What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

We're trying to figure out what we want to do about schools. Our public school district is good, but we don't think it's great. We are both products of this school district so we're very familiar with the system.

I'm leaning towards Catholic school. DH is supportive, but he's not convinced it's a better education than public school.

Ultimately, I'd love to send them to an elite private school since I think they have so many opportunites career wise (networking). We could swing tuition, but they would definately be the poor kids in school, which then I worry might be a self esteem issue.

Just wondering what other people are thinking about.

Thanks!

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

We're doing public school. We are both products of the school system we are living in. I am a public school teacher, so it never crossed my mind to do the private route.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

I think schooling really comes down to the children and the parents. I know kids who went to public school and did extremely well (my family went to public school). I know other public school kids who dropped out and did drugs. I know a lot of kids who went to Catholic school who turned out great. I know a lot of Catholic school kids who wound up getting pregnant at 16, and/or heavy into drugs. The same for "elite" private schools. The school itself doesn't guarantee anything. Some schools (of all types) that are smaller don't offer a lot of special programs or sports that bigger schools offer. Many times, kids in the "elite" schools have a harder time getting to good colleges, since there is a quota for each school. If 50% of an elite graduating class applies to Harvard, they aren't all getting in. If 5% of a public high school apply to Harvard, they have a much better shot.

I don't want to make any judgments about the "best" type of school, since it is a very personal decision, but I just wanted to put out a few thoughts.

BTW, I'm a firm believer in public school with parental supplementing at home.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

Private school for Jules.

ETA: She will start in 1st grade.

Message edited 8/14/2007 8:28:22 AM.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

My kids are going into 1st and 3rd grades at our public school next month. We have been very happy so far.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

my kids will go to the local public schools until they reach high school. then they will switch to catholic school.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

Ava will be going to an independent private school. No religious affiliation.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

Message edited 8/14/2007 8:31:56 AM.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

Jacob will go to our local public school

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

Public - it's a block away from our house.

I went to Catholic school and while my language skills are better than most, I am certainly lacking in the maths & sciences!!

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

My son goes to public and private wouldn't really be an option since he receives additional services (speech OT and such) through the district. If he wanted those through private school, he would be bussed to the local public school and then bussed back. At least that's my understanding of how it works.

Not to mention, I couldn't really afford private school anyway. I think public school is what you make of it. My sisters and I all went to the same school and I worked hard and did well. My sisters didn't do as well, but then again they didn't try as hard.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

We're definately sending our kids to public school. Both DH and I attended private school, but that was because our public schools were not as good (I'm not from LI and DH was in the Riverhead district -- he went to boarding school for high school). I feel like I'm paying way too much $$$ in taxes not to take advantage of the school system, which is supposed to be very good.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

Ds will go to public school. If we find after elementary school that we're not happy, we will look into private. I went all through the public school system and my sister (who's ridiculously book smart) went to an elite private school. She wound up getting very into drugs and alcohol (she's now clean) and I went and got my degree. She's now a single mom (never married) of a 9 year old and I have a almost 1 year old with my DH of 3 years. So I have to believe that school and education are what you make of it.

Message edited 8/14/2007 8:56:50 AM.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

public

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

My son will be going to a state run school (not to be confused with Public Schools, which in the UK are Private Schools...very different)

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

i want catholic school and my husband wants public...But I feel really strongly about sending Cadence to Catholic school so we will see

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

Public school for Jared.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

public school.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

I had a great experience in private and DH had a great experience in public.

I always thought I'd automatically want private for my kids, but I now realize that its a premature decision to make for a 2 1/2 year old. I need to see him in a classroom setting, find out what kind of learner he is, see if he's average, gifted or special needs, etc. If we do choose private I also want to know that its where he wants to be as well. My experience in private school was the kids that were "forced" to be there did terribly and got nothing out of the experience.

I think its going to be an ongoing evaluation for our family. I'd also very much like to consider moving to another local district that i feel offers the best of both, but we'll see.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

Public.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

I'll be sending the girls to Catholic school. As I understand it, we live in one of the top city school districts, but my DH and I both attended Catholic school and I taught in Catholic schools for 11 years--I really believe in the "product." However, if we fell on hard times and could not afford it, I'd be very comfortable sending them to our zoned school. It's actually one of the reasons we decided to stay in Queens (that, and free local babysitting ). However, if I were to move to Nassau, there's no way I'd be spending 10k in taxes and *not* utilizing the public schools there!

Message edited 8/14/2007 11:51:42 AM.

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

Public

Re: What kind of school do you plan to/already send your kids to?

Michael will be going to Catholic school since the public schools by me are not that good.