Our first days of public school after private, what I've noticed.

[Anonymous]

I would like other people to chime in and share their thoughts.

I noticed that no one seems to really know anyone. The parents don't seem to know each other. The teachers and other staff don't know the parents (or students).

I noticed very little smiling on the part of the office staff (not necessarily a bad thing). Which makes them seem like they really don't want you to be in their office, unwelcoming.

There is a lot of negativity in the flyers and handouts. Like on the first line of a sheet for a class, "ABSOLUTELY no food or drink allowed...". Then they say what the class will be about. Rather than something like, "welcome to X class, I am happy that you chose this class...please respect our environment and refrain from bringing any food or drink in the classroom".

[Anonymous]

I am sure you are going in with an open mind

[Anonymous]

There may be two challenges here.

In the public schools, to get beyond this negativity to see what is good.

In the private schools, to get beyond the polite office staff and fancy bathrooms to evaluate whether the education is really better than the public schools.

[Anonymous]

Give it a bit more time. If you come from a small school maybe it seems like no one knows any one but it is just that they don't know EVERYONE. Elemtary schools have many family oriented activities where parents meet and those replationships last through the older years for carpooling etc.

[Anonymous]

What age are your kids?

[Anonymous]

What I noticed when I moved my kids from a private school to a public school:

1. Teachers and staff were uniformly supportive of my kids -- kind, gentle and understanding. They worked really hard to help my kids get where they were supposed to be and do what they were supposed to do. "Positive discipline" was the rule. That was very different from the private school, which expected kids to comply and when they didn't, there was a lot of exasperation.

2. The teachers were MUCH better trained. They had many tools in their tool box for teaching material to different kinds of kids. They had many different methods for ensuring that behavior was good.

3. We had more variety in extracurriculars and enrichment activities.

4. We had more diversity in race, ethnic background and SES.

5. We had more resources - the school has speech therapists, occupational therapists, nurses, psychologists -- to help us, if we need it.

6. The academic side was the same or better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There may be two challenges here.

In the public schools, to get beyond this negativity to see what is good.

In the private schools, to get beyond the polite office staff and fancy bathrooms to evaluate whether the education is really better than the public schools.

OP here, I agree totally.
I think that the public schools could use a boost of positive behavior.
Private schools could use a boost of best practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I noticed when I moved my kids from a private school to a public school:

1. Teachers and staff were uniformly supportive of my kids -- kind, gentle and understanding. They worked really hard to help my kids get where they were supposed to be and do what they were supposed to do. "Positive discipline" was the rule. That was very different from the private school, which expected kids to comply and when they didn't, there was a lot of exasperation.

2. The teachers were MUCH better trained. They had many tools in their tool box for teaching material to different kinds of kids. They had many different methods for ensuring that behavior was good.

3. We had more variety in extracurriculars and enrichment activities.

4. We had more diversity in race, ethnic background and SES.

5. We had more resources - the school has speech therapists, occupational therapists, nurses, psychologists -- to help us, if we need it.

6. The academic side was the same or better.

OP here. I agree with 2, 5, and 6.
We had more diversity at our private school, fewer academic resources. But we had nice teachers. The tuition of 35K was the deal breaker.

[Anonymous]

I noticed that I didn't have to pay tuition.

[Anonymous]

The negativity is a real issue. We are at a really good public school with smiling teachers, administrators, etc. and a high quality of teaching but the written communication that comes from the school is terrible. BUT it was really shocking to me how much of the text in our back to school packet dealt with do not do this and do not do that. I thought the first rule of discipline and good teaching was to always be positive? Is it just that the teachers/administrators don't know how to write?

Anonymous wrote:I would like other people to chime in and share their thoughts.

I noticed that no one seems to really know anyone. The parents don't seem to know each other. The teachers and other staff don't know the parents (or students).

I noticed very little smiling on the part of the office staff (not necessarily a bad thing). Which makes them seem like they really don't want you to be in their office, unwelcoming.

