Politically Incorrect Private School Thread What Do You Really Think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do I really think? Your private school kid couldn't cut it in the competitive atmosphere of public school.

Like the PP said, her son was not competitive enough to get into advanced classes so she sent him to private school.

Nothing wrong with that per se, of course at some point in his life he will probably be competing against all these smart public school kids and it may come as a bit of a shock when his mom and dad can't "pull him out" of those situations as well.

Really? Every private school kid couldn't cut it in the public school world?

Of course not. Lots of bright super smart kids go to private school. But they round out the school with mediocre students whose parents can afford full tuition. I get it that a B student in public school may be an A student with lots of help, and that's appealing to a lot of parents. But don't kid yourself that your barely A student at private can compete with the AP/magnet students in public.

[Anonymous]

I have had children in high school at both the best, local magnet, and the best local privates. I can assure you that the students earning the straight As at both places, and taking the most rigorous course load at each, would do equally well at the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do I really think? Your private school kid couldn't cut it in the competitive atmosphere of public school.

Like the PP said, her son was not competitive enough to get into advanced classes so she sent him to private school.

Nothing wrong with that per se, of course at some point in his life he will probably be competing against all these smart public school kids and it may come as a bit of a shock when his mom and dad can't "pull him out" of those situations as well.

Some value *education* over test prep, which is what public school has become.

It's interesting you should say that, since my children in public school are getting an education (which I value).

Public schools teach to the test, which is not educating students.

And yet I assure you that my children in public school are getting an education, in public school. How is this possible?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do I really think? Your private school kid couldn't cut it in the competitive atmosphere of public school.

Like the PP said, her son was not competitive enough to get into advanced classes so she sent him to private school.

Nothing wrong with that per se, of course at some point in his life he will probably be competing against all these smart public school kids and it may come as a bit of a shock when his mom and dad can't "pull him out" of those situations as well.

Some value *education* over test prep, which is what public school has become.

It's interesting you should say that, since my children in public school are getting an education (which I value).

Public schools teach to the test, which is not educating students.

If you disagree with my statement, please know that the head of the teachers' union has also made this statement.

Who is the "head of the teachers' union"? And what did this person say, exactly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do I really think? Your private school kid couldn't cut it in the competitive atmosphere of public school.

Like the PP said, her son was not competitive enough to get into advanced classes so she sent him to private school.

Nothing wrong with that per se, of course at some point in his life he will probably be competing against all these smart public school kids and it may come as a bit of a shock when his mom and dad can't "pull him out" of those situations as well.

Some value *education* over test prep, which is what public school has become.

It's interesting you should say that, since my children in public school are getting an education (which I value).

Public schools teach to the test, which is not educating students.

If you disagree with my statement, please know that the head of the teachers' union has also made this statement.

Who is the "head of the teachers' union"? And what did this person say, exactly?

Randy Weingarten feels testing outcomes are the basis for teaching evaluations now. This emphasis on testing doesn't allow for project based learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do I really think? Your private school kid couldn't cut it in the competitive atmosphere of public school.

Like the PP said, her son was not competitive enough to get into advanced classes so she sent him to private school.

Nothing wrong with that per se, of course at some point in his life he will probably be competing against all these smart public school kids and it may come as a bit of a shock when his mom and dad can't "pull him out" of those situations as well.

Some value *education* over test prep, which is what public school has become.

It's interesting you should say that, since my children in public school are getting an education (which I value).

Public schools teach to the test, which is not educating students.

If you disagree with my statement, please know that the head of the teachers' union has also made this statement.

NP here. I differ with the PP saying private school kids couldn't cut it in public school.

BUT I think the whole teach-to-the-test thing is totally exagerrated. When my kids were in private school they lost an entire week to the ERBs - no homework and very little instruction. We had the exact same loss of one week in MoCo, except that this time it was called the MSAs. If your kid is in a reasonably good public school, the school is not concerned about failing the mandated tests and the end result is really not very different from taking the ERBs in private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As much as I would like to leave and put the money elsewhere, after years of public school the over crowding became a real issue for us. My DCs are very bright, but being somewhat quiet, they never would get into the "best" classes. So they would want to be in a more academically demanding class, and he could very easily do the work, proving it time after time, but they were always being used to fill out the slower class. We were constantly being told that he was not smart enough -- one is a junior at TJ now, the other in private. There he is "allowed" to be in the top demanding classes. The private admin approach to his desire to work hard is -- of course. We have many advanced course for you to take. I felt pretty alone with this until I met neighbors at our pool who said the same about their kids being constantly dumbed down. The public schools seem to think that there are way too many "smart kids" This is not something that we could ever really talk about except on an anon forum. A couple of great teachers did help our DS get into TJ, but others were just like I don't know your son, but I know he is not smart enough. If they said it to me, what were they saying to him?

