<p>Glad you are happy w/ your public sch, but what does that have to do w/ other people's values, options and choices? And why does the fact that some families chose private indicate that they think it's always the best, as opposed to best for their child(ren) or best at that time?</p>
<p>I am delighted that D attended an all-girls sch through 8th grade - - not a opiton in public sch. Many other like-minded parents made the same enrollment choice I did, but many nore parents made a different choice (public or private co-ed). The sch was the right choice for D, but I would never suggest that private, same-sex or boarding sch (which D now attends)was "always the best" or for every family.</p>
<p>(FYI - D rec'd VERY generous fin aid from her school and, while in local public gifted prgms she could have been the only black child and certainly would have been the only black girl in her class, in pvt sch class she was one of 3 black girls.)</p>
<p>I guess we're lucky to live in Minnesota where public education is pretty good. Pretty much everyone goes to the public schools here unless you want to go to a Catholic high school. MN had the highest ACT scores in the country last year and continues to have the highest high school graduation rates so we must be doing something right.</p>
<p>My daughter is going to the University of Minnesota next year in their honors program. Top 10% of her class and 30 on her ACT so she could get into lots of other choices but just feels that it's the best fit and definitely the best value when you compare the price (we wouldn't get aid).</p>
<p>We grappled with the decision of private vs. public h.s. for both kids, and ended up staying public. The factors that tipped our deicison was 1. my kids were already very happily settled socially 2. it would have meant a fairly substantial commute 3. our public, while definitely not fantastic, had some excellent teachers, a decent number of AP's, and most importantly, a willingness to be flexible in allowing our son to take advanced classes at a young age. Although I do believe that the two commonly attended privates in our area provide a better overall education for most kids than our public high school, my kids seemed to be totally prepared for college and had a very positive h.s. experience.</p>
<p>I think I get it - - but I'm nor "irked" by a parent deciding, as you stated in OP, "my child is go gifted; he must go to private school." That's not saying private is always better, it's saying, for now, private is better for my family, my child and our circumstances. </p>
<p>Anyway, Exeter vs inner city is apples vs oranges. Are top privates stronger than top publics, probably. Are the weakest privates better than weakest publics, probably. But regardless of where you come down or the general question of public vs private, when decision time rolls around, parents are chosing b/w a handful of specific schools in their respective communities. And, since most parents w/ gifted chrn aren't looking at the bottom of either pool, the question is more likely, is the top private in your community stronger than the top public. In my community, in my opinion, it's no contest (Stuy is a great sch, but it can't hold a candle to Brearley, Spence, Chapin, Dalton, Collegiate or St. Ann's.) - - maybe it's diff where you live.</p>
<p>Ultimately, each parent must make the choice that they see as best for their own children. I am the product of public schools, hubby did Catholic schools K-12. The public schools in his area were then and continue to be very poor. We happen to live in a city with very good public schools. I think about 95% of the kids in our city attend public schools. For the most part, students attending privates do so for religious reasons. I like the fact that my kids go to a school that is almost 50% minority students and 40% low income. There are also some very high income families in the school as well so my kids are exposed to all kinds of families, cultures and sitiuations. And they still are getting an excellent education. </p>
<p>When we purchased our house, we looked very closely at the kind of schools that our children would be attending and bought a house with that in mind as we strongly support public education. But if it turned out that our kids needed something else, we would not hesitate to provide that for them. For example, son #1 thought seriously about attending a performing arts boarding school for junior and senior years. Ultimately, he decided to stay put. (Our high school was very flexible in adjusting his schedule to allow him release time for whatever he needed.) If we had decided that the boarding school was the best option for him, we would have sent him there. Again, every kid and evey situation is different and it is not up to us to judge the choices made by another family.</p>
<p>I agree with Wolfpiper. I don't think there is any need to get defensive about sending your child to private school in response to Wolfpiper's post.
If we had had the resources to send our kids to private school, we might have chosen that but we also live in Minnesota where the schools are good ( although not as highly rated on a national scale as they once were).</p>
<p>It is normal to defend or find the positives of whichever decision you make and if there is a large proportion of private schooled families on this board, Wolfpiper may just feel in the minority or even put down at times if people are making negative generalizations about public schools. I often see comments about an "A" in a public school being the equivalent of a "B" in a private and I think this is one of those generalizations which is insulting to a smart kid in a public high school ( and pretty darn hard to substantiate). My son who is now attending Wash U found his private school peers to be no better prepared than he was (anecdotal, I know). </p>
<p>I have to admit that private schools probably have publics beat on class size and college counseling. Any smart kid with a supportive family will thrive and excel at a public school if they want to. It is probably the average to below average student who benefits most from the private school and the smaller class size. So don't take offense, just try to be sensitive to comments you make against public schools when you defend your private school choice.</p>
<p>I agree that the decision where to send one's children to school is a personal one. And I don't take offense at opposing opinions or other people's choices, but at the notion that only one group of parents has been insensitive.</p>
<p>(I don't recall any private school parent starting a thread b/c she was irked by parents claiming that their public gifted programs were better than that of a private school.)</p>
<p>One concern that we had when we were choosing between the two was the vulnerability of public schools to the current fiscal situation within the state. One year there would be X number of course offerings in a language, and the next year they would be cut for lack of funding......Or teachers would be let go because of that. I wanted to know that what we were signing the kids up for in 2nd grade would be available all the way through to 12rh, and in private we do know what we're getting. There's consistency.</p>
<p>Another point to consider is that for some public school kids, there really is no choice - I know some parents feel they have no choice but to send their kid to private school because the local publics are so awful but this really is a different kind of choice than the parent who really doesn't have the means to send their kid to a private school. For some parents here, sending there kids to private school is just another thing to pay for that doesn't prevent them from enjoying the Lexus, Subzero and vacation in France(all things I would love to have, no disdain intended) and for some it is a sacrifice that might mean living in a smaller house, foregoing vacations and owning a car for ten or more years. But for some it is not a choice even if they decided to be as frugal as possible. </p>
<p>And NYC, the comment about getting an "A" in public school is a comment I've seen in the past and I would consider it insensitive. I'm not calling anyone on this thread insensitive, just surmising as to why Wolfpiper may have sounded defensive in his post.</p>
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Another point to consider is that for some public school kids, there really is no choice - I know some parents feel they have no choice but to send their kid to private school because the local publics are so awful
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<p>While this statement may be true, I have my personal doubts. I find it hard to imagine that a family could afford $20k per year in private school tuition but can't afford to move to a better school district. </p>
<p>It's real easy to pound on public schools because they don't pander to parents as much as a private school might. But making the parents feel better does not always make for a better education. </p>
<p>Personally, we've had both terrible and wonderful experiences with both private and public schools. Even in a private school, so much good or bad depends on the teacher. They have their bad apples, too.</p>
<p>I guess I shouldn't have put a dash after that statement. When I made the first comment I was talking about the family that can't afford to go to private schools no matter what they do. Regardless Massdad, your point is a valid one.</p>
<p>NewMassDad: we sent our kids to private schools. Why? No good public schools in our area. In fact, no public schools in western Washington meet my standards. We could have moved, but there still would have been 30-35 kids in each and every class my kids are in. Should we have moved to another city? Why? My husband liked his job... so we sent the kids to private schools. Cheaper than moving by a long shot.</p>