Selecting Private or Public School for high schooler

[fantesia28]

Hello-

I have never posted on this side of the board, but am hoping that I can get some insight from other parents.

I recently moved to a more rural area and we are having some issues determining which school to send our daughter to. The only public school option that we have is to send her to a school that is 16 miles out of the way away from our home. I have some concerns with the drive time and her being able to participate in extracurricular activities as well. In addition, many of the kids that go to this school are from a rural community and therefore I feel that the culture is somewhat different from what we are accustomed to. In addition I have heard alot about a higher incidence of drug usage at this school (though I know this is a risk every where). This school is on the A+ school listing which means they score well on their testing, etc. It is a larger school, has sports available, but it will be harder to get her home since we live so far away and transportation/carpooling will most likely not be an option (I work FT, so it's hard for me to be able to get her as I work 65 miles north of the school).

The other option is a private school located about 2 miles away from our home which offers a good solid education, ability to earn college credits while in HS, has sports and is a much smaller school. If money were not an issue, this would be my first choice. However, a great private school comes with a price tag - this one will be $7,000 annually.

So... I am looking for feedback from other parents and what your experience has been with public verse private schools. This is a really hard decision and any input you could give would be so much appreciated!!

Thanks!

[DiannaK]

in my opinion .... I'd go with the private school .. hands down. (putting on my flame retardant suit)

I uunderstand the price tag ... I've wanted my daughter(#1) to go to Catholic school since she was born! However, I waited until the 6th grade ... partially due to money reasons, more so because DH (#2) was supportive of the idea, while XH was not. (because of the price tag)

Obviously money is a con ... but I consider it an investment. I went to a rural public high school, which was VERY good ... AP classes, Honors programs, etc. A lot of the folks I graduated with went on to some very exclusive private colleges.

Here are the reasons I chose private school for my daughter
--smaller class sizes
--teachers who are more involved. They seem to care more about how your child is doing
--associating with like minded people ... We live in a "rural suburb" of a major city. The majority of folks around us are blue collar. Nothing wrong with that ... but that's not what we do. I want DD with people who are going on to college, having a professional career, etc. Also .. it's a Catholic school .. parents are primarily conservative Catholics .. once again, similar to our family.
--opportunities for different things .... my daughter is not an athlete, but there is more of a variety of sports/extra-curricular programs offered at the private schools we are involved with
--service focused opportunities. In our Catholic schools, students (once they hit 7th grade) have required service hours. This is an important concept to foster, in my opinion. I want DD1 to know that she is very fortunate, and we are called to help others who may be struggling.

That's all I can come up with at the moment.

As far as the price tag is concerned, I feel your pain. I look at it as an investment ... last year, I invested $5000 in DD1s education. I can spend that money for "stuff", or I can spend it on educating DD1. To me, school is more important than driving a better car.

We also have a stewardship program ... this year, my tuition will be tax deductible .. will be a "charitable donation" instead of tuition. As far as high school is concerned, I am starting to put back money now. Also, DD1 has been involved in a summer program designed for "at risk" students ... it's supposed to teach them leadership skills, etc, and it will hopefully mean a bit of money toward her tuition. There are also a few scholarships available. I'll be looking for all that I can find ... by that time, I'm sure I'll have 3 children, and school + money will be an even bigger factor.

Hope this helped ......

[MillingNome]

I am kind of in the same boat only I know which way we will go. We do have many public school options that would put dd, 13, at a school that appears on paper to be good. But she will be going to a private school. We're looking at that as a choice because I firmly believe in small schools. Most the public schools that she could go to have upwards to 1000 or more students. Way too many, imo. The one she is leaning to has a 100 student limit for each incoming freshman class. We're not poor but neither do we have extra money. Dd will have to be part of the work program to offset some of the tuition... which I think is great. It puts a real value on learning. At this school, many students are part of the work program and there is not the same stigma attached to as at some other private schools.

Almost all the students who start 9th grade there graduate and over 90% of them go straight onto college and/or technical training. To me, that matters more than how the school ranks on No Child Left Alone... ehrrr, I mean Behind test. And it is not because they are getting all these rich well-to-do families. Quite the opposite. It's in the inner city and pulls most its students from there. It is just drilled into their heads that this is high school and afterwards you go to college. She will be surrounded by kids who are also getting that same message from home. They academically are great. And since they don't have 1000 kids, if she wants to do sports or the like, she will have a much better chance of being able to.

I am not anti-public school. My ds, 8, goes to one that is great. Come the following school year, he will be going to a private school though.

HTH

[SusanElizabeth]

Wow. Where I live all of the private schools cost between $25,000 to $30,000 a year. So the $7,000 seems like a very good deal, because there are so many plusses to it: close to home, a good education, college credits, etc.

[E.V. Lowi]

We tried public school for our dd and it didn't work for us. Private Montessori up to the 8th grade had been wonderful for dd. The cost was about 8500.00/yr which we struggled to pay. There are all the extra involved lots of trips that cost extra and other things including but not limited to the school fundraisers. The senior trip to Italy was about 3000.00 extra, but what a life changing event! We are by no means wealthy, jus solidly middle class. We sacrafice a lot to keep dd in private school but it is paying off in terms of achievement and attitude. For H.S she won a scholarship to an arts academy boarding school, and loves it there. Tuition including room and board is about $49,000.00 without the scholarship. : Needless to day, we drive old cars don't take vacations, haven't seen the inside of a beauty salon in years.

[enkmom]

Well, I'll wade in. We chose parochial high school for our children, because we thought my daughter in particular would benefit from the smaller classes. There are many pluses to a "private" school, but no one talks about the pitfalls much, and our daughter found all of them.

First, at small private schools, any deviation from "the norm" is immediately noticed, and can brand a child for the rest of their time in school. There are more groups to be part of in a larger (in our town, public) school. My daughter is very into choir and drama, and her only opportunities at her high school were a Spring show every year. In the public school, she could have participated in a large-scale Fall musical, 2 winter plays, and various swing and show choirs that met all year long. And, all those caring, informed teachers are wonderful, but when it feels like EVERYBODY knows your business, it can send a reserved child (like my daughter) right over the edge. Finally, I know I didn't do my children any favors by ensuring they only associated with other white, upper-middle class Catholics.

My advice to you is to look in to ALL the experiences each school offers, and get your child involved in helping make the final decision. Any decision is not set in stone, and if one school isn't working out, you could try the other next year or next semester.