My son is having the same experience and it's one of the reasons that I would like him to go to private school. I went to private school and never had to deal with teachers degrading students or simply not knowing them enough and try to make them excel according to their abilities.

[Anonymous]

We are about to end a long run at one of the Big 3 as our youngest graduates this spring. Over 10 years of paying two tuitions for our DCs and we have concluded that it was just not worth it in terms of dollars and collateral damage to the family experience of raising children/enjoying the formative years. Before there is a sour grapes allegation, understand that both of our DCs did well in school and in athletics and have gone/will go to top tier SLACs/Ivies. It is the empty feeling at the end of the day that a great sum was spent and lots of together time was lost in pursuit of some ineffable token of accomplishment/attainment. Perhaps the passage of time will reveal the intrinsic value of the Big 3 diploma and the hopefully valuable contacts that come from the friends made. Really hope that happens. Private school major plusses: small classes, higher achieving group of students (generally) and sports teams where there is a good chance to play. Private school major negatives: extremely competitive social and academic culture that is exacerbated by a large percentage of helicopter parents, overexposure to uber-wealthy families and corresponding lack of exposure to many working class families. I am sure that many private school families believe the teaching is better, but I can't say that was our experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are about to end a long run at one of the Big 3 as our youngest graduates this spring. Over 10 years of paying two tuitions for our DCs and we have concluded that it was just not worth it in terms of dollars and collateral damage to the family experience of raising children/enjoying the formative years. Before there is a sour grapes allegation, understand that both of our DCs did well in school and in athletics and have gone/will go to top tier SLACs/Ivies. It is the empty feeling at the end of the day that a great sum was spent and lots of together time was lost in pursuit of some ineffable token of accomplishment/attainment. Perhaps the passage of time will reveal the intrinsic value of the Big 3 diploma and the hopefully valuable contacts that come from the friends made. Really hope that happens. Private school major plusses: small classes, higher achieving group of students (generally) and sports teams where there is a good chance to play. Private school major negatives: extremely competitive social and academic culture that is exacerbated by a large percentage of helicopter parents, overexposure to uber-wealthy families and corresponding lack of exposure to many working class families. I am sure that many private school families believe the teaching is better, but I can't say that was our experience.

I'm curious about your statement of time lost. I can understand the point about spending so much, but how does private school take away from family time more than public school does?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are about to end a long run at one of the Big 3 as our youngest graduates this spring. Over 10 years of paying two tuitions for our DCs and we have concluded that it was just not worth it in terms of dollars and collateral damage to the family experience of raising children/enjoying the formative years. Before there is a sour grapes allegation, understand that both of our DCs did well in school and in athletics and have gone/will go to top tier SLACs/Ivies. It is the empty feeling at the end of the day that a great sum was spent and lots of together time was lost in pursuit of some ineffable token of accomplishment/attainment. Perhaps the passage of time will reveal the intrinsic value of the Big 3 diploma and the hopefully valuable contacts that come from the friends made. Really hope that happens. Private school major plusses: small classes, higher achieving group of students (generally) and sports teams where there is a good chance to play. Private school major negatives: extremely competitive social and academic culture that is exacerbated by a large percentage of helicopter parents, overexposure to uber-wealthy families and corresponding lack of exposure to many working class families. I am sure that many private school families believe the teaching is better, but I can't say that was our experience.

How would you know? Your kid was never in public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do I really think? Your private school kid couldn't cut it in the competitive atmosphere of public school.

Like the PP said, her son was not competitive enough to get into advanced classes so she sent him to private school.

Nothing wrong with that per se, of course at some point in his life he will probably be competing against all these smart public school kids and it may come as a bit of a shock when his mom and dad can't "pull him out" of those situations as well.

Really? Every private school kid couldn't cut it in the public school world?

