Private vs. Public School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to all for your input. Our DC is a model student according to several teachers so I am not as concerned with finding a good fit. I think he would thrive in any environment. That said, since I attended only public schools I have no experience as to what "extras" privates have to offer. According to this thread, it seems not much. Previous posters touched upon some of the concerns I have with private schools (grade inflation, insular environment) and public schools (test focused, underfunded). I hope we make the right decision for our DC!

I'm one of the private school grads with kids in public. Assuming you are comparing a great public with a top private, i'd say the benefits a private school offers:
1) Less homework and less busy work- at least in the early years
2) Far better facilities
3) Smaller classes, lower student:teacher ratio
4) Less days of instruction
5) An administration that is highly responsive to parents
6) A high-achieving cohort with fewer kids with special needs
7) Possibly better writing instruction in HS classes(don't know first hand because my kids are still young)
8) Fewer ineffective (burnt out) teachers- though there are still some crappy teachers in every school
9) Much better college counseling

That's a good list. I will say that another side to #6 (special needs bit) is less tolerance for quirky kids that don't fit the "ideal" of that particular school. That can be rough.

I'd add

10) longer school day so more recess and more frequent specials
11). Consistency in curriculum, our public school was a mess for the first two years of common core and their philosophy on what would be offered for accelerated kids changed every year;
12) greater emphasis on character education and community service
13) significantly better science and tech facilities.

I often read on dcum that the top public high schools in the area are a better choice than most privates for STEM-focused kids, especially very advanced ones.

Well then it must be true! Had kids at public for nearly all elementary and facilities when we switched to private generally and in these specific areas, way better. Just my personal,experience, but our public was very well rated.

[Anonymous]

Of course, I would pick private all over again. We live in DC and I would never subject my kid to the DC publics. We live in a tiny, tiny place so that we could afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course, I would pick private all over again. We live in DC and I would never subject my kid to the DC publics. We live in a tiny, tiny place so that we could afford it.

She says from her ivory tower...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to public in Howard County, in a good cluster. My child is in private here in Montgomery County. There are a couple of major reasons for that. He is the type of student who would daydream all day if he were in a larger class and the teacher couldn't stay on him to keep him engaged. And the second reason is I think the overwhelming size of the MoCo school system creates some real deficits (curriculum, testing issues, funding priorities). Either of these issues alone wouldn't have been enough for me to pick private school. I could help him navigate through one or the other just fine. But the two together are just not worth the hassle to me.

+1

Same situation for us...I do expect that some of these deficits that are critical to development will diminish in later years, and I hope to return my child to public by middle school. Perhaps even as early as 4th grade. The differences in how they learn and the curriculum limitations in MCPS really do seem to lessen in later years (at least for us, with the cluster where we live).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course, I would pick private all over again. We live in DC and I would never subject my kid to the DC publics. We live in a tiny, tiny place so that we could afford it.

She says from her ivory tower...

It really depends on the publics she's referring to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to private school. Hoping to keep my kids in public school all the way.

same here.
I find it fascinating that so many of us feel this way.

Me too.

My theory - private school is probably a 10% better experience than the public path we are on. That 10% is simply not worth the financial and lifestyle price we would pay through the tuition costs.

Another poster in this situation and I agree. The elitist nature of the best privates simply isn't backed up by the kids' experiences. Did an alumni interview for my ivy today and the girl said she left a big 3 for a W public because the private felt stifling and insular. Similar reason to why we are going public. Someone in another thread called going private a "new money" thing to do - more about the look than the substance. I tend to agree.[/quote

They can be stifling and the range of people you meet s narrow. That's what I hated. Now kid is in public and I hate the crowds. Can't win. Not sure what I would do if I had the chance to do it again. Probably live in the city of falls church, which is the only small district around.

[Anonymous]

If we lived in Manhattan, or London, I would have to say it would be private schools, all the way.

However, here in the DC area we have a different set up. Public schools would be our only choice.

We've been on the inside of privates here, (big 3) and they have been sorely lacking.

[Anonymous]

Since my child is already in private school, things like better/easier access to drama productions, athletics, music groups are wonderful. They're part of what would make it hard to leave. However, if my child had thrived in public school, we could have spent quite a bit less than what we pay in tuition to get her access to extra curricular drama, sports, and music.

