How do private schools manage to get through everything?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe longer school days means more gets done. I’d probably start by examining that assumption. Time can be wasted in a longer day, and we don’t know if/where time might be wasted at various schools.

Uh, okay? What do you think is the magic length of a school day that causes time to not be wasted? This is a weird take. Time can be “wasted” during a long day, short day, extended school year, or abbreviated school year. Given that we have zero data about this, comparing the actual number of hours in school is really the only thing that makes sense.

FWIW, our independent school has 172 8-hour days, so 1376 hours. The local public middle school has 180 6.75 hour days, so 1215 hours. Deduct 30m for an extra recess every day and the private school still has an extra 75h of instructional time. So OP’s question is easily answered: more school time. You could argue about the effect of a smaller class sizes, narrower ability band, etc, but it’s not even necessary to do so.

That’s not a good comparison. You’ve cherry picked so it’s not an honest comparison. I’m not arguing the fact, but you simply did not back that up with anything of value.

Huh? How exactly is that cherry picking? What’s not honest? Do you feel that our independent school is on a schedule much different than other independent schools, and therefore it’s not fair comparison? I assure you, it is not. Our school is in fact part of a consortium, and all the members’ schedules are more or less the same.

If that data is not helpful to you, what kind of data do you consider to be “of value”?

+1. That's exactly the original argument - that privates had less instructional time and therefore could not get through materials. How is someone showing the actual instructional time not a good comparison?

Because it’s not showing the actual instructional time of either option.

Uh, okay. How would you suggest that be measured?

Taking hours and subtracting recess is hardly accurate and a full assessment. Surely, you already know that.

Okay, what would you consider an “accurate and full assessment”? Because this is exactly the way instructional hours are calculated across-the-board for most schools, and per state laws. If you have a more accurate way to calculate them, I’m dying to hear what it is.

State laws… private school…. Hahaha.

[Anonymous]

Omg, what private schools around here has 172 full days of school a year at 8 hours a day?! Is this basis or Nysmith?

We’ve only seen classes begin at 8:30 or later and end at 3 or 3:30pm. With liberal drop off doodle time beforehand.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe longer school days means more gets done. I’d probably start by examining that assumption. Time can be wasted in a longer day, and we don’t know if/where time might be wasted at various schools.

Uh, okay? What do you think is the magic length of a school day that causes time to not be wasted? This is a weird take. Time can be “wasted” during a long day, short day, extended school year, or abbreviated school year. Given that we have zero data about this, comparing the actual number of hours in school is really the only thing that makes sense.

FWIW, our independent school has 172 8-hour days, so 1376 hours. The local public middle school has 180 6.75 hour days, so 1215 hours. Deduct 30m for an extra recess every day and the private school still has an extra 75h of instructional time. So OP’s question is easily answered: more school time. You could argue about the effect of a smaller class sizes, narrower ability band, etc, but it’s not even necessary to do so.

That’s not a good comparison. You’ve cherry picked so it’s not an honest comparison. I’m not arguing the fact, but you simply did not back that up with anything of value.

Huh? How exactly is that cherry picking? What’s not honest? Do you feel that our independent school is on a schedule much different than other independent schools, and therefore it’s not fair comparison? I assure you, it is not. Our school is in fact part of a consortium, and all the members’ schedules are more or less the same.

If that data is not helpful to you, what kind of data do you consider to be “of value”?

+1. That's exactly the original argument - that privates had less instructional time and therefore could not get through materials. How is someone showing the actual instructional time not a good comparison?

Because it’s not showing the actual instructional time of either option.

Uh, okay. How would you suggest that be measured?

Taking hours and subtracting recess is hardly accurate and a full assessment. Surely, you already know that.

Okay, what would you consider an “accurate and full assessment”? Because this is exactly the way instructional hours are calculated across-the-board for most schools, and per state laws. If you have a more accurate way to calculate them, I’m dying to hear what it is.

State laws… private school…. Hahaha.

I’m simply referring to the calculation method. State laws actually only require 1080 hours, anyway.

So what’s the calculation method that you feel is more accurate?

