High performing public schools vs private

[Anonymous]

If you were zoned for a high school such as Langley, Woodson, etc. do you think there's any benefit for going private for high school, aside from any religious aspect?

[Anonymous]

Yes. Read a million of posts like this in the independent school forum. So many reasons to go private. If you are thinking the only benefit is a leg up for college, stay public, unless you are legacy to a top school your kid won't benefit in the college game.

Smaller class sizes
Better students - families more focused on education
More resources
More direct attention to your kid
Tailored learning programs
Better coaching (my kid is an artist and they brought resources from outside school to develop her talent)
Engaged teachers
Better parent community
Character development
Social development
More nurturing environment
More community events
And on and on and on

Lots of folks on this forum are only focused on college placement - these are not private school suitable families

[Anonymous]

Better parent community? Character development? You must be joking. There's pros and cons to any school, but you can't make blanket statements like the above.

And on a different note, check out the private school forum and see how frustrated they are about having to pay for extra tutoring and how many privates restrict access to AP coursework to only those who have A grades, which would limit your kids' college opportunities.

[Anonymous]

If you have $40-50K/year to burn (less for the religious schools, but some of those have weak academics), I'm sure it's great. For most of the rest of us, FCPS is fine and not having to pay private school tuition gives us space to pay for enrichment activities and save for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Read a million of posts like this in the independent school forum. So many reasons to go private. If you are thinking the only benefit is a leg up for college, stay public, unless you are legacy to a top school your kid won't benefit in the college game.

Smaller class sizes
Better students - families more focused on education
More resources
More direct attention to your kid
Tailored learning programs
Better coaching (my kid is an artist and they brought resources from outside school to develop her talent)
Engaged teachers
Better parent community
Character development
Social development
More nurturing environment
More community events
And on and on and on

Lots of folks on this forum are only focused on college placement - these are not private school suitable families

When you pay $50k/year for private school tuition, you think of all sorts of justifications/rationalizations for why it's worth it. Case in point.

SMH

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Read a million of posts like this in the independent school forum. So many reasons to go private. If you are thinking the only benefit is a leg up for college, stay public, unless you are legacy to a top school your kid won't benefit in the college game.

Smaller class sizes
Better students - families more focused on education
More resources
More direct attention to your kid
Tailored learning programs
Better coaching (my kid is an artist and they brought resources from outside school to develop her talent)
Engaged teachers
Better parent community
Character development
Social development
More nurturing environment
More community events
And on and on and on

Lots of folks on this forum are only focused on college placement - these are not private school suitable families

Some of those are true:
Smaller class sizes
More resources
More direct attention to your kid
Tailored learning programs
Better coaching (my kid is an artist and they brought resources from outside school to develop her talent)


Most absolutely not true at all:
Better students - families more focused on education
Engaged teachers
Better parent community
Character development
Social development
More nurturing environment
More community events

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you were zoned for a high school such as Langley, Woodson, etc. do you think there's any benefit for going private for high school, aside from any religious aspect?

I have math and science children, so a huge no to privates. They cannot compete with the level and quality of classes my children have in their local FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you were zoned for a high school such as Langley, Woodson, etc. do you think there's any benefit for going private for high school, aside from any religious aspect?

I have math and science children, so a huge no to privates. They cannot compete with the level and quality of classes my children have in their local FCPS.

Yeah. And while class sizes are generally smaller at privates, I think the good public schools have more experienced teachers, and often better teachers as the salaries can be higher than at privates as the years go by.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you were zoned for a high school such as Langley, Woodson, etc. do you think there's any benefit for going private for high school, aside from any religious aspect?

I have math and science children, so a huge no to privates. They cannot compete with the level and quality of classes my children have in their local FCPS.

I have a very math-y kid and a different kid that wants to be a vet and we're going private (zoned for Woodson). I know FCPS can offer more in the way of in-house math, but our private allows dual-enrollment so with a little bit of work my kid can still take linear algebra in high school if they want to be on that track. The science at our future private is very hands-on and they still offer a good number of AP science classes, though not maybe quite as many. Our future private does have science and math specialists in elementary to ensure the younger kids get a strong science and math education. My science-oriented kid is very much looking forward to more hands-on science experiments in ES. I think my oldest kid has done 2 in all of FCPS ES.

We value the stronger elementary education - it's just a fact that most privates knock the socks off of most publics in elementary, even small Catholic parish schools, except maybe math. We know that means the high school education will have a few fewer opportunities for science and math than FCPS, but the kids will hopefully be better prepared and I don't mind doing what it takes to get my kids DE if they need it to make up for where there are gaps in potential APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Better parent community? Character development? You must be joking. There's pros and cons to any school, but you can't make blanket statements like the above.

