We have all four of our kids at independent schools, 2 started in public before we moved them in early elementary school. I have lots of good things to say about the benefits of private schools.

However, I am really struck by the ugly comments and acceptance that it’s ok to want to segregate our kids from kids with special needs. I understand not wanting your child’s education to be significantly impacted by disruptive behavior, but literally the post are talking about being happy that kids with special needs aren’t around them.

For parents who feel that way, you need to work on yourselves.

FWIW, my kids are not disruptive, but I had a sibling (who died from medical complications from their disability) who had a disability and the staring, pointing, and unkind words from adults and kids directed at my sibling were extremely hurtful. This kind of attitude and desire to shield your children from people with disabilities is behind that behavior toward people with disabilities.

OP how many threads should we have on this?

Private works for some kids of course.

Public has way better math.
Public for most kids college options are better.

Yeah your private big whoop.

We did both private is not better than publc mother of Ivy league public. I am tired of these threads they are absurd.

Now if your kid is at Andover or Exeter sure DMV privates LOL no

14 kids in 1st grade versus 25-30 in our local public. My child would not do well in a larger setting.

Single sex academics. And the small class sizes.

Books actual books & their curriculum. The amount of work they complete compared to a public school was impressive.

So many times my kid would come home from public and ask questions and they only had a worksheet that was faded and photocopied.

Anonymous wrote:Teachers and administrators really know my kids, for best traits and worst, and are able to work more individually with them. They are anything but "a number" and can't hide.

This is it for me, too. This is my first year with a kid in private (for 9th) and I feel like the teachers and administrators really get to know the kids and try to get the best out of them. That was my experience in public elementary but not in a charter middle. AT the middle, it was extremely wrote and impersonal with both the kids and the parents.

Community of like minded parents. The way everyone knows my kids names, from principal to office staff to teachers they’ve never even had. And I’m guilty of what the others are confessing- the lack of behavior issues in the classroom makes it a less stressful, more pleasant experience. I volunteered a lot pre-pandemic (less so now) and I liked that the kids had manners and were well behaved at lunch, for example. My sister’s kids in public school describe chaos, vaping, kids with special needs taking a ton of teacher time, etc. What my kids get isn’t fancy, but it reminds me of my small town school growing up. Public school today seems too full of crazy parents and behavior problems in kids.

Anonymous wrote:Smaller class size

FIVE DAY WEEKS OF SCHOOL!!!!

Wide open 2020-2021 school year

+1

Anonymous wrote:The smaller class sizes. My kid is bright but not gifted. I think she would be lost in a class of 28 kids.

Same here. DC is on the shy/quiet side and was overlooked by teachers when she was in public schools.

Anonymous wrote:My experience is with a small Catholic high school:

Smaller class sizes.

Students aren't disruptive. Those that are, are out.

In the 5 years my kids have been at our private HS, the police have only been parked out front one time.

Teachers who are really interested in seeing these kids learn and blossom. Not just shepherding them to the door come the end of the semester/school year.

Exactly.

Now that my DC is in high school, I don't volunteer as much as I did when they were younger. They went to public for elementary and middle school. Elementary was great, middle was a mess. Constant violence and chaos.

One day, I was volunteering at the high school in a small office where the door was open. I heard kids change classes three times. NO chaos. Teachers greeting kids by name, and kids responding politely. Kids talking nicely to each other. They couldn't see me, but to have an ear out on an ordinary day was very reassuring.

Anonymous wrote:Teachers and administrators really know my kids, for best traits and worst, and are able to work more individually with them. They are anything but "a number" and can't hide.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. When I was in high school, I didn't even know who the principal of our large public school was until I was in my second year there. I knew his name, but had no idea what he looked like.

In our private HS, the principal knew my kids' names the day they walked through the door.

Smaller class sizes. My kid is in a K class with 17 kids and 2 full teachers.

Frequent, high quality communication from the school.

High quality academics.

A real sense of community — there’s a sense that everyone is committed to raising the kids. It’s a partnership.

Anonymous wrote:No stress about absences. If we want to travel or have a recuperation day post travel… we just do it. On all fronts really, the school treats us like adults with good judgment.

I'd never thought about it like that but its true. Our private treats us like adults and I feel like the relationship between the school and families is cooperative. Overall my private isn't afraid of families the way our public was. Its okay for the school to have certain expectations for families. It probably helps that the families are more homogenous but overall it makes for a much more well run experience.

I also echo the posts that there are no extreme behavioral challenges at our private. I'm not saying that the average kid at our private is better behaved than the average kid at public but there are no significantly disruptive kids. In public, my kid was forced to evacuate their classroom for their safety while another child tore it apart and threw chairs across the room several times over the course of a year. Private schools just don't accept (or have the resources to help) kids with that level of challenges.

Teachers and admins are accessible and not on a power trip - having gone to public school myself I felt that many (not all) teachers were less interested in teaching and more in dominating the students or cozing up to the popular kids in class - in private - independent and catholic experience that was not the dynamic

Teachers and administrators really know my kids, for best traits and worst, and are able to work more individually with them. They are anything but "a number" and can't hide.