Of course not. Lots of bright super smart kids go to private school. But they round out the school with mediocre students whose parents can afford full tuition. I get it that a B student in public school may be an A student with lots of help, and that's appealing to a lot of parents. But don't kid yourself that your barely A student at private can compete with the AP/magnet students in public.

Seriously? I went to private and public schools and I can assure you that A students in public typically weren't A students in private. In fact, my friends and I always joked that whenever a public school kid told us their GPA, we'd subtract .6 to get their GPA at our school..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are about to end a long run at one of the Big 3 as our youngest graduates this spring. Over 10 years of paying two tuitions for our DCs and we have concluded that it was just not worth it in terms of dollars and collateral damage to the family experience of raising children/enjoying the formative years. Before there is a sour grapes allegation, understand that both of our DCs did well in school and in athletics and have gone/will go to top tier SLACs/Ivies. It is the empty feeling at the end of the day that a great sum was spent and lots of together time was lost in pursuit of some ineffable token of accomplishment/attainment. Perhaps the passage of time will reveal the intrinsic value of the Big 3 diploma and the hopefully valuable contacts that come from the friends made. Really hope that happens. Private school major plusses: small classes, higher achieving group of students (generally) and sports teams where there is a good chance to play. Private school major negatives: extremely competitive social and academic culture that is exacerbated by a large percentage of helicopter parents, overexposure to uber-wealthy families and corresponding lack of exposure to many working class families. I am sure that many private school families believe the teaching is better, but I can't say that was our experience.

How would you know? Your kid was never in public.

Awesome! With no other way to disprove PP's honest para, you're trying to make PP prove a negative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do I really think? Your private school kid couldn't cut it in the competitive atmosphere of public school.

Like the PP said, her son was not competitive enough to get into advanced classes so she sent him to private school.

Nothing wrong with that per se, of course at some point in his life he will probably be competing against all these smart public school kids and it may come as a bit of a shock when his mom and dad can't "pull him out" of those situations as well.

Really? Every private school kid couldn't cut it in the public school world?

Of course not. Lots of bright super smart kids go to private school. But they round out the school with mediocre students whose parents can afford full tuition. I get it that a B student in public school may be an A student with lots of help, and that's appealing to a lot of parents. But don't kid yourself that your barely A student at private can compete with the AP/magnet students in public.

Seriously? I went to private and public schools and I can assure you that A students in public typically weren't A students in private. In fact, my friends and I always joked that whenever a public school kid told us their GPA, we'd subtract .6 to get their GPA at our school..

Smart kids attend public schools too. Sorry but not every person is born with a silver spoon up their ass. I also suspect there is some grade inflation in private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do I really think? Your private school kid couldn't cut it in the competitive atmosphere of public school.

Like the PP said, her son was not competitive enough to get into advanced classes so she sent him to private school.

Nothing wrong with that per se, of course at some point in his life he will probably be competing against all these smart public school kids and it may come as a bit of a shock when his mom and dad can't "pull him out" of those situations as well.

Really? Every private school kid couldn't cut it in the public school world?

Of course not. Lots of bright super smart kids go to private school. But they round out the school with mediocre students whose parents can afford full tuition. I get it that a B student in public school may be an A student with lots of help, and that's appealing to a lot of parents. But don't kid yourself that your barely A student at private can compete with the AP/magnet students in public.

Seriously? I went to private and public schools and I can assure you that A students in public typically weren't A students in private. In fact, my friends and I always joked that whenever a public school kid told us their GPA, we'd subtract .6 to get their GPA at our school..

Wait, what? Are you sure this isn't your fake "16-year-old DD" allegedly making stupid comments again? You sound like that particular troll. Viz, maybe you switched between schools in back in East Podunk Town 30 years ago (that is, if you're not the troll). Still, you have no idea how the rest of your classmates would have faired in different schools, especially in comparisons between elite privates and magnets.

Funny this. I too went to private and public schools, and so have both my kids. The public school had all the national merit semifinalists and the professors' kids, and the private school had all the ... wait for it... so-so kids of divorced parents. I can't explain that. Although there were some smart kids at the private school too. Guess what: there are great and not-so-great kids in both public and private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Seriously? I went to private and public schools and I can assure you that A students in public typically weren't A students in private. In fact, my friends and I always joked that whenever a public school kid told us their GPA, we'd subtract .6 to get their GPA at our school..

Serious question: what percent of private school parents are as awful as this PP and the PP (troll?) with the snotty private school DD?