His parochial school is more willing to meet his needs.
He can do John Hopkins CTY math at school.
Teacher allows me to send in appropriate work for him to do.
He can read whatever books he wants in class. He is not forced to read Cat in the Hat when he can read the NY Times.

What a complete waste of time the public school was. My son might as well have staying home all day watchinng TV.

1. You’re using broad stereotypes and generalizations by saying that public schools are violent, their class sizes are larger and there’s more bullying going on there. It all depends on where you live and what school you’re talking about.

2. Arguments with your kids about clothing vs uniforms is a pretty minor consideration in the grand scheme of things.

3. Yes, not only is there no state-mandated testing in private schools, which many would say is a bad thing, but private school teachers are not required to get certification by the state, as are public school teachers. There can be a huge difference among teachers in terms of qualifications and experience in the private school system.

4. Improved college transcripts across the board and more rigorous agendas at private schools? Again, i doubt it. Sounds like opinion, not fact.

5. Unlike you, I’d rather spend $ on my kids college education, not the lower grades, because many kids are still getting their act together when they are younger and only get serious about studies as they become young adults.

6. More involved parents at private schools? Another unfair statement, to be sure.

7. You say you save gas not having to drive your kids to religion class cus it’s taught at the private school? That really sounds like you’re grasping at straws here.

My 2 sons went to Catholic grade school through 8th grade, because we did not live in the area of the best public grade schools.

However, both have attended the local public high school, which is highly rated, and I have been satisfied with the results.

1. Our public schools DO require uniforms

2. They have more funding, better equipment (computer labs, etc.) than the private schools.

3. The high school provides free after school tutoring 3 days a week.

4. The school environment is very tightly controlled and feels safe.

5. There is less parental involvement than I would like, but parents are asked and welcome to be involved.

6. Teachers are extremely responsive to parental contact & requests for help.

7. Lots more choices of classes available than in private high schools.

8. Excellent Honors programs for qualified students.

9. My older son earned credit for 4 college classes (12 hours) with his high school classes.

10. Close to home & bus transportation provided – including after tutoring & sports practice.

If your public school does not meet your requirements, by all means I would pay for private school. But check it out to compare schools before deciding. Public education can be great, under the right circumstances.

My son, who is now a freshman in a private school, is smart, but did not test into “gifted and talented” classes in public school because, as I was informed, it’s not the grades that matter, but the way in which they think. I was concerned he’d fall throught the cracks at public school.

Why? Because as an admissions counselor at a private school, I saw many intelligent kids like my son come through. These were kids who had all A’s and B’s at one point in time, but were not in the G/T program. They started slipping through the cracks because of large classes where the teachers had to teach to the lowest common denominator.

These kids come to a private school with smaller classes and flourish. So of course they usually get better scholarships than they would have if they had stayed at public school, because their grades are better!

My son’s happy here…he’s happy with the academics, the sports, the Air Force JROTC program, everything. And he’s growing into a confident young man whose grades reflect his intelligence. That makes me a happy mom.

Improved College Transcripts: Based on the colleges that have accepted students from our local private schools, college admissions people give added weight to attendance at competitive parochial and private schools.

As a former admissions officer at the type of school has little to no part of the decision process for the applicants. Grades, experience, activities, letters of recommendations, but schools is nto considered.

So, if you have kids with some severe allergies (one of my mom’s friends has a daughter who is allergic to something in erasers), public schools may be the better option because you have more legal leeway to force changes than a private school that isn’t, doesn’t or can’t make those same accomodations.