Reply to Families who can afford private but go public, why?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The good news is that your child will likely be okay either way, and you can switch along the way if that changes.

For us but you need to understand it's just one data point: We had the same thought for elementary and public middle, but switched to private for high school in part because of how little our child was learning as far as writing and English. So, we made both choices, I suppose.

One of the things I don't see talked about on DCUM much is the writing component of STEM in private at the HS level. My son did well in math at private but struggled with science at first because of the rigorous writing and analysis component of the lab classes in private. My DH and I, who work in STEM, differentiate between science versus math in our comparison. Another factor to consider for us: the local public high school had a greater variety of STEM classes.

Despite what DCUM says, this all varies by specific schools and specific child. I would beware of anyone who says across the board that one is better than the other for your own child. There are plenty of bright STEM kids doing very well in private and plenty of good writers in public. For my kid, the huge class sizes for writing and lack of teacher interaction wasn't working for him for analysis and writing. He was floating along, doing "fine," but not what I would call "fine." But there are plenty of kids who are genuinely "fine" with public writing classes.

The other thing to consider is that admissions at private HS from public can be very difficult, again depending on the child. There were several bright, terrific kids in DS's public 8th grade that didn't get into any private schools. DS was lucky (and there is an element of luck in admissions).

Socially the kids were great at both schools. It was great to have neighborhood friends in public, and it was great to befriend kids from all over in private. I don't buy all these wildly dramatic posters who castigate private or public kids as a group, depending on their bias. That's just a bunch of hyperbolic nonsense.

Good luck. Don't question yourself so much. It will be okay. If your child is thriving, I would stay the course. Just make sure to trust your gut if the school tells you he or she is "fine" but you don't think so. [/quote]

This, 100%![/quote]

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