[Anonymous]

I didn't read all of the answers. OP, did you not learn anything during remote schooling? Actual instructional time per subject can be measured in minutes per day. The rest is fluff, downtime, transitions, and behavior management. Private schools do more with less because they use time more efficiently (in general, I'm sure there are exceptions). My kid's private had recess twice a day, PE 3 times a week, art and music twice a week, daily full hour of Hebrew and Judiacs, and closed for every Jewish holiday you could shake a stick at. But the classes were small, the kids attentive during instruction, and the teachers could get through lessons efficiently and the kids could (mostly) work well independently.

Now we homeschool for middle school. We are done with everything in 2-3 hours and spend the rest of the day outside or doing activities. It's a huge mistake to equate time spent in school with amount of material covered.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:As others have mentioned private schools don’t get through everything. Do not believe anyone who tells you they do or that all privates result in better educational outcomes than public. Study after study has proven this untrue.

What private do: Private schools educate to a narrower band of abilities and a smaller class size making it potentially easier to move through material while limiting certain types of disruption or needs that arise for disability or mental health needs. Because they are not held to yearly state standards and standardization testing, they can choose to cover just the basics and then pick and choose which topics to apply greater depth. This can be good or bad. Since most view childhood as a time of exploration, if they go in depth on something your child is interested than it can be great. If not, it can be somewhat stifling and cause kids to miss opportunities to discover interest or challenge themselves in an area of interest. Also because the class sizes are smaller, it can limit the course selection each year, particularly electives, as students get to higher levels. To this end, their is a lot of tutoring and enrichment being funded by parents. Same is found in public by families of means. The difference being public school families are not paying tuition first.

Another difference is school day and where privates apply focus. Particular at the lower level the focus is less academic. Because of this kids have more fun, which makes parents feel good and feeds into the idea of youth being magical and all about play. This can however be quickly derailed as kids move through the levels and are forced to quickly catch up on academics and encounter academic intensity both in class and via homework.

Ultimately its a scale. You as a family decide which things are important/unimportant and if that balances in the end.

Nope. In our Catholic parochial, kids were working much harder than those in public. For one thing, my kid had homework in elementary school...homework that involved practicing multiplication tables, spelling, and grammar. None of that is happening in public schools. Public schools do not teach phonics, grammar, or spelling anymore. I think they expect parents to teach multiplication tables. I posted earlier that I had one go through W public schools and one through an inexpensive Catholic parochial. The difference was VAST. Worth every damn penny and I would pay more if they charged it.

There is no parochial school in this area that is superior to public. Parochial schools are low level privates and notoriously known for being low level.

Parochial have a reputation of being structured and rigorous and having a higher volume of work at the LS and MS school level than more progressive schools. They also take a much wider range of students, so the outcomes will be more varied than the more expensive independents.

There is no rigor at my son’s parochial. They also have a very limited range of students.

There are dozens of parochial schools in this area, it looks like you choose poorly

Choosing parochial is choosing poorly.

This poster is jealous that parochial schools are so affordable and he can't stomach sending his kid because they are Catholic/religious. We lucked out that we were also looking for a strong Catholic environment. It was certainly a win/win for us!!

Not jealous, wouldn’t even look at a parochial. You are jealous we hired an education consultant and selected an independent school. And I am Catholic. You lucked out that you got a low level school at a low level cost.

Yeah you're jealous AND insecure. You are bragging about wasting money on an educational consultant and overpaying tuition for elementary school. What a sucker.

You’re jealous you can’t pay for any of those things. You are bragging about your low level school you chose. Insecure people call others that, it would serve you well to stop projecting your insecurity.
Sorry for your financial struggles.

Nice. Except we have $8M net worth...so we're good. Thanks for your concern.

I wouldn’t brag about having $8M and sending to a low level school.
But it’s okay because similar to you pretending your school is good, you pretend you have $8M.

No pretending at all. Will add our annual income of 900K. We like the Catholic education and the price tag. We also got a great education for our kid. Sorry you overspent.

PS we also donated to the school and church generously. Still spent less than you. LOL

I don’t need to donate, my child does well without having to be bought.
Keeping bragging about your low budget school.

Oh!! LOL...I don't donate to give my kid a leg up. No. My kid is already doing just fine. We donate because we are so impressed by the school and want it to continue to grow and be successful. But, yeah, I realize people like you do stuff like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe longer school days means more gets done. I’d probably start by examining that assumption. Time can be wasted in a longer day, and we don’t know if/where time might be wasted at various schools.

