Pros and Cons of Public v Private

[Anonymous]

I have a daughter in a local private middle school. This was originally due to the district which we lived in. [I forget where we were zoned.. but that's not very important]

However, things have changed. We're now moving to a new location. [Closer to where I work] It just happens to be in the Deal district. So now we're considering looking into taking our daughter and putting her into a public school. She's never gone to public school before. [When we moved to DC we had come from a really rotten school district. No school choice. The only way out was private.]

I'm a little concerned about putting her in Deal, because I've heard some rotten things. But at the same time... that tuition money would be great for using towards our up in housing costs.

She has friends at Deal, so I'm not sure that she'd be uncomfortable there. But I'm concerned that the classes will be too large or that she won't be able to participate in as many things as her current school.

Basically I'm just looking for some general pros and cons of Deal v private school.

We've also considered waiting to move her until high school.

[Anonymous]

What's your daughter say about the choice? Does she have a preference?

And if you choose Deal, you could use some of that extra cash toward other extracurricular activities that may not be provided by the school.

[Anonymous]

We know several families at Deal - have you gone on a tour? Is she at a very small private or is it also a bigger school?

[Anonymous]

Because of her age, I would go with what your daughter wants. Most kids her age have a clear idea what they would like to do in that situation.

[Anonymous]

Have you looked at the other threads about Deal? After attending a session with Deal's principal and touring the school we decided that Deal would be an excellent choice for our child. After seeing what Deal had to offer, we really couldn't justify paying for private. And part of our choice did have to do with the fact that some of my daughter's friends, many she has known since K will be attending Deal too. Kids are grouped in teams, so your child will be with the same cohort of @ 100 kids for one year. From what I understand small classes are not uncommon - we saw an algebra class with about 17 kids in it. Here are some of the other threads about Deal - best to visit the school to see if it is right for your child.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/75245.page

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/67247.page

[Anonymous]

PP here again - just one note about extracurricular activities. You woudn't necessarily need to spend money on extras if your child goes to Deal. They have so many afterschool activities it will be hard for our DD to decide. In addition to traditional athletic teams there is fencing, chess, debate team, art club, language clubs, choir, jazz ensemble, drama clubs etc. If I am not mistaken every teacher must lead an extracurricular actvitity - if you go on their website and look at one of the principal's bulletins you can get a glimpse of the aftershool activity schedule for that particular week.

[Anonymous]

The next Deal open house is Dec 15, 9:30-2:30. You and your daughter should visit. Class sizes are 20-25 for core subjects with most students having one core class that is smaller. And if you and your child like it, try it for a year. Kids are often more resilient than we parents think.