Is private school worth it?

[cbg1027]

I have taught at both private and public schools.

Simple answer- depends on the school! There are private schools that are academically worse and not current on the latest research on best practices in teaching. But there are some that are of the highest caliber!

You really have to look at it school-by-school.

Those are exactly my thoughts. If public schools in your district are good, then I would stick with those.

If any of your children have learning disabilities or something like that, than a private school could be a better choice as they are usually able to work one on one with the students better. But like the pp said, it just depends on the schools in your area.

There are so many factors to look at, but all public schools are not the same, and neither are private schools. I can't compare the schools I around here to ones in your area.

So I think the people you really need to address the question to are parents in your community.

 

[LuLuO]

I haven't read any of the responses but to OP: If it is cliques you are worried about I would guess that they are everywhere. I went to a Catholic grade school from K-8 and beginning in about 4th grade was tortured by the "rich kids." It was horrible. I didn't have the right shoes. My mom didn't drive the right car. I didn't have the little polo guy on my white shirt. IMHO jerks are everywhere, even in religious schools. If anything the people I had the displeasure of knowing during my years at that school taught me how not to treat someone and the worst part was the teachers, priests and principal knew what went on and did nothing. Great morals, huh?

As for getting lost in the shuffle, I started having problems with math in the 6th grade but my teacher passed me anyway because, according to my mom, the teacher thought I would eventually get it. I never did get it and had an awful time with math even into my college years. Also, there were over 60 of us in my grade, divided into two classes, so the class size wasn't really small.

That said, we live in a great public school district. If we lived in a pubilc school district that was not up to par then we would sacrifice to send our kids to private school, but not a religious school because we are not religious.

 

[SILLYANDI]

Hard question, but we opted for public school vs. private Christian or home school. Public schools here are good and I am not patient enough to homeschool

I think you are being naive if you think that putting "Christian" on something is going to solve any clique problems. Christians have some of the biggest cliques going. It is naive to think any school is going to solve problems. There is really only one thing that will make a difference - YOUR involvement in your kids education. If you think you can drop them off and it is the schools job to 'fix' them or educate them then you will be disappointed. Other factors to consider are that the kids expelled from public school end up in the private schools and that at $5k vs. $20k your school would probably be underfunded and have fewer options.

Our choice was to go to our public school and get involved. I am on the PTA board and my wife is a weekly volunteer. We show up at events, help teachers, eat lunch with the kids once or twice a month, etc. Parents, Teachers, and kids know us and what we expect from our children and we get a lot of support from other parents trying to help their children make good choices. It is not specifically "Christian", but we are able to share our faith and values and most people want similar things for their kids, ie well behaved, caring, doing well in school, having dreams, not using drugs, etc.

One other thing I would consider is that if you have any special needs, the resources are much greater at the public school. One DD has some learning issues and a 504 plan and she gets more support in the public school than I could provide for her outside the system.

Then I use the money for Disney since this is the Disney board

I second this opinion. Volunteering at the school and IN the classrooms are a great way to get that personalized education. When the teacher feels a personal connection to you and your child they are going to give the personal attention, regardless of where you send them. My kids' teachers regularly call/text/talk to me about my kids (two are on 504 plans) and I am sure it is because I am very involved at the school.

 

[badblackpug]

I'm going to agree with the others, it depends. Here the public schools far out-perform the smaller parochial schools. There are several prep schools who out-perform everybody, but they are very expensive.

As far as cliques, that is going to happen anywhere, especially with girls. I also think it is naive to think that because you put the label "christian" on a school everyone in that school is going to share your values. There are going to be children and parents within your school system, no matter what system you choose, whose values do not match yours. Values are taught at home.

My answer to you would be to research all your options. Again, as PPs have said private/parochial is no guarantee of smaller class size or good teachers. I may be wrong, but I don't think that private school teachers have to meet the same standards as public school teachers.

 

[southern_redhead]

As a product of private schools I can say they are worth every penny my parents put out .... No teaching to the test for us.

I loved it and would only put my hypothetical children in private school.

