Public v. Private Schools

[Kristen]

I know we've had some great discussions on homeschooling, but I was wondering what everyone thinks about private schools. Would you send your child to private school over public school? Camille is quite a few years off, but I'm looking into a local private school that is actually closer than our public school. My main concern is the mega elementary schools that have become the norm here. 10 classes per grade with around 600 - 1000 kids in a school.

Thoughts?

[Nichole]

Kristen, we've been thinking about this lately as well. We have a mandated class size of 20 students (or less) for K-3 here in CA, but after that it's not uncommon for the higher grades to have 35 or more kids in one class! :woa: (that's more than my entire graduating class in South Dakota! :lol: )

Instead of private school, which are all Christian in my town and I'd prefer a secular education for my kids, we've been looking into charter schools here. They're part of the regular school district, but have more control over how they run their site and curriculum. If our boys don't do charter school for K-8, I'm almost positive they will for high school. The charter high school here is very good and I think it will be a better atmosphere for learning than a high school of 2000+ kids.

[TtownAnne]

We struggled with this a bit - mainly due to the fact that DH went to private school from Day 1 and "of course private school has to be better, if you're paying for it!" Whereas I went to public school from Day 1 and hey, I didn't turn out to be an ax murderer! (hahahaha I initially typed ex murderer! :lol2: ) So we compromised - he wanted her to go to a parochial school, and I said no way, if he was so adamant about it, then we'd at least be sending her to a parochial school of a religion we actually followed! He said there was no way he was subjecting her to Catholic school. So the only other option was private school, which is how we settled on Montessori.

[Nichole]

Oh yeah, I just though of another reason why we're not jumping on the private school route. Here in CA, private schools are not required to hire credentialed teachers and that makes me a little uneasy. So, just because you're paying for a tuition, doesn't mean you're necessarily getting a better education. That was true for a guy I knew in college; he went to a Catholic high school and he had no business being in college. D U M :lol:

I am by no means saying all private schools are bad and are full of bad teachers, or that all products of them are dumb. Just saying. [/disclaimer] :lol:

[Kristen]

The one I've looked at currently meets the same standards as our public schools and have teachers that have their credentials. My one iffy point at the moment (and could change in the future) is that it is a more fundamental denomiation than we are (but it claims to be a christian academy and doesn't use that denomination in its name.)

[Alyssa]

I don't have a choice for K, so Aidan is going private next year. (And maybe the year after for K again...but that's a whole 'nother thread about school cutoff dates. :) )

Anyway, we are trying to move and our primary reason is to get into a good public school district. I don't think our current town is dire, but there are a lot of local battles and I want to try to get away from that. I want to settle into a COMMUNITY that has family at the center of it, from good, community-focused schools to local sports and clubs. And I want to have to avoid driving all over creation if my kids make friends in different towns.

Anyway, if we stay here (can't sell), I might end up sending them private. But for the reasons stated above and the financial factor, I want to avoid that if I can.

[Dennis]

It depends on the specific schools. Private isn't necessarily better or worse than public. Some public schools are excellent and some suck. Same with private.

[Bridget]

My kids aren't school aged, but OK if join in? We have had this debate as well due to the rural area where we live. Logistically it would be difficult to send the kids to school here with us working so far away (if he's sick it would take at least an hour to get to him to pick him up which isn't acceptable to us) plus there's the before/after care issue.

We had some other issues with the school here, plus we felt like Caleb would benefit from a more structured/creative environment, so we pushed the issue now and decided to enroll him this fall in a private preschool which is part of a PS-12 school. If we choose to do so, he could go there until he graduates from High School.

We've always liked the idea of private school, but weren't keen on parochial since we aren't religious AND we'd have to tithe AND there are so many kids competing for the spots that even then there's no guarantee we'd get in! Luckily KC has a couple of really good private schools so that made it easy.

