Categorical statements are meaningless when it comes to this, unless you have a firm (rigid? ideological?) view that private is always better or public is always better. It depends on the particular private school, the particular public school, and - most of all - on the individual child.

There is little to no research that shows class size matters and when it does, the privates do not and will not collect any data to support it. We started private and went public and regret having spent the money on private. If you are educated and live in a good school district, it is not worth the money in private unless you have money to burn. Go public early and swith over if you feel a need. Plus, college admissions are competitive in this area and public grads get more acceptances.

Anonymous wrote:

Teachers gear their efforts to the middle, to the squeeky wheel , if you will. Were it my child, I would not put my DC in an educational environment where all the teacher's energy goes to teaching remedial english reading and writing skills. That's me.

This is "you" too: implying every public school is filled to the rafters with ESOL and remedial-level kids. On the contrary, there are plenty of good public schools in the area where your kid will be in a peer group with lots of kids who may be *shocker* better prepared than your own kid. Let's not be idiots with the stereotypes about public schools.

There are plenty of good, valid reasons for choosing private schools: a kid needs small class sizes, privates have better college counseling, less emphasis on APs, et cetera. These are what OP should look at when she decides if they're important for her "average kindergartner."

Anonymous wrote:I would say private, but I don't think the difference justifies the $30,000 in tuition.

+1

Anonymous wrote:I think most think private is better, but don't think the difference is worth the price.

well said

"Loves" her school

If the public is good and child is "average"...then I say public school.

Save your $$$ for other things...including exciting/invaluable/ educational experiences abroad!! But I love international travel...so this is me.

But it is a highly personal decision. Everyone has a different view point/values/income/child/circumstances/public school system to base their decision on.

Signed..a private school teacher who lives her school!

Private School.

I agree that public and private likely teach similar topics in K. However, the smaller class sizes and individual attention allows our DC's private school to provide more "instruction" than just academic. The school is providing a solid foundation in social skills which I believe at this age are equally important.

We are planning on private for K-8, then may move to public.

Anonymous wrote:

I think most think private is better, but don't think the difference is worth the price.

What do you think?

Teachers gear their efforts to the middle, to the squeeky wheel , if you will. Were it my child, I would not put my DC in an educational environment where all the teacher's energy goes to teaching remedial english reading and writing skills. That's me.

Unless money is no object for you and your child gets into a great school, I think public is a better choice.

Save your money for the later years.

I would say private, but I don't think the difference justifies the $30,000 in tuition.

I think you really need to compare your specific public to a few specific privates.

My son did not do well in 1 private but is unbelievably happy in another one. All publics are not the same, all privates are not the same and all children are not the same.

There is location, gender, religion, single sex/coed, recess time, extras, etc to look at. It depends what you are looking for.

We were looking for a place our kids enjoyed learning so we found a school our kids look forward to going to every day and that took talking to other parents with kids that were similar, Open Houses and shadowing. We moved schools in 3rd grade.

I think it really depends on your child. We expected to go public until we visited and we are in a very good Fairfax County school. The whole environment was just too big for our child. We had a lot of concerns about our above average child slipping through the cracks. We went with a small Catholic school and it has been a wonderful fit.

Public b/c it will save money and there will be no big difference in outcome at this age.