AAP or parochial school?

[Anonymous]

My DS just got into our local parochial school and I am thinking of sending him. However, I am almost certain he will get into AAP based on scores and feedback from teachers. What is a better choice for a gifted kid? He is in first grade.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, we send our 7 year old son to a Christian summer camp last summer and he came back crying because death and Jesus were discussed, and just last month he said he didn't believe in evolution.

I know which one is a better choice for my kid.

[Anonymous]

There are lots of reasons to send your kid to parochial school (mine will go K-12th grade) but thinking it's better for gifted education isn't one of them.
The small class size, invested and caring teachers and parent involvement made it a great academic fit for my above average kids (maybe gifted?). They were occasionally challenged and occasionally bored. But they are good people and grew in our faith, and that's what we prioritized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of reasons to send your kid to parochial school (mine will go K-12th grade) but thinking it's better for gifted education isn't one of them.
The small class size, invested and caring teachers and parent involvement made it a great academic fit for my above average kids (maybe gifted?). They were occasionally challenged and occasionally bored. But they are good people and grew in our faith, and that's what we prioritized.

Is it actually a small class size? My friends' school has 28 kids in a class.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP. Choose private for the smaller school size and every teacher knowing every kid. Choose AAP for the advanced academics. Which is more important for your specific child?

[Anonymous]

It's impossible to say without knowing the two schools in question. All are not created equally, for AAP centers AND parochial schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, we send our 7 year old son to a Christian summer camp last summer and he came back crying because death and Jesus were discussed, and just last month he said he didn't believe in evolution.

I know which one is a better choice for my kid.

That experience is completely irrelevant to Catholic school.

[Anonymous]

I faced a somewhat similar choice, in that I thought my ds was likely to qualify for AAP when we moved to this area for second grade. We went with Catholic schools for a few reasons.

One is that I think that third grade is too young to start tracking kids for academics. They’re still learning basic things. It’s hard to go backwards if it turns out they’re not ready. It’s just too young.

I had concerns about what public school wouldn’t be teaching, in terms of grammar, spelling, cursive, and so on. I considered these things important and I knew our Catholic school would cover them.

I wanted a school environment that would support our family’s values, and we found that in Catholic school.

We also found a supportive parent community, which I consider a bonus.

My ds has done well. He’s humble, which I appreciate. He got a 98%th percentile on the HSPT, so I think the education he received has done him well and he’ll be attending Catholic high school in the fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS just got into our local parochial school and I am thinking of sending him. However, I am almost certain he will get into AAP based on scores and feedback from teachers. What is a better choice for a gifted kid? He is in first grade.

Assuming you are asking from a purely academic standpoint (which obviously is only one of many aspects in determining which option is a better choice for your child), having personally had children attend NOVA public schools and parochial schools I would say that a relatively high performing public school would be the better choice for a child in the top ~ 10% academically (especially if they are self motivated) as well as for a child in the bottom 20%.

The parochial schools in my experience are better in demanding and obtaining a generally higher level of academic standards and accountability across the board, but they are typically not well equipped to adequately accommodate and challenge extremely high performers or to support the needs of those with significant learning challenges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, we send our 7 year old son to a Christian summer camp last summer and he came back crying because death and Jesus were discussed, and just last month he said he didn't believe in evolution.

I know which one is a better choice for my kid.

Not OP, but for some people death and Jesus being discussed would be a perk, not a drawback.

[Anonymous]

where do super smart Catholic kids go for parochial school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of reasons to send your kid to parochial school (mine will go K-12th grade) but thinking it's better for gifted education isn't one of them.
The small class size, invested and caring teachers and parent involvement made it a great academic fit for my above average kids (maybe gifted?). They were occasionally challenged and occasionally bored. But they are good people and grew in our faith, and that's what we prioritized.

Is it actually a small class size? My friends' school has 28 kids in a class.

You prioritize faith over academics crap parenting. This is how the cult survived ugh

OP one thing about this post is correct public for academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of reasons to send your kid to parochial school (mine will go K-12th grade) but thinking it's better for gifted education isn't one of them.
The small class size, invested and caring teachers and parent involvement made it a great academic fit for my above average kids (maybe gifted?). They were occasionally challenged and occasionally bored. But they are good people and grew in our faith, and that's what we prioritized.

Is it actually a small class size? My friends' school has 28 kids in a class.

You prioritize faith over academics crap parenting. This is how the cult survived ugh

OP one thing about this post is correct public for academics.

I prefer my kids attend a school where our family’s faith is respected. Attitudes like this merely affirm our decision to send our kids to Catholic school.

[Anonymous]

I could be wrong, but it seems like the rules of the Religion forum should be used wherever religion comes up. You know, trying to respect differing views and all that.

Calling a major faith a cult isn't respectful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS just got into our local parochial school and I am thinking of sending him. However, I am almost certain he will get into AAP based on scores and feedback from teachers. What is a better choice for a gifted kid? He is in first grade.

Assuming you are asking from a purely academic standpoint (which obviously is only one of many aspects in determining which option is a better choice for your child), having personally had children attend NOVA public schools and parochial schools I would say that a relatively high performing public school would be the better choice for a child in the top ~ 10% academically (especially if they are self motivated) as well as for a child in the bottom 20%.

The parochial schools in my experience are better in demanding and obtaining a generally higher level of academic standards and accountability across the board, but they are typically not well equipped to adequately accommodate and challenge extremely high performers or to support the needs of those with significant learning challenges.

Pp here and I neglected to add that for my fairly bright but not particularly self-motivated children, parochial school was a game changer in terms of raising academic expectations/delivery and not just letting them skate by.