Private Schools 2023 (Dallas, Shepherd, Anderson: how much, home, magnet schools)

[Peachy6264]

Originally Posted by School Searcher

I assume this situation comes up several times every admissions cycle, but does anyone have insight on what typically happens if a family submits an enrollment contract at a back-up school, then the child later gets into the first-choice school?

Is the penalty typically just forfeiture of the tuition deposit? I would be fine with that, but don't want to be "on the hook" for full tuition at both.

I understand it will largely depend the contract and each school's practice, but I'm just trying to get an idea of how those situations are typically handled among Dallas private schools. Any would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I can only speak to the Dallas private school where I have previously signed a contract , but in the contract I signed you did only forfeit the deposit as long as you notified the school by a later date. I believe it was sometime in June if I am remembering correctly. I know it was a few months after the typical March acceptance deadline.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by School Searcher

I assume this situation comes up several times every admissions cycle, but does anyone have insight on what typically happens if a family submits an enrollment contract at a back-up school, then the child later gets into the first-choice school?

Is the penalty typically just forfeiture of the tuition deposit? I would be fine with that, but don't want to be "on the hook" for full tuition at both.

I understand it will largely depend the contract and each school's practice, but I'm just trying to get an idea of how those situations are typically handled among Dallas private schools. Any would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

From March - June 1, you just lose your deposit.

Tuition is due in June and you would be on the hook for the full tuition at both schools unless there’s a loophole in the tuition insurance program. We don’t do the insurance so I didn’t exactly know what it covers.

[Purplecow20]

Hi All! So glad to see this thread! We are applying to PK at Hockaday and Greenhill. Wishing everyone luck. It’s gonna be a long 2 months!

[Purplecow20]

Originally Posted by abeamishday

Does anyone have any insight about any increase in numbers of applications this year, particularly for the preschool/lower school? I haven't heard anything from any school officials (probably because not all applications are submitted at this point) but was just wondering, as some of the open houses and other events we have attended were packed.

I remember that when Meadowbrook informed it's families last year that they would be closing I figured that would make the competition even tougher if Meadwobrook families applied this year en masse for the preferred schools at those earlier grades, but just recently I heard they have transitioned to a new location instead of closing. But I don't know if that news came early enough so that their families knew they could stay put, or if all those families still applied out?

When we went to the family event at Hockaday (early November), someone in admissions told me that they had already received twice the number of applicants vs what they had received last year. She said it would be a particularly competitive year bc of the “overwhelming number of applicants”. I’m assuming it’s probably like that at most of the other schools as well.

[seatex222]

Originally Posted by Purplecow20

When we went to the family event at Hockaday (early November), someone in admissions told me that they had already received twice the number of applicants vs what they had received last year. She said it would be a particularly competitive year bc of the “overwhelming number of applicants”. I’m assuming it’s probably like that at most of the other schools as well.

Wow! Last year when we were applying to various PreK programs I heard all around that it was a record breaking year and for this year to be double even what was considered high last year is scary. Did she say if it was for one grade in particular or just all around?

[abeamishday]

Originally Posted by Purplecow20

When we went to the family event at Hockaday (early November), someone in admissions told me that they had already received twice the number of applicants vs what they had received last year. She said it would be a particularly competitive year bc of the “overwhelming number of applicants”. I’m assuming it’s probably like that at most of the other schools as well.

Oh dear, that's not comforting is it? It's helpful to remind us to set realistic expectations on our admission chances though. Even if all the admissions components are going your way (who can tell?) there's just A LOT of competition and we may not get the acceptances we want. If anyone is lucky enough to get in at their top choices, then it's all the sweeter I guess.

I wonder if applicant pools keeps increasing year over year, if any schools will consider expanding their enrollment, even a little? Part of the appeal is most definitely the smaller, more intimate settings, and if you admit more at PK/K/1, that would have a snowball effect on later enrollments obviously. But if it's really double their typical (mostly qualified) applicant pool, then that's a lot of families wishing to enroll/pay tuition that may not get anything but waitlisted at any of the prominent schools discussed here. Does anyone know the last time a school added spaces at entry points? Did they add a whole class worth (in order to keep student-teacher ratios), or something else?