I'm excited and nervous about him going there. It's a fabulous school with a lot of things that I like: incredible art programs, a close-knit family environment, a very strong emphasis on academics while also pushing the arts, and enough athletic/extracirricular activities that you don't feel you are sacrificing anything much that you'd get with a public school. The only thing they "lack" is a band/orchestra and football (and we won't let him do football anyway).

The school has been around since the 1910's or 20's and has a long and strong academic foundation, so we knew we weren't giving anything up on the teacher issue (excellent point, though, Nichole).

For us, we kind of made a list of what was important to us, then pros and cons of the public school here and the private schools available. We're going to try the private route for a year and then evaluate whether we wish to continue! (And if we can afford to continue. :lol: )

[Lyndee]

I went private school all the way up to 11th grade and spent my last year in public school. I've been an elitist and already made plans for my future kids to go to private school as well. :snob: DH went to public schools only and wished he had gone private.

Right after we had Lauryn, we started saving up for private school- along with saving up for college etc.

Private schools in my area cost at least 10K a year plus the cost of after school care. The school we were interested in is $24K a year. :eek: yes.

So after much deliberation and much research, we've made a decision to send our kids to public school instead. :woa:

Why the 180?

-I have come to accept that the public schools in my county, which happen to be among the best in the nation, will be good enough for my kids. After doing a lot of research and interviewing parents in my area, there's just no reason for us to go private. The school system is excellent, has good infrastructure and support for parents.

- In talking with two of my coworkers (one has 2 kids in private, the other one has 2 kids in public), they said that the private school teachers are mass migrating into the public school system because the pay is better. We did other comparisons and private school just isn't compelling at all. :dunno:

- Why should we spend the money if we've already paid taxes? It's not like we're depriving our kids of a good education when they can get a good education for free! Sure we can afford private school. We've already got enough saved up to pay in full a year ahead of time but we realized that we want to afford other things as well- frequent vacations, save a bunch, work less and retire early.

- And lastly, we got the *sign*-- a spankin' brand new elementary school is opening up less than a mile from our house. :ura1: And they have full day kindergarten :woo:

Free, convenient, well-rated school system. Yes, public school will be good enough for my kids. :supergrin:

[Alyssa]

Lyndee - I don't know which town you're in, but I always read Newsweek's best high schools articles, and U'm always struck by how many in NoVA are on there. :nod:

[Jen]

I would prefer that Kalyssa eventually go to a non-religious private school. We are sending her to public Kindergarten next year and she went to a Pre-k Montessori school.

I doubt we will be able to put all 4 kids in private school and right now we live in a decent school district so it may not be a problem.

The city school district here (HISD) is known to be terrible. There are several areas where teachers make crazy amounts of money because the schools are so bad and dangerous they basically are offering 'hazard pay' to teachers to be employed there.

I can only think of one private school off hand that is not affiliated with a church and it's super expensive and exclusive. I think when she's a bit older I will do some more research and see if I can find a school that will help her develop to her full potential.

[AmyP]

We have a similar problem here, but thankfully we have a while to figure it out.

Our elementary school is not a very good one. The bus stop is in front of my house and I've seen the hoodlums that board it every day and there's absolutely no way I'm putting Sarah on that bus. I realize those kids won't be there by the time Sarah is old enough to be in school but it's the type of kid that concerns me and I don't see that changing.

I really want to send her to this nice elementary magnet school. The problem? It only accepts children from certain school districts, not ours. My mother lives in one of those districts, though. So, we may have my mother sign something saying she is the daycare provider to get her into that school district and then apply for the magnet school. It's a lottery drawing, but the good part is we only have to get Sarah into the school. Should she have a younger sibling attend elementary school while she is still there, her younger sibling is automatically grandfathered in.

Another possibility is using my friend's in-law's address. They live across the street from a very nice elementary school that's only about 10-15 minutes away and would probably sign as daycare providers if we asked them to. The same friend is looking for a house in that school district right now, so maybe she'll have one by the time Sarah starts school and she already said she'd be happy to sign whatever to get Sarah into that school.

