Private v.s. Public school

[Kallison]

If we move to Florida I'm considering private schools for the kids. They are in an excellent public school system right now. I would like some nice, polite input on the pros and cons of private school. It does not excite me at all -- I have this vision of all the moms in pressed chinos with matching belts and that is not me! Although I think the uniforms would be nice, no more angst about getting dressed in the AM (the kids will hate that).
p.s. please Don't congratulate me on the move, I dont' want to go, I'm very depressed.

 

[peg2001]

Let's see what I can come up with:

pros- smaller class size, fewer discipline problems, more parental influence, religious instruction (depending on choice of school and if you would consider this a pro)


cons- it costs more, may not be as close as the local public school, transportation not provided, you may not agree with the religious instruction provided (if applicable)

Peggy

 

[Bichon Barb]

Sorry Kallison, but I'm LOL reading your post. DH had a job offer in Florida in December. He couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to take the job. We flew down with the kids and scoped out the area. Because of the amount of traveling he'd have to do, and the fact that our families are here in NY, and because I just wasn't that amoured with the whole muggy, stripmall, Florida thing, I told him that I made I his mind for him. We're staying in NY.

He's still occasionally giving me guilt remarks. God forbid I complain about the snow--"Well, if we would have moved to FLORIDA..." Okay, so maybe there are SOME pro's to living in Florida: The weather, WDW, year round camping.

Sorry, I'm rambling on. Just want to say good luck with your move. It'll all work out for the best. And who knows, maybe I'll give in and will see you down there in a few years!

 

[JohnsPrincess]

From my experience (and Please don't yell at me if others have had different ones...) the public schools in Florida aren't as good as "other states". I went to a public school in CT up until 7th grade when we moved to Fl for a bit. The school was SO behind the one I'd been to...it was amazing. (This was in Palm Harbor). Of course...the next school I went to was in New Mexico and Worse than the one in Fl. Anyways, I equate the school in CT to a "normal" private school. I also went to a Private Military School (my choice). To me...I felt safer, more secure, and I got a Much better education.
This is just my experience though. I know there are Tons and Tons of OUTSTANDING teachers in Florida...so please don't think I'm putting them all in one pot.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

It is a difficult issue because so much depends on the schools in the area. 3 years ago I couldn't have been happier with our Public school. Right now I have my older son in Private school and his brother will join him there next year. I can't imagine ever returning them to the Public school unless some major issues are taken care of --

In my experience:

Pros: the students seem more committed, the parents more involved. There is more personal attention. The curriculum can be based on smaller classes which means more essay writing than Multiple Choice. Things in general just seem more relaxed. The teacher isn't trying to track 50 kids and has fewer discipline issues and just seems to have more time to give individual attention.


Cons: In my son's particular school I feel that Science is pushed aside in order to cover Religion. That is the main educational difference. Cost -- although our particular school is very reasonable. I also feel there is a real lack of diversity in the student population. The "rich" students tend to attend more prestigious and expensive schools and the "poor" students can't afford tuition at all. My son's school is left with almost 100% "upper" middle class suburban type kids.

 

[Lewski709]

In dilemma right now for us:

Private Catholic - pros
religious education and church involvement, smaller class sizes, earlier times (7:55 -2:55) so I can take my child to school daily, open til 6 for the after school program

-Cons
cost about 3k, uniforms, after school program 30.00/wk, more uppity families

Public-pros
no cost, no uniforms, after school program with planned activities and prayer 25.00/wk with bus service to the program

-Cons
class sizes, school times (8:45-3:00) and I will NEVER be able to, take him after school program only open til 5:30 and our other DS in daycare which also closes at 5:30, must attend religious classes

We are in serious dilemma about the whole thing.

 

[CEDmom]

I won't congratulate you. I wouldn't worry about the other parents though. Private schools attract a very diverse student body. Many students receive some type of financial aid so it really isn't all richy rich. I think the pros and cons Peg2001 listed are what I'd say as well. The only thing you want to be careful of is to ensure the school is accredited. I know many private schools in Florida aren't.