[barnicles]

A Beamishday, you wrote: "I wonder if applicant pools keeps increasing year over year, if any schools will consider expanding their enrollment, even a little? Part of the appeal is most definitely the smaller, more intimate settings, and if you admit more at PK/K/1, that would have a snowball effect on later enrollments obviously. But if it's really double their typical (mostly qualified) applicant pool, then that's a lot of families wishing to enroll/pay tuition that may not get anything but waitlisted at any of the prominent schools discussed here. Does anyone know the last time a school added spaces at entry points? Did they add a whole class worth (in order to keep student-teacher ratios), or something else?[/quote]

There are many factors involved in class sizes at the top private schools. Not the least of which is that nearly all (all?) of them are within suburban neighborhood boundaries and the City of Dallas (or Addison I'll assume) has regulations on how many students can be enrolled at any given time. To change this number requires neighborhood meetings and votes and city council etc. It's not a number they can just change year to year, generally. Unless they are approved for many more students than they currently have, which is unlikely.

Most of these schools have a set number of students they will admit for the early grades, and have a very specific and well laid out growth rate through the upper grades. They stick to this very strictly, even in years of great growth in the metroplex.

This is one of the reason that a bunch of new private schools popped up over the last 25 years. A BUNCH. Those kids that couldn't get into Hockaday or st. Mark's had to go somewhere, and yet the metroplex has grown and grown. As a response to this recent growth I know there are already new privates in the works.

[texstout]

Originally Posted by barnicles

A Beamishday, you wrote: "I wonder if applicant pools keeps increasing year over year, if any schools will consider expanding their enrollment, even a little? Part of the appeal is most definitely the smaller, more intimate settings, and if you admit more at PK/K/1, that would have a snowball effect on later enrollments obviously. But if it's really double their typical (mostly qualified) applicant pool, then that's a lot of families wishing to enroll/pay tuition that may not get anything but waitlisted at any of the prominent schools discussed here. Does anyone know the last time a school added spaces at entry points? Did they add a whole class worth (in order to keep student-teacher ratios), or something else?

There are many factors involved in class sizes at the top private schools. Not the least of which is that nearly all (all?) of them are within suburban neighborhood boundaries and the City of Dallas (or Addison I'll assume) has regulations on how many students can be enrolled at any given time. To change this number requires neighborhood meetings and votes and city council etc. It's not a number they can just change year to year, generally. Unless they are approved for many more students than they currently have, which is unlikely.

Most of these schools have a set number of students they will admit for the early grades, and have a very specific and well laid out growth rate through the upper grades. They stick to this very strictly, even in years of great growth in the metroplex.

This is one of the reason that a bunch of new private schools popped up over the last 25 years. A BUNCH. Those kids that couldn't get into Hockaday or st. Mark's had to go somewhere, and yet the metroplex has grown and grown. As a response to this recent growth I know there are already new privates in the works.[/quote]


Similarly, more public choice and magnet schools have popped up in the last few years within Dallas. While built to give more choice to local families, they also have the side affect of keeping more families in public that would otherwise go private. Solar Girls and Solar Boys have opened in last 5 years. Sudie Tag opened 5 years ago - doubly the TAG population and competing for students against Travis. Mata Montessori as well. There are many others of course but these are newer schools pulling many kids that otherwise possibly go private.

[Purplecow20]

Originally Posted by seatex222

Wow! Last year when we were applying to various PreK programs I heard all around that it was a record breaking year and for this year to be double even what was considered high last year is scary. Did she say if it was for one grade in particular or just all around?

She didn’t say if it was one year or all around. Tbh, she seemed really overwhelmed at it herself. Like, she was really surprised by the amount of applicants. The event was a LS event.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Purplecow20

She didn’t say if it was one year or all around. Tbh, she seemed really overwhelmed at it herself. Like, she was really surprised by the amount of applicants. The event was a LS event.

They aren’t expanding. They won’t expand. Hockaday has basically the same amount of kindergarteners as they did 40 years ago when I was a kid and the population was 1/3 what it is today. My high school boyfriend graduated from St Marks in the late 1990’s and they’re about 100 boys in the class. That’s pretty much within 10 students of today’s senior class enrollment.

Plus, the schools have zero incentive to open more spots for younger grades. Especially because the honest truth is that the kids who are admitted in 5th and 9th usually end up being a stronger group than the lifers. Hard to predict how a 3 or 4 year old will perform in high school; easy to predict how an 8th grader will.

Our kid’s school also had a record number of Lower School open house attendees; first year it was more than upper grades. I think parents are just getting savvier with trying to apply early - especially at the “one and done” schools.