There is a Catholic school five minutes away, but neither of us are keen on sending her to Catholic school. There are private schools in the city but they're far away and royally expensive.

[Jayne]

Tylor has been in Public School so far all the way. He will be in 5th grade next year. Alyssa is in a presbyterian preschool but will start Public K in the fall of 2007. I think that our Public school system is rather good. They have a lot to offer and while sometimes struggle the city seems to be gearing themselves to work through the struggles. We just past a HUGE levy in May! Tylor and Alyssa are going to the same public school system that Dan and I went through, that my sister and brother and Dan's sister went through. Granted it is not the best in the state. My friend Stacy actually teaches in the best Elementary in the state of Ohio (at least it was 2 years ago..I haven't checked lately) In my area you can either send them to Catholic school through 6th grade and put them in public or you can send them to private all the way. The only other way around this is to drive them over 45 minutes to a charter or montessori school and that isn't something we can do or afford. :dunno:

[Barb]

My son starts Pre-K next month at a Catholic school. One of the main reasons we're doing this is because we feel the structure will be good for him. Also, the public school in our district doesn't offer pre-k. And lastly, the IL's are helping pay for it. It's a good school, there will only be about 10 kids in his class. I like everything about their program and really liked the teacher and principal when I met them.

The public schools here are pretty good, and if we ever feel like the Catholic school isn't right for him, we'll have him go there. I guess I don't really have any strong opinions for or against either one.

[gulp!]

Anyway, we are trying to move and our primary reason is to get into a good public school district. I don't think our current town is dire, but there are a lot of local battles and I want to try to get away from that. I want to settle into a COMMUNITY that has family at the center of it, from good, community-focused schools to local sports and clubs. And I want to have to avoid driving all over creation if my kids make friends in different towns.

Exactly why I want to move to the town Alyssa grew up in! :lol:

This debate rages in our household. Our town's school system is pretty bad. Well, I should rephrase that. It's not great. The elementary schools are probably o.k., but there is only one high school to service the entire city, so its a 2,000 student school. We live in an urban city, so the public schools have that "city school" reputation. On the other hand, it's certainly a better reflection of society as a whole, so our kids would be exposed to other kids of all races, religions, creeds, etc. Unlike the 99% white upper middle class public school that I went to.

Both of us went to public school, and my experience in meeting other kids from private schools were generally negative. I know that not all private school kids are rich spoiled brats that piss away mommy and daddy's money, but I went to college with quite a few of them. :awink: So my viewpoint is skewed.

And then there is the price tag. Minimum of $15K per year. :faint: For my 5 year old to go to kindergarten!! However, I want to give our kids the best education they can have, so we struggle with what to do.

Since it's unlikely that we will move to Alyssa's childhood town by kindergarten registration time, I think we'll likely apply for both public and private, and see what happens.

[Melissa]

It depends on the specific schools. Private isn't necessarily better or worse than public. Some public schools are excellent and some suck. Same with private.
This is exactly what I'm going to think of when it is time for Katie to go to school. The quality of education is first and foremost, if the public school is better then that is where she will go, but if there is a great private school and the public school is awful, we'll consider it.

[Shel]

Kaleb and Jacob went to private school. Last year was their first year in public school. So far we've found good and bad points about both. You are going to have the same problems in private as with public as far as kid behavior, however the teachers in private school have more means to deal with things as they are not under the constraints of state mandated rules where teachers have no power anymore. Plus, public schools are normally larger, so, as Kaleb puts it "it's the same bad stuff here, there is just so much more of it."

Private school education can be wonderful. We live in a good school district, but the private school was great. Kaleb and Jacob are WAY ahead of their counterparts who have never been to private school as far as their math and language skills go. Jacob was reading at a college level in 3rd grade. We wanted to give them a good start on the basics in classes and in behavior and structure, then turn them loose in the public school to give them more opportunities. So far it's worked well. So well we are scrimping to hopefully do the same for Riley and Owen.

[Melissa]

This debate rages in our household. Our town's school system is pretty bad. Well, I should rephrase that. It's not great. The elementary schools are probably o.k., but there is only one high school to service the entire city, so its a 2,000 student school. We live in an urban city, so the public schools have that "city school" reputation. On the other hand, it's certainly a better reflection of society as a whole, so our kids would be exposed to other kids of all races, religions, creeds, etc. Unlike the 99% white upper middle class public school that I went to.
Well, I went to Danbury High school in Danbury, CT, which fits the profile that you just posted. However, I would say that DHS was an excellent school because of all the classes it was able to offer. When I went to DHS there were 2500 students in the school. If you do the math, figure 25 students per class, at any given class period there are about 100 different classes being taught. With that type of variety that could be a huge benfit to the students, there are more choices for them.

[Lyndee]

Lyndee - I don't know which town you're in, but I always read Newsweek's best high schools articles, and U'm always struck by how many in NoVA are on there. :nod:

Isn't it just awesome? :nod: It's such a bonus for us! I didn't really pay attention much to the public schools around my area because we were set on going private. I've been seeing many articles here that private schools are losing their enrollments and having a hard time attracting a diverse group of kids.

We also came to the realization that while going private was a great idea on its own, we had to reassess our whole family financial landscape. While we think it's noble for parents to "sacrifice" to pay for tuition, we wanted to have money to do other things in life that will help us enjoy our kids. If we were to pay 24K a year x 2, we wouldn't have any fun money left! Doable if we had one kid but not with two.

Education is what you make of it- private or public. We'll start off with public and see how that works. We'll make adjustments if needed when the time comes. But right now, I'm so thrilled about our decision to go public.

[Missy&Maggie]

Maggie will go to public school. I went to public school K-12, in a so-so school district and did fine. We now live in one of the best districts in NJ and I want her to go to public school. Not to mention we can't afford private school around here, and the only non-denominational ones are 1. for boys only :rolleyes: or 2. too non-traditional for me.

[Dennis]

Well, I went to Danbury High school in Danbury, CT, which fits the profile that you just posted. However, I would say that DHS was an excellent school because of all the classes it was able to offer. When I went to DHS there were 2500 students in the school. If you do the math, figure 25 students per class, at any given class period there are about 100 different classes being taught. With that type of variety that could be a huge benfit to the students, there are more choices for them.

I think there are pros and cons to any school size. My high school was about 1,000 students and I thought that was a good size. It was small enough that you knew pretty much everyone in your grade, and you didn't feel like you were lost. And it was big enough to offer the variety that Melissa is talking about. We were able to have a lot of sports and acitivities, but you if you wanted to go out for a team you had a decent chance of making it. At a bigger school it becomes harder to make the teams, and at a smaller school you can have a hard time getting enough kids to field a team in some sports.

[gulp!]

Well, I went to Danbury High school in Danbury, CT, which fits the profile that you just posted. However, I would say that DHS was an excellent school because of all the classes it was able to offer. When I went to DHS there were 2500 students in the school. If you do the math, figure 25 students per class, at any given class period there are about 100 different classes being taught. With that type of variety that could be a huge benfit to the students, there are more choices for them.

OT for Melissa~

Since I went to Brookfield High, I know a lot about Danbury High, and I do view Cambridge's public school to be quite similar. You make very valid points- the high school here has amazing opportunities for high performing students- chances to take classes at Harvard and MIT, for example. So I think my kids could do quite well educationally.

However, I worry a bit about the social part of an urban school. How did you find the student mix at Danbury High? While I want my kids exposed to lots of different types of people, I am a little nervous about them being exposed to things like gang activity and the like (less prevalent in Danbury, I suspect, than Cambridge).

In short, I think my kids would probably do just fine in our public school. But I worry that I'll put them in a situation where they're starting at a disadvantage.

[Melissa]

OT for Melissa~

Since I went to Brookfield High, I know a lot about Danbury High, and I do view Cambridge's public school to be quite similar.
That is why I brought it up, I remembered we are from the same area. :awink:

However, I worry a bit about the social part of an urban school. How did you find the student mix at Danbury High?
Well, there were certain places in the high school that I just didn't go to, like the bathroom near the cafeteria. Not that it was dangerous, there was too much smoke for my taste. There were just so many people in the school where if you kept your nose out of the way, you weren't bothered that much. Plus, since I was in band, there were always people that I knew around that would have helped out if necessary (the one really positive thing about band, especially when I was in college was that you automatically knew 150+ people).

Now, if the school you are describing is similar to Bridgeport or Hartford, then I would say no way!

[Bridget]

Dang. My whole high school averaged about 135 students including all four grades. :lol:

[Melissa]

Bridget, I had 450+ in my graduating class. :lol:

[Shanna]

My kids will be going to public schools, at least at this point. However, we are not sending them to the public schools in the district that we live in. They will be going to the district my parents live in (which is 5 minutes from my house).

I have considered private school, as there is a great private school in our town, Union Christian Academy. However, I've thought more about it and almost decided that public schools are fine.

I think it matters more as to how involved a parent is with their children's education than the school district :dunno: They all teach basically the same things, it's the "extras" that are different. I think that as long as you are keeping up with your child's progress, they can excel anywhere.

[sheila]

I went to private school for k-8 and public HS. But my public HS was not exactly typical since the demographic was pretty private-esque. There were great opportunities for kids who went to the school, but the pressure was pretty intense, too. I don't know that I would want to subject my kids to more pressure than that for their high school. My elementary school rocked, and we just had a 19 year reunion-- no one wanted to wait the extra year. :lol:

We have debated the public/private thing here many times. And sinc GA is not exactly known for its quality education, I've been leery of the public schools. But we do live in one of the best districts in the state, and after talking extensively to people with kids in the public system, I think it will do well for my kids. If they start getting bored or seeming like they need more of a challenge, there are always extracurriculars available.

[Roger]

My public school was very good. (525 in the graduating class...) And, this in a state (Michigan) of good public schools.

Nonetheless, having gone to a college (Duke) where a large percentage of students come from private schools, I can say unequivocally that almost all the time the students from private schools were better educated and better prepared when they arrived. Things like range of exposure to academic disciplines, vocabulary, etc.; I found that myself and others from public school had a lot of catch up to do, even when compared with less intelligent students from public schools.

So (we live in GA), Abby will be going to private school and we will make whatever sacrifices necessary.

[Susan]

I went to private school and sometimes feel I had a lower quality of education than I could have had if I'd gone to public school. My school was small and not enough kids signed up for calculus my senior year so I didn't get to take it. (I'd have likely flunked it, anyway!) I took 4 years of German, but in my first quarter of German at UW I felt WWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY behind the others. My only other language options in HS were french or spanish.

My point is that for me, in a small school, I didn't have all the opportunities that a large school (public or private) offer. And I know I *skated* through chemistry and a few other classes without learning a darn thing. So I'm not convinced that the quality of education was better.

Also factoring in this decision for us is that we live in Northern Virginia (Loudoun County and schools here are run by county, not town) and have some of the best in the country. So I have zero desire to send my boys to private school. Maybe if we lived somewhere else with crummy schools (like Washington DC proper) I'd sing a different tune. But as long as we're here, its a no-brainer for us to use the excellent public school system.

[Alyssa]

Exactly why I want to move to the town Alyssa grew up in! :lol:
Its beecauze u now Im wicked smaht. :nod:

It's funny - none of the elementary schools even look the same as when I went there!! But I too would love to send my kids through that school system. I just don't want to live in a shack or live with the parents again. :crazy: And to your other point, there is a little more diversity than when I was there. Basically, the only diversity was bussed in from Boston. :shuffle:

[Alyssa]

Nonetheless, having gone to a college (Duke) where a large percentage of students come from private schools, I can say unequivocally that almost all the time the students from private schools were better educated and better prepared when they arrived. Things like range of exposure to academic disciplines, vocabulary, etc.; I found that myself and others from public school had a lot of catch up to do, even when compared with less intelligent students from public schools.

Interesting. I also went to a college that had a high % of private school kids and I didn’t notice that they significantly better prepared at all.

[sheila]

Many of the people I went to college with also went to private school (moreso in the first college than the second). I didn't notice any difference in educational level. It was more common to see a difference in attitude, though.

[Roger]

Many of the people I went to college with also went to private school (moreso in the first college than the second). I didn't notice any difference in educational level. It was more common to see a difference in attitude, though.

A lot of it probably depends on the particular private school. A lot of the Dukies went to *really* high end ones, so that sample may not be perfectly representative in the public vs. private comparison overall.

[Bridget]

Sheila, what do you mean by difference in attitude? I looked back in your previous posts, but I may have missed that. Sorry if I did!

[Shel]

Private school kids are spoiled :lol2:

[Bridget]

Private school kids are spoiled :lol2:

Aaah. I see said the blind man. :lol:

[Girlo]

Our kids will go to public school as well. :nod:

For one, the private, non-religious schools in my area are either run by administrators who just aren't the nicest people to work with (judging from the Montessori schools I've talked to) or they are insanely expensive. :( Plus, I worry about our kids interacting with snobby rich kids who would look down on my kids because they don't go to Europe every year or something stupid like that.

The school system we live in is pretty good and I'm not worried about it. :) I went to the public high school closest to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in WA. EVERYONE'S dad/mom was a high-level scientist/engineer (mine)/doctor. :lol: We routinely had finalists for a National Merit scholarship or a Nat'l Science Foundation award from our school, so I definitely wouldn't count that as substandard because it's public.

I believe you get out of your education what you put into it and we can certainly subsidize other activities/programs if our kids are motivated - Running Start, camps, etc. :) We're also working with Alex now to get him excited to learn and knowledgable of the world around him so he's not living in a tunnel. We feel very strongly that the more well-rounded he is and the bigger his world-view, the better off he'll be later. :nod:

[sheila]

:lol2: I wasn't saying that they were all spoiled. ...but some of them were. It was more that they assumed they were smarter than those of us who went to public schools. But when you sat down to talk to them, they weren't... and it took them longer to figure it out than it took me. :lol:

[Susan]

Alyssa -- remind me where you grew up? Lexington? My former neighbor (from Westford) grew up there and lived in one of the houses on the common so you'd probably know him. But I'm not sure my memory is correct... where was it? (Acton? Oy. I don't remember.)

[Girlo]

Hey Roger.....a girl from my hs class went to Duke too! She would have started in 1985....I'm not sure when you went there. :)

[Clare]

OT - Is Duke in NC? I think my cousins went there. Is that the Tarheels?

My kids go to Catholic school. We are not rich, or snobby or think we're smarter then everyone else. It was the way both DH and I were raised and we both wanted the same for our kids. We like the small, community feel of the school. We like the values (although we're not religious) and the fact that there aren't a lot of bad seeds. I think the chances of them ending up in gangs is zero to none, although I couldn't say the same if we sent them to a public school around here.

It will be a struggle financially but I fully intend to return to full-time work once they are all in school and my wage will be put away for their education. We calculated it once and 3 x private school fees is going to cost us nearly $200000 :faint: Not to mention college, but I think they'll be on their own there! :lol:

[Susan]

Hey Roger.....a girl from my hs class went to Duke too! She would have started in 1985....I'm not sure when you went there. :)

Roger's a youngin'. 1985 is a few years before his time. :lol:

[Susan]

OT - Is Duke in NC? I think my cousins went there. Is that the Tarheels?


