Why choose private school? Here's why I did.

[Anonymous]

There have been many posts about this issue, because parents should ask themselves why they are spending all of that money. So I decided to write about how I made my decision to use private school.
First, religion was not a factor that we considered.
I did tons of internet research, looking at various studies about private vs. public schools and made many phone calls to researchers. I also, looked ath the pros and cons of different approaches to education and different curricula.
The most up to date national studies consistently show that public schools may have an academic edge over private schools. But that research lumped all private schools together. What I have read suggests that there is great variation in the prvate sector, and that Catholic and Baptist schools in particular seem to lag behind public schools. Importantly, these schools were a heavy statistical weight in the national studies. ( I am not against Catholic or Baptist schools).
I hoped that by using private school, I would get some cutting edge curricula, new approaches, and better informed staff. That does not seem to be the case. The private schools are still lumbering along with Everday Math and out dated approaches, just like the public schools.
However, the one factor that pushed us towards private schools was this: there is a lot of evidence that small class size (not the same as student teacher ratio) in K-grade 2 makes a big difference in outcome. That benefit can last for years even after the child enters a school with larger classes. By small, I mean 13-17 students. So I looked at good private schools for the primary years.
My ds seems to have a touch of processing disorder, and even though he is bright, it seems as though the more one on one time with the teacher he can get, the better.

[Anonymous]

So, after your research which school did you pick?

[Anonymous]

OP here. The ones that stood out to me were St. Francis in Potomac (to be called St. Andrews in fall), Norwood, WES, and Fourth Presbyterian (a relatively new school). We live in MD, so the DC schools were out of the question.

[Anonymous]

We chose private school for the 6:1 student-faculty ratio. A class size of 14. Two teachers per classroom, with ability groupings within the class of 14. Music and art practically every day, not once a week. Far less emphasis on testing. Meaningful homework starting in first grade, not worksheets starting in kindergarten. A diverse student body. Values-based education with attention to social justice. A small and very warm community. Well worth it to us.

[Anonymous]

To the PP, sounds great! Which school is this?

[Anonymous]

I agree with all previous posters. We chose public school for class size as well and the stronger mentoring attitude in the organization. As well, my family is very good friends with a past president of the private school association in maryland so we had a fair amount of discussion with her. when we were struggling with the, "why in )&* name should we spend this much money on kindergarten, we will spend it later when it "really matters""..our friend said it should be just the opposite. we should spend the money on the foundation NOW and if it became too much down the road, the foundation is there and our child would be stronger for it.

I also had a friend say to me once, whose children are teens, that he and his wife decided that their biggest role in life was to provide the absolute best education they could for their children. in our current case, this is private school. so, it means that DH and I will change our lifestyle...it will be hard for us because it will be long term. So - I become more and more ok with it every day.

[Anonymous]

A PP here. Should also add that we decided on private based on the advice of family members who are public school teachers.

[Anonymous]

Would you mind sharing what the public school teacher relatives tell you that informed your decision?

[Anonymous]

I'm always into in-depth research so I loved the OP logic. I didn't even know Everday Math is last week's fish. In two years we will have to face the decision if we want to continue to send our daughter to private school since we have already made the decision for a private Pre-K and Kindergarten program. What makes the decision even more difficult is there is a great elementary school within walking distance. I think like the OP poster, I will need to do my research to see what is going on in the local classroom and decide if that is a good fit for my dd.

[Anonymous]

I too have read the studies available online regarding public versus private, and although I never called the researchers (!!), I was fairly certain that combining some of the religious schools with the independent ones was having a huge impact on the studies. No offense or judgement regarding religious schools -- for those parents who really want their religious values taught front and center, that is a perfectly fine option. However, it does make such study results almost useless when making academic comparisons. The decision was fairly easy for us once we started visiting schools and doing our research, but the kicker was when we learned that it is not uncommon for public school teachers to send their kids to private school. This is anecdotal of course -- but I have met several parents at school visits who were also public school teachers. And I imagine that the cost of private tuition presents somewhat of a hurdle for such parents given their occupation, yet they do it anyway.

[Anonymous]

It is a buyer beware situation with private schools. With public schools, for the most part, you know what you're getting. But the good privates are really good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you mind sharing what the public school teacher relatives tell you that informed your decision?

What we heard from long-term public school teachers, especially my mother in law, who has taught elementary school for 30 years, is that teaching in the public schools is no longer a joy for them. The entire school day is assessment driven. Everything is geared to preparing for reading and math assessments. Each child has benchmarks for the assessments that they have to reach, and most classroom time goes exclusively to that. Disproportionate time goes to teaching to the lowest common denominator and trying to bring up the scores of the lowest performers. Worksheets, worksheets, worksheets. The smartest kids quickly lose their joy in learning. An inordinate amount of teaching time goes to classroom discipline. Teachers are demoralized. MIL said she used to spend a great deal of time coming up with fun, creative activities for her kids, and now she spends those hours on reporting, accountability, etc. Teachers who used to never miss a day of school now use all their sick and other leave days because they don't enjoy their work. This is not local, BTW, but I assume many of the conditions would be similar. I'm sure my MIL's experience and the others I've heard don't reflect everyone's experience. However, I used to be an education researcher and, like a PP or two, I spent some time looking at the recent studies. I agree with the OP about the statistical effects of not parsing out the schools by type and particularly by religious affiliation. I'm sure there are terrible private schools just as there are wonderful public schools, but this is the decision we've made. Hearing from my MIL in particular had a major impact on me. I remember when she loved her work. That's just not true anymore.

[dgahagan]

What about Montessori schools? What is the last grade they offer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the PP, sounds great! Which school is this?

Alas, a school in California! Amazing tuition, too, compared to here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you mind sharing what the public school teacher relatives tell you that informed your decision?

What we heard from long-term public school teachers, especially my mother in law, who has taught elementary school for 30 years, is that teaching in the public schools is no longer a joy for them. The entire school day is assessment driven. Everything is geared to preparing for reading and math assessments. Each child has benchmarks for the assessments that they have to reach, and most classroom time goes exclusively to that. Disproportionate time goes to teaching to the lowest common denominator and trying to bring up the scores of the lowest performers. Worksheets, worksheets, worksheets. The smartest kids quickly lose their joy in learning. An inordinate amount of teaching time goes to classroom discipline. Teachers are demoralized. MIL said she used to spend a great deal of time coming up with fun, creative activities for her kids, and now she spends those hours on reporting, accountability, etc. Teachers who used to never miss a day of school now use all their sick and other leave days because they don't enjoy their work. This is not local, BTW, but I assume many of the conditions would be similar. I'm sure my MIL's experience and the others I've heard don't reflect everyone's experience. However, I used to be an education researcher and, like a PP or two, I spent some time looking at the recent studies. I agree with the OP about the statistical effects of not parsing out the schools by type and particularly by religious affiliation. I'm sure there are terrible private schools just as there are wonderful public schools, but this is the decision we've made. Hearing from my MIL in particular had a major impact on me. I remember when she loved her work. That's just not true anymore.

Question for current Montgomery County schools parents -- is this what you are finding at the elementary school level in your neighborhood schools? Are you leaving for the privates?