Thread: Your thoughts about private schools

An interesting subject that can become passionate long before it suffers from being articulate.

My children went to some of the most diverse schools in Iowa, all public. They were well known for all the social and cultural problems that have been listed, drugs, gangs etc. But, my kids learned to live in those environments and to find their own way. Mostly because I had to learn to talk to them. This left an avenue of discussion about how to handle some of the stuff they were being introduced to. The schools are not very good at that part and sadly, a lot of parents just dump their kids into the system (whatever kind) and expect the teachers to work magic.

This is where I advocate public education. It's a wonderful thing to have a school where your kids are protected ideologically and get a good education. If they both occur in the same building it's a bonus. But, eventually, they will have to enter the world of work and deal with the bullies in the real world, who can't read their graduating diploma and can only talk sports, who have been Peter Principled upward to a high level of incompetence. Moving into that world suddenly can be very harsh, nearly abusive.

We moved when two of the youngest were transitioning from K-6 and 7-9 and entered a system where it was all white and seriously biased against anyone that wasn't born in that town. It was a disappointment all around. The oldest did okay and being a natural leader (sorry, bragging) survived by taking over her social group. But it set her behind and took her a couple years after school to realize that some education was not the best for her.

When the youngest was making a transition into the upper grades, instead of allowing her to stall like her sister did, we took her to a charter school. Here it's a semi-private arrangement where the school can get money from the state to support their program and they can provide an alternative to a traditional classroom.

She absolutely blossomed for the next four years. The lock-step, treat everybody the same (stupid) traditional classroom of lecture (if you don't care about learning, go ahead and lecture), was painful because they ignored a bright kid in favor of the behavior problems. Her new school was based on Project Learning. They still have the graduation standards to meet, history, math etc. but the entire responsibility for learning rests on the student. They pick what they are interested in doing and have to make sure that they include some history, some math, some hands on, whatever the list of requirements are. The teachers function completely as facilitators helping them find resources and staying on track. But the student has to manage their time, and do what we, as adults, all recognize as the world of work. Think about it. The boss says, I want you to take on this project. You have to organize your resources, plan, execute, evaluate, correct, re-execute and then do a presentation. The program was modeled on what we have to know to succeed in university and the world of work. Once she realized she could go as fast or slow as she wanted, she took off. She could feed her interests and still realized the responsibility of not necessarily liking everything that had to be done.

Example: She's very much interested in drama, video, stage arts. One of her graduation requirements was Home Economics. Usually something like kitchen or making clothing and not one of the most fun classes in a traditional school. She combined that with a history credit and a stagecraft credit and made a Victorian period dress for a play they were doing at the school. She wore it to a Renaissance Festival and was astounded by the number of offers to buy one when she explained she'd made it. If she was more interested she probably could have retired as a costumer. Even now, when she's involved in a play, she's always pulled out to keep an eye on the costumes as a side job.

The Bill Gates Foundation has seeded money all over the US for programs of this model. It'd bet you have one nearby and don't know it.

IF your kids are bright (meaning they come home bitching about being bored to death in school), this kind of program will set them up to take over the world. The teachers are happier because the students are learning. Parents are happier because it's obvious about how much happier the kids are and how much they work on things that are interesting for everyone.

To quote our current president: It's much easier to succeed with success than it is with failure.

I attended a private, liberal arts focused school until the 9th grade. While I know some public schools are excellent, and they play an important role socializing you into your community, I wouldn't trade my by private school experience for anything. It exposed me to a lot of things many kids my age, or older, would never know. Its an important part of who I am. If it feels right, and you trust yourself, give it a try.

Jordan

I went to private school and now i am all ****ed up. I blame the system! No no, private school is great to n exten IMO just like there are pro's and con's to public school, in a private school you take the good with the bad.

I went to private school (properly called parochial school since it was Catholic affiliated) and got a much better education than I would have if I had gone to public school in my area. Additionally, the college application process was much easier on me as I had built in public service (my school required it), and the diploma requirements involved more credit hours than the public school graduation requirements. Grade school was in uniforms, high school had a dress code. There are some incredible public schools and there are some crap factories too. Same with private schools. On the whole, do the research for what is available to you in your area and price range. Interview everyone, sit in on some classes, find out graduation rates, college acceptance rates, and extra curricular participation. The higher the better on these. Ignore test scores. That is my opinion.

-Rob

Originally Posted by Sue

As a child, did you attend a Private School that was Christian based? Or as a adult have you sent your child or grandchild to a Private School? I am looking for opinions both adverse and positive.

If you have any thoughts to share, I'd love to hear them.
Sue

I think it just depends on the school in question. There are some general qualities that are often associated with public or private, but I think such an important decision requires the schools in question to be evaluated individually. There are some private schools I would never send my kids to, and many public schools I would never send my kids to in the Tulsa area.

I myself am a product of small town Iowa public schools of the '50s through '65. This was a period when Iowa's education standing was very high.
My children attended public school in the Atlanta area for the first two years, then we moved to Tennessee. My wife was most distressed about the quality of public education in Tennessee, and I had moved to where the schools were very good (in the opinion of locals). My children finished their education in a private Christen school. Cost a bit (we received a volume discount), but two of my kids have thanked us, and the other received a much better education than he would have in public school.