Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a complicated question, and a lot will depend on the specifics of the public schools in your district and privates nearby. I went to public for all 13 years and have taught in public for 24 years; my kids did public elementary, private middle, and public high school. Here some of the things we've noticed in our specific experiences. I would probably pick public, ultimately, over free private if somehow the public classes could be smaller.

Pros of private: smaller classes, more outside time, more assemblies/advisory/extra programs/field trips/experiential learning, guaranteed athletic participation, some dynamic and creative teachers, shared progressive values in the community, many opportunities for parent involvement, kids feel known by teachers, curriculum can be very creative and delves deep, sometimes kids can stay kids longer, more parents delaying the technology

Pros of public: greater diversity of student body, more development of "real world" life skills, more experienced and certified teachers, more support services (guidance, social workers, psychologists, learning differences support), more understanding of neurodiversity, generally better teaching and more direct instruction of writing, more "meeting kids where they are at" and less "molding them into something," better at handling bullying and other serious issues, better teacher to parent communication

Cons of private: pedagogy and curriculum can feel more traditional/dated, no depth of resources for student support, more faculty turnover, minimal socioeconomic diversity, less flexibility and less willing to accommodate, some teachers less responsive, teachers potentially less accountable

Cons of public: much bigger classes and school community, less outside time, for better or worse, you are exposed to more (more disruptive behavior --> could interfere with learning, could help student develop empathy, could lead to teachers becoming better and more responsive), students getting phones younger

Sorry but I don’t know any public schools that have better writing programs than private schools. That’s actually a huge con of public schools in general.

Boston suburbs v. some of the Boston private schools -- there are exceptional public high schools there with great writing programs.

Anonymous wrote:We were in a similar boat and took the offer. No regrets. The change in our kids attitudes, self-esteem, maturity, work ethic, breadth of education, and so much more, were things I completely failed to appreciate until I saw it happening.

Anonymous wrote:You should definitely take their offer, you’re doing them a disservice by refusing and clinging to public schools.

Safety, discipline, better academics, better prep for college success, better college counseling, etc etc etc. Bonus points if the school has good lunches do you can stop packing PBJs.

Anonymous wrote:This is a complicated question, and a lot will depend on the specifics of the public schools in your district and privates nearby. I went to public for all 13 years and have taught in public for 24 years; my kids did public elementary, private middle, and public high school. Here some of the things we've noticed in our specific experiences. I would probably pick public, ultimately, over free private if somehow the public classes could be smaller.

Pros of private: smaller classes, more outside time, more assemblies/advisory/extra programs/field trips/experiential learning, guaranteed athletic participation, some dynamic and creative teachers, shared progressive values in the community, many opportunities for parent involvement, kids feel known by teachers, curriculum can be very creative and delves deep, sometimes kids can stay kids longer, more parents delaying the technology

Pros of public: greater diversity of student body, more development of "real world" life skills, more experienced and certified teachers, more support services (guidance, social workers, psychologists, learning differences support), more understanding of neurodiversity, generally better teaching and more direct instruction of writing, more "meeting kids where they are at" and less "molding them into something," better at handling bullying and other serious issues, better teacher to parent communication

Cons of private: pedagogy and curriculum can feel more traditional/dated, no depth of resources for student support, more faculty turnover, minimal socioeconomic diversity, less flexibility and less willing to accommodate, some teachers less responsive, teachers potentially less accountable

Cons of public: much bigger classes and school community, less outside time, for better or worse, you are exposed to more (more disruptive behavior --> could interfere with learning, could help student develop empathy, could lead to teachers becoming better and more responsive), students getting phones younger

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How old are the kids?

I think you need to look at the private schools in your area, make your ILs aware of the cost in case they don't realize how high it is, and determine the entry years for each school you are interested in.

Be aware of tuition increases of 5% or more annually. It's important your ILs know what they are signing up for.

Prek and infant. They can afford private for 12 years, and so could we if it were a high priority. College is covered. If we try public and it doesn’t work out, it’s likely we’d just move to a more expensive house in a neighborhood with “better” publics by which I think I 98% just mean a more uniformly advantaged student body, which would be okay but we love our neighborhood. Our HHI has gone up a lot since we moved in.

Anonymous wrote:We live in a PG county with several solid ES options and iffy middle and high schools with some selective programs that are highly regarded.

I generally believe in public schools and we are not aiming for a high pressure, highly selective school environment. If our kids get into top colleges, it will be because they were extraordinary, not because we pushed them to the max.

