Public Schools

[jyl]

Just a random thought on our local public schools. Our daughter started public high school this year. She loves it. Tonight we're visiting an arts magnet middle school that we are considering for my son. It looks great, we might pull him from the private school to come here if he gets in. They've been private school educated since kindergarten. Private school has been a great experience, but I'm liking the public school exposure we've had so far.

We are lucky in Portland. Some of our public schools are pretty good, not that they don't have problems and that others dont have even more problems.

One thing we've liked so far is that my daughter is meeting a diverse group of kids, not just kids of parents who can afford private school. So far, she's getting an excellent education in the subjects that matter most to me - math, science, Chinese, and French. Her other classes are iffy-er, but as I keep telling her - learning to get the most out of imperfect situations is a major skill. In life, people aren't always going to coddle you like a valuable tuition-paying private school student.

Just a random thought as I sit in the orientation session. Multitasking.

[Noah930]

Sure you wouldn't rather just pull her out from school and home-school her?

I don't think I've ever met as many people who home-schooled as the time I lived in PDX.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Here in the Boston area we have some of the best schools in the country. I think MA as a whole always ranks 1 or 2 in education, and top 5/10 internationally. That said, my gf is an English teacher at one of the best prep schools in the country, and from what she tells me about the students, and what she teaches, I think my kids will be going to private school.

[dd74]

We did the same thing -- private elementary to public middle school. The public middle school is a highly-gifted honors program, which feeds into highly-gifted high school programs, or private if you want.

Most parents who have gone private to public, never look back. Plus, the kids thrive on the diversity. Parents who have not gone this route tend to regret it, particularly when Jr. asks for a new BMW while the folks are try to figure out how to pay the $35,000/yr tuition.

[jyl]

My friend is paying $30K for his daughters HS, $18K for his sons middle school. About $65K in after tax dollars. Jeez. We're paying $14K for one kid and about $3K for an extra class for the other. Better.

[id10t]

Quit working as much to make the extra $, send the kids to public school and get involved in your kids education. Volunteer, help the teacher out, be involved. As a bonus, you'll be helping *all* the kids ...

Note - does not apply if you live in a war zone. Of course, you could work to change the war zone...

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

my gf is an English teacher at one of the best prep schools in the country

BB&N?

Originally Posted by id10t

get involved in your kids education

Probably the biggest factor in a child's education. Obviously there are other reasons why "competitive" schools are "higher achieving," but it comes down to parental involvement/attention IMO.

[59GS]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Sure you wouldn't rather just pull her out from school and home-school her?

I don't think I've ever met as many people who home-schooled as the time I lived in PDX.

Be very careful with home schooling. Make sure you investigate all possible ramifications. Home school is just about an automatic rejection letter by any top college or university.

[Embraer]

[QUOTE=id10t;5851405]Quit working as much to make the extra $, send the kids to public school and get involved in your kids education. Volunteer, help the teacher out, be involved. As a bonus, you'll be helping *all* the kids ...
QUOTE]

+70,00,000. I went to public school, and did pretty darn well. My education didn't only happen from 0815 to 1515 each day. My parents did an awesome job of making intellectual activities part of our daily routine. Lots of library, museum, and music time. I spent time in the shop learning from my dad and time in the house learning from my mom.

I'm glad I didn't live in the bubble of private school. I learned how to interact with many different types of people, from different socio-economic backgrounds.

In fact, most of my friends who went to private school are socially awkward. ...just my experience, though.

[Embraer]

oh yeah....and having killer SAT or ACT scores, with a strong core of honors classes will get the kid into most any college/scholarship.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Our public schools are borderline scary, so we send our kids to a Catholic school. Putting aside the religious aspects, the school and Catholic district are excellent in academics, rated near the top of the state in test scores, graduation rate, and students going on to college. Because the school is supported by the church, "tuition" is the regular tithe that the church asks of it's members. Building on the "it takes a community to raise a child" theory, those who can't afford to pay the requested 8% are covered by those who can, there's no required minimum amount to attend. Removing the requirement to pay makes for a diverse school, not a bunch of spoiled rich kids.

[nostatic]

I moved to Santa Monica for better public middle and HS relative to where I was in west LA. The public schools here are great. Parents are involved, kids know that they'll be held accountable for their actions, and people contribute time and money in order to provide more opportunities. I have rejected private school for a number of reasons.

[jyl]

Really? Even with SAT and ACT scores?

I'm not a proponent of homeschooling, just curious.

Quote de Noah930

Sure you wouldn't rather just pull her out from school and home-school her?



I don't think I've ever met as many people who home-schooled as the time I lived in PDX.

Be very careful with home schooling. Make sure you investigate all possible ramifications. Home school is just about an automatic rejection letter by any top college or university.

[Noah930]

I think if your kid is superfantastic, Harvard/Princeton/Yale/Stanford will see that, regardless of home schooling or not. But if your kid is just so-so or your teaching abilities aren't so hot, home schooling is not going to be any sort of feather in your kid's application cap. Lots of ways to "slack" if you're home schooled, compared to going to a place like BB&N.

For the public vs private debate, in the end your kid has to fit the school, and vice versa.

[HardDrive]

Second grade is costing me $16k. But the kid loves her school and were pretty impressed as well. The local public school appears to be having problems. Seattle schools in general are in a contant state of turmoil.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by Embraer

oh yeah....and having killer SAT or ACT scores, with a strong core of honors classes will get the kid into most any college/scholarship.

No kidding, I got better scholarships than both the Val and Sal of my class. While they both had about .2 on me on GPA I had a good 4-5 points on both of them on the ACT.

I was fortunate that the rural school in my area is consistently among the best in the state. Honors classes weren't offered, but our classes were tough. We would have honors kids move to town and instantly become C students.... I would have no problems sending children to my old school...


The local private school OTOH, thats where you go to learn to roll your own!

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Second grade is costing me $16k.

This is just insane to me. That's a year at my alma mater...a world class engineering school that has graduated more astronauts than any other public institution.

[Cdnone1]

I have two boys both in high school. One went through private school k-10 (so far) and one public K-12.
I am as involved as a parent at both schools, which is lots.
The teachers at my sons public school for the most part are excellent. It's the students and lack of other parent involvement and discipline that makes the difference here in LA.
I'd sell my Porsche rather than send my youngest son to public school
Steve

[jyl]

We're going to apply to that school. I calculated a 72% probability of getting in based on last year's stats. That's not bad, and nothing to lose by trying.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Quote de HardDrive

Second grade is costing me $16k.

This is just insane to me. That's a year at my alma mater...a world class engineering school that has graduated more astronauts than any other public institution.

Agreed. What we give to our church is chump change compared to that. I'd happily move to one of Wichita's suburbs and send my kids to one of their good public schools vs paying that. The local expensive rich kid private school is behind the Catholic schools in many educational rankings, so cost doesn't always denote quality.