 

[tlgoblue]

The only con I have with private schools, (though I have never had my kid in a "religiously affiliated" school) is the somewhat closeted atmosphere. Not snooty, or cliquey, just loads of people, though from diverse backrounds with very similar agenda. My own experience with them was my kids developed the attitude that they were somehow better than publicly schooled kids. I have had my kids in 3 different ones, and it seemed as though this attitude was fostered by the schools. Maybe it was just intense school spirit, but when we finally found a public school that could accomodate my kids, I really saw this elitist attitude blossom, and it was ugly. My kids are just now beginning to see the benefit of public schools as a "better" representation of the real world. Not everyone in public schools has aspirations of being a senator or a doctor, as seems to be the case in many private schools.

On the other hand, I would never have my kid in a school system that was not giving him/her every opportunity to become their dream, and I find that the incredibly bad public schools seem to have an agenda of their own. That is to make sure that the kids don't set their goals "too high"

Also, remember, there are plenty of opportunities for parental involvment at the public schools, so that point really is not valid, though you need to be the one to initiate the involvment, unlike private schools, where it is a necessary obligation for the school to function properly.

Good luck whatever you decide. Remember, no matter where your kids go to school, ultimately, you are their first and most important teacher. The schools work for you. Hold them accountable, wheter public or private.

Tracy

 

[goodstarr]

My daughter has attended a small non-religious private school for the past 3 years and will be going to public school in the fall. Initially, I loved her private school. I too thought that the parents would be sort of "Stepford Wives" like (my ignorance). Once I got involved with some school things, I found the parents to be anything like that. Most of these parents came from two income families and always had interesting things to discuss at meetings or functions. Our school is very diverse since children come from different areas around the city, not just from the township it's in. The school was supposed to be academically challenging, which it was for her in 1st grade. I was very happy (plus, I love uniforms-expecially for girls). Everything was fine until I started noticing the schoolwork that the other children in our development were doing who were in the same grade as DD-7 but went to public school. They were about 2 months ahead of DD. This wouldn't have been a problem if I wasn't paying for what they described as an "advanced curriculum". She could have received an "ok" curriculum for free, not be behind for $$$$$. Private school can be great, just don't assume that the classwork will always be up to par-continue to observe the entire time. (BTW, the moms in our local township public school seem more "cookie cutter" to me. Can we please have a conversation that doesn't involved diaper rash?) Go ahead, flame away.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

Can you tell us what county in FL? I may know whether they have a good school system. The school my children go to is excellent. Much better than the private school attended in another state.

 

[Kallison]

It's Pinellas County.

Goodstar I won't flame you, I think the public schools in NJ are excellent, you are probably making a good choice.

We are looking around the Palm Harbor area.

Bichon - the strip mall thing really depresses me also! I want a house with a real tree, not those stupid palm things.

 

[mom2boys]

About this time last year I pulled my boys from the Catholic school they had attended since kindergarten and placed them in our local public school.

For us:
Catholic Pros:
religious/moral teachings; uniforms; not as bureaucratic (meaning principal controlled the school); wonderful Christmas program (and they could say Christmas/Easter vacation);

Catholic Cons:
Weak in science, math & social studies; only one level of instruction per grade; intense atmosphere (everything was a BIG deal); always asking for $ for something; limited "specials"

Public School Pros;
so many more resources; more enrichment opportunities including culture programs; multiple levels of instruction at each grade (can be advanced in one subject & on-grade in another); "specials" every day;
we are paying for it anyway

Cons:
not many at our school - very well run, high parental involvement; no major discipline problems; I don't feel as connected to the school - may be my personality (I'm not very outgoing with strangers.)

All in all, we are very happy that we made the change. Our boys are thriving in their new school. But we are very fortunate to live in an excellent school district.

 

[tar heel]

I have a friend from college whose daughers went to schools in that system. They were both high achieving and got academic scholarships.

Just think how wonderful it will be for your kids to get an almost free education at the University of Florida! We don't have that perk in North Carolina, and I don't think you had it in PA either.