ILs have offered to pay private school tuition, no strings attached. I appreciate that this is an insanely generous gift, but I am still hesitating! Am I being stupid? I know a lot of our friends and family would look at me like I have three heads if I told them I was considering saying thanks but no thanks. But if we spent the same money moving to MoCo for the schools, no one would blink, and we like where we live.

The ILs will be supportive either way, it’s not about the gift. I don’t want my hang ups about the benefits of public school to keep my kids from something good, but I went to both types of school myself and I think it’s not an easy call. Is this stupid??

Anonymous wrote:We live in a PG county with several solid ES options and iffy middle and high schools with some selective programs that are highly regarded.

I generally believe in public schools and we are not aiming for a high pressure, highly selective school environment. If our kids get into top colleges, it will be because they were extraordinary, not because we pushed them to the max.

ILs have offered to pay private school tuition, no strings attached. I appreciate that this is an insanely generous gift, but I am still hesitating! Am I being stupid? I know a lot of our friends and family would look at me like I have three heads if I told them I was considering saying thanks but no thanks. But if we spent the same money moving to MoCo for the schools, no one would blink, and we like where we live.

The ILs will be supportive either way, it’s not about the gift. I don’t want my hang ups about the benefits of public school to keep my kids from something good, but I went to both types of school myself and I think it’s not an easy call. Is this stupid??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a complicated question, and a lot will depend on the specifics of the public schools in your district and privates nearby. I went to public for all 13 years and have taught in public for 24 years; my kids did public elementary, private middle, and public high school. Here some of the things we've noticed in our specific experiences. I would probably pick public, ultimately, over free private if somehow the public classes could be smaller.

Pros of private: smaller classes, more outside time, more assemblies/advisory/extra programs/field trips/experiential learning, guaranteed athletic participation, some dynamic and creative teachers, shared progressive values in the community, many opportunities for parent involvement, kids feel known by teachers, curriculum can be very creative and delves deep, sometimes kids can stay kids longer, more parents delaying the technology

Pros of public: greater diversity of student body, more development of "real world" life skills, more experienced and certified teachers, more support services (guidance, social workers, psychologists, learning differences support), more understanding of neurodiversity, generally better teaching and more direct instruction of writing, more "meeting kids where they are at" and less "molding them into something," better at handling bullying and other serious issues, better teacher to parent communication

Cons of private: pedagogy and curriculum can feel more traditional/dated, no depth of resources for student support, more faculty turnover, minimal socioeconomic diversity, less flexibility and less willing to accommodate, some teachers less responsive, teachers potentially less accountable

Cons of public: much bigger classes and school community, less outside time, for better or worse, you are exposed to more (more disruptive behavior --> could interfere with learning, could help student develop empathy, could lead to teachers becoming better and more responsive), students getting phones younger

Sorry but I don’t know any public schools that have better writing programs than private schools. That’s actually a huge con of public schools in general.

Boston suburbs v. some of the Boston private schools -- there are exceptional public high schools there with great writing programs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a complicated question, and a lot will depend on the specifics of the public schools in your district and privates nearby. I went to public for all 13 years and have taught in public for 24 years; my kids did public elementary, private middle, and public high school. Here some of the things we've noticed in our specific experiences. I would probably pick public, ultimately, over free private if somehow the public classes could be smaller.

Pros of private: smaller classes, more outside time, more assemblies/advisory/extra programs/field trips/experiential learning, guaranteed athletic participation, some dynamic and creative teachers, shared progressive values in the community, many opportunities for parent involvement, kids feel known by teachers, curriculum can be very creative and delves deep, sometimes kids can stay kids longer, more parents delaying the technology

Pros of public: greater diversity of student body, more development of "real world" life skills, more experienced and certified teachers, more support services (guidance, social workers, psychologists, learning differences support), more understanding of neurodiversity, generally better teaching and more direct instruction of writing, more "meeting kids where they are at" and less "molding them into something," better at handling bullying and other serious issues, better teacher to parent communication

Cons of private: pedagogy and curriculum can feel more traditional/dated, no depth of resources for student support, more faculty turnover, minimal socioeconomic diversity, less flexibility and less willing to accommodate, some teachers less responsive, teachers potentially less accountable

Cons of public: much bigger classes and school community, less outside time, for better or worse, you are exposed to more (more disruptive behavior --> could interfere with learning, could help student develop empathy, could lead to teachers becoming better and more responsive), students getting phones younger

Sorry but I don’t know any public schools that have better writing programs than private schools. That’s actually a huge con of public schools in general.