on. As PV said, the numbers are down for private at the elementary school level but up significantly for the high school level. They have even closed some public high schools here for lack of enrollment and are bussing kids further to fill up the schools. The public schools are making big efforts to win back the students that have chosen private. Many are now offering IB programs or special sport study programs where you do school half the day and a sport you excell in the other half. You have to be a strong student because you are learning the material in half the time.</p>
<p>It's a mixed picture for private schools. While the Bartlett School will close, this entry claims that more students than ever are leaving Newton's public schools for private schools. Newton</a> officials report rise in city students at private schools - The Boston Globe</p>
<p>
[quote]
Private school enrollment increased at every level, Stein said, with the figures at 15.8 percent of the city's elementary students, 21.3 percent of middle-schoolers, and 21.4 percent of high school students.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Waltham and Newton are neighboring towns. Newton is always on anyone's list of the best public school systems in Massachusetts. An override failed last year, though, leading to larger classes. </p>
<p>Private religious schools are popular, but the need for financial aid is rising: Recession</a> pinch spurs rise for financial aid at religious schools - The Boston Globe.</p>
<p>I think the Bartlett School was not well positioned to weather a recession.</p>
<p>Periwinkle,
What does this mean with respect to students who are newly accepted at bs's? Will the changed economic conditions lead some parents to get cold feet when they are faced with the need to write a $40,000 plus check? Are the schools already seeing this as they matriculate their newly accepted classes?</p>
<p>You'd have to ask someone who works at a bs for the answer to that one. If many full-pay students pop up on CC, claiming they got into good schools off the waitlist in the next few months, I'd assume that a larger-than-usual number of parents developed cold feet. </p>
<p>I have a related question. Let's say a student, let's call him Stephen, commits to a third-tier school, "Mr. John Doe's School", as he has no hope of getting in off his first-choice school's waitlist. He signs the contract, his parents pay the deposit, and he's set for next year. Then, in June, his first-choice school offers him a place in September's class.</p>
<p>IF he jumps to his first-choice school, will Mr. John Doe's School sue Stephen's parents for tuition? My gut says yes. Does anyone disagree?</p>
<p>They might sue for it. That is why you buy insurance on the tuition.</p>
<p>I believe you lose your deposit unless you can convince the accounting department to give it back to you.</p>
<p>Read the contracts carefully. Also, tuition insurance usually stipulates that the child actually be enrolled and attend the school for xx number of days.</p>
<p>Creative are they all different? Or generally can you get your deposit back or not in the case of being taken of a waitlist?</p>
<p>Sarum - I am no expert on the matter but I wouldn't count on the deposit back and I would read carefully to make sure you're not on the hook for anything besides the deposit. If some schools are finding FP enrollment hard this year they might not be as unforgiving as they were during different times.</p>
<p>Man that would be a WSJ headline!
""Elite Boarding Schools" neglect to warn their clients of the fine print! Hundreds of parents ripped off for thousands of dollars as Toxic Mortgage Brokers gravitate towards Elite Prep Schools' accounting firms and collection agencies." "</p>
<p>creative, i know what you are talking about is happening at our local private day schools. some parents have been shocked that the schools don't seem willing to just let it go anymore.</p>
<p>Read your contracts carefully, but my general understanding of how things work is...</p>
<p>1) Once you put down a deposit, it belongs to the school. They might be nice enough to refund it if they feel you are pulling out for a legit reason (e.g. sudden health issue that precludes boarding or parent losing job if they are really nice).</p>
<p>2) If you choose not to attend and notify the school in a timely fashion (i.e. before final payment is due), your deposit serves as liquidated damages to the contract. You should not owe them a dime more, as this is what the deposit was created for. However, if you have paid in full, you may have to negotiate if the school cannot fill your child's spot. </p>
<p>3) Tuition reimbursement insurance is there if you attend day one of the class and pull out. However, some policies will refund the difference between the deposit and the full amount due if you walk before first day of classes. Read carefully for details.</p>
<p>One last piece of wisdom here. Don't send money to a school where you think you child may not attend. Those payment deadlines and refund rules are all about making sure the school is not in a bind come day one when the latest internet rumor (none of them are ever on CC - LOL) leads the parents to pull the kids out of head-lice-prep enmasse. Think of it this way, would you want the school your kid attends to tell the parents that we had to cancel X activity because some social climber parents pulled out 2 days before class started to send their kid to turned-up-nose-prep because slots became available and we refunded them that money instead of paying for your activities?</p>
<p>Here's an newspaper article from the Hartford Courant online regarding Miss Porter's, Ethel Walker, Westminister...
Enrollment</a> Shift Could Burden Farmington Valley Towns -- Courant.com</p>
<p>Don't expect the deposit back. Remember, we have set our budget, contracted with teachers, house staff, and food service based on the numbers we think we have. If you change your mind, we are still contractually obligated to all those parties. We hate to seem hard-hearted about it, but there are scores of people depending on us for their livelihood.</p>
<p>Confirming what we all new to be true.</p>
<p>I don't believe the academic quality of the student at boarding school drops due to this, only the quantity of quality FA students attending . I presume there are plenty of quality FP students waiting in the wings, who normally would be turned down for a FA student at the tier1 schools.</p>
<p>Sarum,
But as diversity drops, so goes the quality of the total social-educational experience for all. The average quality of students may be maintained, but it is at the cost of diversity. Many of those who post here have suggested that a diverse student body is a benefit of a boarding school education.</p>
<p>Pan I agree with your statement 110%. I was just pre-empting statements that the "undeserving" will now be descending upon our schools, and driving down the academics.</p>
<p>But, pan1956, change in # of FA students does not really seem to relate to decrease of diversity. Once admitted, the students all seem to be rather the same. The child of the trust-fund left-wing potter is very similar to the child of the starving left-wing potter. </p>
<p>BS kids and parents of all economic and ethnic classes are amazingly homogeneous - ambitious, motivated, taking the long term view and caring about education. There is not a lot of difference between a rich hockey kid/parent or a poor hockey kid/parent. Rich Asians/poor Asian---they are all in BC Calc and play the violin. Sorry to indulge in sterotypes for the purpose of demonstration, but FA or not, the only diversity is between jocks, artie types, Asians and domestic brainiacs. The matra "But as diversity drops, so goes the quality of the total social-educational experience for all" just doesn't play in the boarding school world. </p>
<p>Why not choose the trust fund left wing potter's kid over the starving artist' left wing kid - they are both left wing potters, but one brings in $40,000 and likely endowment donations to boot.</p>