 

[tkd lisa]

I'll be the exception to some of these posts. Note that the private school I'm talking about was a Catholic one, and we aren't Catholic. Our kids were in this school for 2 1/2 years (DD) and 1 1/2 year (DS)

Pros:
Catholic school - good parent involvement
Public school - smaller class size, more varieties of levels (4 classes per grade allowed the kid who was advanced in reading but behind in math to be in the appropriate class for each), more resources (tutoring, special needs, speech therapy, teaching materials)

Cons:
Catholic school - If you didn't follow their religious beliefs, your child was segregated. i.e. 2nd grade takes 1st communion. DD was convinced she wasn't "holy" because she couldn't do this. Lack of flexibility in teaching methods. This school was strongly in the do multiple problems on the worksheet to learn things. Little use of hands-on, practical learning tools.

When I say class size was a difference, in the catholic school there were 25-30 kids with one teacher (who didn't even have to be state certified, which wasn't explained when we enrolled at the school). In our public school, the largest class size we've had in 5 years was 22, and that class had a fully certified assistant as well as several resource teachers who were in and out all day long. Our public school teachers are also paid about 30% more than the catholic schools, so often the better teachers will move over to public schools after gaining some experience.

I'd research the facts in your area, since it's pretty clear that this is something that varies widely.

 

[TEENEE]

I love reading the opinions of people from out of state. Some of the things really make laugh. I for one don't have any palm trees in my yard. I do have two oak trees. Not all of our malls are strip malls. Heck we even have indoor flushies and runnin' water. Kids from out of state crack me up, many of them think that we all know Mickey personally and hang out at Disney all the time. We don't. Here's the real shocker, I'm not a senior citizen, amazing isn't it.

Seriously, assuming that all of our public schools are terrible is like assuming that all people from NY are rude just because they come from NY or all people from AL are dumb rednecks. I live in Pinellas County, yes some schools are better than others. My dd is in 3rd grade at a public school. A friend of hers is in 3rd grade in a very expensive private school. They do the same work. There have been times that she gets the work weeks before he does. In the end they are learning the same material but I'm not shelling out thousands of dollars every year for her to go to school. There are 19 kids in her class. Neither of my kids have ever had more than 24 kids in a class, most classes have been closer to 20 kids. All any of us can do is shop around for the best school for our kids and stay involved in their education.

 

[powellrj]

All 3 of my kids were in private at one time and the thing that bothered me the most was the constant cry for money. We paid tuition, the specials were taught by parents and every week there was a different cry for money from someone. Money for books, for chairs, for everything. We stopped the private school and feel our children get a more varied education from public school.

 

[Bichon Barb]

Teenee, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. I was just having fun.

Hey, Syracusans get picked on all the time. Whenever one of our principles in Florida calls, I have to listen to "Hey, I hear you got two feet of snow this weekend. It's 70 down here. Ha-ha. How can you STAND to live there?" And if you ask someone for New York City what they think about Upstate New York, most likely you'll hear "farmers" or "hicks".

Then of course you get at least one thread a day on these boards that has to do with how awful it is to live in Northern part of the US and how someone would give anything to move to Florida.

And don't forget the public school bashing that goes on over on the debate board. Many people believe that the just because the schools are bad in their area, the whole country's public school system is in shambles. (Mine are in public school, and although we have ridiculously high taxes here, our school district is excellent.)

It wears on me sometimes. The grass is always greener...

 

[Wonderlandmom]

Amen, Teenee! We don't have palm trees up here! I think strip malls must be at the touristy places these folks visit. We also had 0% voting error in the last Presidential election-yes modern voting up here! I think people thought ALL of FL was like the couple of counties that had that punch thingie.

Kallison, I am not familiar with the schools in that county. This site might help. http://www.fldoe.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1 You can put the county in and search too.

I do know the HS zone we are in was one of the top in the country. We have some excellent private schools here, but also one you could not pay me to send my kids to. I really think it depends on the specific school and private school you are looking at. Good luck with your decisions!

And BTW, we just had a tax increase locally to 7 1/2 cents. The extra is for education.

 

[TEENEE]

Barb, I wasn't offened. Just trying to make a point.

 

[CEDmom]

I forgot to include this link in my post:

http://www.greatschools.net

you can look up schools all over the country and get test scores, ratios, class size etc. We're debating what to do about DD's schooling once she's past kindergarten. Our public elementary schools are pretty good but it goes down hill from there. So we're trying to decide whether to put her in public school until 6th grade or start her in private school in 1st grade. If only I had a crystal ball .