And on a different note, check out the private school forum and see how frustrated they are about having to pay for extra tutoring and how many privates restrict access to AP coursework to only those who have A grades, which would limit your kids' college opportunities.

Which public school have any resources to develop this (bolded)? My kid's private school make it a point to develop these. My other kids "top" public school does not. I have experience in both arenas. Do you?

I agree to check out the private schools forum. Education is not a one size fits all shoe. You, PP, stay public, you don't prioritize the same things. Clearly, private is not for you and you would be unhappy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you were zoned for a high school such as Langley, Woodson, etc. do you think there's any benefit for going private for high school, aside from any religious aspect?

I have math and science children, so a huge no to privates. They cannot compete with the level and quality of classes my children have in their local FCPS.

Yeah. And while class sizes are generally smaller at privates, I think the good public schools have more experienced teachers, and often better teachers as the salaries can be higher than at privates as the years go by.

Your perception and experience is not universal like you think it is. We've had a totally different teacher experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Better parent community? Character development? You must be joking. There's pros and cons to any school, but you can't make blanket statements like the above.

And on a different note, check out the private school forum and see how frustrated they are about having to pay for extra tutoring and how many privates restrict access to AP coursework to only those who have A grades, which would limit your kids' college opportunities.

Which public school have any resources to develop this (bolded)? My kid's private school make it a point to develop these. My other kids "top" public school does not. I have experience in both arenas. Do you?

I agree to check out the private schools forum. Education is not a one size fits all shoe. You, PP, stay public, you don't prioritize the same things. Clearly, private is not for you and you would be unhappy.

DP. For the "top" public high schools, they have active parent communities. Some private schools have good parent communities but oftentimes there are problems related to the small size and money and status. As for character development, there is more handholding in private schools, which is good for some students and not good for other students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Better parent community? Character development? You must be joking. There's pros and cons to any school, but you can't make blanket statements like the above.

And on a different note, check out the private school forum and see how frustrated they are about having to pay for extra tutoring and how many privates restrict access to AP coursework to only those who have A grades, which would limit your kids' college opportunities.

Which public school have any resources to develop this (bolded)? My kid's private school make it a point to develop these. My other kids "top" public school does not. I have experience in both arenas. Do you?

I agree to check out the private schools forum. Education is not a one size fits all shoe. You, PP, stay public, you don't prioritize the same things. Clearly, private is not for you and you would be unhappy.

DP. For the "top" public high schools, they have active parent communities. Some private schools have good parent communities but oftentimes there are problems related to the small size and money and status. As for character development, there is more handholding in private schools, which is good for some students and not good for other students.

More handholding in private school? How would you know this? If you read over in the private school forum you'll find pages of complaints from people whose kids are adamantly not having their hands held academically.

If you don't want an excessively small private with a tiny parent community, then chose a bigger one. They do exist, after all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Read a million of posts like this in the independent school forum. So many reasons to go private. If you are thinking the only benefit is a leg up for college, stay public, unless you are legacy to a top school your kid won't benefit in the college game.

Smaller class sizes
Better students - families more focused on education
More resources
More direct attention to your kid
Tailored learning programs
Better coaching (my kid is an artist and they brought resources from outside school to develop her talent)
Engaged teachers
Better parent community
Character development
Social development
More nurturing environment
More community events
And on and on and on

Lots of folks on this forum are only focused on college placement - these are not private school suitable families

When you pay $50k/year for private school tuition, you think of all sorts of justifications/rationalizations for why it's worth it. Case in point.

SMH

+1000. Know plenty of parents who pay private-school tuitions because they think they can offload more parenting to a private school and/or enjoy the conspicuous spending and potential prestige associated therewith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Read a million of posts like this in the independent school forum. So many reasons to go private. If you are thinking the only benefit is a leg up for college, stay public, unless you are legacy to a top school your kid won't benefit in the college game.

Smaller class sizes
Better students - families more focused on education
More resources
More direct attention to your kid
Tailored learning programs
Better coaching (my kid is an artist and they brought resources from outside school to develop her talent)
Engaged teachers
Better parent community
Character development
Social development
More nurturing environment
More community events
And on and on and on

Lots of folks on this forum are only focused on college placement - these are not private school suitable families

When you pay $50k/year for private school tuition, you think of all sorts of justifications/rationalizations for why it's worth it. Case in point.

SMH

+1000. Know plenty of parents who pay private-school tuitions because they think they can offload more parenting to a private school and/or enjoy the conspicuous spending and potential prestige associated therewith.

then.

You actually know these people or you are bias against these people and push your perceptions? My guess is the latter and you have a combination if insecurity and jealousy. I say this as a parent who actually is in both communities. It is very rare to see what you are insinuating in private schools. It's much more common to see disengaged parents in public - yes, even at TJ where my DD attends. There are great parents in both school systems. Many of the bad or mediocre parents are weeded out of the private system by design.