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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We chose public although we could afford private. In the K year we applied to a very well-regarded private and DC got in; however, after much thought and consideration we went with public. Years later I am glad we made that choice (and so are our DC). DC got an excellent education at the public schools. Now we're evaluating public vs. private again for one of our DC. The reason is that DC is a good athlete and the local privates have a better athletic program than the local public schools.

From what we've gathered thus far for our particular choices (and keep in mind that this is really a choice between specific private schools and specific public schools, and can't be generalized easily), these are the weighing factors:

1) Facilities and athletics program - private is better. 
2) [b]STEM - public is better. DC is in an advanced math class already and based on what we've seen of the private curriculums we've evaluated, we're worried about the quality of the math education in particular. The STEM curriculums seem more shallow than those of the public school from what we've seen so far. (Incidentally, this was less noticeable at the elementary level when we first made this decision but it is much more obvious at the high school level.)[/b]
3) Literature, social science, etc. - Private is better. Smaller classes mean more time spent on essays, teaching writing, etc. With respect to curriculums, it's the opposite of STEM (public school curriculum seems more shallow). 
4) Social/Character - it's a wash, and probably depends on the kid. Private has fewer kids with overt behavioral problems but more kids who are delicate, demanding, and entitled. Public is more racially and socioeconomically diverse. Private spends more time actively cultivating leadership, service, and expectations of character.
5) Teachers - Private teachers are generally better for literature, social science, etc. Public STEM teachers are better.

I'm not sure what we're going to do. Right now I feel like private would be exchanging a better STEM education for better athletics which doesn't feel like the best choice for a kid who likes STEM. On the other hand, I wonder whether DC would do well in STEM regardless and going to a school that cultivates writing skills would be good since DC is weaker in that area, plus for a kid who loves athletics, a good program can do wonders.

I don't know how helpful that is because your schools are different than my schools but FWIW this is how it breaks down for us.

[/quote]

People from public schools keep saying this about STEM, but I am not sure how they have decided that.  Obviously, private schools vary much more than public schools with their standardized offerings.  My impression is that many private schools give a more solid, traditional grounding in math, opting not to accelerate the bulk of their classes but to spend more time looking at math in-depth.  Many have also not shifted to CC-based curricula.  In Geometry, for example, my DS's class was highly proof-intensive, unlike MCPS' 2.0 Geo.  However, the full range of math classes (M-V Calc; Linear Algebra, etc.) are available in the well-regarded privates, and most of the teachers have content degrees, something not necessarily true in publics.  I guess your interpretation about superiority will be based on your feelings about the above.

I have absolutely not found that private school science is inferior in any way.  The kids are exposed to much more science during the younger years.  High school offerings are just as good.  The only difference is that smaller cohorts of kids might require that specialized classes are offered on a rotating basis.  All of DC privates offer the equivalent of all of the AP sciences, plus many more good science electives.  There is likely less focus on science-based extracurriculars, though and probably less intensive computer programming (although most schools offer it.)  Again - most teachers have content degrees.

My impressions are based on independent schools in the DC area, but I don't have as much familiarity with parochial school offerings.  If that is what you are talking about, you should make that comparison directly.

Can you explain what you think the weaknesses of private STEM are?[/quote]

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