All of our kids have gone to private high school and excelled. The oldest did extremely well acedemically, but got in trouble alot, so that was kind of screwy.
The point is, they had a much better time post high school because of it. Easier college entrance, etc. People are impressed by the school they went to.
Then there is our youngest. He’s now in his sophomore year at the same private school his older siblings went to. But he’s struggling. Really struggling. We stay on him to study and get his work in and everything, but he’s still lucky to pull C’s and an occasional B. I’m thinking this school might be a little to tough for him. It is a tough school with high academic standards. I think if he were in the public schools he would be ahead of everyone else.
So the debate question is, what’s better for a kids future: To go to a good private school but be only an average student there, or to go to public school but be an honor student?
One thing to consider is, he would have to go to Milwaukee Public Schools, and they suck.
I think your last line pretty much answers your question. There’s no sense sending your child to a school, public or private, that sucks.
Have you considered switching your son to a different private school? It can be tough going to the same school your older siblings went to, especially if it’s a small school and the teachers are inclined to draw comparisons.
All public schools suck. If you want to learn anything that is. The only reason I go to one is they give me lots of free time to do other stuff:) That and the fact that I would probably have to pay for any private school.
I beg to differ; the public schools I attended ranged from decent to brilliant. (Academically, that is. Socially, well, let’s just say there are some kinds of education one can do without.)
Some public schools suck, but so do some private schools.
pkbites, some kids just don’t excel academically. No matter the learning environment. If your kid would do better in a less demanding school, then that may well be better for him. Always being behind sucks, I can tell you from my own experience. I did much better in public school than in private. I actually learned a lot more.
Why not give it a try for a semester?
A lot of very successful people came out of the public school system.
Peace,
mangeorge
Hi PKbites, I sympathize. My two kids go to private school in milwaukee, too, 'cuz the local school just has so little to offer them (my wife agrees, and she’s the Gifted and Talented program assistant in the public school). My oldest loves it, and thrives on all the extra courses, and opportunities she’d never have in public school. My youngest is doing ok, but needs a lot of encouragement. What school do your kids go to? Mine are at USM
Unless your child is abjectly miserable in his current school, keep him there. Employers rarely look at school transcipts from pre-college days. I was an indifferent student until I got to college, then my cumulative average shot up. I have never been asked to produce my transcripts at a job interview. Ask your child what would de-stress his life. Would a change of school leave him having to find a new social circle? Would he be in for culture shock? Don’t rearrange his present to make way for his future without lots of input from your child.
I went to private school.
Other than the bleeding ulcers & class warfare, it was great.
Less than 10% of my class commited suicide.
But I was well prepared for college.
Disagree. The public schools I went to were quite excellent. It depends on a lot of factors, but the usual stereotype of sucky public schools do not hold. (And I went to private school as well, so I can compare.)
Anyway, perhaps this particular school does not have the correct environment for your kid. Or perhaps he’s just being lazy. Investigating other schools should always be an option, but so should investigated whether the kid is really trying that hard.
I also went to public school as a kid, but NOT in Milwaukee. That makes a big difference. Not all public schools suck, but I have to insist that MPS schools do suck!
Er… better time than what? Since you didn’t also send those kids to a public school, you really don’t know how things would have gone if they had attended one. It’s just one of life’s unknowable “what ifs.”
That being said, it sounds like your kids had a great time, so this school choice worked out for them as well as can be expected. Your youngest may or may not have an excellent experience with the same choice, after all, he’s a different person from the first two.
It seems like the best course of action may be to examine this private school and compare it to the alternatives in terms of what opportunities and resources they offer. If the school offers excellent resources for its students, even those who are struggling may gain something they would not be able to gain from an easier time in a public school. There’s also the factor to consider that private schools are not designed to accomodate everyone, and there’s a possibility that this school isn’t an appropriate choice for your youngest (although I’d think this would be expressed through Ds and Fs, not Cs and Bs).
Find out how college admissions have gone in the past for students from the private school who have been in the same performance range as your youngest, and compare that with the admissions rates from your local public schools.
Given this:
I’d say you already know you don’t want to send him to public school. Even though I completely disagree with Asmodean (not all public schools suck), if you don’t trust the public schools in your area, then don’t send him to one.
Re: Your oldest; it doesn’t strike me as odd that s/he was very good academically and got in trouble a lot; just because kids are really bright doesn’t mean they have a high propensity to follow rules.
I had a good/bad experience going to private shcool (see above).
I would like to veer here: Lois Fruend was the best friggin teacher I had ever. Not the best chem teacher, not the best bio teacher, not the best algebra teacher.
Or physics.
All of the above.
Public school - private school doesn’t matter; Even 3 yr olds can click big blue straight dope link I got up on my desktop.
Umm…
Has he been postin that makes even less sense that I usually do?
If you ever live in California, don’t send your kids to public schools. Your kids will end up dumber coming out than they were going in.
Keep your youngest in the private school. I go to a private school, and while my grades aren’t awesome, it’s a better learning environment than public schools. A lot friendlier, with way better academic programs. I don’t know if that’s what your situation is, but maybe it’s similar.
Ok, I respect all of your views. But, I also know how it is to be in Private school. I was in private school for 5 1/2 years. I excelled in my grades, school was easy, and all. But, I hated school. The people were horribly rude and a bunch of little rich snobs. Yes, sometimes, Private schools have a better learning curriculum than public schools. I was in a private school for about 6 years, then I moved to Louisiana about 3 months ago. When I moved, I BEGGED my parents not to make me go to a private school. I won, FINALLY!! I started public school in january. I have been in Public school now for 2 months and I LOVE it. They offer SOOOO much more to do acedemically than any pri. school I have ever seen. You actually have a choice in what you take. I like that. So, those are just a few reasons I like Public schools as opposed to private schools. And that coems form someone who was on the inside. Oh, and by the way, in private school, they focus on only one thing, LEARN LEARN. Yes, u ened to learn at school, but there needs to be a balance of an acedemic life and a social life. Thats just one more reason I like them. Well, cya later!!
If it’s any consolation, most college admissions offices are very familiar with their applicant pools. The people who work in admissions understand that a student with a B- average from a competitive school (public or private) is not necessarily a better or worse applicant than a student with an A average from a not-so-competitive school (public or private).
Of course, findng the learning environment that works the best for your child is going to work in his favor when it comes time for college admissions. I might be misreading one of your concerns in the OP – but if you did send him to a public school, that’s not an automatic disadvantage in the college application process. If the public school does a lousy job of educating him, then yes, that’s a disadvantage.
I went to public school K-8th grade and starting in 9th I went to private. I’m in 12th now. Most of my classes are really good, and some teachers leave more to be desired. The kids can be really snotty since most of them have money and/or are JAPs. I’ve hadn’t had any problems except for the intellectually challenged guidnace department.
I’d suggest seeing if there are any other private schools in the area that may be better suited for him, since you have reiterated that the public schools suck.
DigitalMuse - FYI ‘JAP’ is a fairly derogatory term. It’s akin to saying ‘I don’t want my kids to go to school with Spics and Niggers’.
(Also your school probably had an ‘intellectually challenged GUIDANCE department’ not a ‘guidnace department’.)
As for private school, my friends who went them generally had a better education than those who went to public school. On the down side, a lot of the ones who were ‘shipped off’ (instead of being day students) ended up resenting their parents after 4 years.
My public school was a joke. I was smart enough to get into a great college, but public school in no way prepared me for the level of work involved. A lot of my classmates went on to community college or other less than spectacular careers. Some are doing pretty well though.
