Reply to Want to Hear from Parents Who Live In Excellent Public School Districts But Chose Private Instead

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Reply to "Want to Hear from Parents Who Live In Excellent Public School Districts But Chose Private Instead"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]When you read through these responses, you see a lot of "we were afraid" of one thing or another about public school. Afraid of class size, afraid of mediocrity, "getting lost in the shuffle," etc. Private schools have built a business model around calming those anxieties, saying just why parents want to hear, giving lots of reassurance and lots of individual attention. And I'm not saying that's wrong. It works for many families, and it calms their anxieties.

[b]But be aware of the new and different anxieties you and your child may encounter as well: the worry of financial strain, not fitting in with the cliques in the new school, not measuring up athletically or academically, being self-conscious of not being wealthy enough, being asked to get tutors and psychological testing for not measuring up to expectations, and this last one isn't an anxiety but a risk: of becoming entitled.[/b]

I have been a student and a staff member in both public and private schools and these are just my thoughts. Private schools can look like a great relief from parental anxiety but there are many anxieties hidden under the surface too.[/quote]

I really think it depends on the school - public or private.  
Many, many kids at the W schools in mcps have many of the anxieties in the bolded part.  It's the norm at some schools for kids to have the tutors, the wealth is as great or greater than many privates and there is surprisingly less diversity.  I think the really affluent publics are even worse for anxiety than many privates.  Parents (and kids) have disposable income and since they aren't spending it on private school are spending it on tutors, coaches, sports camps and so forth.  Sports are definitely more competitive and harder for the "average" kid to participate in at school at the larger "good" public schools.  Additionally, many privates spend time/money on the social emotional education and activities that help combat some of the anxieties, whereas the public schools don't.

Again, this is not ALL privates or ALL publics, but I do have recent experience with more than one of each.[/quote]

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