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private school vs public school (catholic)

AndyL0711

AndyL0711

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my 5 year old is going to start kindergarten this september and we are still grappling with whether we should send her to public or private school. it would not be a expensive private school but catholic school, still private i guess. i went to catholic school all 12 years.....even 4 years of all boys high school (that was not easy). i think you get a better education in public schools but there is more of an IF there. more potholes i guess i mean

the public schools near us are not the best.....thoughts
 
I lived in what used to be a good school district... then I met my wife and her daughter was in a better school district. I sold my house and moved to that district. It's one of the better ones in the state.

Personally, I think you should do what you feel is best for your child/children. If that's catholic school then do it. Unless you want them to go to public school...
 
If the pubic schools are not very good and you can afford it, I would send him/her to the Catholic school. It sounds like it will be a better option for the education and probably the environment.
 
I've seen my share of public school districts and I will say one thing is certain. While they all do some things right, they all do somethings horribly and there is little, if any, accountability for the school board/teachers/admin to the parents. I guess, just like any profession, some teachers love their job and love the kids, but some are just in it for the paycheck and don't want to do more than the bare minimum. I can't say much on the private school aspect. My only knowledge of it was my K-6 years and that was too long ago to be relevant to today's issues.

Good luck!
 
I went to catholic school while my friends went to public school. I am not better off than them in many ways, and I also have a healthy dose of catholic guilt and a severe habit of apologizing too much.

If I had kids, they'd be going to public school.
 
golfunfiltered said:
I went to catholic school while my friends went to public school. I am not better off than them in many ways, and I also have a healthy dose of catholic guilt and a severe habit of apologizing too much.

If I had kids, they'd be going to public school.
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If there's a private non-Catholic school that's feasible, that's the way I'd look if I were in that position.
 
golfunfiltered said:
I went to catholic school while my friends went to public school. I am not better off than them in many ways, and I also have a healthy dose of catholic guilt and a severe habit of apologizing too much.

If I had kids, they'd be going to public school.
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yes the "catholic guilt" is bred in us from an early age. i do like the discipline of a catholic school.
 
One thing to watch out for is although private schools still have to follow the state curriculum, some don't require their teachers to be accredited educators (fancy term for less college time.) If you do go the private route, check the teacher's credentials.
 
That is a tough decision. I grew up Catholic but went to public school.
 
TheHammer0711 said:
around us the real private schools are as much as some colleges.
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Yeah, that'd be a hard no from me. I'd just send them to public schools and supplement their indoctrination with some good ol' common sense from home.
 
We sent our kids to private Catholic school grades PK - 8. My daughter is still there (7th grade) and my son is now at the local public HS. I went public school until grad school.

I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. We have had some moments where we saw friends buying new cars, bigger houses and going on vacations where we maybe had some tinges of jealousy. But big picture we have never regretted it for even a second. It was a superb overall experience and the education was better until they moved to Common Core.

The benefits are obvious and real. I don’t think there’s much point in listing them here, feel free to PM me if you want to talk more.
 
golfunfiltered said:
I went to catholic school while my friends went to public school. I am not better off than them in many ways, and I also have a healthy dose of catholic guilt and a severe habit of apologizing too much.

If I had kids, they'd be going to public school.
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Counter point: when I went to grad school I noticed that a disproportionate percentage of my classmates had gone to private schools.
 
If you lived here in Jefferson County (Louisville, Ky), I'd tell you to go Private without question.

I'm paying for 2 at a private Christian School right now and I'd do it again and again even tho it costs more than their college will.
 
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In St. Louis, we have 2 religions - the Catholics and the Publics!

In all seriousness, my wife and I went to private catholic school from K - 12th (She also went to ND in College) and we send all 3 kids to Catholic School. We have great public schools but there is just some BS that goes on that we are glad we don't have to deal with - overcrowding, re-districting, distractions that should not happen in grade school, etc.
 
These days public schools are indoctrination centers. My niece is being forced to listen about transgenders and identity politics. They never have an answer for X and Y chromosome though. It’s sad to have to argue with an adult running the room for common sense.
If you can go catholic or private take the chance imo.

