Went from private to public and am not very happy

[Anonymous]

sounds like a perosn who just came into our school and thinks they are above everyone else but is upset because thier kid is nto the smartest in the school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:sounds like a perosn who just came into our school and thinks they are above everyone else but is upset because thier kid is nto the smartest in the school

I read statements like this and really wish sometimes that we could NOT post anonymously on this board because people can be cruel and insensitive. The OP is simply asking for advice, not a rude comment you would never say to a person's face if people knew your identity.

[Anonymous]

and of course the reason they would never say something like this to a person's face is because, by doing so, they would look like a complete idiot who didn't listen at all to what the person said. It is not only amazing that people feel free to be cruel, it is amazing they feel free to look like idiots.

[Anonymous]

You did go from a luxury car to a stripped down model! Why would it be the same. Generally something that's free is not going to be better than what you pay for.
Can you switch back?

[Anonymous]

OP: is it possible that you haven't made the effort to find the active parents and volunteer? Is it that you miss the social connections you had at the previous school?

Homework? My DS is in public and for years we have had Mommy's Special Homework. If I think he isn't getting enough, I find more things for him to practice, not to overload him, but to be sure he is secure in what's being taught. Facilities? Well, state and county governments are having a problem lately, so no, you aren't going to find anything special. Join a club if you want a pool or rock climbing wall.

And finally as one PP said: is your family life better? I would be thinking of being able to afford great family trips, more art classes for ths kid and less time at the office if one did not have to work so much to be sure of meetingtuiton payments. .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You did go from a luxury car to a stripped down model! Why would it be the same. Generally something that's free is not going to be better than what you pay for.
Can you switch back?

This is a pretty silly comment. There are certainly differences between public and private but the notion that private must be better because it costs money is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You did go from a luxury car to a stripped down model! Why would it be the same. Generally something that's free is not going to be better than what you pay for.
Can you switch back?

This is a pretty silly comment. There are certainly differences between public and private but the notion that private must be better because it costs money is ridiculous.

But when the realize the public is better-they have a hard time not feeling like they wasted their money and try to convince themselves it is something else.

[Anonymous]

There's no free lunch pp. Of course something free isn't going to be as good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's no free lunch pp. Of course something free isn't going to be as good.

Of course there's no free lunch, but maybe what you fail to understand is that taxpayers actually pay for public school.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of things parents need to do in a MoCo school. Our kindergartener is getting homework, now two nights a week guaranteed, with more if books for reading practice come home. Yeah! I'd expect the kids might be more "autopilot" in a private, but I am just guessing.

Plus, if you want to find active parents, just show up at a PTA meeting. There are plenty of volunteer opportunities. Plenty of active SAHM/Ds and WOHM/Ds. And there are plenty that aren't involved at all, but I'd bet you find that same thing at the privates too.

Our school is a good school, and what I am surprised at is how many out of bounds families we have. I have noticed that the OOB families appear less involved, but then again, those kids live a distance from the school.

[Anonymous]

I know of several kids in our small private school who tried public, but then came running back to our school mid-semester. If it feels right, do it. Don't agonize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved from a big 3 to a MD public with a good reputation this year. I want to like it but it's just lacking in a number of ways. It's tough to pinpoint it, but it ranges from the "problem kids" which were pretty minimal at the private, to the lack of parental involvement, to the minimal homework, the ok but not great facilities. Maybe it's just hard trading down, kind of like going from a luxury car to a no frills. It's hard to know if the education is inferior or just the suberficial/environment. I keep telling myself it's good, but frankly I kind of want to get my DC back to private. My DC is ok with it but I don't get the sense it's a "great fit." Any thoughts?

We've been thinking about moving from private to public, too. I don't know about the no frills part, but my daughter just doesn't feel challenged. If she were in public school, she would be moved ahead a grade or two to help her feel more comfortable academically and socially. (She just gets along better with older kids, too.) Our private school says that they just don't do this. It's exhausting.

[Anonymous]

We moved the other direction, from one of the best public schools in MD to one of the best (actually two) private schools in DC. This was for HS.
We found that overall the teachers in private school weren't any better; some were actually quite terrible; however, classes were smaller, there were fewer discipline problems, fewer abitrary rules, fewer silly exercises (i.e. standardized, non-creative assignments to prep for state tests), overall more motivated kids, less of a range of abilities, probably not more homework but kids were kept busy with afterschool activities, better facilities, a lot more competition among students and parents.

Hard to say if it was the right decision. One kid was very happy, the other wasn't, but both got into very good colleges, are doing well, and are happy.

[Anonymous]

We went from public to private, then back to public. There are some good options in MoCo (language immersion, magnets) that just aren't available in the privates. I agree, the social studies and art in MoCo are pretty bad. But, one of my kids is fluent in a language, and the magnets are great.

[Anonymous]

Does it really cost alot to teach an elementary school kid? really? If you want the additional serices of a country club then go to private elementary school. At the high school, undergraduate and graduate school level then there some "real" costs (laboratories, athletic facilites etc) start to emerge.