I never understood the difference between public and private until today

[Anonymous]

I have always been a proponent of public education, but now that I have to means and opportunity to send my child to a top tier private school, I am changing my tune.
I toured a school today and my world has really been rocked. I just had no idea, it’s a completely different planet. Anyone else experience this? We just left the DC area. It is obviously a nationally recognized school, but not one of the schools discussed here.
For a bit of perspective, my family was zoned to public school with a very low “ score” in a much maligned close in part of Va before we left.
The public schools in our new commmnity are very well regarded. I never thought I would consider private.
Now I can’t unsee this.

[Anonymous]

What left you awestruck?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like this podcast on This American Life. The schools were so vastly different that when the poor kids saw the difference they had trouble coping and one dropped out of school even. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/550/three-miles

[Anonymous]

Its not so much the schools (ie, the building), but the teachers, parents and students. I had DS at a MD public elementary school for two years, which felt like a lifetime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What left you awestruck?

The facility for starters.
I just toured the lower campus for preschool through 8th. It had 2 gymnasiums, a pool, amazing art and music studios. All children take up an instrument. The science lab space is amazing, and they are expanding to a new innovative stem center. There is crazy fabrication shop. All kids take Spanish and Mandarin. The library has fireplaces.
It was magical
I toured Hogwarts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What left you awestruck?

The facility for starters.
I just toured the lower campus for preschool through 8th. It had 2 gymnasiums, a pool, amazing art and music studios. All children take up an instrument. The science lab space is amazing, and they are expanding to a new innovative stem center. There is crazy fabrication shop. All kids take Spanish and Mandarin. The library has fireplaces.
It was magical
I toured Hogwarts.

Oh wait! I forgot the atrium. How could I forget the beautiful, naturally lit, gently sloping indoor play space for pre k and kindergarten!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What left you awestruck?

The facility for starters.
I just toured the lower campus for preschool through 8th. It had 2 gymnasiums, a pool, amazing art and music studios. All children take up an instrument. The science lab space is amazing, and they are expanding to a new innovative stem center. There is crazy fabrication shop. All kids take Spanish and Mandarin. The library has fireplaces.
It was magical
I toured Hogwarts.

What do they charge per year?

[Anonymous]

This must not be in the DC area, with facilities like that.

What's the tuition run? What metro area?

[Anonymous]

Do tell which "low scoring " VA public you guys were in. It may be the same one as mine. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What left you awestruck?

The facility for starters.
I just toured the lower campus for preschool through 8th. It had 2 gymnasiums, a pool, amazing art and music studios. All children take up an instrument. The science lab space is amazing, and they are expanding to a new innovative stem center. There is crazy fabrication shop. All kids take Spanish and Mandarin. The library has fireplaces.
It was magical
I toured Hogwarts.

What do they charge per year?

Right now I am looking only at pre school.
It would be MWF - 8:30 to noon for about 6200

once I open this pandora’s Box of wonder, how do we go back to the local perfectly good school? The upper school is about 30k a year now. Of course that will likely be 50k by the time we reach high school.

[Anonymous]

I went to a public schools and then got degrees from several Ivies. Very glad that I didn't encounter such creature comforts until I was 18. I can only imagine I'd have been as jaded as some of my classmates if I'd grown to expect this by the time I was 10 or 12.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to a public schools and then got degrees from several Ivies. Very glad that I didn't encounter such creature comforts until I was 18. I can only imagine I'd have been as jaded as some of my classmates if I'd grown to expect this by the time I was 10 or 12.

Ok. So this is a perspective I need to hear. I went to great Fairfax County public schools. I went on to perfectly great state schools. I had no plan to send my kid to some place like this. Of course I want the very best for my kid. Of course. Maybe this isn’t actually the best for my kid.
If money was no option, would you not send your kid to such a school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have always been a proponent of public education, but now that I have to means and opportunity to send my child to a top tier private school, I am changing my tune.
I toured a school today and my world has really been rocked. I just had no idea, it’s a completely different planet. Anyone else experience this? We just left the DC area. It is obviously a nationally recognized school, but not one of the schools discussed here.
For a bit of perspective, my family was zoned to public school with a very low “ score” in a much maligned close in part of Va before we left.
The public schools in our new commmnity are very well regarded. I never thought I would consider private.
Now I can’t unsee this.

The facilities and the impressive curriculum aren't everything. My brother went from a top DC area public to a top DC area private and while the DC area private was beautiful and the students were nice he told me he felt like he was suffocating. There was no diversity, difference in world views and approaches. He did end up at HYP so maybe it was worth it.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you are in the South, private schools in the South were founded to avoid desegregation. I would be uncomfortable with that. Where are you?

[Anonymous]

We did private for a while in DMV area, what you don't see in a tour of the facilities is that the schools, necessarily really, listen to and seek out, big donor parents. How you get on the board of trustees is a function of the money you give or bring in to the school. This is so different from public that those who only know public can't begin to understand how it perverts relationships throughout the school community. It takes some years at a school to see how true this is.