Costs aside, do you like private school for kids ?

[Silverado12]

Both mine went to public school, then after one went to a local (state funded) community college (majored in machine technology) and the other went to Radford University. He's working on his master's now at the University of Maryland. We have good public schools here and never felt the need for private schooling. If we lived in the City of Richmond, I might have thought differently.

 

[Dorian]

I hated Catholic school. I always was made out to be a horrible person, but simply would rather learn more about core subjects rather than religion. My large high school has prepared me more for the real world than I would have thought. Lots of variation whereas private schools are usually rich white kids with their heads shoved up their parents [censored]. I too, would move to a greater public district rather than private. Some of our local intercity school districts are a complete shame. So the only option would be private, which is what happened to me. Just my .02.

 

[pbm]

Growing up in northern Manhattan and later the Bronx, my brothers and I attended Catholic grammer schools....the public schools were too dangerous in the 60s and early 70s. I went to public high school and my 4 brothers all went to Catholic high schools for the same reason they went to Catholic grammer schools.

My public high school was a 'specialized school' for 'gifted students'....that's the only reason I went there....also my mother refused to pay Catholic school tuition for me after being accepted at this 'great' high school.

PS: My public high school has had 8 Nobel Prize winning alumni, 7 in Physics and 1 in Chemistry...

Public schools generally have more funds than Catholic schools although there are private schools with huge endowments and wealthy students (families) and alumni....all in all the quality of the school usually follows the quality (and motivation) of the people attending it. When students and their parents don't care...the teachers usually begin not to care either....

 

[simple_gifts]

Quote:

PS: My public high school has had 8 Nobel Prize winners, 7 in Physics and 1 in Chemistry...


Neil Degrasse Tyson often mentions this...

I went to a private boarding school; it was a different experience than a public town school (which i also attended)

Without composing 4 pages, class size and # of students @ the school being the biggest benefit

Public 30 students/class, graduating class 450+
Private 3-15 students/class, graduating class 83

No one had a 'right' to be at the boarding school; that kept deportment in check

On Wednesdays, my English teacher would pick the 5 of us up @ the top of the hill in his VW wagon w/ syncho and we would have class in his house with cups of cocoa and his 2 yo child while his wife prepared for the day.

 

[joaks]

My sister and I went to a private Catholic school for K-8 then public. I don't think our education was any better than our peers at the local public schools although the Catholic school would probably tell you that their students to better (higher socioeconomic status of the kids).

I don't have any children now, but our public school is (supposedly) very good. I am actually more worried about the peer group than the teachers and a selective school can control for this.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Cost isn't the only factor.
It depends upon the agenda of the local public schools as well as the agenda of the private school. Unfortunately many schools today have infused education with a social agenda that usurps much of the students time and have become a political football rather than a place where students can learn the basics. In my opinion, it's one of the reasons why we have a generation that is often unable to do the basics; spelling, math, grammar and science. It's also one of the reasons why critical thinking skills and the ability to reason out a problem are so often in short supply.

There is also a lack of quality parenting in far too many families.

In this day and age, I would seriously consider any school that puts nonsense agendas aside and focuses on real learning. In many areas, that would also bring home schooling into the mix as a valid choice.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Cost isn't the only factor.
It depends upon the agenda of the local public schools as well as the agenda of the private school. Unfortunately many schools today have infused education with a social agenda that usurps much of the students time and have become a political football rather than a place where students can learn the basics. In my opinion, it's one of the reasons why we have a generation that is often unable to do the basics; spelling, math, grammar and science. It's also one of the reasons why critical thinking skills and the ability to reason out a problem are so often in short supply.

There is also a lack of quality parenting in far too many families.

In this day and age, I would seriously consider any school that puts nonsense agendas aside and focuses on real learning. In many areas, that would also bring home schooling into the mix as a valid choice.



This 100%.

It really depends on the school, the agenda, and what they believe is important. My ex taught math at a private school here in CT. One alarming thing she mentioned was about the political games the school would play with the parents. Since the parents were usually paying good money, they thought their kids should be doing well in school, regardless of the student's work ethic and effort put into classes. If the kid wasn't doing well, the parents would pull them from the school and bring them somewhere else. She said that many of the teachers had alternate lesson plans for kids who "needed to pass" in order to keep the well paying parents happy. Many of those kids weren't as prepared for college once they graduated. Obviously not all private schools are like that, but I could see how that type of agenda might be on the table.

