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Public or Private high school?

SW48

SW48

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My kids are coming to an age where they will all be attending High school in the next 2 years.

What is your experience as far as public vs private high school?

The private high school is $8,500 per year and 3 kids at 4 years would be $102,000.

If I sent them to the public high school which is highly rated in the State then that $102,000 could be used for college.

I am not made of money and private high school would be a real drain on the family economy for sure.

The kids are 3.5 grade point students and participate in sports, drama club, math club, and 2 of them are in band. The public school has one of the best bands in the state.

Thoughts?
 
I suspect that there is greater deviation in quality between one random school and another than there is between the broad categories of "public" vs. "private" schools.
 
SW48 said:
My kids are coming to an age where they will all be attending High school in the next 2 years.

What is your experience as far as public vs private high school?

The private high school is $8,500 per year and 3 kids at 4 years would be $102,000.

If I sent them to the public high school which is highly rated in the State then that $102,000 could be used for college.

I am not made of money and private high school would be a real drain on the family economy for sure.

The kids are 3.5 grade point students and participate in sports, drama club, math club, and 2 of them are in band. The public school has one of the best bands in the state.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Mr. SW48,

My experience (my nieces, numerous friends) is that with the private school, you'll achieve advance placement in college, with your kids learning the same thing in the 10th grade that they will be taught as seniors in public school. Good chance, especially in math, with the public school education, your kids will likely have to take remedial classes the first year of college, so that year will be a waste.

Of course, it depends on the school district. My other set of nieces live in a heavily Jewish community, so all the schools are good.
 
ya-ta-hey said:
Mr. SW48,

My experience (my nieces, numerous friends) is that with the private school, you'll achieve advance placement in college, with your kids learning the same thing in the 10th grade that they will be taught as seniors in public school. Good chance, especially in math, with the public school education, your kids will likely have to take remedial classes the first year of college, so that year will be a waste.

Of course, it depends on the school district. My other set of nieces live in a heavily Jewish community, so all the schools are good.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback.

This public school does have "upper level" or "level 3" classes in the main subjects to prepare for college.
 
SW48 said:
My kids are coming to an age where they will all be attending High school in the next 2 years.

What is your experience as far as public vs private high school?

The private high school is $8,500 per year and 3 kids at 4 years would be $102,000.

If I sent them to the public high school which is highly rated in the State then that $102,000 could be used for college.

I am not made of money and private high school would be a real drain on the family economy for sure.

The kids are 3.5 grade point students and participate in sports, drama club, math club, and 2 of them are in band. The public school has one of the best bands in the state.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...


THere is nothing to suggest that the public option is inadequate.

as you indicate..you'll need the money for college..

you could evaluate the rate of graduation for the public option (and which schools kids place into)
 
Speaking only from personal experience, I can tell you that children that I have known who transferred from private schools to public schools typically had to be placed back a grade or so to catch up with their public school peers. Of course, I wouldn't extrapolate from anecdotal evidence that all private schools perform this poorly. I'm not quite that simple minded.
 
SW48 said:
My kids are coming to an age where they will all be attending High school in the next 2 years.

What is your experience as far as public vs private high school?

The private high school is $8,500 per year and 3 kids at 4 years would be $102,000.

If I sent them to the public high school which is highly rated in the State then that $102,000 could be used for college.

I am not made of money and private high school would be a real drain on the family economy for sure.

The kids are 3.5 grade point students and participate in sports, drama club, math club, and 2 of them are in band. The public school has one of the best bands in the state.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Sounds like public would not be a bad choice based on your description of schools. Plus the added benefit of being in a more diverse enviornment. Like you said a good private school is pricey and if your kids were zoned to this school

http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/4110004682/school.aspx

like mine are you are lucky to be able to have the private option. I did not and still don't have that option. However I do feel that the parents are the biggest problem as my oldest two graduated with good grades the oldest continued to college without remedial courses has graduated and has a budding career in child health care. My middle one did need Algebra remedial and is now a Junior at a tier 1 college and my youngest has all A's his first 3 semesters in High School my kids aren't particularly brighter than the others and there is no reason most of the other kids could not do as well except they are raised in a different culture with different standards. I have found the teachers at this school are up to the challenge but the parents are not.
 
SW48 said:
Thanks for the feedback.

This public school does have "upper level" or "level 3" classes in the main subjects to prepare for college.
Click to expand...

