Top private (Sidwell, GDS) versus top public (JKLM) for early years: what are the differences?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on how large your classes are in the public school. My older two hit the growth curve at Janney just right and have had 20 kids per class each year. My youngest will likely have close to 30 classmates in kindergarten (based on predictions for next year). The difference between 20 and 30 kids in a class is huge.
For the first time, we're having lots of private (for our youngest).

However, putting our kids in public has allowed us to afford lessons (language, musical instruments, private sports coaching, etc) and all sorts of travel/enrichment (including a trip to Europe or Asia each year for the past 5 years). If we were paying $30k for even one child all these things would be out the window.

I have to say that I am extremely concerned about the increasing class sizes at Janney. As a result, for the first time ever, we are considering private also. I'm really surprised that there is not more outrage expressed by the parents on this issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public pluses and downsides: Jklm filled with bright motivated kids and parents; whatever is lacking is not having PE everyday is trust me made up after school, tons of sports and enrichment opportunities on campus. These kids get plenty of exercise. Testing doesn't become a downside until third grade and it does impact the curriculum for about two months a year, but class sizes are totally manageable (we have twenty) and love being part of a neighborhood school and teachers are super responsive in fact I'd say more so because you see them every day at drop off and pick up as opposed to being in a car pool line. My teachers have always been super responsive.

Private downsides and pluses: more art is great, no testing provides more freedom in older grades, prettier facilities sometimes. And ... Smaller classes can be a plus or a minus. I can see it going either way. Sometimes privates are too small to find your tribe. Middle school is where there is a big divide that begins to take place. If money is any issue, apply in middle.

2 months a year? Can that be right?

Are you saying that 2 months a year is a lot or a little?

Seems like a tremendous amount of teaching to the test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on how large your classes are in the public school. My older two hit the growth curve at Janney just right and have had 20 kids per class each year. My youngest will likely have close to 30 classmates in kindergarten (based on predictions for next year). The difference between 20 and 30 kids in a class is huge.
For the first time, we're having lots of private (for our youngest).

However, putting our kids in public has allowed us to afford lessons (language, musical instruments, private sports coaching, etc) and all sorts of travel/enrichment (including a trip to Europe or Asia each year for the past 5 years). If we were paying $30k for even one child all these things would be out the window.

I have to say that I am extremely concerned about the increasing class sizes at Janney. As a result, for the first time ever, we are considering private also. I'm really surprised that there is not more outrage expressed by the parents on this issue.

Have you brought this up? What would be the best forum? Is this discussed at PTA meetings already?

[Anonymous]

Outrage was erased when people fought meaningful boundary changes. You can only squeeze so many kids into a building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on how large your classes are in the public school. My older two hit the growth curve at Janney just right and have had 20 kids per class each year. My youngest will likely have close to 30 classmates in kindergarten (based on predictions for next year). The difference between 20 and 30 kids in a class is huge.
For the first time, we're having lots of private (for our youngest).

However, putting our kids in public has allowed us to afford lessons (language, musical instruments, private sports coaching, etc) and all sorts of travel/enrichment (including a trip to Europe or Asia each year for the past 5 years). If we were paying $30k for even one child all these things would be out the window.

I have to say that I am extremely concerned about the increasing class sizes at Janney. As a result, for the first time ever, we are considering private also. I'm really surprised that there is not more outrage expressed by the parents on this issue.

Have you brought this up? What would be the best forum? Is this discussed at PTA meetings already?

I don't know what the best forum would be. I don't believe it's been discussed at PTA meetings thus far, but I'm not 100% certain about it. The principal discussed size at the last state of the school meeting (a few weeks ago) and no one challenged her on it--I was so flabbergasted by her lack of acknowledgment of the problem (she framed everything in terms of the "wonderful" co-teaching model the school has adopted) that I couldn't even put a response together myself.

[Anonymous]

I hope we can get a handle on the size issue, it is a real problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Outrage was erased when people fought meaningful boundary changes. You can only squeeze so many kids into a building.

The boundary changes that would have impacted Janney were not substantial enough to make a dent in the current situation--those proposed changes would have impacted only a handful of families. This is a much larger problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outrage was erased when people fought meaningful boundary changes. You can only squeeze so many kids into a building.

The boundary changes that would have impacted Janney were not substantial enough to make a dent in the current situation--those proposed changes would have impacted only a handful of families. This is a much larger problem.

so what on earth do you propose? and i will never understand this constant assertion that moving 20-40 kids from a school (constantly made about Deal) doesn't help. they need to do something instead of nothing. can the school get any bigger?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outrage was erased when people fought meaningful boundary changes. You can only squeeze so many kids into a building.

The boundary changes that would have impacted Janney were not substantial enough to make a dent in the current situation--those proposed changes would have impacted only a handful of families. This is a much larger problem.

so what on earth do you propose? and i will never understand this constant assertion that moving 20-40 kids from a school (constantly made about Deal) doesn't help. they need to do something instead of nothing. can the school get any bigger?

First, they need to acknowledge that there is a problem. I don't know what all of the possible solutions are, but there can't be any creative brainstorming until the school admits that there is a problem. The school also needs to keep only out-of-boundary students who come in through the out-of-boundary process; instead, if someone rents in the neighborhood for a year (or less) and then moves out, they are inexplicably grandfathered in. I have no problem with out-of-boundary students in the school who are there because they legitimately gone through whatever process is in place for out-of-boundary students--but this backdoor way into the school is totally unacceptable. The school may need to shrink it's pre-K program back down to 2 or 3 classes, if means having reasonable sized classes for K and 1st graders--there's no entitled to pre-K and just about anyone who is attending Janney's pre-K (all in boundary kids) can afford private pre-school. Those are just a few ideas--and I'm sure if we had some real discussions about this others would be able to come up even better ideas. They also need to something for those poor specials teachers--each of whom (with the exception of science) has to teach all 700+ kids over the course of the year.

[Anonymous]

So, do Janney kids get less specials than other schools?

[Anonymous]

How difficult is it to make the change to private in 1st, we have missed the boat for Kindergarden next year?

[Anonymous]

OP, so your thread on the public schools forum devolved into a discussion of large class sizes and your thread on the private schools forum is now a fight over whose kid is actually fluent in a language. Take this as a non-scientific sample of what people are like at these schools and therein lies the problem with your choice: JKLMs are full of wonderful kids and families dealing with an imperfect education system and private schools are fabulous schools filled with hyper competitive, status oriented parents and kids. The choice is yours!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone experienced both?
Many thanks!

The teaching style is very different. I have experienced both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone experienced both?
Many thanks!

The teaching style is very different. I have experienced both.

Which one do you prefer? Can you explain a little bit the differences, please? That seems very important!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, so your thread on the public schools forum devolved into a discussion of large class sizes and your thread on the private schools forum is now a fight over whose kid is actually fluent in a language. Take this as a non-scientific sample of what people are like at these schools and therein lies the problem with your choice: JKLMs are full of wonderful kids and families dealing with an imperfect education system and private schools are fabulous schools filled with hyper competitive, status oriented parents and kids. The choice is yours!

LOL - this does appear to be a good social science experiment, posting identical questions in the private and public fora!