I sort of only took a couple of phrases from your post but these really spoke to me. I wish we had the option of private school here (we don't - there is one small ...tiny!...private church school here but they don't hire certified teachers nor do they have a consistent way of running their school, we tried it ) What jumped out at me was "No teaching to the test". That has become a big issue at our public school. I work in the office there and all day, all year long I hear the teachers carry on about "for the test" "on the test" etc... talking about the yearly state standardized test. Two of them even flat out told me they wish the state would tell them what was going to be on the test so they would "know what to teach." I almost died, if you only taught what was on that test you would be teaching VERY little. I would personally do away with the tests. I was considered gifted and in the advanced school programs but my test scores never reflected it. I was excellent at reading/english/spelling but only average on the tests. I was abysmal at math but actually tested advanced in that subject. Go figure! My three are not test takers either, unfortunately. My goal is to be homeschooling within a few years if we can move to a more metropolitan area (so we will have access to homeschool groups, museums and zoos, etc...)

 

[MomtoAlexnWilliam]

Add me to the "it depends" group. Our kids go to a private Christian school and we believe it is worth every penny!!!

Our public school system is HORRIBLE. The administration fights with the board who fights with the teachers. The busing that occurs is beyond ridiculous. There was no guarantee that our two kids (separated by one grade in between) would even be assigned the same school!!! When you compare test scores to our private school it is night and day!

The private Christian school we (it's a family experience) attend is FANTASTIC!! The teachers are great and the principals by which the school is run are completely in keeping with our values. They also take each child's ability into consideration. Our DD is performs above her grade level and they keep her engaged and pull her out for extra activities. They are also able to assist children with mild to moderate learning disabilities.

There are cliques everywhere - school, work and adulthood!!! But I do feel that our school is able to handle any significant problems they may cause. As a PP said, they redirect and refocus. They also encourage the kids to seek forgiveness when they do wrong to others.

As long as there is money to pay for it, we'll go private. We consider it a blessing from God. Our school also has a scholarship program for families who want to attend but the cost is prohibitive.

 

[quasar4legs]

I think to make this decision you have to identify the kind of education you want for your children and then try determine is the school a 'good fit' for the way your child learns and what you consider important.

For example, some parents will value academic results above everything while other parents may be more interested in their child learning to solve problems and become life long learners. And yes, I am sure they are schools that can provide both.
Some parents want a specific religious experience for their children others may want good music and drama programs etc etc.
Our son attended 2 private schools, both at the upper end of the school fee rates for our state and eventually at his request we decided to homeschool which was a better fit for our family, our son's learning style (he found the classroom tedious) and our education goals.

Best wishes that finds something that works for your family.

 

[DawnM]

My .02 since your children are very young.

I hear people say a lot, "I am going to put them in private school from K-5 or K-8 so they get a good foundation and then send them to the public school for high school."

From my perspective, most of the decent elem. public schools are the place I would be far more inclined to send my kids. It is the middle and high school years where kids are the most impressionable and cliques and "follow the pack" mentalities are formed. That is NOT to say there aren't fine public high schools out there or to say that your child/ren won't be absolutely fine in the local public high school, but if you are asking about elem. schools, my inclination would be to start them off in a public school and see how it goes and then re-evaluate in middle school.

Dawn

 

[bettymae1121]

My .02 since your children are very young.

I hear people say a lot, "I am going to put them in private school from K-5 or K-8 so they get a good foundation and then send them to the public school for high school."

From my perspective, most of the decent elem. public schools are the place I would be far more inclined to send my kids. It is the middle and high school years where kids are the most impressionable and cliques and "follow the pack" mentalities are formed. That is NOT to say there aren't fine public high schools out there or to say that your child/ren won't be absolutely fine in the local public high school, but if you are asking about elem. schools, my inclination would be to start them off in a public school and see how it goes and then re-evaluate in middle school.

Dawn

Word that!

