Reply to Is private school that much better?

Forum Index » Schools and Education General Discussion

Reply to "Is private school that much better?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In general, the major determinants of children's performance in school are their parents' income and educational levels.  Once you control for those things, the benefits of private school, on average, look pretty small, according to the studies I've read.

Many of the public school districts in this area are among the best in the nation.  Most kids will be fine there.  Even in DC, kids at Wilson, Banneker, and SWW get 5's on AP tests and head off to Ivy League schools.  (Many of those kids are, like the kids from Sidwell, come from double graduate degree families).

[b]If your kid is a math/science superstar, I would say definitely go public.  Kids at the privates are lawyer's kids (that's who can afford 30k per kids per year) and [i]they don't tend to push math and science as much.[/i][u] [/b] i've interviewed kids at the Big 3, and I am always shocked that their parents are paying for them to have fewer research opportunities than the average public school kid in MoCo.

If you have a kids who need a smaller class size or who is an average student, the individual attention at a private may be the way to go.[/quote]

So, let me understand this.  If the private schools don't push math and science as much then what do they concentrate on?  Writing?  Foreign Languages? Arts, Sports? I would think you should expect a well rounded education for all this money you are paying.

OP here.  Of course as a parent you want the best for your kids, but at the young age you don't know what your kid is going to be good at.  My kid is only 2, I don't know whether he has the beginnings of a math genius, a music prodigy or a writer, or maybe he just doesn't even have any specific above average skills or may even be needing extra help to keep up with average kids.   If you must move somewhere in the near future and make this decision on the area to live, how do you do this?  If I don't know what my kid's needs are going to be, my thinking is just send him to the public elementary school in a good school district and then see as time goes what to concentrate on.  If it proves to be necessary that my kid needs special education needs, then find a school that offers it, if not, stay put.

I am also well aware of the class distinctions and the fact that the private schools tend to serve elites.  So, it might be desirable from the perspective of gaining connections for your child to go to the private school, this is how it was in the place where I am from, it was more exaggerated because private schools were really exclusive and their numbers very small as public school was the default for the vast majority of the population.  the upward mobility was also pretty much dependent on connections and who you know, this is not as prominent here in the US.  But even if this is true to some extent in the US, does this really matter until your kid is in college or at least in high school?  Why spend so much money for the elementary schools, what connections for the future life will your 7 year old develop and keep that he cannot when he is let's say 16?  [/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