Uh, okay? What do you think is the magic length of a school day that causes time to not be wasted? This is a weird take. Time can be “wasted” during a long day, short day, extended school year, or abbreviated school year. Given that we have zero data about this, comparing the actual number of hours in school is really the only thing that makes sense.

FWIW, our independent school has 172 8-hour days, so 1376 hours. The local public middle school has 180 6.75 hour days, so 1215 hours. Deduct 30m for an extra recess every day and the private school still has an extra 75h of instructional time. So OP’s question is easily answered: more school time. You could argue about the effect of a smaller class sizes, narrower ability band, etc, but it’s not even necessary to do so.

That’s not a good comparison. You’ve cherry picked so it’s not an honest comparison. I’m not arguing the fact, but you simply did not back that up with anything of value.

Huh? How exactly is that cherry picking? What’s not honest? Do you feel that our independent school is on a schedule much different than other independent schools, and therefore it’s not fair comparison? I assure you, it is not. Our school is in fact part of a consortium, and all the members’ schedules are more or less the same.

If that data is not helpful to you, what kind of data do you consider to be “of value”?

+1. That's exactly the original argument - that privates had less instructional time and therefore could not get through materials. How is someone showing the actual instructional time not a good comparison?

Because it’s not showing the actual instructional time of either option.

Uh, okay. How would you suggest that be measured?

Taking hours and subtracting recess is hardly accurate and a full assessment. Surely, you already know that.

Okay, what would you consider an “accurate and full assessment”? Because this is exactly the way instructional hours are calculated across-the-board for most schools, and per state laws. If you have a more accurate way to calculate them, I’m dying to hear what it is.

State laws… private school…. Hahaha.

I’m simply referring to the calculation method. State laws actually only require 1080 hours, anyway.

So what’s the calculation method that you feel is more accurate?

Overlay the school calendar on a real calendar and add up the full days and half days. State the total.

[Anonymous]

Because they don’t have to deal with all the BS distractions of kids who are only there because the law mandates them being there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I tutor middle and high school from both public and private in the DMV area. Apart from Sidwell and Albans/NCS, and maybe 2 or 3 others, privates are not providing better quality of academics than public. The parochial’s are the bottom of the barrel and the single sex schools generally are the better privates.
MCPS is by far the best education in terms of higher mathematics.

Do you tutor a large enough sample size to make this assessment? A sufficient number of students from private, parochial, and public? Students who receive tutoring as extra academic support as well as those who receive tutoring to supplement existing high achievement? Do these students come from VA, MD, and DC? Different socioeconomic classes?

I grow tired of generalizations like the one above. Some publics will be better than some privates, some parochials will be stronger than some publics, etc. I worked in a dreadful public and a great parochial school. That doesn’t mean there isn’t some private down the street that’s better than both. I suspect the public vs. private comparisons on this thread simply stem from people wanting to justify their own choices. If you picked something that works for your family, then that’s all that should matter.

To put a bit of this to rest: states require a minimum number of days for private schools. In MD it is 170. Many publics spend more than 10 days on mandated state tests, so right there is the main difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because they don’t have to deal with all the BS distractions of kids who are only there because the law mandates them being there.

Hilarious that you think there are no BS distractions at recess or in the classrooms.

There are. They are sent to talk it out at the counselors office and often things get worse and intensify after that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tutor middle and high school from both public and private in the DMV area. Apart from Sidwell and Albans/NCS, and maybe 2 or 3 others, privates are not providing better quality of academics than public. The parochial’s are the bottom of the barrel and the single sex schools generally are the better privates.
MCPS is by far the best education in terms of higher mathematics.

Do you tutor a large enough sample size to make this assessment? A sufficient number of students from private, parochial, and public? Students who receive tutoring as extra academic support as well as those who receive tutoring to supplement existing high achievement? Do these students come from VA, MD, and DC? Different socioeconomic classes?

I grow tired of generalizations like the one above. Some publics will be better than some privates, some parochials will be stronger than some publics, etc. I worked in a dreadful public and a great parochial school. That doesn’t mean there isn’t some private down the street that’s better than both. I suspect the public vs. private comparisons on this thread simply stem from people wanting to justify their own choices. If you picked something that works for your family, then that’s all that should matter.

