Regret public school for your kids?

[Anonymous]

11:57 here - I don't think private school is more important for high school than elementary school. My son has ADHD and his father's personality (little bit of a defiant streak in him). We (H and I) both agree that we want him in a high school that is very structured (no chance of him skipping school, etc.) While our local elementary school is fairly small (in terms of overall size, not class size), our public high school is quite large (2000 kids). Academically, I think the honors and AP programs at both schools are comparable.

I am sorry someone out there thinks I am a hypocrite. Maybe the parents who believe their private school is a better fit for their kids are not the same parents who are posting blankets statements that private school are definitively better. I just see so much animosity on this board toward public schools from private school parents and can't help but wonder why.

[Anonymous]

Not pp, but a similar story.
At our local public Bethesda elem. school we were told that all 5 classes of K (class size est. of 23-25) would eat together in the lunchroom with just *2* lunchroom aides supervising everyone, and then go on to the playground with aides outside (we were not told how many, but I am guessing...few).

This is why I don't understand the many parents on DCUM who say their plan is elementary = public, then secondary = private. What are some of the reasons for putting the 5 year olds in bustling, large and possibly anonymous environments but then going small-scale for the 16 year olds who have had 11 years to develop coping/communicating/self-help skills? Is it curriculum? Differences in college placement assistance? Drama departments?

[Anonymous]

My kids went public for elementary, and their school was a small, nurturing, neighborhood school where they got a fine education and made a wide variety of friends. I don't know what huge, bustling environment you're talking about, but that hasn't been our experience, and we live in DC!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:11:57 here - I don't think private school is more important for high school than elementary school. My son has ADHD and his father's personality (little bit of a defiant streak in him). We (H and I) both agree that we want him in a high school that is very structured (no chance of him skipping school, etc.) While our local elementary school is fairly small (in terms of overall size, not class size), our public high school is quite large (2000 kids). Academically, I think the honors and AP programs at both schools are comparable.

I am sorry someone out there thinks I am a hypocrite. Maybe the parents who believe their private school is a better fit for their kids are not the same parents who are posting blankets statements that private school are definitively better. I just see so much animosity on this board toward public schools from private school parents and can't help but wonder why.

15:02 here. I'm the one who mistakenly assumed you thought private high school was more important than private elementary. Your reasoning makes sense and your son will be entitled to good special ed services in a public elementary school. Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Not pp, but a similar story.
At our local public Bethesda elem. school we were told that all 5 classes of K (class size est. of 23-25) would eat together in the lunchroom with just *2* lunchroom aides supervising everyone, and then go on to the playground with aides outside (we were not told how many, but I am guessing...few).

This is why I don't understand the many parents on DCUM who say their plan is elementary = public, then secondary = private. What are some of the reasons for putting the 5 year olds in bustling, large and possibly anonymous environments but then going small-scale for the 16 year olds who have had 11 years to develop coping/communicating/self-help skills? Is it curriculum? Differences in college placement assistance? Drama departments?

Because our elementary schools here in DCPS were small! DD's had one class per grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids went public for elementary, and their school was a small, nurturing, neighborhood school where they got a fine education and made a wide variety of friends. I don't know what huge, bustling environment you're talking about, but that hasn't been our experience, and we live in DC!

Try MoCo, Fairfax Co, Arlington Co, etc.

Our local elementary in MoCo has over 700 students - about 300 over capacity. There are indeed over 100 kids per grade level, which in my view makes for a huge, bustling environment. Our local high school has nearly 4000 students. Beyond huge. Both well-regarded schools fyi.

Although it is a sacrifice for our family, our kids are in private.

[Anonymous]

This is why I don't understand the many parents on DCUM who say their plan is elementary = public, then secondary = private. What are some of the reasons for putting the 5 year olds in bustling, large and possibly anonymous environments but then going small-scale for the 16 year olds who have had 11 years to develop coping/communicating/self-help skills? Is it curriculum? Differences in college placement assistance? Drama departments?

There are two main reasons that we are planning for public for elementary school for our child and then will likely either move to a better school district so we can continue public for middle/high school, or switch to private.

1. Curriculum. My husband and I are capable of filling in gaps in an elementary curriculum, and supplementing what the public school offers with outside lessons, etc. I'm not as sure we could do that in high school, as the curriculum gets more advanced and structured resources (extracurriculars, college placement, AP classes, etc.) are more important. (I don't think it's accurate to say that a five-year-old, even in most public schools, is in a possibly anonymous environment. This is not the case for our local elementary schools and I doubt it is the case for most.)

3. SAFETY. This is the biggest one for us. Our local elementary schools are safe. We can't say the same thing for our local middle and high school, when, at worst, many of our child's classmates might actually be dangerous and, at best, many would pose a real distraction.

[Anonymous]

Our local elementary in MoCo has over 700 students - about 300 over capacity. There are indeed over 100 kids per grade level, which in my view makes for a huge, bustling environment. Our local high school has nearly 4000 students. Beyond huge. Both well-regarded schools fyi.

I'm not sure it matters how many children are in each grade level -- just in each individual class.

