Mix of private and public for multiple kids—anything to think about?

[Anonymous]

If your middle child has a strong preference for private school, then I think you need to worry about the psychological effects of putting him in public anyway when you pay for your daughter to go private. If he doesn't care/has no preference, do not worry at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have children at public, parochial, and at a private. Three kids, three different needs. Our child in public is thriving! He has tons of friends, does well academically, and loves playing sports for his school. We gave the choice of private and it was a definite ‘no’. We have three happy kids, thankfully! The downside is definitely the difference in school calendars.

Same situation with us, but four kids total. Coordinating the calendar is near impossible!

[Anonymous]

How old is he?

You could put him in public but as he gets older let him know that applying to private is always an option if he wants. Tell him, we thought her school was better suited for her and this public school might be better for you, but at some point we may switch you to private and if that interests you, you can always apply.

[Anonymous]

It is fine, but be prepared financially in case the middle and/or youngest want to go private later on. When the middle is older, more like middle school/high school, you need to be prepared to give the option. It is quite possible he will want to stay in public, but you do not want him to feel he doesn't have the option. Also, be prepared for the oldest to want to return to public. You need to make sure you don't show the kids one is better than the other- that they are different kids that benefit from different environments and as a parent be equally excited about both.

Other things to consider are they will have different vacations and days off, especially Spring Break, so you will need to consider that with any travel plans. (We travel winter and summer and not spring because of this). You will also have more "school events" but that would be the case with kids at different levels of school also- elementary and middle for example. However, if you have kids in different elementaries at the same time in non-covid times it's a lot of different school events to attend and keep track of.