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Went from private to public and am not very happy
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Anonymous
If you think rote learning to standardized tests constitutes "teaching", then yes, the local public is fine. I think to equate private schools with country clubs is disingenuous at best. |
Anonymous
If you think all public schools do is teach to the tests, then you don't know them very well. Or, at best, you're being disingenous. My kids have been in both public and private. Frankly, the testing in public schools is not a big deal, just one week lost to testing. At private schools my kids lost a week to the ERBs. There was the same response from both the public and the private schools - both schools assigned no homework and basically taught nothing during the week of tests. There's another poster who has done public and private and often says the same thing. In fact sometimes on the same thread we've compared our public and private experiences. Neither of us sees a huge difference in the testing. |
Anonymous
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True, but the fact remains that kids from public and kids from private do equally well (if you factor out severe disadvantage or other mitigating circumstances). The nice facilities and the lack of test prep does not work out to $30k+ per year in value.
Personally, the $60 per year equals out to me being able to take a long month off with my kids in the summer to stay at a villa in France or BVI. That makes up for the non-photogenic building. |
Anonymous
It's posters like this that make me despair of DCUM and think of leaving. First, she spouts off some extreme exaggerations about public schools. Then, she calls another poster who disagrees "disingenuous." Ugh. |
Anonymous
| This is the first I've heard of there being LESS work in public school. Over the years, I've heard nothing but that there's MORE homework from parents who have switched (moving from DC private to MoCo public, such as Carderock Springs, for example). |
Anonymous
| I think the original poster here was fake. Not sure why someone needs to rally private school parents around bashing public schools, but the criticisms were clearly so lacking in detail it just didn't read true. There's enough drama on this board already. |
Anonymous
OP here: No, it wasn't fake. We moved our DC for financial reasons. I had heard such good things about MOCO schools and I want to be positive about the school but there are things that surprised me. I probably need to give it more time and try harder to get to know other parents. I don't think I can be more detailed about my concerns. 1. There are quite a few badly behaved kids in my DC's grade. Being mild mannered and cooperative, DC is a little disconcerted to see classmates be oppositional and defiant to teachers. 2. I have attended a few events at the school and I was surprised at how few parents attended one event. 3. DC has about 15 minutes of homework a night. In the private school he probably would have had 1-2 hours. (Part of me is glad but I wonder if he is missing out) 4. No foreign language, no science lab, PE once a week.... 5. No comments or written descriptions on their report cards, only the letter grade. Maybe he is getting an equivalent education and what I'm missing is just superficial. |
Anonymous
Really? Ava's family must not understand compassion or sympathy very well. If you honestly think there's no difference between a child with a disability and a child with a behavior problem, then it's a pity you had children at all instead of being spayed. |
Anonymous
| Wowl Foul! |
Anonymous
That sounds truly bizarre for a MOCO or DC public school. We get a solid two paragraphs of comments on each report card (four a year). And as for the homework, the research shows that in elementary school, about 15 minutes is right, in middle school about one hour and in high school, there is actually a negative correlation to longer homework and learning. (look up all the no homework groups and books on amazon to see more or just go see a screening of Race to Nowhere). As for "events" if you are talking about fundraising events, I'd say you are probably right that public school parents do not attend as many of the high ticket items, but on the plus side, and I say this having been a private school parent, the events don't turn into the nauseating competitions to show who can spend more either.
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Anonymous
Thanks for your comments. I will ask about the comments on the report card. You said that you had also done private school. Are you almost 100% happy with public or would you go back to private? If so, why?
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Anonymous
Not all private schools are like country clubs. Sure there are some that have incredible campuses with rolling green hills. But that is a percentage of them. Just like one cannot make blanket statements about testing in publics, so too one cannot make generalizations about the nature of private schools. I think you made the point. |
Anonymous
| To PP 3/1 15:31 and 15:52 thank you for the very fair and balanced responses to what I think is a legitimate question and concern for any parent considering public schools vs. private. To anyone who responded either "of course private schools are better because they cost more," or "the only reason parents send their children to a private school is for the country club atmosphere", time for a reality check. Don't you realize how myopic and small-minded both of these responses sound? |
Anonymous
| wow 22:40! What school do you go to? I get nothing on my PG report card, and even in the parent conferences, they just say "he's doing fine. He seems to understand" and that's it. |
Anonymous
I think the poster does understand the difference, and is saying that the impact on his/her child remains the same: teacher's time and attention taken away from other students. Is that nice and/or empathetic? No. Is it true? Yes. |