I went to public school, and my parents moved to our town because of the school system. The school system is still pretty good now, but it has fallen a few notches since. Luckily we had an option to go with the in-town high school, or the one in the next town over for agriculture (FFA) which had a better rating. I ended up going there, and got involved in many leadership activities. It also exposed me to a much larger group (360 vs. 100 kid graduating class) so that definitely helped prepare me for the college lecture hall environment.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Costs aside, do you like private school for your kids ?

Or do you prefer sending your K-12 kids to Public schools in your area ?



Could not afford the tuition at the time, but deeply regret not sending my two daughters to a Catholic school (grades 1-12).

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Interesting to see so many Cincinnati responses.....this town is HOOKED on the Catholic education model.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Depends on what you mean by "private". If I had kids and the means I'd either send them to a non-denominational or a Jesuit.

 

[SeaJay]

As the old saying goes, it ain't the machine, but rather it is the mechanic.

I think that those kids that are self-starters who want to learn and have some intelligence will rise up and be very successful in life pretty much equally no matter which school they attend.

Likewise, those that wait for the world to give them something and don't bother to use whatever intelligence they do possess will not get much out of either public or private.

 

[Mr Nice]

Quote:
Another friend went to a famous private school and in his 30s was in a higher position than most people ever achieve - though he also had ability, personality and family connections. But the friends and connections from the famous private school couldn't have done him any harm.

So it all depends.


ecotourist,

My brother mentioned what you said about personal and family connections through classmates from school.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: SeaJay
As the old saying goes, it ain't the machine, but rather it is the mechanic.

I think that those kids that are self-starters who want to learn and have some intelligence will rise up and be very successful in life pretty much equally no matter which school they attend.

Likewise, those that wait for the world to give them something and don't bother to use whatever intelligence they do possess will not get much out of either public or private.


Stunningly accurate!

The world has many famous folks who started with nothing and did well. "Success" is measured in many ways, while not all are monetary one can be successful without being super wealthy...

 

[CincyDavid]

Originally Posted By: Chris Meutsch
Interesting to see so many Cincinnati responses.....this town is HOOKED on the Catholic education model.


Chris, Cincinnati and all of SW Ohio is really strange in that regard. We're a half blue (St X) half purple(Elder) extended family and the whole group is irritated that the alma mater of most of the women in the family (Mother of Mercy) is being folded into the McAuley HS operation. We are 3rd generation at St X and Mercy, and there was never any discussion about doing anything else, it was a given that you would go there, assuming you got in.

When I was a Senior in HS, my dad about lost his mind that tuition was $1500 a year (this was 1985). Now it's 10x what it was then and people continue to pay for young men to go to private schools, but the girls' schools are dying on the vine. Not quite sure what to take that to mean.

Sometimes I think it's the sports rivalries that drive the private schools around here...The Pit at Elder HS seats 10,000, St. X's Ballaban Field holds 9000, the football tailgates start as soon as the kids leave the parking lot on Friday afternoon and the parking lots are full by 4:30 for a 7:30 game. We would cook over 500 hotdogs and burgers every home game for a non-school-sponsored tailgate. It's like a miniature version of an Ohio State game.

 

[PandaBear]

As someone who have been in both public and private school, I'd say it really depends on the quality of the school district and the parents of the other kids (which is the main reason a school district being good or suck).

The good public schools are better than the middle of the pack or bad private school (yes, it exists). Good public school is not cheap, you pay for it via high home price or rent, and indirectly through property tax.

Good private school is hard to get into as well, a lot of the time they give priority to alumni parents with charity contribution, alumni parents, large donors, kids with good academic records, in that order.

Most importantly, find out what works for your kids, not everyone do well in the same environment.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit

There is also a lack of quality parenting in far too many families.


This.

In my city, 3 out of 7 elementary schools are horrible, 2 are decent, and 2 are top notch, all while sharing the same budget, same teachers (rotation), same syllabus. As you can guess, it pretty much follows the line between $500K apartment and $200K mobile home district vs $1.7-2.4M single family home.

Private school also has different reputation and quality draw along family income level. I've seen huge difference between only acceptable private school as well as top notch one who only accept big donor alumni children.