Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 23:34     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are in the South, private schools in the South were founded to avoid desegregation. I would be uncomfortable with that. Where are you?


This is only partially true. There are many private schools in the South that were founded long before schools were desegregated. FWIW, I did not attend a private school. However, I had a relative that did. The most exclusive private school in the city I am from was founded long before desegregation. It is probably still the most exclusive--and, FWIW, it is quite diverse now.


Former neighbors of ours managed to put their kid in a 99% White private school in Georgia. It’s weird.

https://veritassavannah.org/support-veritas/

I looked up that school and it’s 90% white. I’m not saying that’s great but I could give you a list pages and pages and pages long of private schools in the north that have similar demographics so please don’t act like the South is the only part of the country with racial imbalance.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 23:30     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
The facilities at my private school (not in DC) are worse than in public schools. Most private schools in this other urban area of VA were very bare bones. The main reason to be there was to be away from the behavior problems at public school.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 23:21     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are in the South, private schools in the South were founded to avoid desegregation. I would be uncomfortable with that. Where are you?


This is only partially true. There are many private schools in the South that were founded long before schools were desegregated. FWIW, I did not attend a private school. However, I had a relative that did. The most exclusive private school in the city I am from was founded long before desegregation. It is probably still the most exclusive--and, FWIW, it is quite diverse now.


Former neighbors of ours managed to put their kid in a 99% White private school in Georgia. It’s weird.

https://veritassavannah.org/support-veritas/
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 23:19     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
Anonymous wrote:
All that is gold does not glitter, OP.

Just because some schools are drab and structurally unimproved, it does not mean that the education there isn't excellent.

I went to the best (private) high school in France. It was less than half the price of the very expensive British and American schools, and it looked like a complete dump. They had invested all they had in paying for the best teachers, a demanding curriculum, appealing textbooks, and delicious food in the cafeteria.

As regards music education, knowing a bit about that too, I can guarantee that the only one worth having is outside of school in a reputable studio or music school.

It's really sad that parents are dazzled by the externals. Those won't help your kid when he goes from a luxurious atmosphere to a really stimulating yet comparatively gritty college and beyond.

I am all for private schools, but I don't judge them on their outward appearance. I want the best teachers, the sensible curriculum, the beautiful textbooks. Unfortunately, the bad fish is too often hidden in the sauce!

+1000
Wonderful post.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 23:13     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
Anonymous wrote:Do tell which "low scoring " VA public you guys were in. It may be the same one as mine. Ugh.


NP, but doesn't it have to be Alexandria? OP said it was close-in, and North Arlington and McLean schools are all pretty good, so...
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 23:10     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Its not so much the schools (ie, the building), but the teachers, parents and students. I had DS at a MD public elementary school for two years, which felt like a lifetime.



How is their special education program?


For the special ed kids, it looked great. For my ADHD kid, having the special ed kids was one more unneeded distraction. (There were 4 autistic kids in his small 32 person classroom.)



Really? How entitled of you.
I’ll bet that your kid was the distraction to everyone !
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 23:08     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
Anonymous wrote:TRUE STORY GUYS: Went to FCPS public and JMU. Every freshman dorm building had one tiny room that used to be a closet/ storage room that had been converted to a double and was in the lobby. All the other rooms were triples off suites with living rooms.

One of the girls who was assigned the Mop Room showed up the first day and was literally in hysterics begging to have her room changed. A girl who was in a triple offered to switch with her but she refused once she saw how small the triple rooms were. Then she was freaking out that there was no air conditioning. This girl was miserable for weeks and every time I saw her, she was complaining about the room, the heat, the bathrooms, etc. Turns out she went to a swanky boarding school in CA and never actually toured JMU, it was her backup school. The rooms must be SO nice at those schools. She was disgusted by everything!


