Our DC switched from small private to neighborhood public in 3rd grade, and the transition was seamless academically and socially. We gave DC the option to go back to the old private school, or transfer to another private school, at any time if DC did not like the new school. But DC really likes the new school and declined our offer. I think that DC being placed in a class with a friend DC already knew, and with a peer group in the class with 6-7 other students that were right at the same academic level, made a big difference. Looking back now, we wish we would have switched to public earlier. If you are going to make a switch this coming Fall, I would recommend that you seek out a few new friends in the neighborhood and get to know them better over the summer. If there are one or two that your DC seems to really click with, then you can ask the principal if your DC could be placed in the same class with new friends if possible to help him transition into new school environment. Unless you feel that your DC really needs the environment provided by your private school for one more year, I would switch in 2nd grade. Another tip: take your DC with you on a tour of the public school in the Spring if possible, while school is in session, so you can get a feel for how he takes in the new environment.

Anonymous wrote:Not pp but we did this and our experience is the public school has been a better fit for our child. The academic transition was tricky esp in math - our child needed to catch up but did so quickly.he is now doing extremely well and doesn't miss his Private experience much

+1 we did this as well and found we needed some tutoring to catch up with Math. Public has worked out much better than I thought.

17:37 again. The academic transition was fairly easy and certainly nothing that gave a lot of grief.

We switched in third. In hindsight, I wish we moved to public in first. Socially, it's a much easier transition because the kids haven't formed tight cliques and sports teams are still forming, and academically, even with a smart kid, it's takes time to adjust to the curriculum.

Not pp but we did this and our experience is the public school has been a better fit for our child. The academic transition was tricky esp in math - our child needed to catch up but did so quickly.he is now doing extremely well and doesn't miss his Private experience much

Thanks for the response. How did your child do academically with the transition?

We did this, and it was fine. It probably would have been better socially to enter in first, but not such a difference as to outweigh other important reasons you might have to keep him in private. Kids make friends easily at that age.

My son is currently in Kindergarten at a private school. I would like to keep him there one more year for a variety of reasons and then move him to the public school in our area. My husband thinks we should move him next year mostly for social reasons. Anyone have experience with this?