Choosing a School: Am I Being Too Paranoid???

I think that YOU help your family make the best out of thier school experience. Find out what is most important to you - teaching style - student teacher ratio - testing scores - teacher quality - athletics - extra cirriculars - PTA/PTO - Fine Arts - Languages etc. Figure out what is MOST important and find a school that meets them, then supplement the rest.
So, if you stress teacher excellence and testing scores and the public school offers both but you also want your child to learn dance or French but they do not offer those then get private lessons. If language and testing scores are most important than Private Schooling may be your route. I also think that nothing beats parental involvement.

Well, as I'm sure you know, there are stellar public AND private schools, and there are both that are awful. As far as academics, I hate to say it, but look at the test scores for the public schools your boys would attend. Are they in the gutter? Are they super-high? Are they average? Unless they're in the gutter, I would give the public school a try. You can always pull them out and go private.

As far as the types of people, good families, "knowing what's going on in these public schools," etc., don't EVER think that going private always means those things will be better. Yes, it means that you'll be dealing with more people who have the money to send their kids to private school, but there are plenty of amoral, nasty, mean and awful kids and families in private schools.

You also have to look at the curriculum and the way it is presented in both public and private schools that you would consider. Not every kid fits everywhere well. My oldest is in a public charter school close to us, but the other charter school most people flip out wanting to attend does not meet my standards. I know too many ex-teachers and families who have gone there and moved who say the kids after about 2nd grade are HORRIBLY behind. So, investigate the schools individually and then decide. See if you can find some people who have been and then moved to see how their kids were doing in the old school and if they were up to speed at their new school.

My kids have gone to public school but I love the school district that we are in we moved here for the schools. Before my oldest started school we lived in a not so good district if we were unable to move he would have gone to private school. I went to private school in 1st and 2nd and my older brothers went at the same time. Because I was young I was not too far behind but my brothers were very behind their class mates. It all depends on the curiculem. You also want to look at the size of the private school if that's the rought you take and how many scholarships they will be able to get going there. And if your child will be in any extra caricular activities does that school offer them. Like my oldest is in band and VERY gifted and most private schools in this area would not be able to give him may oppertunities to excele in that area. There are may things you have to think about.

Good Luck and God Bless!

I think it depends on the kid and the school. I went to private for one year (7th) because the fights in the school I would have gone to were so bad that kids were going to the ER in the middle of the day. My sister went to the public HS and my siblings went to the public elementary. However, that year I walked into class to be introduced to some heavy drugs. I never did them, or even knew what they were at the time - but WOW!

I also know here that the private HS has more drugs than any of the 3 public hs' combined. Each area is different.

My kids went to the best public school for two months. They (and I) HATED it. The scores are amazing because all they focus on is scores. The school they are in now (and the one they have spent most of their time at) gets decent scores, but focuses on developing them as people, not just grades. So we love it. We've had our issues there, some bigger than others, but I just stay very involved.

You really need to make your own decision on this and go on more than just the scores. Talk to parents, find out what you want and ask those questions.

My kids have done public, private and homeschool.
Our Christain school is hailed as one of the best. BUT it pales in comparison at the high school level to the public schools.
For an elementary education it was great, by 6th grade the math was a year behind. And they would not listen when I asked for a higher level.
Socially, my two homeschooled children are the more solid, secure, leaders in their Sunday school and Scout groups.
My public school senior cant' make a decision to save her soul.

The private schools can be elitist. Ours is no exception. My girls made the transition back and forth with no issues.

My 8th grader will go into the public highschool next year. She has been out since 5th grade. My 5th grader will go in the year after, into 7th. I pulled him after 2nd .

Check the curricula at all the schools, class sizes, extras like gym, art, music.

