OT: The Perks Of Growing Up Rich

CTMike

So this 17 y/o from CT is now the youngest American woman to summit the highest peak on each of the 7 continents. 

https://www.ctpost.com/recordjournal/article/wallingford-choate-emma-schwerin-everest-peaks-ct-20338563.php?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKpw-NleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHkHx9_f7f5dqHkt3s5eBWKKzCroq7fl0ZRqe5uoJuFKJYLtntVEuWfJ8KIWk_aem_ZEOUEkTWIHYIypWQXtzBbw

If you haven't heard of Choate, it is one of the top prep schools in country - tuition for boarding students is $71,240. 

I am not trying to detract from her accomplishments in any way, truly amazing for anyone, let alone at her age, but when your parents can afford ~ $300K for high school, that level of wealth clearly opens a lot of doors. 

Good for her. 

Gulfcoastguy

So maybe she can afford an XL with all the accessories? 

fishlessman

CTMike said:

So this 17 y/o from CT is now the youngest American woman to summit the highest peak on each of the 7 continents. 

https://www.ctpost.com/recordjournal/article/wallingford-choate-emma-schwerin-everest-peaks-ct-20338563.php?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKpw-NleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHkHx9_f7f5dqHkt3s5eBWKKzCroq7fl0ZRqe5uoJuFKJYLtntVEuWfJ8KIWk_aem_ZEOUEkTWIHYIypWQXtzBbw

If you haven't heard of Choate, it is one of the top prep schools in country - tuition for boarding students is $71,240. 

I am not trying to detract from her accomplishments in any way, truly amazing for anyone, let alone at her age, but when your parents can afford ~ $300K for high school, that level of wealth clearly opens a lot of doors. 

Good for her. 

alot of grant money goes into these schools as well, money and test scores are not enough. phillips acadamy near me really looks for the right students that have all the right attributes. choate did well accepting this studant. money to climb everest doest hurt though......

Legume

How much of this prep school culture exists outside of New England?

alaskanassasin

Plenty of rich kids out there that do nothing and ruin their lives with drugs and alcohol just saying

fishlessman

Legume said:

How much of this prep school culture exists outside of New England?

dont know, theres two high priced boarding schools near me, one in mass and the other in nh in the mid 70k range per year.  phillips andover has a need-blind admission policy about finances, probably close to half the students are funded with school grants so cut that 75k down to less than half overall. i went to a catholic prep school, not on the same playing field as a phillips andover or a phillips exeter.  dont think theres many need-blind admission policies in high schools, i would assume its more a college thing 

Ozzie_Isaac

Last I checked, Everest Summit is $100k+.

DoubleEgger

That pricing sounds about right. It’s about $75k/yr for boarding schools in North Georgia. The most expensive day school around here is Woodward Academy (K-12) and it’s $36k and there is a $13k/yr supplemental charge for grades 2-8. 

DoubleEgger

alaskanassasin said:

Plenty of rich kids out there that do nothing and ruin their lives with drugs and alcohol just saying

Plenty of poor kids are doing the same. 

hoosier_egger

Indiana's top private school is around 65k/yr. Most are in the 25-40k range

Ozzie_Isaac

DoubleEgger said:

alaskanassasin said:

Plenty of rich kids out there that do nothing and ruin their lives with drugs and alcohol just saying

Plenty of poor kids are doing the same. 

Plenty of kids & adults from all walks of life doing this.

CTMike

For some perspective on New England Prep Schools -- UConn's endowment was $634M at the end of FY24. Phillips Exeter Academy's endowment was $1.6B as of June 2024. Choate is around $400M. 

fishlessman

CTMike said:

For some perspective on New England Prep Schools -- UConn's endowment was $634M at the end of FY24. Phillips Exeter Academy's endowment was $1.6B as of June 2024. Choate is around $400M. 

phillips exeter and phillips andover are full blown campuses....ivy league high schools

exeter

andover, i used to do boiler repairs here, climb the clock tower for metal repairs. 20 minutes from boston and has a great view of mount washington on a clear day

for gym class you can sign up to rappel the clocktower at sunrise before classes

Legume

I worked with a few that went to those kind of prep schools followed by Bates College. When that was shared with me, it seemed obvious in the retrospectoscope.