There is a lot of negativity in the flyers and handouts. Like on the first line of a sheet for a class, "ABSOLUTELY no food or drink allowed...". Then they say what the class will be about. Rather than something like, "welcome to X class, I am happy that you chose this class...please respect our environment and refrain from bringing any food or drink in the classroom".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The negativity is a real issue. We are at a really good public school with smiling teachers, administrators, etc. and a high quality of teaching but the written communication that comes from the school is terrible. BUT it was really shocking to me how much of the text in our back to school packet dealt with do not do this and do not do that. I thought the first rule of discipline and good teaching was to always be positive? Is it just that the teachers/administrators don't know how to write?

Anonymous wrote:I would like other people to chime in and share their thoughts.

I noticed that no one seems to really know anyone. The parents don't seem to know each other. The teachers and other staff don't know the parents (or students).

I noticed very little smiling on the part of the office staff (not necessarily a bad thing). Which makes them seem like they really don't want you to be in their office, unwelcoming.

The negativity and disclaimers are about litigation avoidance.

There is a lot of negativity in the flyers and handouts. Like on the first line of a sheet for a class, "ABSOLUTELY no food or drink allowed...". Then they say what the class will be about. Rather than something like, "welcome to X class, I am happy that you chose this class...please respect our environment and refrain from bringing any food or drink in the classroom".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The negativity is a real issue. We are at a really good public school with smiling teachers, administrators, etc. and a high quality of teaching but the written communication that comes from the school is terrible. BUT it was really shocking to me how much of the text in our back to school packet dealt with do not do this and do not do that. I thought the first rule of discipline and good teaching was to always be positive? Is it just that the teachers/administrators don't know how to write?

Anonymous wrote:

I am afraid that the kids will develop this style of communicating. I agree about the packets. Almost worth the $$ to put in place a system that is more positive, even if it means hiring someone to spin this in the positive or politely answer the same questions over and over. Just think that kids will be more successful in life if they are more positive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The negativity is a real issue. We are at a really good public school with smiling teachers, administrators, etc. and a high quality of teaching but the written communication that comes from the school is terrible. BUT it was really shocking to me how much of the text in our back to school packet dealt with do not do this and do not do that. I thought the first rule of discipline and good teaching was to always be positive? Is it just that the teachers/administrators don't know how to write?

Anonymous wrote:

I am afraid that the kids will develop this style of communicating. I agree about the packets. Almost worth the $$ to put in place a system that is more positive, even if it means hiring someone to spin this in the positive or politely answer the same questions over and over. Just think that kids will be more successful in life if they are more positive.

You want a cash-strapped public school to hire a PR person to spin the welcome packets so kids don't feel "negative" about not getting to bring Cheetoes to class? God, PLEASE go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The negativity is a real issue. We are at a really good public school with smiling teachers, administrators, etc. and a high quality of teaching but the written communication that comes from the school is terrible. BUT it was really shocking to me how much of the text in our back to school packet dealt with do not do this and do not do that. I thought the first rule of discipline and good teaching was to always be positive? Is it just that the teachers/administrators don't know how to write?

I would guess it's more that they have lots and lots of experience of parents ignoring the rules. So they want to make them clear and get it up front so there is no confusion, excuses like " I didn't see it".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The negativity is a real issue. We are at a really good public school with smiling teachers, administrators, etc. and a high quality of teaching but the written communication that comes from the school is terrible. BUT it was really shocking to me how much of the text in our back to school packet dealt with do not do this and do not do that. I thought the first rule of discipline and good teaching was to always be positive? Is it just that the teachers/administrators don't know how to write?

Anonymous wrote:

I am afraid that the kids will develop this style of communicating. I agree about the packets. Almost worth the $$ to put in place a system that is more positive, even if it means hiring someone to spin this in the positive or politely answer the same questions over and over. Just think that kids will be more successful in life if they are more positive.

You want a cash-strapped public school to hire a PR person to spin the welcome packets so kids don't feel "negative" about not getting to bring Cheetoes to class? God, PLEASE go away.

Well, actually there is evidence that when kids feel welcome and happy (positive environment), they learn more. So, it might be money well spent.