I went to some of the top school districts in my state (K-8 for one district and HS school was another district). Jr. High (7-8) was part of the grade school district. Even though it was (and still is) a top rated district, the Jr. High experiance for me wasn't good. It wasn't the teaching or the teachers, they did the very best they could, but the kids just ran wild. I think between the hormones and the start of the teenage years coupled with the fact that most of the kids cam from two income homes they were now old enough to be left on their own while the parents worked added up to kids that just got into a lot of trouble. In an ideal world, I'd send my kids (if/when I have kids!) to K-6 and then home school for Jr. High and then send the back to public school for high school. In my area at least once the kids got into the high schools they settled down for the most part and things went back to normal. Sure some kids still got into trouble but the school wasn't a zoo like in Jr. High. The vast majority of the kids were there to learn and to prepare for college.

But, that's MY area, yours of course could be totally different. As others have suggested you should talk to the parents in your area, maybe tour some of the schools (both private and public). Also google the schools, I know there are some parental review sites of schools online, that could get you some information as well.

 

[budbeerlady]

It really depends on the school, ask around.

"My main reason for wanting private it because I would like the kids to go to a Christian school." If this is your goal please go for it!

Our Dd is going into 5th grade at a Christian school. Her class sizes have been 20 to 18 kids. This upcoming year she will have 18 kids again in her class. There are 3 classes of 5th graders.

Compared to the public schools around here Dd is leaps ahead. They really push the kids to excel. She is light years ahead of her cousins who are in different towns public schools but same county. (If that makes sense, its not just 1 public school system I am comparing her to.) Test scores (which I think are stupid but the state uses it to make itself feel better) are higher for Dds school vs the area. 45% of the teachers at Dd's school have doctorates, they are at her school because they love their students. They could make a lot more money elsewhere!

What I enjoy besides the Christian education is the fact her teachers have truly cared for their students. I know that can happen anywhere but I have been so impressed with the teachers she has had. They all did everything they could to help her learn and really loved their students. It has been worth every sacrifice!

Dds best friend lives near Chicago and is in a very nice and well regarded public school. They are both in the same grade and it was refreshing to see them at the same level, learning the same math concepts and Spanish levels. They were on the same page education wise and that made both of us Mom's feel good! They were both bemoaning the same math concept and how they hated it, lol!

Cliques happen everywhere. I went to private school and we had them, Dh went to public and they had them. We have not run into real issues yet but its only 5th grade, I know that time is coming soon when the girls get nasty.

 

[crisi]

Our public schools around here tend to be far better than the parochial schools in terms of both cliques and academics. The prep schools have far better acedemics, but that's $20k per kid per year.

 

[Tink-aholic]

And since the OP brought up money, I'd like to make two small points:

Depending upon your financial situation, will you be stretching your budget to make this happen? It sounds like there are additional costs for field trips and "mandatory donations." Think long and hard if your child will be the "poorest" one in the class. Values aside, it can really impact kids if all of their friends have something and they do not.

In addition, private schools almost always pay less than public schools. I am a public hs teacher and I tell my boss all the time that I am overpaid for what I am expected to do. Because of this, I come in early, stay late, manage clubs and after school activities, and spend a good deal of time figuring out challenging and fun activities for my students. Many teachers that I know in private schools know that they are underpaid and just "punch the clock" to get their time in to get their paychecks.

 

[sorul82?]

I went to a private school through 5th grade. Another poster had a similar experience: if you didn't wear Polo brand shirts and colored Levi corduroy's, you might as well have left the school. The kids were very cruel. I remember the brutal teasing one girl received because she took something to school in a K-Mart bag. There were certain words that were not acceptable to use such as soda, tissue, and lotion. People of class were to say, "soft drink, Kleenex, and hand cream." Sounds silly, huh? The Christian school in my town wasn't much different. If anything, it was worse because they dictated the types of activites the kids were allowed to do outside of school: No parties, dances, certain places were off-limits.

 

[PA Princess]

Perhaps the best answer the OP is going to receive from all of these replies is that this is an issue with which many parents wrestle. Schooling questions can be hard and so individualized from student to school to area, etc.

I have taught in both public and private schools and been a homeschool mom and teacher in a homeschool co-op. As a family we have done it all from private Christian school to homeschool to public school. All have had their merits and drawbacks, but in general our experiences have been good because we as the parents have been intimately involved.

