Reply to Please Choose Private For the Right Reasons

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here. Lol, didn't think this would turn into such a thing.

Just thinking back to a conversation at an AAU game this past weekend where some parents were going on about "needing" to get out of public for SJC or GC. It just felt so reactive.

If you’re already in a solid cluster (Whitman, Wootton, etc), the academics are fine. Why pay $45k for a uniform and a stricter schedule? Honestly, those campuses... they’re fine, but they aren't exactly inspiring. You’re trading actual diversity for a bubble that doesn't even offer the kind of intellectual freedom you get at the Big Three / big five / whatever you wanna call it.

If you aren't looking for the actual mission—the Quaker values, the intentionality, the out-of-the-box thinking—then what are you actually buying? It just seems like a huge premium for a more filtered version of suburban life. Anyway, just what I was thinking. And to the person saying you don’t go to the Sidwell for the intentionally , yeah you do…[/quote]

Hello OP, would you be willing to spend time at some of these schools - beyond sitting on a bench at some game and eavesdropping on random parents -- to talk to kids, parents and faculty at schols beyond GDS and Sidwell before making these sweeping judgements??   Like "Why pay $45k for a uniform and a stricter schedule? Honestly, those campuses... they’re fine, but they aren't exactly inspiring. You’re trading actual diversity for a bubble that doesn't even offer the kind of intellectual freedom you get at the Big Three / big five / whatever you wanna call it." -- there is a lot more to all of these places than a uniform and strict schedule.  Moreover, every kid and family fits in different places.

Honestly, our experience as liberal non Catholics at a local Catholic school is that A) we are not the only non-Catholic family or liberal family.  B) the economic, racial and religious diversity at our school is much greater than in our neighborhood, our previous public school, and the big 3s we were accepted at C) our kid has plenty of space to roam and run around a large campus, even if the bathrooms were last renovated in the 1960s - he needs that space and movement more than fancy renovations D) above all, our kid comes home (literally) singing, laughing and talking about what they learned all day.  E) we have also with amazing people who went to some of these schools, along with public ones, and they are incredibly talented.  They did not need a big 3 to shine in their college and professional careers.

All to say, public might be the right choice for some, parochial for others, big 3 for others, and lesser known secular privates for other families.  Making these decisons has to do with fit, and the overall experience we want for our kids day in and day out.

We all get that big 3 kids and kids who excel in other places can have similar outcomes.  We're not stupid for choosing something other than private/big 3.[/quote]

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