Reply to Second-Guessing Our Decision to "Opt-Out" of Public School

Forum Index » Schools and Education General Discussion

Reply to "Second-Guessing Our Decision to "Opt-Out" of Public School"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Our daughter is starting pre-K at a private school next month.  The tuition there is astronomical but we are receiving very generous financial aid.  Our annual cost including after-school care will be about $12,000 - a big sacrifice for us, but not technically unaffordable.

We applied to this private school because we were not optimistic about our chances of getting a slot in a public school we were happy with through the lottery system, so we decided to cast a wide net.  We never expected to get a seat in a good public school AND a spot at this private school with enough financial aid to make it doable. Enviable decision, I know.

When we revisited both schools before the enrollment deadline, it was clear that the early years would be a wash - both were great and our daughter would have thrived in either place.  However, in the older grades in the public school had increasingly large classes, and we noticed that most kids were sitting quietly doing worksheets while the teacher worked one-on-one with a student.  By contrast, the kids in the private school classes (topped out at 13 kids per class) were doing hands-on project-based learning and were really engaged and excited about what they were learning.

We asked about the possibility of starting in public and switching to private in the later grades, and were told very candidly that our daughter would very likely be accepted to the school again but that it was now or never in terms of the FA package.

That swayed our decision, so we opted for private school.  But now I am having gnawing doubts about whether we did the right thing.  Our child is smart and flexible and probably would have done great at either school.  Are we doing her a disservice by taking her out of her home community (very racially and socioeconomically diverse) and parachuting her into this land of privilege?  I'm also feeling immense guilt about opting out of the public school system at a time when engaged and active parents are needed most.

Any words of wisdom for those who have felt similarly?  I'm having a really hard time sorting through all my feelings and untangling what's best for my daughter vs. what's right for our family vs. what's the right thing to do for society.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics