If you sen(d/t) your child(ren) to private school....?

Question

I’m taking a summer class where we’re looking into different options of education (private v public v home school) concerning child development and are currently concentrating on private. I had to interview 5 parents who sent their children to private school and was very interested in a lot of the answers/ info I received. I would love if parents who sent their children to private school could answer the questions below just for my own personal knowledge/bring some more life to the discussions in the classroom.

Answer 1

My daughter isn't old enough yet for school so we're discussing it at the minute - she's in a private nursery though. I went to private school so have completed your questionnaire from the perspective of someone who has been through the private school system.



1.What grade is/are your child(ren) in?



I was in private school from 11-18



2.How long have & will he/she/they be in a private school?

7 years



3.What kind of school is it? (charter, religious, Montessori program, just private etc) What made you choose this kind of school over everything else?



It was a Catholic School run by Dominicans. My parents chose it because of their religion and because of its strong academic track record. The fact that it was an all girls school probably didn't hurt either! I am athiest now, but I still value much of what I learned at school.



4.What made you choose to send your child(ren) to private school in general?



My parents would probably say that they wanted that school in particular as my mother had attended it.



5.Is there a difference in class size, teacher accreditation, after school activities etc in your child(ren)’s school compared to the local public school?



I don't know about the local public school but class sizes were around 24 at age 11, reducing in size to about 16-20 as we specialised in preparation for university. Many of our teachers had PhDs and around a third were nuns, and there was a wide range of after school and lunchtime activities. Most of the activities were sports or academic related (computer club, French club, art club) though there was also a drama society, a debating society, 2 choirs, 2 orchestras and a brass band!



6.Is there something specific you hope your child(ren) receives/gains in the future because he/she/they attended a private school?



We had high expectations. Almost everyone went on to university. I think we were also given confidence in our abilities - we were expected to perform well in examinations and we usually did. That is probably more to do with the academic ethos of the school (and its selection procedures)than anything else. We were also obedient - we didn't misbehave or our parents were called to the school (fate worse than death!) - so classes were generally not disrupted by poor behaviour.



Edit: I've been thinking about this question for a while now and I think most people on here have given very positive comments about private education. One thing I think we missed out on though was the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds. All the pupils at the school I went to were girls, academically bright and from middle class Catholic homes. There was very little variation and so I think many of us had quite conservative, blinkered views by the time we left school.



Good question!

Answer 2

Having gone to private schools all my life , as well as current work experience in education both public and private, here it is in a nutshell.



Religious schools are faith and value based. A more socially conscience education with emphasis on the whole person. Reaching academic goals is expected (college bound) for all of the students and not just for the elite.

Religious schools generally have children of all socio economic backgrounds not just the super rich.

All teachers in the Catholic schools must have teacher certifications and participate in continuing Ed classes.



Private Non- Religious Schools have the freedoms that public schools do not and can teach social justice and morality without risking crossing the mixing Religion with Government lines. Generally 90% of these students are very well off financially and the 10% that are not generally test very well on standardize test and are on scholarship.

Not all teachers are required to be certified. Some schools let the children who pay tuition down and don't offer many services necessary for their individual success.



Public Schools in some school districts are awesome and actually have smaller class sizes and more then 2 home rooms per grade level. So if certain children don't get along they will be separated the following year giving every child a chance at a comfortable learning experience.

Some public offer more services for the challenged learner.



Many Public school districts have a no hold back policy on all children even when a young 6 year old is deemed not developmentally ready for first grade, they are still moved into first grade. The next year they are moved to 2nd, and so on. Even when parents ask that their child be retained they are still moved ahead.

Public schools are not able to come close to teaching religious or what can be interpreted as religious morality. Many public schools cannot offer the level of discipline necessary to create physically and emotionally safe learning environments for students. I am talking about the upper middle class suburban schools not inner city.



In a Religious or Private school if a child presents chronic behavioral problems they are expelled from the school so that they do not continually disrupt the other children.





Charter schools are generally run by local churches and do not require teacher certifications. They are better then the intercity schools they draw students from but they require a lot of parent interventions as well.



If you have the means, send your child to a Religious based Private school when they are young. Don't wait until they are in Junior high.

Answer 3

1. I have one who just graduated and twins who are going into the 4th grade.

2. The younger two will be there until they graduate high school. This year was their first year and my oldest was there from 7-12th grade.

3. The school isn't affiliated with anything. I picked this one over the others becuase it was the closest, had a good rep and a number of kids from town attend.

4. Our town is small and the school district only goes from K-2. (Random, I know). For grades 3-12, the kids are bussed to another town about 10mins away that just has WAY too many issues. It was private school for our kids or move... and we love our home & town.

5. Class sizes are about 18 per class. They have well qualified teachers and it's a hands on school. No standardized tests are given...which is a plus for some and not so for others. There are a lot of activites for grades 6+ but not so much for the little ones.

6. I just want my kids to graduate and go onto a college of their choice.

Answer 4

My girls graduated from a private high school on June 7th. They attended for grades 9-12 and were in public school K-8. The school was a regular private school, not affiliated with anything, and we chose to send them there because we had moved the summer before their freshman year. The town we moved to was redoing their high school and was sending the high school students two the 4 surrounding town's high schools. I didn't want my girls to make friends and then have to start from scratch again the following year. Plus the private school is about a mile away and beautiful! Had the public high school been fine, my girls would have gone there.

The class sizes are smaller at the private school. The teachers are about the same...no better, no worse. This school did offer more AP classes and educational opertunities, but not a whole lot more.

As for future opertunities, I guess you're thinking college wise? Less and less schools are putting private school students as a plus. Private doesn't mean better in this day in age. I just hoped that they were happy, graduated and got into a college they loved and that's what happened.

Answer 5

1.What grade is/are your child(ren) in?

ANSWER = we sent our daughter when she was in 6th and 7th grade. We had to take her out though because it became too expensive =(



2.How long have & will he/she/they be in a private school?

ANSWER = She was there 2 years.



3.What kind of school is it? (charter, religious, Montessori program, just private etc) What made you choose this kind of school over everything else?

ANSWER = Christian, because we are Christians and wanted a good environment for her to learn in.



4.What made you choose to send your child(ren) to private school in general?

ANSWER = Better environment.



5.Is there a difference in class size, teacher accreditation, after school activities etc in your child(ren)’s school compared to the local public school?

ANSWER = Yes, the classes were much smaller than in her old private school. At the private school, she was in a class of between 25 - 30 students. Now in a public school she is in a class of 200.

In regaurd to the teachers. I found it that the teachers at a Private school were much more involved and cared for the students more. Ex. My daughter struggeled through 6th grade and the teachers were very helpfull and care about her future.

School Activities - there are more at a Public school than a Private school. But I feel that at a Private school they are better sports about things. But with the Public school there is swearing, fights, and other stuff.



6.Is there something specific you hope your child(ren) receives/gains in the future because he/she/they attended a private school?

ANSWER = I pray that she will be a strong women of God and has learned from those two years of Private schooling. She is a very strong young lady, now at 15.



Good Luck and God Bless.

Answer 6

1.What grade is/are your child(ren) in? I have one that graduated from private school in 2005, and one that is going in the 5th grade.



2.How long have & will he/she/they be in a private school? My oldest daughter attended private school her whole life (except for 2 years homeschooling), and my 2nd one has attended since kindergarten.



3.What kind of school is it? (charter, religious, Montessori program, just private etc) What made you choose this kind of school over everything else? The oldest went to Catholic school, the 2nd one goes to a private Christian school.



4.What made you choose to send your child(ren) to private school in general? Better education, less violence.



5.Is there a difference in class size, teacher accreditation, after school activities etc in your child(ren)’s school compared to the local public school? Definitely a difference in class size. I feel the private schools are more focused on education.



6.Is there something specific you hope your child(ren) receives/gains in the future because he/she/they attended a private school? Well for one thing, they pray everyday in school and have chapel or mass, so I hope this helps them develop spiritually. I feel like they will be accepted to better colleges based on attendence at private high schools as opposed to public.

Answer 7

I can answer your questions from the persepective of someone who attended private school (though not as a parent of a child enrolled in one):



1.What grade is/are your child(ren) in?



I attended the same private school from grades 5-12.



2.How long have & will he/she/they be in a private school?



See above.



3.What kind of school is it? (charter, religious, Montessori program, just private etc) What made you choose this kind of school over everything else?



It was a non-parochial private school.



4.What made you choose to send your child(ren) to private school in general?



We moved at the end of 4th grade, and while we were still in the same school district, my new elementary school did not have a gifted and talented program. I had been in an experimental accelerated and G&T program at my previous school, but since the new school did not offer such a program, I was told that I would have to just do the same work as the other students in the class, even though it meant repeating work I had already completed a year or two before that. My mother appealed to the school board to see if something could be done (to allow me to go next door to the middle school for certain classes or to be permitted to attend my old elementary school), but when they said no, she pulled me out and enrolled me in private school.