CTMike

My son attended a hockey camp at Exeter / they have
two full size rinks on campus. The gym complex rivals any I've seen at major universities. 

Ozzie_Isaac

CTMike said:

For some perspective on New England Prep Schools -- UConn's endowment was $634M at the end of FY24. Phillips Exeter Academy's endowment was $1.6B as of June 2024. Choate is around $400M. 

Endowments are funny things.  Super limited in their scope of use.

fishlessman

teachers salaries at the phillips acadamys are inline with massachusetts public high schools  

Teacher salaries at Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, NH) are generally competitive, with average salaries around $53,139 for an English Teacher and $57,880 for a Mathematics Teacher

DoubleEgger

fishlessman said:

teachers salaries at the phillips acadamys are inline with massachusetts public high schools  

Teacher salaries at Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, NH) are generally competitive, with average salaries around $53,139 for an English Teacher and $57,880 for a Mathematics Teacher

That’s pathetic. The salary range for Atlanta Public Schools is $61-127k. 

https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/cms/lib/GA01000924/Centricity/Domain/197/TeacherSalarySchedule20242025.pdf

RRP

fishlessman said:

teachers salaries at the phillips acadamys are inline with massachusetts public high schools  

Teacher salaries at Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, NH) are generally competitive, with average salaries around $53,139 for an English Teacher and $57,880 for a Mathematics Teacher

My wife taught Jr&Sr English classes for college bound students for the last 32 years of her 37 years. While it was  a public school it clearly had the “rich kids/parents” distinction of the 4 high schools in the city. Luckily for her her students were there to learn and she had very few discipline problems. However she retired 22 years ago and we hear that discipline there is a joke nowadays. Reason I said all this I wonder about discipline in those truly rich kids prep schools. Plus those salaries are below of the averages here. I wonder what kind of teacher burnout and turnover those rich prep schools have.

fishlessman

RRP said:

fishlessman said:

teachers salaries at the phillips acadamys are inline with massachusetts public high schools  

Teacher salaries at Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, NH) are generally competitive, with average salaries around $53,139 for an English Teacher and $57,880 for a Mathematics Teacher

My wife taught Jr&Sr English classes for college bound students for the last 32 years of her 37 years. While it was  a public school it clearly had the “rich kids/parents” distinction of the 4 high schools in the city. Luckily for her her students were there to learn and she had very few discipline problems. However she retired 22 years ago and we hear that discipline there is a joke nowadays. Reason I said all this I wonder about discipline in those truly rich kids prep schools. Plus those salaries are below of the averages here. I wonder what kind of teacher burnout and turnover those rich prep schools have.

the student will be replaced if they are acting up there. they reject about 85 percent of the A+ student admission applications. tiny classrooms, 3 to 4 students per teacher and assistants.  not like public high school around here  where the kids dont show up and dont get disciplined for it

Acn

DoubleEgger said:

fishlessman said:

teachers salaries at the phillips acadamys are inline with massachusetts public high schools  

Teacher salaries at Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, NH) are generally competitive, with average salaries around $53,139 for an English Teacher and $57,880 for a Mathematics Teacher

That’s pathetic. The salary range for Atlanta Public Schools is $61-127k. 

https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/cms/lib/GA01000924/Centricity/Domain/197/TeacherSalarySchedule20242025.pdf

Don’t know about the New England ones, but straight salary may not be the only compensation.  The private school my daughter went to the salary is comparable, maybe a touch lower depending on experience levels, with the county schools around it, but in addition to salary they get family housing on campus, and a tuition discount (I believe around 35%).  That, plus working at a school that picks its students, are all huge differences.

Ozzie_Isaac

We want teachers who do it because they love it, not for the pay.  Low pay is a feature.

RRP

Then with Ozzie_Isaac said:

We want teachers who do it because they love it, not for the pay.  Low pay is a feature.

Oh I fully agree but tenure is the bane of parents and administrators having to pay the great teachers the same as what I called the paycheck teachers. For disclosure I also served as the controller & treasurer of a $170M public school district.