To put a bit of this to rest: states require a minimum number of days for private schools. In MD it is 170. Many publics spend more than 10 days on mandated state tests, so right there is the main difference.

My work contact’s wife runs and operates a DC based tutoring company. For years.
She sees which skills and curricula are weak plus who is miserable where.
Frankly she should run a school consulting company or therapy hour too.

Many of the math teachers tutor other schools students too. They know a horrifying off the shelf math book or lack of worksheets or reps when they see it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have mentioned private schools don’t get through everything. Do not believe anyone who tells you they do or that all privates result in better educational outcomes than public. Study after study has proven this untrue.

What private do: Private schools educate to a narrower band of abilities and a smaller class size making it potentially easier to move through material while limiting certain types of disruption or needs that arise for disability or mental health needs. Because they are not held to yearly state standards and standardization testing, they can choose to cover just the basics and then pick and choose which topics to apply greater depth. This can be good or bad. Since most view childhood as a time of exploration, if they go in depth on something your child is interested than it can be great. If not, it can be somewhat stifling and cause kids to miss opportunities to discover interest or challenge themselves in an area of interest. Also because the class sizes are smaller, it can limit the course selection each year, particularly electives, as students get to higher levels. To this end, their is a lot of tutoring and enrichment being funded by parents. Same is found in public by families of means. The difference being public school families are not paying tuition first.

Another difference is school day and where privates apply focus. Particular at the lower level the focus is less academic. Because of this kids have more fun, which makes parents feel good and feeds into the idea of youth being magical and all about play. This can however be quickly derailed as kids move through the levels and are forced to quickly catch up on academics and encounter academic intensity both in class and via homework.

Ultimately its a scale. You as a family decide which things are important/unimportant and if that balances in the end.

Nope. In our Catholic parochial, kids were working much harder than those in public. For one thing, my kid had homework in elementary school...homework that involved practicing multiplication tables, spelling, and grammar. None of that is happening in public schools. Public schools do not teach phonics, grammar, or spelling anymore. I think they expect parents to teach multiplication tables. I posted earlier that I had one go through W public schools and one through an inexpensive Catholic parochial. The difference was VAST. Worth every damn penny and I would pay more if they charged it.

There is no parochial school in this area that is superior to public. Parochial schools are low level privates and notoriously known for being low level.

Parochial have a reputation of being structured and rigorous and having a higher volume of work at the LS and MS school level than more progressive schools. They also take a much wider range of students, so the outcomes will be more varied than the more expensive independents.

There is no rigor at my son’s parochial. They also have a very limited range of students.

There are dozens of parochial schools in this area, it looks like you choose poorly

Choosing parochial is choosing poorly.

This poster is jealous that parochial schools are so affordable and he can't stomach sending his kid because they are Catholic/religious. We lucked out that we were also looking for a strong Catholic environment. It was certainly a win/win for us!!

Not jealous, wouldn’t even look at a parochial. You are jealous we hired an education consultant and selected an independent school. And I am Catholic. You lucked out that you got a low level school at a low level cost.

Yeah you're jealous AND insecure. You are bragging about wasting money on an educational consultant and overpaying tuition for elementary school. What a sucker.

You’re jealous you can’t pay for any of those things. You are bragging about your low level school you chose. Insecure people call others that, it would serve you well to stop projecting your insecurity.
Sorry for your financial struggles.

Nice. Except we have $8M net worth...so we're good. Thanks for your concern.

I wouldn’t brag about having $8M and sending to a low level school.
But it’s okay because similar to you pretending your school is good, you pretend you have $8M.

No pretending at all. Will add our annual income of 900K. We like the Catholic education and the price tag. We also got a great education for our kid. Sorry you overspent.

PS we also donated to the school and church generously. Still spent less than you. LOL

I don’t need to donate, my child does well without having to be bought.
Keeping bragging about your low budget school.

Oh!! LOL...I don't donate to give my kid a leg up. No. My kid is already doing just fine. We donate because we are so impressed by the school and want it to continue to grow and be successful. But, yeah, I realize people like you do stuff like that.

Maybe if you could read, you see that said I don’t donate. Of course your kid is doing fine, it’s not a good school. Any idiot would do fine. You inadvertently admitted that it isn’t good. No good school needs donations to grow and be successful. Keep trying with you low level lies that match your low level school.

