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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
We had a "pilot child" at a 15K school, but are sending all of them next year because the differences between the local public -- highly performing, based on its test scores --  and the private are staggering.[/quote]
You realize that private schools can create the student body that they want, but public schools cannot, right?  What is the FARMs rate at this private school?  How many students with SN?[/quote]

FARMs rate at the private is pretty close to the FARMs rate at the PS -- approximately zero. Not many FARMs kids in an area where a half-acre lot goes for six hundred thousand and zoning keeps away density. Two of my kids are SN, but in general there aren't many with obvious needs besides them in their PS settings (one an Asian language immersion school and one AAP, which reduces the FARMs numbers even further). Most of the primary issues I saw were related to the curriculum followed and the instructional style.

* Direct instruction was relatively minimal, due to the workshop model.
* Teacher directed works much, much better for ADHD/anxiety.
* Very little writing is expected at PS.
* That little amount of writing wasn't corrected at all.
* No grammar, no spelling.
* No textbooks - ad hoc programs for everything except ~K-2nd grade reading.
* And the reading program in use is Lucy Calkins, which is the worst one out there. (I taught my kids to read to avoid them getting screwed up by it.)
* Insufficient instruction in basic skills. Immersion was somewhat better in this regards, due to the presence of older teachers who were trained abroad. But these teachers were starting to retire.
* No memorization outside of the the target language in the immersion school. (See comment about older teachers.)
* No useful differentiation in academics for the way above average kid until she reaches the AAP level, and little of that once she's there.
[/quote]

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