Private Elementary School vs. Public Elementary

Does anyone send their children to a private school vs. their public school? Would you be willing to share some reasoning behind this decision, etc? My husband and I have discussed this and he is a little more gung-ho for this since he went to Catholic elementary school and high school. I on the other hand have no clue!

Also, which catholic or private school does your child go to?

Message edited 1/17/2010 3:10:19 PM.

Re: Private Elementary School vs. Public Elementary

Message edited 1/17/2010 3:50:10 PM.

Re: Private Elementary School vs. Public Elementary

We send my dd to catholic school. Initially, the reason we chose Catholic School is because our school district is only 1/2 day kindergarten. Once we got there, we really liked the school. It's very family oriented and personal which I liked. Keep in mind, I"m sure you get the same at public school but since I don't have anything else to compare to this is my personal view.

Now that my daughter is approaching 1st grade, we need to make the decision to stay or go. After many discussion with my DH, we've decided to stay at the catholic school.

This may be very hard to believe, however, catholic school (elementary age) is going to be cheaper for us than public school. The reason being, we need before care and after care. My dd's school bus comes at 7:00 a.m. and drops off at 2:30. With catholic school, we do not need before care becaus the bus comes early enough for me to have decent work hours. After care is only $15.00 per day (you only pay for what you use). We only need after care for 3 days a week. So with the monthly tuition and after care fee, it will still cost us LESS than public school. Believe me we were very torn with this decision because we bought our house in our town because of the school district and it turns out we can't even use them because it doesn't work for the working class parent!

One of our other decisions to go to catholic school is because of the morals and values that are instilled in girls. Another fact for consideration is that I don't have to argue w/my daughter on what she's wearing. She knows, it's either her dress uniform or her gym uniform. Feel free to FM me if you have any questions.

Re: Private Elementary School vs. Public Elementary

We send our chiildren to a Catholic Elementary School (and will right on up through HS). It's a personal decision, and has absolutely nothing to do with the district we are in. We bought our house in a decent district that everyone seems to love, but I was brought up in the Catholic school system and I want the same for my children.

My DH is a product of the public school system and he turned out pretty well It wasn't an easy sell for him, largely due to finances. But we believe in it and are willing to make the sacrifices. So far, DS is doing exceptionally well in his K class and he loves it.

If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them in a FM

Message edited 1/17/2010 3:36:54 PM.

Re: Private Elementary School vs. Public Elementary

Thanks so much, ladies. Which schools do your children go to? I am looking for options in Suffolk County.

Re: Private Elementary School vs. Public Elementary

My daughter will go to a private (independent) elementary school. It's not religious based, it's just private. There are a million reasons someone would choose public or private schools for their kids, and many of those reasons may be specific to their circumstances or their children. For us, my daughter will be going for two reasons: 1)I believe an independent school education is what she needs and 2) I know first hand how amazing her school is because I teach there.
I have absolutely nothing against public schools, as I went through them in Suffolk County, however, I am very pro-independent school at this point in time for my child. It will offer a more differentiated approach to learning, she does not need to take state tests, therefore the teachers will be free to teach her more, she will receive art, music, pe, library, computers and spanish on a very frequent basis, much more than in public schools, the small class sizes (capped at 16) are a bonus because she will get a lot of individualized attention and the list could go on. For my daughter, it's just the right decision. If she was a different kind of kid, maybe I'd choose public school, but I just feel for her, it's the best placement.
Plus, you have to really think about specific schools when trying to choose private over public. All private schools have a mission statement and a teaching philosophy and you want to make sure that you agree with it before choosing a particular school for your child.
HTH.

Re: Private Elementary School vs. Public Elementary

I send my child to a private (independent and not religious) school in Suffolk County. I have several reasons but my main one had to do with the size of the class at our public school. I think the number of students per class is 32 which to me is just insane. I just can't see how one teacher can effectively teach a class that large. FM for more specific info if you want.

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What are independent schools? I love the fact of no state testing. I feel that teachers place such emphasis on this. What schools (if you would rather FM me I understand) do you sends your children to?

Re: Private Elementary School vs. Public Elementary

Also. How are the private schools held accountable if they aren't giving out NY State Assessments? How do you know if the kids are really learning everything they are supposed to?

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we tried public school and were not happy with how things were going. so we pulled my ds out and put him into a private school. for us it was a matter of his abilities. we needed a place that would challenge him alot more than the public school was doing. we had spoken to them and they were not receptive to making sure he was kept busy. plus when we trialed the school in question (they had an admission requirement) he loved it there and told us he absolutely wanted to go to the private school. its not a religious school. (although i am confused, his school still needs to take the state exams.)

Re: Private Elementary School vs. Public Elementary

sorry have nothing to contribute...but we are currently trying to decide what to do with our kids...

being a sahm - public school is the more "obvious" choice esp with all the taxes we are paying...but the schools are not that great...and we love our area so we are hoping not to move....so we may start to look into private/catholic schools...which is killing my DH bec of what it means financially...

i look fwd to reading others thoughts

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We are looking into both right now but leaning towards Catholic.

My DS won't be entering K until next Sept so we are going to start really researching things this yr.

We are going to go to both the Public and Catholic Open Houses and see what each one had to offer.

I also know a lot of Mom's that send their kids to either the public school in our SD, and the Catholic schools we are looking into.

Our SD is in the process of trying to move things around. So many people from my town are now sending their children to the public school and they have to make more room for them. (we share with another town).

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Re: Private Elementary School vs. Public Elementary

We plan to send our children to our local Lutheran school. We belong to the congregation there and like the integration of religion into the academic program as well as the smaller class sizes better ratios than our public school district and the fact that they offer foreign language instruction from Kindergarten. It is a hard decision for me, because I teach in my children's school district, and I believe that most of our teachers offer an excellent education to their students.

Re: Private Elementary School vs. Public Elementary

We were also deciding the same thing when the time comes to send our son to private or public... which schools do you send your children to?

I would like to do some research ~ Thanks a bunch!