I don't see a contest here, but I'm just looking at the information provided. The most important aspect is parental engagement and you have that. 2nd is school quality and you tell us it's a good system with a good reputation, an academic path and good extracurricular activities.
 
NightSwimmer said:
Speaking only from personal experience, I can tell you that children that I have known who transferred from private schools to public schools typically had to be placed back a grade or so to catch up with their public school peers. Of course, I wouldn't extrapolate from anecdotal evidence that all private schools perform this poorly. I'm not quite that simple minded.
Click to expand...


Some private schools are alternates for the kids with problems
 
So far, none of the kids have ever had behavior problems at school or at home. Cross fingers.

I think we are headed to public school but we still have a couple months to research.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
Check out both and compare them. Some public schools are great, others are not and the same thing goes for private schools. My oldest went through public schools all the way except for K - 4 when he was in overseas DoD schools. His education was great.

My younger 3 kids went to private schools through 7th grade and 4th grade then I home schooled them the rest of the way. One private school was great (in the Seattle area), the other was not great at all (Chugiak, AK) and the public schools in the area (Anchorage, AK) were terrible too, so I home schooled them beginning at that point.

Be sure to compare curriculum. The private school curriculum I used was challenging. Public schools sometimes use very weak curriculum aimed at lower end students.
 
Jen said:
Check out both and compare them. Some public schools are great, others are not and the same thing goes for private schools. My oldest went through public schools all the way except for K - 4 when he was in overseas DoD schools. His education was great.

My younger 3 kids went to private schools through 7th grade and 4th grade then I home schooled them the rest of the way. One private school was great (in the Seattle area), the other was not great at all (Chugiak, AK) and the public schools in the area (Anchorage, AK) were terrible too, so I home schooled them beginning at that point.

Be sure to compare curriculum. The private school curriculum I used was challenging. Public schools sometimes use very weak curriculum aimed at lower end students.
Click to expand...

They have been privately schooled so far k-8

But the public school does have the upper level classes in the main subjects as I mentioned for college prep.

I just can't get passed the 100k over the next 5 years for the difference or maybe even small difference between the two schools.
 
SW48 said:
They have been privately schooled so far k-8

But the public school does have the upper level classes in the main subjects as I mentioned for college prep.

I just can't get passed the 100k over the next 5 years for the difference or maybe even small difference between the two schools.
Click to expand...

If the public school is quality........... it will be fine. My son who went to a public school fared as well as the others. And 100k is a huge sum to pay if it's not absolutely necessary. And if they go and discover that the public school is not doing the job, that can be changed.

Your eye is on their education, so really.............there's nothing to fear either way you decide to go. Some parents throw their kids into a school and never pay attention after that. You are watching, so it will be okay.
 
SW48 said:
My kids are coming to an age where they will all be attending High school in the next 2 years.

What is your experience as far as public vs private high school?

The private high school is $8,500 per year and 3 kids at 4 years would be $102,000.

If I sent them to the public high school which is highly rated in the State then that $102,000 could be used for college.

I am not made of money and private high school would be a real drain on the family economy for sure.

The kids are 3.5 grade point students and participate in sports, drama club, math club, and 2 of them are in band. The public school has one of the best bands in the state.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I am totally confused....if the high school is as good as you state, what is your dilemma? What would make the private school $102,000 better? If they are top students from a highly rates public high school, college would be a shoe in.
 
ya-ta-hey said:
Mr. SW48,

My experience (my nieces, numerous friends) is that with the private school, you'll achieve advance placement in college, with your kids learning the same thing in the 10th grade that they will be taught as seniors in public school. Good chance, especially in math, with the public school education, your kids will likely have to take remedial classes the first year of college, so that year will be a waste.

Of course, it depends on the school district. My other set of nieces live in a heavily Jewish community, so all the schools are good.
Click to expand...

That is absolutely BS I am a teacher and the poster stated the high school was one of the best rated and that doesn't mean they are behind private schools and will have to take remedial classes. Colleges know the ratings of the high schools and they also know that many private high schools are known for inflated grades and for kids of privilege.
You don't know what you're talking about...again. Just making up aside facts.
I did have to laugh, Jewish neighborhoods have the best schools, why is that?
 
SW48 said:
Thanks for the feedback.

This public school does have "upper level" or "level 3" classes in the main subjects to prepare for college.
Click to expand...

That is what the colleges look at....better to spend the money on a good sat course.
 
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