Duke is the Blue Devils. The Tarheels are UNC.

[Girlo]

Roger's a youngin'. 1985 is a few years before his time. :lol:

:lol: I forget how old I am sometimes.... :lol:

[Susan]

:lol: I forget how old I am sometimes.... :lol:

You and me both, girlfriend. My 20 year reunion is next month (in Seattle). :woa:

[Alyssa]

A lot of it probably depends on the particular private school. A lot of the Dukies went to *really* high end ones, so that sample may not be perfectly representative in the public vs. private comparison overall.We certainly had folks from places like St. Pauls, Exeter, Spence, etc. But I went to a selective New England liberal arts school, not Duke...so we probably got some of the lower-end prep kids. :lol: That said, I'd agree with Sheila on the attitude difference. :nod:

[Alyssa]

Alyssa -- remind me where you grew up? Lexington? My former neighbor (from Westford) grew up there and lived in one of the houses on the common so you'd probably know him. But I'm not sure my memory is correct... where was it? (Acton? Oy. I don't remember.)Ahlington. :awink:

[Clare]

Duke is the Blue Devils. The Tarheels are UNC.

Aha, thanks. So they went to UNC then. Or maybe two went to UNC and on went to Duke. I've definitely heard of Duke.

[Lyndee]

I don't think that all kids who go to private school are affluent (does that equal snobby? :dunno: The private school we were looking at is right next to one of the offices where I work and I spent a few mornings observing what kind of cars were pulling up in there. For $24K a year, I was expecting some really nice cars. I was surprised to see Accords and Toyotas! A nice car here and there but definitely not the norm. I do wonder if the parents just can't afford to get the nice cars after paying that tuition!


....And just to add another reason for us choosing public school. This past year, I made some observations around our office on when people take off for vacations. You get to know the people who have kids in private vs public school because of vacation schedules. There are more parents with kids in public school- therefore, right around Spring break, fall break and all other county "holidays," nobody sets any deadlines. The parents whose kids are in private schools have more random schedules since each school has their own breaks. As a working mom, this is very important to me to know.

[Lora]

As of now, they boys will be attending the Catholic school at our church. We chose to do this because both Ed and I were brought up with a Catholic education and we would like the boys to have that same experience. It is going to require some financial sacrafices on our part but it is something that we feel very strongly about providing for our sons. My only hope is that our school continues to thrive because so many others have had to close in our diocese. We are fortunate that we have the school with the largest enrollment right and our pastor is a very strong supporter of keeping the tuition down as much as he can.

Lora

[schwanda]

For me it totally depends on where we live and the quality of the public schools. My older brother and I both went to public school and he went to Harvard. My husband went to public high school and went to Columbia (he actually went to Hebrew Day School until high school). Where we live in NY, the public schools are excellent. The property taxes are outrageous so the schools had better be good! Private school in NY cost about $20,000 or more per year. Definitely not worth it to me unless the kids aren't doing well in the public school system. Here in Baltimore the public schools are AWFUL. Private school seems to be the norm here. Of course we won't still be living here by the time that's an issue.
IMO there is a big difference between religious school and secular private school. My husband grew up Orthodox so it was expected that he would attend Hebrew Day School. Half of his day was conducted in Hebrew and they had extensive religious education on top of the regular learning. If the religious component is important to you, by all means send your kids to religious school!
My freshman roommate in college went to boarding school so I got to know several of the boarding school crowd. Not the best adjusted bunch ever, IMO! She was an athletic recruit (volleyball) so she wasn't the smartest girl either. I was very unimpressed! Obviously, some of the boarding school kids were outstanding but so were some of the public school kids. My high school had a high number of kids going to Ivies and equivilent so there were lots of AP classes, etc. I certainly felt well-prepared for college.
I don't have a problem with private school but, unless we're in a bad district, I'd rather not spend the $$$. Education is a huge priority to me so I will spend extra if we're dissatisfied in any way!

Amanda