[Anonymous]

9:39 poster here -- I misnumbered. That should be 1. and 2., obviously -- sorry! Ha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
There are two main reasons that we are planning for public for elementary school for our child and then will likely either move to a better school district so we can continue public for middle/high school, or switch to private.

1. Curriculum. My husband and I are capable of filling in gaps in an elementary curriculum, and supplementing what the public school offers with outside lessons, etc. I'm not as sure we could do that in high school, as the curriculum gets more advanced and structured resources (extracurriculars, college placement, AP classes, etc.) are more important. (I don't think it's accurate to say that a five-year-old, even in most public schools, is in a possibly anonymous environment. This is not the case for our local elementary schools and I doubt it is the case for most.)

3. SAFETY. This is the biggest one for us. Our local elementary schools are safe. We can't say the same thing for our local middle and high school, when, at worst, many of our child's classmates might actually be dangerous and, at best, many would pose a real distraction.

I agree wholeheartedly with this post
I am also hoping to eventually transition to private, cos the public school systems can be slow to replace specialty teachers, from what I've seen...
And in high school, even a 6 week delay in finding a teacher would be a serious blow

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went public for elementary, and their school was a small, nurturing, neighborhood school where they got a fine education and made a wide variety of friends. I don't know what huge, bustling environment you're talking about, but that hasn't been our experience, and we live in DC!

Try MoCo, Fairfax Co, Arlington Co, etc.

Our local elementary in MoCo has over 700 students - about 300 over capacity. There are indeed over 100 kids per grade level, which in my view makes for a huge, bustling environment. Our local high school has nearly 4000 students. Beyond huge. Both well-regarded schools fyi.

Although it is a sacrifice for our family, our kids are in private.

Over capacity means the core facility of the building CANNOT handle the volume of students in hallways, library, cafeteria, gym, restrooms, specials [art and music and computer rooms], parking lots for cars and bus traffic, etc. 3 bedroom 2 bath house for 4 adults and 8 kids. If the building had capacity for 700 that's a different story. How many of you have ever seen the inside of a trailer used for a classroom? Indoor plumbing is nice and kids in trailers don't have it. Trailers can spring leaks. Anyone remember the sniper era? Had a lock-down drill at a school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went public for elementary, and their school was a small, nurturing, neighborhood school where they got a fine education and made a wide variety of friends. I don't know what huge, bustling environment you're talking about, but that hasn't been our experience, and we live in DC!

Try MoCo, Fairfax Co, Arlington Co, etc.

Our local elementary in MoCo has over 700 students - about 300 over capacity. There are indeed over 100 kids per grade level, which in my view makes for a huge, bustling environment. Our local high school has nearly 4000 students. Beyond huge. Both well-regarded schools fyi.
Although it is a sacrifice for our family, our kids are in private.

Over capacity means the core facility of the building CANNOT handle the volume of students in hallways, library, cafeteria, gym, restrooms, specials [art and music and computer rooms], parking lots for cars and bus traffic, etc. 3 bedroom 2 bath house for 4 adults and 8 kids. If the building had capacity for 700 that's a different story. How many of you have ever seen the inside of a trailer used for a classroom? Indoor plumbing is nice and kids in trailers don't have it. Trailers can spring leaks. Anyone remember the sniper era? Had a lock-down drill at a school?

23:18 poster here. This is my point exactly. While it is true the actual classroom may only have 15 to 25 kids in it, the hallways, the lunch room, the playground will be overcrowded and overwhelming. Not an optimal situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not meant to be a competition or a legal case, I posted about STAR earlier. Smaller classes are better. Too busy to get studies, one recent study said that it helps gifted kids more, but all kids benefit. But the local public school has class sizes of 20. As the previous person asked why not split the classes. I get the impression that it would mean more work for the teachers. Please google a lot and you will eventually find the info.

Of course smaller is better; no one is disputing that! The issue being discussed (if you read the thread) is whether a class with two full-time teachers (i.e., a ratio of ten students to one teacher) also is better. I have googled and googled, and found nothing to suggest that a class size of 20 with two full-time teachers (not an aide) is worse than a class of ten with one teacher. STAR does not support your point, nor does any research I have found. What is effective is when there are more teachers in the classroom per student; 10 students with one teacher or 20 with two teachers appear to be equivalent, according to the research.

And no one is trying to make this a "legal case" or "competition," BTW. I'm just a person who likes research to back up claims. I say that in a sincere way, BTW, not a snarky way.

Bottom line, a better student-teacher ratio is better, so in that sense only, private school (at least those either with two regular teachers per class or class size below 15-17) is probably has an advantage over public (to get back to the original question). That is not at all to say that public school is inferior in other ways, however.

I am reading all these posts and am confused. A number of the Potomac/Bethesda elementary schools say they have a student/instructional staff ratio of around 12-14. (See MCPS web site).

How should I read these numbers? I understand it probably counts the PE, music and art teachers, but the ratio still seems low.

Thanks for the info, I am new to this.

[Anonymous]

28 kids, 1 teacher and 1 assistant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:28 kids, 1 teacher and 1 assistant.

Thanks. But the web site also says class sizes are around 20-23.

I guess the question is whether each elementary class in MCPS has one teacher and one assistant? If so, what am I missing icw the posts above re private schools having two teachers per class?