3 reasons why the private schools are filled - from an incoming private parent...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny, I had a friend tell me that he should never have sent his DC to private and just sent to the local public. Friend had one in public and one in private. Friend found DC in public was getting a better education than the DC in private.

I think it must depend on the private/public school. I don't think ALL privates are that great, and some public schools are probably better than most of the private ones.

It also depends on the child, right?

This is often what people overlook in their judgement of others in the public v private wars. Just because a family chooses one or the other for their child doesn't mean they believer the forgone choice is inferior, just that it wasn't right for their child.

PP here. Well, in this case, the child had some learning issues, so the parents thought private would be better, but it didn't turn out that way.

Some privates are good with LDs and some are not.

[Anonymous]

The original post may be off base but, it is an interesting thought to consider why private? For those of us who do choose private what are our main reasons? My first reason is fear that the public school for my "smart" kid will not differentiate and help her grow to her fullest abilities. Feeding into the fear is class size and uncertainty about what testing actually means. So I guess "fear" is the main issue!
And you?

[Anonymous]

In private, if a student has major behavior problems, they are not allowed to stay. What happens in public?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In private, if a student has major behavior problems, they are not allowed to stay. What happens in public?

Im not sure this is always the case...we seem to have a few kids that have pretty big issues that have yet to be counseled out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The original post may be off base but, it is an interesting thought to consider why private? For those of us who do choose private what are our main reasons? My first reason is fear that the public school for my "smart" kid will not differentiate and help her grow to her fullest abilities. Feeding into the fear is class size and uncertainty about what testing actually means. So I guess "fear" is the main issue!
And you?

Dyslexia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. you have tons of money and looking for prestige.
2. you love dc living and don't want to move from your cool neighborhood to jklm so are either getting some financial aid or working your butts off to make it work.
3. you are scared to trust the public school system because of a story you heard from a friend of a friend.

-- things you won't get out of privates

1. dc public schools are more rigorous curriculum wise and in many cases more innovative- this is why whenever a private kid has to go into public for various reasons ($$ being the primary) - they are behind in math.
2. colleges love some of dcps including wilson and have as good as a track record for ivies as most privates including big 3s
3. real life experience in a diverse atmosphere

I agree with this point. The curriculum in DCPS and other public schools are often more rigorous and driven by the standardized testing calendar. Students also don't get "do overs" or "corrections" to raise their grades in public school. The grade they get is the grade they earned the first time. And, the best public schools are just as good or better than privates. Yes, this is from a parent of a private school student who switched from public.

[Anonymous]

I also feel like the privates cater to the richer parents of kids who have some behavior things going on. They spend their money on private to make sure their kids are getting attention they deserve and need.

[Anonymous]

Troll original post. Clearly designed to be offensive. Drawing baby trolls now (they are cute from a distance but a bit smelly -- baby goblins more appealing by far).

[Anonymous]

Your kid hasn't even started at the private yet. Exactly how are you an expert, OP?

[Anonymous]

And why are you sending your kid private if you feel that way? Just stay in your public school. You will be happier. It sounds like you are setting yourself up to be miserable and you will make those around you miserable. You have prejudged the entire parent population at your school. I highly doubt you will be well liked which will make it even worse for you.

[Anonymous]

I just hope she isn't incoming to my DC's private. She seems like somebody who gets their kicks from being nasty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The original post may be off base but, it is an interesting thought to consider why private? For those of us who do choose private what are our main reasons? My first reason is fear that the public school for my "smart" kid will not differentiate and help her grow to her fullest abilities. Feeding into the fear is class size and uncertainty about what testing actually means. So I guess "fear" is the main issue!
And you?

My child had an abusive teacher in public school. I needed an alternative. I live in an area where the zoned school is the zoned school, so my only option for protecting my child was private. With private, I had all sorts of choices. I'm a bit disappointed in myself that I hadn't considered private school out of the starting gate, but I went with what the norm is which is public. Since the public schools in my area are considered good, I had no reason to question.

So if you would argue "fear" was your reason (rather than "what's best for my child") I might say that those of mine was mindless adherence to the typical path, rather than thoughtful consideration of the best for my children. There's no reason to cast it in that negative light, however. And in my case it's not entirely true. I did ask around about our schools, checked out ratings, and so on. Bad teachers can happen to anyone, and unfortunately the public system in my area doesn't allow for options once you get that bad teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In private, if a student has major behavior problems, they are not allowed to stay. What happens in public?

Spoken by someone who is new. Depends on which family it is and how much money they are donating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The original post may be off base but, it is an interesting thought to consider why private? For those of us who do choose private what are our main reasons? My first reason is fear that the public school for my "smart" kid will not differentiate and help her grow to her fullest abilities. Feeding into the fear is class size and uncertainty about what testing actually means. So I guess "fear" is the main issue!
And you?

My child had an abusive teacher in public school. I needed an alternative. I live in an area where the zoned school is the zoned school, so my only option for protecting my child was private. With private, I had all sorts of choices. I'm a bit disappointed in myself that I hadn't considered private school out of the starting gate, but I went with what the norm is which is public. Since the public schools in my area are considered good, I had no reason to question.

So if you would argue "fear" was your reason (rather than "what's best for my child") I might say that those of mine was mindless adherence to the typical path, rather than thoughtful consideration of the best for my children. There's no reason to cast it in that negative light, however. And in my case it's not entirely true. I did ask around about our schools, checked out ratings, and so on. Bad teachers can happen to anyone, and unfortunately the public system in my area doesn't allow for options once you get that bad teacher.

Same thing happens in private. Plenty of bad teachers there as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also feel like the privates cater to the richer parents of kids who have some behavior things going on. They spend their money on private to make sure their kids are getting attention they deserve and need.

They mostly are paying for grades and a good-looking transcript. Privates literally can be bought.