It just depends on the school and on the teacher. We live in an area with excellent public schools with a lot of funding. We have been very happy with them. We have also lucked out and our son has gotten excellent teachers and is in the GATE program. It is nice that he rides the bus with his neighborhood friends and goes to the same school as the other kids around him. Of course if we lived somewhere with awful public schools we would look into a private school. What are your public schools like where you live? I have to say I went to a private school for elementary school and I remember it well - it was no better than our public schools are here. I was ahead academically and I remember being bored most of the day. I now think, why in the world did my single mom pay so much money for me to be bored in school? Crazy. Good luck figuring this out!

My older two went private all the way through. I believe their education was worth the tuition. You don't get all the testing nonsense you get in the public schools, private schools just concentrate on educating.

My younger two went public because my third child is Autism spectrum. The private schools just couldn't handle his needs. Lord it is a pain in my butt how much I have to teach them on top of the stupid homework they already get. :(

If you can't tell if I had a choice all four of my kids would have been in private schools. My third is in seventh grade, we are hoping he has progressed enough to go to private schools for high school.

You may need to do research in your area. Around here the private high schools blow all but the best of the best public schools away. Some cities it is the opposite.

I live in Dearborn myself. I pushed to get school of choice to send my son to Howard. On the first day of school I pulled my son out of Kindergarten and put him back in our home school of Lindbergh. I moved him back because I did not like nor approve of his Kindergarten teacher. Since he was in Pre-school at Howard I did get to see things and hear things. She is a yeller and my son if very sensitive and NO one would listen to me and switch him to the other classroom. Not to mention it is odd when classes are suposedly randomly choosen that out of 6 kids in his pre-school class that all of the other students got the other teacher. There was nothing random about it but such is life and I was not going to let my son deal with a teacher who yelled in Kindergarten and could possibly ruin his love of learning and school. But I can say that I love Lindbergh. My son was reading about 3 months after turning 4 and he had no pre-school prior to that. Just me and my husband were home before he did 1 year of pre-school at age 4.5. The teachers that I have encountered through Lindbergh have been GREAT as well as the PTA. I have heard wonderful things about Haigh also. In fact if I remember correctly the Principle's child does ballet where my middle child does. The principle there is Very nice to talk to! Overall, I think that the schools in West Dearborn are all really good schools. I think that Lindbergh, Haigh, and Howard are all ranked as top schools in the the district for Elementry. I have heard nothing but good things also about Bryant Middle school. My oldest just started Kindergarten. I have talked a lot with my neighbors who have school aged children and one has a freshman at Dearborn High this year.

I hope that helps. Good Luck. It is very tough making these hard decisions but I think that No matter what you decide that your child will do really well because you are an involved parent! Being involved is the best thing!

First of all, you won't find the "perfect" school but you can find one that meets the educational needs of your children.

We are in a northern burb of Dallas, in the Plano school district which is one of the best. We moved to this area 20 yrs ago and we chose Plano based on schools, location, etc.

Our daughter is 17 (Junior) and has excelled in the public system in Plano. Yes, there are some schools in Plano that are not stellar but she has attended the best ones.

We had the option of private and have no financial issues with that, however, we prefer our daughter to be more diverse and get along with all types of people. When she is out in college and on the work force someday, she needs to know how to communicate, relate and get along with all types of people.

I am not saying this about all private schools but some children here who are in private school come out with a good education and then bam..they are out of their element in the real world.

We are very focused on the best colleges, etc and daughter has structured her schedule to be set for college.

You will have some students who go to school and are ok with getting by, ok with non stellar grades, and ok with not going to college. Our schools basically have 3 schools within the school.. you have the regular classes which are basic courses, the honors courses which are more challenging, the AP courses where you can earn college credit and the IB program where several children go. Our daughter is in all Honors and AP.

You have to find a good balance with school, home, etc and not put so much pressure on a child that they don't like school.

You'll get through it with ups and downs with BOTH private and public. It is how you are able to communicate and guide your children in the direction they are looking to go.

It is scary when your child starts school. It is our jobs as parents to be there to advocate (not helicopter). Go volunteer at the school so you can see the dynamics of how the school works.

Good luck to you and don't worry so much about it. Your children will be fine, not left behind, etc because you are there to watch them and guide them.