Our first days of public school after private, what I've noticed.

[Anonymous]

For us the start of public school felt like a slap in the face. It did get a little better as the year went on - met plenty of very nice parents and kids - but you kind of have to "suck it up" to get through a lot of it (the take or leave attitude of the administration, silly grading, unwelcoming front desk, poor communications, etc). It is not just the parents - kids who have experienced a good-fit private who switch to
an average public do pick up on these things as well.

Sounds like you are blaming a problem you created--switching from the "good fit" school to a public--on the school rather than on yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Public's government regulations include mandatory master's degrees and teachers certifications. Privates have no such requirement. So many, many private school teachers couldn't teach in public.

But let's be candid here: a huge percentage of these masters degrees ^^ are distance learning degrees from online-only "universities", or the Continuing Education wing of [not at all competitive] State U. And they're completed in < 13 months. Whoop de Do.

Do you have some data to prove that claim? I am a public-school teacher with a Master's Degree from a competitive university. Of the 70-some teachers at my school, the majority also have Master's Degrees. None of their degrees are from distance-learning universities.

NP. I can't prove it, but every single year we get a "intro" letter from the teacher saying "I'm so and so and I'll be your child's 2nd grade teacher." Usually they also include "I received my bachelor's in elementary education from X" and my masters from X" and it's almost always "a master's in educational leadership from Towson University" or "master's in educational technology from UMBC" or something along those lines. Sorry, I'm not impressed.

I don't get it. Are Towson University and UMBC not good enough for you, or are the master's in educational leadership and educational technology not good enough for you, or both? Where do you think your children's teachers should get their master's degrees from, and what do you think they should get them in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For us the start of public school felt like a slap in the face. It did get a little better as the year went on - met plenty of very nice parents and kids - but you kind of have to "suck it up" to get through a lot of it (the take or leave attitude of the administration, silly grading, unwelcoming front desk, poor communications, etc). It is not just the parents - kids who have experienced a good-fit private who switch to
an average public do pick up on these things as well.

Why did you switch from a good-fit private school to an average public school?

[Anonymous]

NP. I can't prove it, but every single year we get a "intro" letter from the teacher saying "I'm so and so and I'll be your child's 2nd grade teacher." Usually they also include "I received my bachelor's in elementary education from X" and my masters from X" and it's almost always "a master's in educational leadership from Towson University" or "master's in educational technology from UMBC" or something along those lines. Sorry, I'm not impressed.


I don't get it. Are Towson University and UMBC not good enough for you, or are the master's in educational leadership and educational technology not good enough for you, or both? Where do you think your children's teachers should get their master's degrees from, and what do you think they should get them in?

Apparently, PP thinks that teachers should be able to afford Master's degrees from Harvard and Yale on their teaching salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For us the start of public school felt like a slap in the face. It did get a little better as the year went on - met plenty of very nice parents and kids - but you kind of have to "suck it up" to get through a lot of it (the take or leave attitude of the administration, silly grading, unwelcoming front desk, poor communications, etc). It is not just the parents - kids who have experienced a good-fit private who switch to
an average public do pick up on these things as well.

Slumming it, are we?

You sound so entitled, so it's no wonder your kids have picked up on your attitude! Go back to your private. Oh, can't afford it now? I guess you'll just have to slum it like the majority of Americans. Boo hoo for you.

[Anonymous]

And kids who go to great publics pick up on that too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Public's government regulations include mandatory master's degrees and teachers certifications. Privates have no such requirement. So many, many private school teachers couldn't teach in public.

But let's be candid here: a huge percentage of these masters degrees ^^ are distance learning degrees from online-only "universities", or the Continuing Education wing of [not at all competitive] State U. And they're completed in < 13 months. Whoop de Do.

Do you have some data to prove that claim? I am a public-school teacher with a Master's Degree from a competitive university. Of the 70-some teachers at my school, the majority also have Master's Degrees. None of their degrees are from distance-learning universities.

NP. I can't prove it, but every single year we get a "intro" letter from the teacher saying "I'm so and so and I'll be your child's 2nd grade teacher." Usually they also include "I received my bachelor's in elementary education from X" and my masters from X" and it's almost always "a master's in educational leadership from Towson University" or "master's in educational technology from UMBC" or something along those lines. Sorry, I'm not impressed.

I don't get it. Are Towson University and UMBC not good enough for you, or are the master's in educational leadership and educational technology not good enough for you, or both? Where do you think your children's teachers should get their master's degrees from, and what do you think they should get them in?

I never said they're not good enough, I'm just backing up the PP's claim that many of these master's degrees are done online or in the continuing education department of a non-selective state U. I think it's great they have their master's, but I also don't get this "OMG she has a master's!!!!!" mindset either. And no, I don't think an educational leadership degree is a particularly noble accomplishment...have you ever sat in on an education class at a university?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just wait, it gets worse.

We did the switch and noticed the same.

Lots of parents - even in our small neighborhood public - did not know each other.

Office staff - generally rude and non smiling.

The notices that get sent home are ridiculous - "please check here that you agree to send your child dressed appropriately for the winter concert ..."

The teachers - horrible communication skills.