We have had various seasons of different schools fitting needs of different children in our home (4 kids), and we have learned flexibility as we have navigated our way through what is best for each one.

My advice would be that you visit each prospective school (several times), talk to parents, talk to teachers, and if faith is a part of the decision as it is for us, pray about it. You will know what is best for your child.

 

[moongirl]

Try the public school first, then move if your fears are realized. It's free and there are lots of great kids in the public schools, too.

My older child went to Montessori preschool through K and then public school from first through 3rd grades. We then switched to an academic Catholic school with small class sizes (max of 15 per class, at least 2 classes per grade), and a more challenging academic curriculum. The price tag was similar to what you are saying $6-$7k per year. The top prep schools in our area are many and are also in the $25 k per year range. However, the majority of kids in this school are "rich" so we did not escape that element that you are worried about. My kids are the "poor" kids in the school and have a warped sense of what regular people have. In our town, we are definitely the richest few but are the poorest few in the school - we live in a solidly middle class town. The small class sizes are nice but there are still cliques - the same ones as public school. The Christian values are strongly held by the school, the teachers, and most of the families. However, there are still some kids whose parents do not have the Christian values you would want. These kids will be everywhere. It is harder to ignore these kids at the private school because of the tiny class sizes. There were 3 kids out of the 20 boys in the grade that used sexual and foul language. I was shocked at how much they knew and how little these children's parents cared. We were at the mercy of an overworked principal who just wanted to yell at the offending child.

Academically, this school is better than the local elementary school and so we stay through at least 5th grade. However, there are still bad kids and most families have much more disposable money than our family. My 7th grader is moving back to public school because academics are more diverse and the math program is better starting in 7th grade.

Again, try the public school first. You might be surprised.

 

[Longsx3]

It all depends on the school, there is no definite answer tha a private school is better than a publice school.

Beyond that I believe if you are stretching your family budget to place your kids in private school it is probably not a good idea, invest that money in your family. Allowing for less stress in the household and some fun family time.

As far as values teach your children your values at home and have faith in your abilities as a parent, use other childrens behavior as a teaching tool.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

We did private school for 9 years and it was worth every penny. Would I do it again? Yes.

BUT....having said that.....private schools differ so much from each other and so do public schools. It may best to ask around in your area and see what information the parents there can tell you.

 

[NCHoo]

I agree that it all depends and it is best to consider what type of experience you want to give your child. Then research the schools. There are many people who live in a desirable or "good" public school district but choose to send their children to private school for different reasons. I attended Catholic school my whole life (DH did not), and now our children attend Catholic school. There are some good public schools in our area but we made the choice not because of what the public school is not, but more for what the Catholic school can offer. A strong foundation is important which may be able to be had in either situation but discipline can often be an issue in the early grades. Since most private schools often have smaller class sizes and a discipline policy that they can enforce, the private environment could allow for fewer classrooms interruptions.

Just curious, when I see posts about comparing test scores against private vs public I wonder how can you compare the two? Our private schools do not even take the same test as the public schools here. Plus, most private school scores are compared against others in the country vs just others within their state.

 

[csharpwv]

I have to first give a disclaimer here - I do not have children. That said - I work with all types of students public and private - at a critical transition point. I am a college admissions counselor. So I see transcripts from the worst public school to the best public schools to the worst private/college prep schools - to the best private/college prep schools.

There is no right answer to your question - every school is different, for SO MANY different reasons. I am going to touch on a few of the same things previous posters have said

1) Parental involvement is at the core of the quality of ANY school - public-parochial- or 'private. If parents aren't involved with the school - do not come to the parent-teacher meetings - you can write that school off. NO school administrator can improve a school with only his/her faculty and staff. Education starts at home - and if parents aren't involved in the education of their children at school - they are not involved with the education of their children at home. Simply put for a parent - Is the school a place where YOU as an adult would want to spend time?