That's why I, as a parent of a child in private school, generally recommend to people to check out their public school first. If it's an acceptable environment for your child, save that money you'd spend on tuition and put it towards the areas you feel are lacking in public. Unfortunately sometimes the available public school is not an appropriate fit for the child, and then you're stuck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since my child is already in private school, things like better/easier access to drama productions, athletics, music groups are wonderful. They're part of what would make it hard to leave. However, if my child had thrived in public school, we could have spent quite a bit less than what we pay in tuition to get her access to extra curricular drama, sports, and music.

That's why I, as a parent of a child in private school, generally recommend to people to check out their public school first. If it's an acceptable environment for your child, save that money you'd spend on tuition and put it towards the areas you feel are lacking in public. Unfortunately sometimes the available public school is not an appropriate fit for the child, and then you're stuck.

Not all publics are actually lacking. I know the ES schools in MOCO don't teach foreign languages (unless they are a language school) but frankly I don't want my kids spending an hour a day on this at this stage anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since my child is already in private school, things like better/easier access to drama productions, athletics, music groups are wonderful. They're part of what would make it hard to leave. However, if my child had thrived in public school, we could have spent quite a bit less than what we pay in tuition to get her access to extra curricular drama, sports, and music.

That's why I, as a parent of a child in private school, generally recommend to people to check out their public school first. If it's an acceptable environment for your child, save that money you'd spend on tuition and put it towards the areas you feel are lacking in public. Unfortunately sometimes the available public school is not an appropriate fit for the child, and then you're stuck.

Not all publics are actually lacking. I know the ES schools in MOCO don't teach foreign languages (unless they are a language school) but frankly I don't want my kids spending an hour a day on this at this stage anyway.

You don't want your kids exposed to the unique sounds of another language at an age when it is most beneficial?

[Anonymous]

Top rated AAP Center in FCPS, with first DC a TJ finalist. Why would we pay for private? I have yet to find one with the acadamic rigor of DC's MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since my child is already in private school, things like better/easier access to drama productions, athletics, music groups are wonderful. They're part of what would make it hard to leave. However, if my child had thrived in public school, we could have spent quite a bit less than what we pay in tuition to get her access to extra curricular drama, sports, and music.

That's why I, as a parent of a child in private school, generally recommend to people to check out their public school first. If it's an acceptable environment for your child, save that money you'd spend on tuition and put it towards the areas you feel are lacking in public. Unfortunately sometimes the available public school is not an appropriate fit for the child, and then you're stuck.

Not all publics are actually lacking. I know the ES schools in MOCO don't teach foreign languages (unless they are a language school) but frankly I don't want my kids spending an hour a day on this at this stage anyway.

You don't want your kids exposed to the unique sounds of another language at an age when it is most beneficial?

If they were natural linguists, certainly. But they are not. And yes, you can spot the natural linguists at an early age (I am one myself - 5 languages) so there's not any point stuffing a poor kid who doesn't want to and cannot grapple with Spanish, into a school which makes them do Spanish (or whatever language they offer).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who have been through it, if you had to do it over would you choose the same path? Why or why not? I'm so conflicted/confused about which path to take with our DC.

NP here. if I had to do it over again, I would absolutely go straight to private with my older child (with SN's that the county deemed not severe enough for services). Knowing what I know now (specifically about my neighborhood school) I would skip public for my DD and go straight to private. If we lived in a different neighborhood I might start with public and move to private if necessary though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to private school. Hoping to keep my kids in public school all the way.

I attended both private and public school. My daughter started in private and once we moved we put her in our local public. At first she was nervous and hesitant. Now when I ask if she wants to return, she says she'll never return to private. Our public offers much more than most privates. My son started in public and comes home each day very happy.

[Anonymous]

Our situation is a bit unusual, since I have expat benefits that cover 3/4 of private school tuition. We live in a great school district in Fairfax County. One of our kids is in private and the other one is in the local public. (We moved DC1 from private to public to respond to the need to be fully challenged in math.)

So I really think it's all about a good fit for the child.