Hey guys, I’m new to this site and I’m looking for some advice about where I should go to school.
So basically, I am a rising sophomore and I have the choice to either go to this charter-like school next year that just opened, or I could stay at my public school.
Since the charter school would be brand new and I would be in the first graduating class, I feel like it would be very exciting and they say that they have vigorous and hands-on courses. They also have school days that last for 6 hours as opposed to the 7 hour long school days at the public schools, which is awesome in my opinion. Now. I hear that this brand new charter school is going to be full of freshmen, which isn’t really something I’m looking forward to. Plus, only about 2 of my friends are going there, so I’m worried about how I would do socially in the school, since my girlfriend and my other friends are staying at the public school. Also, I was very much into clubs such as the International Club and Student Government, which the charter school does not offer. I also plan on joining the National Honors Society in 11th and 12th grade, and I am not sure if the charter school offers that. Now, for next year I could take the courses I want at either the charter school or my public school so I was thinking about staying at my public school and then transferring to the charter as a rising junior, rather than this year. The only bad aspect about my public school really is that it looks a bit old, so I’m not sure if I should just stay there. What would you guys recommend doing? Would colleges care if I went to a charter school or a public school more? I want to go to either Georgia Tech, if that makes any difference.
Since you can take classes at the charter school while remaining at your public it provides you with the opportunity to make an educated decision and have the best of both worlds. Your public school has a track record the charter does not. Switching schools can make for social difficulties. You never know. So my vote is to stay if you are happy and take advantage of the charter offerings.
I may have misunderstood. I thought you could take some classes at the charter. There are growing pains in new schools. Being the first graduating class colleges don’t have a track record, whereas colleges know your current school and are familiar with it. You mention the physical appearance of your school which is entirely irrelevant to your education or happiness.
Yeah, I talked to some of my peers and decided to stay at my public school. My public school is known for being one of the best in my state, whereas the charter would mean less since it’s brand new. Thanks guys.
Also, @scubadive I guess it doesn’t matter too much, but it would be cool to be in a modern school with four floors as opposed to my one floor public school that was built in the 60s haha
What is the goal of the Charter school? What are they trying to provide that the public school doesn’t?
You seem to emphasize the physical building…you should think about the Academic offerings, the guidance offered, the clubs/opportunitiies/sports/music you are interested in.
@bopper The charter school just claims to get you more prepared for college and offers courses geared more towards your future career. I’m going to stay at my public school most likely since there are more clubs, people, and it is known for being a very good school in my state. My public school has a pretty good computer science pathway, so I’d like to stay there since I am planning on majoring in CS in college.
@NEPatsGirl Public schools introduce you to a wider array of people. You meet the poor, the rich, and the in between. Private/charter schools are mostly less diverse. I will admit not ALL public schools are better; however, a good public school is always better than a private school.
@easyalesseffort in my state charter school are free to the student so you can find the same demographics as in the public school right next door. Private schools are often less diverse.
I go to a newer magnet school and also had to face this decision as well. One thing that i’ve noticed with the school that i go to now vs the public school is that the newer school always uses the “newer is better” tactic to allure new students. Newer may be better but there is always another side to every story.
Like the person above me saying that private schools are less diverse when I went to my new school, I had to also overcome people with different beliefs than I did (racism)…
My advice:
It doesn’t matter what school you go to as long as you’re happy and are getting a good education
@easyalesseffort You are assuming that all charter schools are private which is not the case. The three charter schools in my local (within 20 miles) are all public, all based on lottery, very diverse in many ways and the high schools are rated top in the state. The only lack of diversity I see is in sports. They do have programs but most kids who choose to enter the lottery are more academic focused and arts focused than sports. Please do your research before you post such absolutes.
In my city while the charter school is a free public school (by lottery) but it is not anywhere near as diverse as the traditional public school district. First it is hard because my city is extremely diverse. However the charter school is not just students from my city. The lottery assumes that parents know about it and in reality we have many non English speaking parents. They advertise in some languages but for example the local high school had over 60 languages listed on student’s paperwork for language spoken at home. They said 70 at graduation. Sure Spanish, Haitian, Vietnamese, and Chinese parents could read the literature etc but many others could not. The charter school is well known for college readiness but not for ELL, Special Needs, vocational training etc. Academically overall the charter school is better on paper in terms of test scores but they don’t have nearly as many ELL, special needs etc. If you compare top students to top students they get into the same schools.
Public K-12 school diversity or lack thereof tends to be determined by its attendance area.
Private K-12 school diversity or lack thereof depends on selection and self-selection factors. Ability to pay tuition often skews SES upward. Religious schools may have less religious diversity.
Public charter K-12 school diversity or lack thereof also depends on selection and self-selection factors, though ability to pay tuition is not a factor (however, high SES parents may be better informed about getting their kids into them, and may have more commuting options for their kids).