Legume

DoubleEgger said:

fishlessman said:

teachers salaries at the phillips acadamys are inline with massachusetts public high schools  

Teacher salaries at Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, NH) are generally competitive, with average salaries around $53,139 for an English Teacher and $57,880 for a Mathematics Teacher

That’s pathetic. The salary range for Atlanta Public Schools is $61-127k. 

https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/cms/lib/GA01000924/Centricity/Domain/197/TeacherSalarySchedule20242025.pdf

That's Atlanta, not Georgia.  He posted Mass avg, not Boston.

Legume

Acn said:

DoubleEgger said:

fishlessman said:

teachers salaries at the phillips acadamys are inline with massachusetts public high schools  

Teacher salaries at Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, NH) are generally competitive, with average salaries around $53,139 for an English Teacher and $57,880 for a Mathematics Teacher

That’s pathetic. The salary range for Atlanta Public Schools is $61-127k. 

https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/cms/lib/GA01000924/Centricity/Domain/197/TeacherSalarySchedule20242025.pdf

Don’t know about the New England ones, but straight salary may not be the only compensation.  The private school my daughter went to the salary is comparable, maybe a touch lower depending on experience levels, with the county schools around it, but in addition to salary they get family housing on campus, and a tuition discount (I believe around 35%).  That, plus working at a school that picks its students, are all huge differences.

Have family that have taught in both public and private.  Public has its challenges, but private parent entitlement is a whole different game. 

DoubleEgger

Legume said:

DoubleEgger said:

fishlessman said:

teachers salaries at the phillips acadamys are inline with massachusetts public high schools  

Teacher salaries at Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, NH) are generally competitive, with average salaries around $53,139 for an English Teacher and $57,880 for a Mathematics Teacher

That’s pathetic. The salary range for Atlanta Public Schools is $61-127k. 

https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/cms/lib/GA01000924/Centricity/Domain/197/TeacherSalarySchedule20242025.pdf

That's Atlanta, not Georgia.  He posted Mass avg, not Boston.

Check the cost of living for Taxachusetts vs Atlanta for a fairer comparison. 

DoubleEgger

Also, when you can make as much money driving a forklift for Amazon as a high end private school teacher, there’s a problem IMO. 

ColbyLang

DoubleEgger said:

Also, when you can make as much money driving a forklift for Amazon as a high end private school teacher, there’s a problem IMO. 

Agree with this. My kids teachers probably make 55-60k annually. No thank you. Private schools here locally are losing teaching staff to Charter Schools that keep popping up. 

fishlessman

DoubleEgger said:

Legume said:

DoubleEgger said:

fishlessman said:

teachers salaries at the phillips acadamys are inline with massachusetts public high schools  

Teacher salaries at Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, NH) are generally competitive, with average salaries around $53,139 for an English Teacher and $57,880 for a Mathematics Teacher

That’s pathetic. The salary range for Atlanta Public Schools is $61-127k. 

https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/cms/lib/GA01000924/Centricity/Domain/197/TeacherSalarySchedule20242025.pdf

That's Atlanta, not Georgia.  He posted Mass avg, not Boston.

Check the cost of living for Taxachusetts vs Atlanta for a fairer comparison. 

taxwise and what you get up here is worse in the live free or die state. the main reason i moved to mass. will be maine shortly, income and real-estate tax is about the same, no police in town, firestation and ambulance is voluntary (forget about a paramedic, theres a driver,) call the county and wait an hour for an ambulance if needed. instead of trash pickup we have a town dump run by a nazi. camp is on a public water supply, do we have town water...no,  is there a public sewer system or a hundred thousand  leach fields leaching into the public water supply......atleast in mass you see where some of the money goes

JohnInCarolina

Ozzie_Isaac said:

We want teachers who do it because they love it, not for the pay.  Low pay is a feature.

Somehow this same philosophy is not one we apply to doctors.

Teachers are generally underpaid in this country.  We’ve seen several great ones leave our public schools in NC because they couldn’t afford to start a family.  That’s a problem.

fishlessman

JohnInCarolina said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

We want teachers who do it because they love it, not for the pay.  Low pay is a feature.

Somehow this same philosophy is not one we apply to doctors.

Teachers are generally underpaid in this country.  We’ve seen several great ones leave our public schools in NC because they couldn’t afford to start a family.  That’s a problem.

Public school teachers get pay based on tenure, doctors get paid by results. Big difference there.