Thoughts About Private School

Oh, I feel your pain! We went through your exact same situation a couple of years ago. I too grew up in MO and thought the school system was absolutely fantastic. With my oldest, now entering 2nd grade, we really struggled whether to send him to private or to public. We too live in Plano ISD. We actually didn't make our final decision until a week before school started because we were so on the fence. We decided to go the public school route and put all of the money that we would have spent on private school tuition into a fund for his college so that he wouldn't have to worry about any student debt.

I agree with the other response that the individual teacher makes a huge difference. Our first year, the kindergarten teacher was less than stellar. We thought we had made a huge mistake and started researching private schools again. However, our son expressed how much he loved his school and all of his friends there, so we decided to give it one more try. The teacher he got for first grade was absolutely outstanding. Not only did the parents all love her, but all of the kids and other staff members did as well. In addition, we hired a private tutor over the summer to help keep his reading skills up and we will continue with her throughout the school year, just to give him the extra individual help he may need.

Our youngest son is starting kindergarten this year with his older 2nd grade brother at a Plano ISD elementary school. Looking back, I am really glad we made the decision to stick it out in public school. I feel like not only are they getting a great education, but socially they are growing at a rate I don't think they would at a private school. They are exposed to a much broader range of different religions, races and socio-economic classes. I don't want my children growing up in a bubble, not exposed to all of the great differences our country offers.

When it comes down to it, do what feels right for you and follow your gut. In our case, we decided to go the public school route after much debate and it worked out well for us. Good luck in your decision making! It's a big deal sending your baby into kindergarten! :o)

The schools in Plano, esp. West Plano are excellent. I would never consider a private school in a good school district, save that money toward a college fund for your child so he doesn't have to come out of college in debt and has a good start in life. I went to public school in a far less regarded system than Plano's. It taught me real life and real people and how to deal with it. I still got a good education, have a master's degree and an awesome career. In a district like Plano's, public school is a great option.

Our eldest entered kindergarten this year, and we really struggled with this question ourselves. We are also a mixed Jewish-Christian family. I spent a LOT of time looking at schools last year, and eventually determined that we would either send our son to Greenhill (a private school in Addison) or to an IB charter school (I was looking at North Hills Prep and Westlake, both kind of far from you). My husband and I absolutely fell in love with Greenhill, and he was accepted there. He also got into North HIlls Prep. It was a very, very hard decision for us, but we decided to give the charter (i.e. public) school a chance first because the private school is so expensive ($19K plus) and we have 3 kids. My husband still isn't 100% happy with the decision not to send him to Greenhill, but the burden on our family would have been huge ... and we figured that it also would have negatively impacted our kids if we couldn't afford to do other things we wanted, like go on an occasional vacation. Anyhow, we figure that we can always try to get them into the private school again when they are older, if necessary, and that will allow us to save up some money in the mean time.

Anyway, my main thoughts are to keep in mind that what you choose for this year doesn't have to be what you do forever. Also, if you are looking private, check out Greenhill because its amazing. Good luck.

Check out Beth Torah preschool in Richardson, TX.

My daugher will start at PISD next year, and I've struggled with the same concerns. One of my neighbors went the private route through an excellent Montessori that has no religious affiliation, and my other neighbor sent their daughter (the same age) to public. His daughter is thriving at public school. The nice thing is that our school district is exemplary, so we know it's a really good school system. You probably won't really go wrong with choosing public vs.private, but it is possible that private may be even better (or could be worse). Another nice thing is that the class size restrictions for kids below 3rd grade in TX are lower than othe parts of the country (in Indiana, max size for Kindergarten is 31 students).
Personally, if he isn't already in a pre-school, I'd try to enroll him into PISD's Pre-k program at Beaty Early Elementay to see how he does there. It may be too late to get in for this semester, but you might be able to get in for 2nd semester. My neighbor's daughters have gone through that program, and it did a great job preparing the kids for school.

You live around some great schools. Save the money you would spend on private for college. I have to respond to the statement that public school teachers are "burned out." There are excellent teachers and not so great teachers in both public and private schools(I attended private and my kids public). Your child will have a more successful time in school if you have a positive and supportive attitude toward all teachers. Good luck with your decision.

I am in Plano. I have been a substiitute teacher at the same elementary school over 10 yrs. I love it and the teachers there are far from burn out mode. Our elementary school alone has had 3 Plano Teacher of the Year's and several runner's up.

Many of the schools in Plano are Blue Ribbon, exemplary, especially West of Central Expressway.

If we were not in Plano, we probably would have considered a private option. However, at the same time, we feel the importance for diversity for our daughter and learning to adjust, get along with and work well with all types of people.

I don't know what area of Plano you are in. My daughter is at Plano West which was named in the top 1% of best High schools in America by Newsweek last year. They have an awesome program and the majority of the students go on to great colleges.

If you go to a charter school in Allen will you need to move to Allen? Allen has great school. Our address is Allen but we are in the Plano school district. We moved to this area 20 yrs ago based on the school system because we knew we would have a child.

Since your child is heading toward K, have you checked out and visited the school he would be going to? Meet the staff, sit in on some classes... I know this is welcomed for new families who come into the area so they can get a feel for how the school works without crossing it off the list before it is ever given a chance. Your potential elementary school could be the best fit for you and you don't know it because you haven't given them a chance.

We pay a huge amount of taxes for the schools here and for me... our daughter has received a very good, well rounded education. Colleges currently talking to her are Duke, Baylor, and USC (Duke is her first choice)

Best wishes.