[Anonymous]

This thread is obviously being trolled by a child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because they don’t have to deal with all the BS distractions of kids who are only there because the law mandates them being there.

Terrible to have a law to mandate that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is obviously being trolled by a child.

That being you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have mentioned private schools don’t get through everything. Do not believe anyone who tells you they do or that all privates result in better educational outcomes than public. Study after study has proven this untrue.

What private do: Private schools educate to a narrower band of abilities and a smaller class size making it potentially easier to move through material while limiting certain types of disruption or needs that arise for disability or mental health needs. Because they are not held to yearly state standards and standardization testing, they can choose to cover just the basics and then pick and choose which topics to apply greater depth. This can be good or bad. Since most view childhood as a time of exploration, if they go in depth on something your child is interested than it can be great. If not, it can be somewhat stifling and cause kids to miss opportunities to discover interest or challenge themselves in an area of interest. Also because the class sizes are smaller, it can limit the course selection each year, particularly electives, as students get to higher levels. To this end, their is a lot of tutoring and enrichment being funded by parents. Same is found in public by families of means. The difference being public school families are not paying tuition first.

Another difference is school day and where privates apply focus. Particular at the lower level the focus is less academic. Because of this kids have more fun, which makes parents feel good and feeds into the idea of youth being magical and all about play. This can however be quickly derailed as kids move through the levels and are forced to quickly catch up on academics and encounter academic intensity both in class and via homework.

Ultimately its a scale. You as a family decide which things are important/unimportant and if that balances in the end.

Nope. In our Catholic parochial, kids were working much harder than those in public. For one thing, my kid had homework in elementary school...homework that involved practicing multiplication tables, spelling, and grammar. None of that is happening in public schools. Public schools do not teach phonics, grammar, or spelling anymore. I think they expect parents to teach multiplication tables. I posted earlier that I had one go through W public schools and one through an inexpensive Catholic parochial. The difference was VAST. Worth every damn penny and I would pay more if they charged it.

There is no parochial school in this area that is superior to public. Parochial schools are low level privates and notoriously known for being low level.

Parochial have a reputation of being structured and rigorous and having a higher volume of work at the LS and MS school level than more progressive schools. They also take a much wider range of students, so the outcomes will be more varied than the more expensive independents.

There is no rigor at my son’s parochial. They also have a very limited range of students.

There are dozens of parochial schools in this area, it looks like you choose poorly

Choosing parochial is choosing poorly.

This poster is jealous that parochial schools are so affordable and he can't stomach sending his kid because they are Catholic/religious. We lucked out that we were also looking for a strong Catholic environment. It was certainly a win/win for us!!

Not jealous, wouldn’t even look at a parochial. You are jealous we hired an education consultant and selected an independent school. And I am Catholic. You lucked out that you got a low level school at a low level cost.

Yeah you're jealous AND insecure. You are bragging about wasting money on an educational consultant and overpaying tuition for elementary school. What a sucker.

You’re jealous you can’t pay for any of those things. You are bragging about your low level school you chose. Insecure people call others that, it would serve you well to stop projecting your insecurity.
Sorry for your financial struggles.

Nice. Except we have $8M net worth...so we're good. Thanks for your concern.

I wouldn’t brag about having $8M and sending to a low level school.
But it’s okay because similar to you pretending your school is good, you pretend you have $8M.

No pretending at all. Will add our annual income of 900K. We like the Catholic education and the price tag. We also got a great education for our kid. Sorry you overspent.

PS we also donated to the school and church generously. Still spent less than you. LOL

I don’t need to donate, my child does well without having to be bought.
Keeping bragging about your low budget school.

Oh!! LOL...I don't donate to give my kid a leg up. No. My kid is already doing just fine. We donate because we are so impressed by the school and want it to continue to grow and be successful. But, yeah, I realize people like you do stuff like that.

Maybe if you could read, you see that said I don’t donate. Of course your kid is doing fine, it’s not a good school. Any idiot would do fine. You inadvertently admitted that it isn’t good. No good school needs donations to grow and be successful. Keep trying with you low level lies that match your low level school.

👆🏼

Tell me you know nothing about private schools without telling me you know nothing about private schools.