I don’t know if anyone else has seen Foxcroft’s (swanky boarding school in va) dorm rooms but they are nothing special at all. Just cinderblock walls and two beds in a room.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 22:49     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Its not so much the schools (ie, the building), but the teachers, parents and students. I had DS at a MD public elementary school for two years, which felt like a lifetime.



How is their special education program?


For the special ed kids, it looked great. For my ADHD kid, having the special ed kids was one more unneeded distraction. (There were 4 autistic kids in his small 32 person classroom.)
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 22:27     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
(Aside-OP, funny coincidence! This was in White Hall “it’s better on top” in 97).
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 22:25     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
Anonymous wrote:Sounds like this podcast on This American Life. The schools were so vastly different that when the poor kids saw the difference they had trouble coping and one dropped out of school even. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/550/three-miles


Is this the one where the "smart" girl is later found working at Whole Foods? Sadly, she was right when she said "Maybe I was just smart, at my school, but I wasn't actually smart-smart." That is most frequently the case. Awful publics leave students soooooo far behind. Unless a kid has been a crazy voracious reader for 10 years and dual enrolled at the local college, they can't hang with smart peers at a strong university. It's just a fact. 13 years of crappy education just leaves too many holes in your education.

There was another This American Life on inner-city college admissions. The guidance counselor at a Brooklyn public school got his "smartest" student into Williams, I think, on a full ride. She flunked out, went home, went to community college to be a nurse.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 22:03     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
What matters is whether your child likes the school and is excited to be there, make friends and learn. If a child comes from an educated family, there is almost no way he or she will fail. Do what is best for your child and don’t feel bad!
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 22:00     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Back on topic:

This would be the equivalent to

Being accepted to Sidwell ( I guess never been to that school)
It’s free for your family ( for any number of reasons)
And 20 min from your house.

I’m not sure I agree that it’s for the best. I’m hearing people with experience with these kinds of schools, at least tangentially, not want that for their kids.
Is it too much?
It has a robotics loft. Wall of 3D printers, multiple laser cutters, a mill...
A leadership ropes course on the 300+ acres of the upper school...
It’s crazy town.


can you stipulate what city you are in?
many of us are familiar with various options all over the county. For example, if you said Palo Alto or NYC I would have a different impression than Sidwell and a different impression of north Chicago.


I understand you are curious. I really didn’t want to out myself, and was enjoying a more hypothetical discussion. I don’t think the specific school matters.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 21:36     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
country
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 21:36     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
Anonymous wrote:Back on topic:

This would be the equivalent to

Being accepted to Sidwell ( I guess never been to that school)
It’s free for your family ( for any number of reasons)
And 20 min from your house.

I’m not sure I agree that it’s for the best. I’m hearing people with experience with these kinds of schools, at least tangentially, not want that for their kids.
Is it too much?
It has a robotics loft. Wall of 3D printers, multiple laser cutters, a mill...
A leadership ropes course on the 300+ acres of the upper school...
It’s crazy town.


can you stipulate what city you are in?
many of us are familiar with various options all over the county. For example, if you said Palo Alto or NYC I would have a different impression than Sidwell and a different impression of north Chicago.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2018 21:34     Subject: I never understood the difference between public and private until today
Anonymous wrote:Back on topic:

This would be the equivalent to

Being accepted to Sidwell ( I guess never been to that school)
It’s free for your family ( for any number of reasons)
And 20 min from your house.

I’m not sure I agree that it’s for the best. I’m hearing people with experience with these kinds of schools, at least tangentially, not want that for their kids.
Is it too much?
It has a robotics loft. Wall of 3D printers, multiple laser cutters, a mill...
A leadership ropes course on the 300+ acres of the upper school...
It’s crazy town.


We purposely picked an urban school over a college setting schools for K-12 private. If they want that, they can choose it for college.
We found that the difference between a good public and good private were little in high school, more pronounced in elementary school.
Class sizes and attention from teacher constantly smaller in private; small number of kids per grade an get much over time, even despite a few intakes to get from 40 to 130 per grade.