OP here - Thanks for the thoughtful responses. That at least gives me some ideas of the types of things to look for as I head down the road.

There is more testing in public. I think that can be stated for almost any public school verses private school. This can be a good and also a bad thing. They all use different metrics for reading, writing, math, social studies, science, and critical thinking. Some publics like FCPS for example have more specials than most privates, so I wouldn't say across the board that all privates have more specials.

Frankly, private schools live and die by their reputation. This may or may not mean they provide an excellent education, I have found a number of parents that seek private not so much for the education as for the connections or type of kids.

You need to really think about how you personally define a high quality education and what you want for your child and frankly who your child is personality and skill wise. Then start looking and be prepared to block out a lot of time.

Inquiry based not quirky based.

Longer response, curriculums are relatively similar, at least in the early years. I think public, at least Montgomery County public, pushes too fast on things like reading. Great if your kid is advanced. Not so great if your kid is typically-developing. But my kindergartener in private school learned very similar things to a public school kid in major subjects.

The difference for us was very small class. 16 kids and 2 full time teachers. No homework, which I'm adamantly opposed to in younger grades. More time for enrichment with things like art, music, language, physical Ed, 2 recesses a day. A disciplinary system I feel comfortable with. A focus on character.

The thing I really like about my child's school is its i quirky-based. So while my son, like kids in public school, learned to tell time and chart weather, he learned to ask why we need to tell time, what are different ways to tell time, how does telling time help us?

And class size matters for the younger grades. But don't pay for private school just to get small class size. While statistically significant regarding outcomes, it doesn't mean your particular child needs them. And they have to be really small to significantly help. 17 and under I think. So don't pay solely to reduce class size from 31 to 22.

I think there is more flexibility in private school these days. My son got to dissect a baby squid in kindergarten, because a marine biologist dad brought them in. We have vast resources of parents in this area with amazing jobs like this, but I'm not sure a public kindergarten class would be willing or able to accommodate that experience in class.

And bottom line, schools are only as good as the teachers. If you have crappy teachers at a private school, you will spend $20,000 a year +/- for a mediocre education. So look to the teachers, their experience, and the school culture with respect to teacher training and support. Those are critical.

There is no perfect school for your child but you can find a great one around here easily.

Quick response, read "The Good School" by Peg Tyre. It outlines what really matters in education, regardless of whether its a public, private, charter, or home school setting.

Wow. This is a global question. Pls check through the aggregated prior posts. Every private is different, and even within a single public School Division, publics are different from each other too. My purely personal view is that privates concentrate on optics and on parent self-selection appeal (I.e. Bohemian pretense, or heavy athletics, or wealth) and publics concentrate on metrics and results. But there are a million answers to a really vast question

Cross posting here and on private school forum: I have a toddler, so I am starting to look into private and public schools in my area (NoVa). I am uninformed about the differences and similarities between private and public school. I understand public school students are obligated to take standardized tests and the curriculum is outlined by the school district. Do students at private schools take the same standardized tests? And is the curriculum the same for all students in, say, 9th grade, whether you are in private or public? If so, what is the advantage to private school? Do teachers in private school have more leeway about how and what they teach? Is there less memorization and more emphasis on critical thinking? Or do some parents feel their parents are getting a better education because the student/teacher ratio is better? I would love feedback from public and private school parents.