Yes, I have noticed these ridiculous permission slips.
My dds teachers could take a little more time to write nicer sounding notes and email.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For us the start of public school felt like a slap in the face. It did get a little better as the year went on - met plenty of very nice parents and kids - but you kind of have to "suck it up" to get through a lot of it (the take or leave attitude of the administration, silly grading, unwelcoming front desk, poor communications, etc). It is not just the parents - kids who have experienced a good-fit private who switch to
an average public do pick up on these things as well.

Slumming it, are we?

You sound so entitled, so it's no wonder your kids have picked up on your attitude! Go back to your private. Oh, can't afford it now? I guess you'll just have to slum it like the majority of Americans. Boo hoo for you.

I thought this thread was for posters whose kids had been to private but who were now going to public to post their experiences. Or am I wrong. Instead we have the public school lifers throwing their popcorn at the screen and booing. Sad display. You make us all look bad PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, at our public school, many parents know each other, the staff are very pleasant and friendly, and they even had a welcome back "breakfast" for parents in the gym after drop off (where we got to walk our kids to their classes). So you can't assume all public schools are the same.

Name the city and state where this school is located.

I'm not the PP, but we have this same experience at Long Branch Elementary in Arlington (but our parent breakfast is in the library, not the gym )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


But let's be candid here: a huge percentage of these masters degrees ^^ are distance learning degrees from online-only "universities", or the Continuing Education wing of [not at all competitive] State U. And they're completed in < 13 months. Whoop de Do.

Not saying some percentage of modern teachers aren't smart -- clearly, some are. But I pay zero credence to this "and public teachers must have a MASTERS!!" boosterism. Seriously, the stupidest person in my family is a teacher with a Masters. The most incurious, anti-intellectual person in my family is a principal with a Masters. She can make the ship run smoothly, but she's a drooling Creationist at Thanksgiving dinner.


How do you know this?


Just ask the schools themselves. Or work backward and talk with the local higher ed places like Towson. Think critically - the teachers who obtain their masters *while teaching kids * -- how could they do that simultaneously, in one year, if many of the hours WEREN'T distance learning? And that's how it works, you start teaching with the contingency that the masters will be completed by date X.

You apparently don't know much about masters degree programs. Most programs in this area are geared towards working teachers and have evening classes. Think critically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would like other people to chime in and share their thoughts. Chiming in -- our kids went from public to private . . .

I noticed that no one seems to really know anyone. The parents don't seem to know each other. The teachers and other staff don't know the parents (or students). Not our experience at all; probably depends a lot on the school.

I noticed very little smiling on the part of the office staff (not necessarily a bad thing). Which makes them seem like they really don't want you to be in their office, unwelcoming. Again, varies considerably . . . probably depends more on the individual and what kind of day s/he has had.

There is a lot of negativity in the flyers and handouts. Like on the first line of a sheet for a class, "ABSOLUTELY no food or drink allowed...". Then they say what the class will be about. Rather than something like, "welcome to X class, I am happy that you chose this class...please respect our environment and refrain from bringing any food or drink in the classroom".

Agree. And, what's more, our kids noticed this too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, at our public school, many parents know each other, the staff are very pleasant and friendly, and they even had a welcome back "breakfast" for parents in the gym after drop off (where we got to walk our kids to their classes). So you can't assume all public schools are the same.

Name the city and state where this school is located.

I'm not the quoted poster, but our MCPS elementary school does the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The negativity is a real issue. We are at a really good public school with smiling teachers, administrators, etc. and a high quality of teaching but the written communication that comes from the school is terrible. BUT it was really shocking to me how much of the text in our back to school packet dealt with do not do this and do not do that. I thought the first rule of discipline and good teaching was to always be positive? Is it just that the teachers/administrators don't know how to write?

Anonymous wrote:

I am afraid that the kids will develop this style of communicating. I agree about the packets. Almost worth the $$ to put in place a system that is more positive, even if it means hiring someone to spin this in the positive or politely answer the same questions over and over. Just think that kids will be more successful in life if they are more positive.

You want a cash-strapped public school to hire a PR person to spin the welcome packets so kids don't feel "negative" about not getting to bring Cheetoes to class? God, PLEASE go away.

Let me guess. You're a teacher? What's wrong with a positive non passive aggressive approach for the office staff who write these missives. I'm at Deal and I can't believe that front desk woman--

.

Our family went through Deal and never really had interaction with the front desk. But they did have good back to school nights where you went through your child's day with each teacher. Pretty positive experience. We have another child in a private and don't notice much difference in communications or perception of attitude. Maybe we have lower expectations.

[Anonymous]

NP. Just 5 minutes of research shows that the main reason many teachers obtain masters degrees (or other similar post-bac credits) is to bump their salaries. It appears many school districts are now eliminating these guaranteed salary bumps for masters, because research shows that teachers with masters are no more effective at educating students (except perhaps for math and science).
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/personnel/certification/current/salary/
http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/loss-of-masters-degree-pay-bump-has-impact-on-teachers-grad-schools-736gavm-168292566.html?ipad=y
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304795804579101723505111670
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2014/06/05-masters-degree-pay-bump-chingos
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/degree-teachers-article-1.1147404