Oh and Common Core...designed to dumb the population. Totally idiotic and designed to confuse not educate. Worst program ever and was definitely not put in place to elevate our children’s education. Stay far away from it. Wasted youth as my niece likes to say. Whole generation dumbed down. Sad.

Time to bring STEM back also. That’s where the best and brightest develop next generation products and technology. Whether it’s healthcare, biotech, physics, mechanical engineering, chemistry, biology, etc. STEM needs to be brought back and encouraged imo. No more service oriented non thinkers. Critical thinking self reliant strong culture is needed to be brought back in education. Dumbing down period over.
 
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My son is a senior at a private Catholic all boys high school. My daughter is a freshman at the local public high school.

I will let you know how this social experiment goes in 15 years!
 
If you can afford it, I am all for going the private school route.
 
TheHammer0711 said:
my 5 year old is going to start kindergarten this september and we are still grappling with whether we should send her to public or private school. it would not be a expensive private school but catholic school, still private i guess. i went to catholic school all 12 years.....even 4 years of all boys high school (that was not easy). i think you get a better education in public schools but there is more of an IF there. more potholes i guess i mean

the public schools near us are not the best.....thoughts
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Yo!! Is this a knock on me? Lol

You know my thoughts, school is always going to be about what a parent puts into the program with helping their children through the learning process with the teachers, as well as, the children/friends your child has within the school system. Some public schools have more resources then others and the demographics can play into how the education will unfold. Same can be said in the private sector.
 
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OGputtnfool said:
I've seen my share of public school districts and I will say one thing is certain. While they all do some things right, they all do somethings horribly and there is little, if any, accountability for the school board/teachers/admin to the parents. I guess, just like any profession, some teachers love their job and love the kids, but some are just in it for the paycheck and don't want to do more than the bare minimum. I can't say much on the private school aspect. My only knowledge of it was my K-6 years and that was too long ago to be relevant to today's issues.

Good luck!
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Accountability and transparency are two of the most important jobs for a school board director, with the most important being the selection of a superintendent. Yes, we determine how tax money is paid out and what curriculum is important, but having a strong superintendent to hold teachers and the other administrators accountable is very important.

As for us being held accountable, we get elected by voters in the community. There is a reason many board members are voted out each cycle. Mostly due to not holding people accountable and being transparent to the stakeholders as to how the tax monies are used.
 
I went to Catholic school through 8th grade back in the dark ages. Class size was a real issue, almost twice the size of public school classes. I got a great education in the 3 R's, and developed good study habits. When I went to a public high school I was way behind in the sciences and critical thinking.
I have a number of teachers in my family. They all teach at public schools. According to them children involved parents who support the aims of the teacher have the best results.
 
Jeff Spicoli said:
If the pubic schools are not very good and you can afford it, I would send him/her to the Catholic school. It sounds like it will be a better option for the education and probably the environment.
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This exactly especially if you know the public schools in your area are not the best. We had our two oldest in one of the best(ranked top 10%) public school districts in California for K-12 and thought everything was fine. Our youngest has been in a private school for the last 2 years and we now know we shortchanged our older kids. They are doing great in spite of an inferior K-12 education but my son especially had a lot of catching up to do in college. The other thing is some of the stuff they are teaching in public schools in California is a complete waste of time and I'm sure many other states are the same way.
 
I’m sending my 5 yr old to a christian private school next yr. I have a 16 yr old non verbal autistic child that is in a special needs private school. I know it’s a completely different scenario. After my wife, and I saw how our oldest got treated by teachers and staff in public school there is no way in hell i would ever send any of my kids to a public school these days.


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I went to a Catholic school K-8, my wife K-12. We have twin boys in Preschool now at a Catholic school, and will send them and their younger sister there thru at least 8th grade. We are practicing Catholics so I enjoy many things about sending them to a Catholic school:

- starting in preschool they attend mass once a month, then in Kindergarten once a week
- they have community service projects they work on at a class once they get in higher grades
- smaller class sizes compared to our public schools
- all school improvements are funded thru charity events, mainly one auction, each year
- they have advanced science and math opportunities

I also coach varsity boys soccer at a local public school. I have had such good interactions with parents, players, administration and teachers that I would have no issues sending my kids there for high school. We moved to this school district for these very reasons. For now, I just prefer the faith based religion they get in K-8.
 
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