private school... opinions?

[moremoremore]

I can't help much...but to say that I went to private 1-8 and then an ALL GIRL'S PRIVATE CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL!!!

LOL... and to this day, my best memories and friends are from that school...just the best time of my life really...and oh yeah, good education too !

 

[tanuki]

I went to public school and HATED it - so much that I swore I wouldn''t put any child of mine in public school if I could find a way to afford it.

This fall my little girl will be starting Kindergarten at a private school that is part of the church that we attend. (not catholic school - we''re Methodists)

We went out yesterday and shopped for her little school uniforms (she is small for her age and I have learned that if you don''t get there early there are none left that fit (also you save money because they offer free monogramming of the emblems until June 15th).

She tried them on last night and it was so cute!

I''m so glad to hear so many of you had a good experience with private school education.
Although I didn''t have much in the way of doubts (thanks to my own bad public school experience)
what you wrote just made me feel so much better about sending her.

 

[anchor31]

I went to a public elementary school and the academics and the extra-curricular activities were all great. The teachers recognised my potential and helped me to learn how to use that potential. Not a lot of kids were extremely rich, so the bullying came more from the fact that I was the "teacher''s pet".

My parents almost sent us to a private HS and I wish they had... I HATED public HS. I hated having to agonize over my not-so fashionable wardrobe and being endlessly bullied because of it. I would often get bored in class because things were "too easy"; I even got bullied by a teacher for being on top of my class. It was a huge HS with too many students, and it was terrible.

More and more public school have uniforms here though now. I''m not close to having children, so I guess then I''ll have to visit the different schools and see what they have to offer.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

RICE- what have you decided?

opps....I mean pinkflamingo. How funny that I only paid attention to your avator. (If you ever changed it I wouldn't know who you were!!!)

 

[lindaAZ]

It sounds to me like what you really need is a school that will address the needs of your academically gifted child. Sometimes private schools can do that better. It just depends of the individual school. You need to ask very specific questions on how they handle children who are ahead of their age peers. At a private school we have had a very good experience with our son who is “exceptionally” gifted. He is graduating at the age of 16 – he benefited from a two-year grade skip. In the beginning he went to fifth and seventh grade classes in the middle school when he was in third grade and by the time he was a sixth grader he was grade-skipped to eighth grade except in math – where he was ahead by four years. He was much happier emotionally and socially. Our story has a good ending so far - he has been accepted into Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford. He chose Harvard.

 

[jas]

I attended public school until 10th grade when my parents sacrificed a lot to send me (and later my younger brother) to private school. I was getting too caught up in the social issues that tended to permeate the school. They were very worried that I wouldn''t thrive intellectually in an environment that focused on social lives.

I LOVED my time at private school...the academics were tremendous, the classes were small enough to be intimate and give me personalized attention but large enough to offer diversity of learning styles and opinions. There was also cultural and racial diversity that in my experience was celebrated more than in my equally diverse public school.

Best was that I was able to channel my love for music and the arts. It was not "geeky" to be in the chorus -- over 3/4 of the school was in it (some just for the college app, but still!), it was possible to be a jock and a brain...overall the private school nurtured the development of so many disparate talents.

Oh, and there was still a social life, but almost every kid knew they were there for school first and foremost. We worked hard and played hard. 100% of graduates went to college -- many of those were Ivy League or Ivy League calliber schools (I went to the University of Chicago, my brother to Northwestern, my best friends to Harvard, Haverford, and Duke.)

Fast forward a few years, and now I teach in a public school in what is considered a very good district. I don''t have children, but I would never send them to public school. There is a mardi gras mentality -- "flash the teacher a little somethin, and she''ll reward you by giving you A''s like so many cheap strands of beads."

The pressure I see now is to NOT pressure the kids...I don''t mean to imply that kids should be miserable academic robots, but the concept of HEALTHY and APPROPRIATE rigor seems to have flown out the window. Keep my kid happy, give ''em an A, don''t give homework, and please don''t ask them to struggle to learn something. It''s frustrating because I want to help my students soar, and I believe in joyous learning (it''s easier to learn with a smile and a laugh)...but the focus should be on learning. It just feels like I am more and more pressured by administration and parents to stay with the "joyous" part and keep the student learning passive. My classroom is not a circus, and trust me, my students learn, but our principal has told us to "keep it fun" and save ourselves the trouble of dealing with parents whose children don''t want to do homework. I don''t mean don''t want to do hours and hours and hours (which they shouldn''t) but at all.

Sorry, I don''t mean to turn this into a rant...I just hope if I ever have children I will be able to find a private school here in Illinois that was as good as the one I attended out east.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[ladykemma]

if i had kids i would not send them to public school . i teach high school in an inner city ghetto school. I have students who are two or three time mothers, "out" prostitutes, emotionally disturbed, gang members, generational welfare, pimps. There are nice kids who try hard also.

that said, I teach a lower level chemistry for math poor students. I don't assign homework because they don't do it. The kids in my school are sadly unprepared for university. all we do is teach for the TAKS test.

Nope, while I got a good education at public school, since "every child left behind" No Way! we are not teaching them to think, we are teaching a test.

i could rant for hours on this.

 

[pinkflamingo]

Hi everyone!

We have decided to go for the private school. I met with the principal and she addressed my concerns. I think this is a way better option.

The school board has once again decided to postpone a decision on our application for special assignment to the public school we chose. School here ends next week (YAY!) and I am sick of waiting. We decided to put a deposit down for the private school.

The funny thing is many of the other parents at DS's preschool are heading in the same direction. I think this will be a great opportunity for him. Just the sheer number of fieldtrips they go on is incredible- hands on learning in every grade. I know for a fact that public school kids are lucky if they go on 2 field trips a year. The private school, at least 3 field trips a month!

It isn't so expensive or in a snooty area to attract the snobs... maybe a little, but our suburb is not like that. I am not really worried about class differences/money issues. they may surface later on but both DH and I grew up with $$$ and I can put on airs pretty easily.

I am really excited. DS is thrilled, he wants to start NOW!!


ETA: Sorry if my avatar is confusing. My first name is Alda, I went to Rice for my education, but I live in Florida now *pinkflamingo paradise*. LOL!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I am glad you decided! I honestly believe I would have not done as well if I had gone to a public school. I think your son will do great there.