5.Is there a difference in class size, teacher accreditation, after school activities etc in your child(ren)’s school compared to the local public school?



The student to teacher ratio at my private school was 7:1, which was far lower than the student to teacher ratio in my public school. There might not have been as many activities, just because of the school's smaller size, but there were still plenty to choose from and something for everyone--sports, academic clubs, Model UN, committees, theater, music, art, and more. I was very involved in sports and activities during my middle and upper school years.



6.Is there something specific you hope your child(ren) receives/gains in the future because he/she/they attended a private school?



I received a top-notch education by attending private school, and the environment was much more conducive to learning than you find in most public schools. Yes, there were groups of people who were friends, and while you might call them "cliques," there was not the petty rivalry and snobbiness from kids in one group toward kids in another. We didn't have any fighting, bullying, teen pregnancies, or any of the other multitude of negative issues that a lot of today's high schoolers seem to be faced with.



Because of my grades, my SAT scores, and the reputation of my school, I gained early admission to my first choice school (an Ivy League University). 100% of my graduating class went on to four year colleges and universities, and with very rare exception, that is the case for every class that came before and after me.

Answer 8

I raised a partner's 2 children for 5 years. One graduated from high school before we split up, although I continue to have contact with the now adult kids. Only one child was in private school.



1.What grade?

8th through high school graduation.



2.How long?

5 years.



3.What kind of school is it? What made you choose this kind of school over everything else?

Private (mostly wealthy) and episcopalian. It would be more exactly identified as college-preparatory. My Dad attended a college-prep school, but St. Paul was too far away to consider. A regular parochial school is really not an improvement, intellectually, from public school. College prep is much like getting an AA degree at a local community college. In fact, this child was able to complete his college degree in 2.5 instead of 4 years.



4.What made you choose to send your child(ren) to private school?

I asked the grandfather for the money because he was underchallenged in public school. He had a history of causing mischief due to boredom. Because many of the area wealthy send their children to this school, there is a lot more money available for honors courses and enrichment activities.



5.Is there a difference in class size, teacher accreditation, after school activities etc in your child(ren)’s school compared to the local public school?

Class size was smaller (17 kids per class on average) and average class size (i.e. entire grade) is 80-95. There is more money available for challenging subjects. However, I won't say that the teachers were necessarily superior. They didn't have the school board deciding curriculum, however, which is something public school teachers pretty much have lost control over. The school did have a good football and hockey league participation. I understand they have added additional sports and more stuff for girls.



6.Is there something specific you hope your child(ren) receives/gains in the future because he/she/they attended a private school?

He definitely gained the ability to focus and plan goals, something I doubt many of us get in public schools or from home.



I grew up in an area surrounded by private boarding schools for the children of the very wealthy and our public school fashioned their enriched curriculum around it. So, other than the focus and goal planning, my education in a public school was as good as I would have had in a private prep school except for math. Also, I highly recommend that whichever way you go, that you find out information about study skills. They teach this in that school and I only learned about it by accident in college.



Finally, current tuition costs for that school is $12-17,000 annually depending on grade. My Dad's school is comparable.

Answer 9

I have two school-aged kids - both girls - aged 8 and 7. Both girls go to private school where I went as a child, and both love it. I chose provate school because not only did I love the experience at that school, but I also like the curriculum offered there versus at the public school (which my nephew who is 9 years old attends) and the class sizes were much, much smaller (15 at private school, with at least two teachers; in comparison to nearly 30 kids and one teacher at the public school in my area!). My girls go to a religious school, but there are many private schools that do not practice any religion. Oh, and the girls go to a girls only school.



I have a four-year-old son and an eighteen-month-old son (and another on the way, who I think is another boy!) and I'm not sure where I'll send them yet since their sisters go to a single-sex school for girls. I don't know much about the Montessori program, but I think I'll look in to it for my four-year-old (who currently attends a small preschool).

Answer 10

My child has been to all three types of schools you've listed. He first went to Montessori, but they were not what they were made out to be. He's went to public school, but all he was learning there was how to act like some of the other children who were not well behaved. After some deliberation, he is now home schooled, and is two grades levels above where he is expected to be for his age.

At some point I may send him back to public/private school when he learns to be more of an individual, but for now I would like his education base to be firm.

Answer 11

I am a senior and I have always gone to Catholic schools. I have learned a lot more here and I think that I have a great advantage over those who are in public school. We have much smaller classes and we are accredited as the second best school for academics in the state (only behind our sister school in another diocese).