we are definitely on the same page re. big car payments and priorities!

is it the $17k school that turns out kids that go to 4yr colleges?

or is it the well to do parents that turned out the genetically predisposed to go to 4yr college kids?

or is it the well to do parents that bought their kids way into 4yr college regardless of qualification?

or is it the teachers at the $17k school that were afraid to fail the children of well to do parents and thus boosted them into a 4yr institution?

or is it something else?

or is it a combination of all these things?

who knows.

Based on my own years in private Catholic schools combined with being heavily involved in the operations my kids' K-8 school, and now their high school, my answer to Baretta's question is that the success is based on the accountability demanded by the parents.

Anyone struggling to make tuition demands that their children perform - it's as simple as that.

Those whose children are getting a free ride - some demand performance, some don't.

Demand their children perform or the school? Or both?

Good point - absolutely both!

I would recommend reading a fairly recent book, "Nurtureshock" by Po Bronson.
Discusses a lot of the points raised here (predisposition to achievement based on environment, parenting, god forbid TV, etc...).

Might be a good investment of 20 bucks prior to shelling out tens of thousands.

Also - some of Malcom Gladwell's work (Blink, the tipping point) touch on similar discussions.

Please don't categorize me based on these suggestions. Also accept my disclaimer that I do not agree with all points raised in these publications. They do make some interesting correlations and observations.

We happen to like public schools, but we also pay through the a$$ in taxes.

DAE yet again we agree on a major point. Parents are the overwhelming influence in determining success or failure.

I'm not sure i'd agree that feeling the sting of tuition makes parents more likely to be involved. Kinda a chicken before the egg question i suppose.

But where does all of this leave HD?

Catholic school is no guarantee of success. I went to catholic school, and look how I turned out.

That is a great way to put it. Parents with some 'skin in the game' do usually have higher expectations of both their kids and the school.

Wow, $17K. I'm glad I live 40 miles south. My son's first grade tuition is only $7K a year. Another thing to consider is the cost once she reaches high school. In my son's school, it's about 50% more.

Good point!

No, it's all about one kid vs another kid.

Difference is in the public schools ALL kids enrolled will be tested at grade level. Smart and not so smart. Even the kids with one pair of hand me down shoes and probably slept on the floor with thier 7 brothers and sisters and did not get a good breakfast or possibly dinner the night before. Thier test scores were included in the aggregate of the schools performance. Special ed kids are also included.

They are greatfull to come to school where it is warm and safe and lunch is free.

Y'all have any under privledged mentally hanicapped kids in the 17K school?

If you believe anything else you are pretty much out of touch with reality.

i agree, but private schools do offer stuff that they don't have in public. my daughter is learning three languages in grade 4. latin, spanish and japanese. in grades 1-3 it was french, spanish and japanese. she gets pe, yes i know i could just sign her up for soccer or gymnastics but its there for her. she also gets art, and music. now all these were offered when i went to school in vancouver bc canada but i checked recently and alot of these have been cut in canada and here in the northwest schools. its a lot of cash, yes i see a nice 911 disappear every year but in the end, i hope that i give them enrichment while they are in their formative years that they may not get otherwise.

They all have budget problems from what I gather. I know they went on strike for a week or so last year in Bellevue, but I think that was contract-related or something.

Its not about the education at the elementary level, its about the prestige of saying" my son/daughter goes to $heitdontstink Elementary" :D

My wife wanted to send our son to a school like that and my response was:
"Do you have any idea how far I could get on my Targa for that kind of cash". This was undoubtedly the worse response i could have come up with cause it started WWIII for a few hours :D. She did how ever see the point when I told her that we would be better off waiting until he gets into high school and see if we should think of sending him to a private school then, or better yet just save the bread for college tuition. He's eight so I can imagine that college will be at least a billion dollars a year by then. :D

It's not so easy to make the transition to private high schools. Not easy on anyone.

Nothing could be further from the truth. We wanted to start our son in grade school so that there would be no transition to middle school, where all the real trouble usually starts. He won't be leaving friends behind. Now were glad we did, can you imagine explaining this to a 6 year old?

Teacher shot, killed in Tacoma; suspect slain

The public schools here are terrible.

Languages? in 4th grade? as in now they can easily converse with a Japanese Business man about fixing your Lexus/Toyota?
Please give me a break.
PE is in all schools here, you know cuz we be fat here. At least that's what the rest of the country thinks.

Third time today!!!

Regardless of the 'quality' of the student body a new person coming in at the high school level is going to have an uphill battle getting accepted. Most of us know just how harsh and rough teenagers can be to one another.

Our family moved around a lot and there is definitely something to be said for staying put. I had to make friends with kids who had lifelong relationships with other kids and often when stories were being told i was odd man out.

And i'd bet being a kid nowadays is even tougher than it was when i did it. But at the same time i've seen first hand just how difficult it is to be the poor kid in a rich group. Everyone else is talking about trips to Paris over the summer and showing off their new BMW's while the poor/middle class kids MAYBE got to visit a state park or their aunt's house with the above ground pool and got the keys to the Chevette a time or two.

Hoy, some days i think i need a shrink.

Judi and I changed our minds 30 times before we settled on the local public. (we are lucky it rates very highly even for kalifornia)

Dont fool with that april 30 date.

I had bryce set at a private school but we changed our mind at the last minute.

The school said to bad so sad. we thank you for your donation but you cant characterize it that way to the irs.

Anyway, i bet your baby will be outstanding whatever school she goes to and will surely appreciate the downpayment on her first house you can gift her when she graduates college.

My kids have been in private school all along. The public schools where we've lived are pretty decent, actually. But the private school education has been excellent, plus immersion language. Cost $13K/yr appx. HD, I think you can find a good to excellent private school for less than $17K. My daughter will start high school next year, in a public HS. We researched and it is the best academic choice for her.