{"id":238840,"date":"2022-12-26T22:40:07","date_gmt":"2022-12-26T22:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buoyantbloomer.com\/?p=238840"},"modified":"2022-12-26T22:40:10","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T22:40:10","slug":"private-elementary-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buoyantbloomer.com\/private-elementary-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Private elementary schools are just as hard to get into and pricier"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aren’t private elementary schools easier to get into and better ask some of my clients? The answer to the first question is definitely not, and the answer to the second is it depends. As one pundit put it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

By kindergarten, the children of elite professionals are already a full two years ahead of middle-class children, and the achievement gap is almost unbridgeable.<\/p>\nDaniel Markovits, Yale Law School Professor and author of The Meritocracy Trap<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

If the goal is to keep calcifying a two-year gap between the haves and have nots, then absolutely! Private schools are worth it. But I want to challenge everyone going through any admissions process on what the right question to ask actually is. Because I guarantee you it is not what is the best school for my child. Today we’ll take a look into the admissions process for private kindergarten schools and see how they differ or are similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Priority groups exist and it’s not just about $$$<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the most anxiety riddled portions of the kindergarten or elementary school admissions process is the fact that there is no such thing as a meritocracy<\/a>. This is not a new phenomenon and rivals the process we are familiar with at the college level where legacy admissions, children of faculty, and athletes have always taken the first available spots. For private elementary schools, the biggest entry point is typically Kindergarten, meaning the greatest number of available spots exists only at that year (the next big entry points are 6th grade and 9th grade for middle and high schools).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Kindergarten, siblings have priority just as they do in the public school and gifted and talented admissions<\/a> process. Kids of staff and faculty also get set aside spots, followed by diversity candidates (always in demand, especially after 2020). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each class is curated to ensure there is gender, socioeconomic, racial, and skills diversity. So in some years, some private schools have actually not been able to take “regular” boys at all (only boys who are siblings, boys of faculty\/staff, or boys of diversity). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a huge donor doesn’t necessarily land you a spot, but having powerful people vouch for you and your willingness to write charity checks as well as volunteer for school activities can (but doesn’t always) help. For most families who get into a private school, the work is equal to public school expectations. The volunteer requests and donation requests exist in both systems. What differs is the amount and intensity of the requests. Most families attending private schools are doing so with an eye to the next race – either middle school or high school admissions, so they have to continue to “perform” whereas those in the public school system are free to do as they please. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sheer number of things to do for admissions is a part-time job<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At a minimum, parents applying to private preschools and elementary schools have to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n