2) Before your child steps a foot in the door as a student - make sure they step a foot in the door as a prospective student. You as a parent need to make these observations - is the school welcoming from the outside? Is the front door easy to find? Is it secure? Does the school appear to be well maintained? Is there landscaping? Has the lawn been maintained? Are the bars on the windows/doors? NOW - take a step inside - are the hallways clean? Is the office easy to find? Are the lockers in decent shape? Can your child drink water from the water fountains? Are there water fountains? What is on the walls? Are the classrooms a relic from the past or a vision of the future? What do you see outside the windows? Does the school feel more like a hospital or a prison than a place of learning? Now take a look at the administrative side - a month from the start of school for most area - (as I type this) does the school have faculty vacancies? How long has the principal been there? What is the average age and years of experience of the faculty? How many positions were vacated at the end of the previous year? Were all of those filled? What was the average ACT/SAT score of the student in the previous year's graduating class? Where did they go to college? How are they paying for college? Now let's talk about what ISN'T in the classrooms - what is outside the classroom as far as opportunities for learning. What shape is the library in? Does it add new books each year? Does it offer access to e-stacks? Does the school receive and display daily newspapers? What type of computers are available for the students to use? How about internet connectivity?

I think you get my line of thinking on all of those questions - they are great predictors for the QUALITY of education that is available.

3) Especially for elementary and middle schools - here are some things to think about - how clean are the bathrooms? Is there a school nurse? Where do the kids eat lunch? Where can they play when it's sunny outside - and where can they play when it's rainy?

4) Time - what time does the school day start? end? how long do students have between classes? does the school use a homeroom model? what happens if a student is late for class?

5) What is the school's attendance record?

6) Does the school offer clubs and activities that support the curriculum? Or are they just for recreation and social interaction?

7) for high schools - does the school offer concurrent college/dual enrollment? Advanced Placement (AP) courses? An International Baccalaureate (IB) program?

8) For parents - do you know what you son/daughter wants to do when they 'grow up'?

9) For students - do you know what are options are for after high school? Believe me when I say this - if they say "College!" that's not a good indicator. Every student is not college material - this country NEED students to pursue technical education, skilled trades, and skilled labor. The best schools in the country teach children HOW TO LEARN. If someone knows how to learn they will learn for the rest of their lives!

10) Finally - where does your child want to go to school?
This is perhaps the most important question to ask yourself - AND - your child. I have met so many students who were 'forced' to make the same decision that their parents made for them as to where to go to school.

There are REALLY GREAT schools out there, and there are REALLY HORRIBLE schools out there. It doesn't matter if it's free - or $85,000 for 4 years.

 

[ccgirl]

My DD7 goes to a private Catholic school. She is entering the 2nd grade so her 3rd year of the school. In our town, this was the only option for full day K as our town was only 1/2 day. The tuition is only $3800 a year K - 8. For that reason, along with their high academics, the school is very hard to get into and has a very large waiting list. I enrolled my DD when I was pregnant with her. However, that is not the only reason I sent her here. I wanted school to be an extension of the morals/values I teach at home. I wanted her to be able to talk about God. This has been a great choice for us. The school is tiny (1 class per grade) so the same students are together from K - 8. I will say they did lose a few students this year but that is because they only teach at the advanced level. So; if any special education is required they would need to get that from the public school. I signed her up for a math/reading camp for 2 weeks this summer taught by public school teachers. The teachers were very anxious to have her so they could see where the public schools measured up. Turns out she was advanced in reading and math and greatly advanced in sentence structure. There are a few cliques. I think that is normal and anyone that says their school doesn't have them is just fooling themselves. The amount of respect that is demanded of these students is unbelievable. Changing classes the students respectfully and quietly walk the halls. Certainly no fighting. One negative is the lack of diversity as a PP mentioned. There are probably no more than 10 students that are not of the Caucasian race. Let me also say that there is nothing wrong with the public schools in my town either. Again, my main focus was to extend the morals/values. Bullying is not tolerated at all. You get suspended for the first offense and expelled for the next. Respect and treating others as you would want to be treated is not only encouraged it is demanded. They are taught this right from K. She also wears a uniform and I love that idea. It saves me so much money. I did a great deal of research and I think that is what it comes down to.

Good luck with your decision.