What is the bottom line with this private school thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am one of the PP's....I didn't say I didn't care about SATs, but rather if the whole child is educated and has a foundation for learning, the SAT and college admissions will take care of itself.

Would you send your child to a school that had great art programs and bad test scores?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic schools post their SAT score....

Where?

Elizabeth Seton has posted averages in Math 505 writing 540 critical reading 543 for 2007, on the website
I've also seen St Anselm's scores somewhere, along with a n average of how many AP classes the average student takes there...

Those are low scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Would you send your child to a school that had great art programs and bad test scores?

As I said, I am concerned with the whole student and the education across the board. Where did I ever say art was a priority over anything or everything else? Art, music, theater, sports, academics, etc. If the school has proper programs across all disciplines and students have access to build on their strengths and shore up their 'weaknesses" then they should be well prepared for the life after.

[Anonymous]

But the reality is that most parents send their kids to school for a good academic education. Yes, art matters, but math matters more.

[Anonymous]

I think you are missing my point.

[Anonymous]

OK, regardless, I think that parents want accountability. What are we getting for our money. Maybe they need to quantify even the arts programs too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic schools post their SAT score....

Where?

Elizabeth Seton has posted averages in Math 505 writing 540 critical reading 543 for 2007, on the website
I've also seen St Anselm's scores somewhere, along with a n average of how many AP classes the average student takes there...

Those are low scores.

yep
yet Seton is quite sought after
I know of kids who bus in from Calvert and St Charles to go there...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not all parents that send their kids to private school don't care about SATs.

I have another friend whose kid left the WIS to go to public high school in MC. He tried to get into an IB program and did not because he tested very poorly. At WIS, he was near the top of his class.

This sounds rather surprising. The IB scores at WIS (posted on their website) are extremely high, also compared to the US average. Which means that students are very well prepared for testing in general. Perhaps that particular student you are referring to was not very good at the kind of exams he had to take for that public school.
I saw the WIS scores at an open house
Incredibly high! I wondered how it was possible...And British school also had posted GCSE scores, which were very very mediocre, for $18k+ /yr

[Anonymous]

I am sending my child to a private school for many reasons, test scores not among them. Aren't we losing sight of the childhood itself? Yes, I want my kids to be prepared for the life ahead, but I also want them to enjoy the time they have now and to explore the world and everything in it. And I want them to love learning. So I'm going to send them to a school they will look forward to going every day.

[Anonymous]

What do the schools say? If this is about "enjoying childhood" That is fine, just let the parents know if that is the mission of the school, so they can make informed decisions.

[Anonymous]

I plan to enroll my kid next year at private, this is because I want her to have pleasant memories of school. And because she has needs that are better met at a private school. i.e. class size, better environment, etc

[Anonymous]

What do the schools say? If this is about "enjoying childhood" That is fine, just let the parents know if that is the mission of the school, so they can make informed decisions.

Actually, I think many privates do tell you that this is an important part of their mission, but they don't use those words exactly. If you read their own descriptions between the lines, you see that some schools want you to know that their students "explore," "experiment," etc. and that children have "wonder," "joy," and "natural curiosity."

Similarly, a few schools -- Sidwell chief among them -- let you know in their own words that they're basically going to kick your ass with academics. Challenging academics. Rigorous, challenging academics. And they have high expectations that their students will meet that challenging, rigorous academic curriculum.

Now, I'm not saying that St. Albans doesn't ever mention the word "joy" or that the Washington Waldorf School employees never utter the word "challenge." But careful reading/listening yields a lot of clues to the main goals of the various schools.

[Anonymous]

Good point pp, but the word I am thinking of is quantify. The quality thing is in the mission statements. Since NCLB, the public school parents can actually see what they are getting in a school, at least the academics. The scores are listed. So if you are coming to DC and need to buy a house, and school quality is on your mind, you look online. Yes the clusters in certain neighborhoods do better, you buy based on information that can be quantified as well as other less tangible stuff. The problem is that with private schools, the info. is so intangible.

[Anonymous]

But test scores almost never tell the whole story.

[Anonymous]

Bottom line is that the private schools in this area (at least the top ones) don't have to give quantifiable information because they have lots of applicants lining up to send their kids there. There's not exactly a shortage of people in this area who can cough up $28K a year. Some families at my kids' school have as many as four kids at the school on full tuition!