Why would you send your child to a private school?

Question

Say you can afford a tuition of $12,000 a year. Say your child is doing fine in public school, but maybe not working to their full potential. Why would you choose to send your child to a private, non-religious school, rather than have them finish up in public school? Say the school in question is a small HS school - 250 students total. What advantages and disadvantages do you see?

Answer 1

I think everything here depends on your individual child and the school in question. The potential advantages of private school are enormous: Much more individual attention for each child, higher-quality and more inspiring instruction, more challenging classes. Kids who are bored or quiet or anonymous in public school often flourish in a private school's smaller, more intense classes.

But it's also true that a small private school is a more homogenous environment. If your child doesn't fit in with the mainstream for any reason -- economic, social, cultural, or personal -- she may have a harder time finding her niche and feeling accepted than she would in a larger public school with a wider range of kids. A full-day visit will help her figure out whether the private school appeals to her.

The public/private school decision tends to make a bigger difference to immediate quality of life than to eventual outcome. If her public school is equipping her with the basic academic skills she needs, she'll do fine either way, in the long term.

Answer 2

While this may not always be the case, in my experience parents who send their children to private school value education, which usually translates into them being involved in their children's school & learning. That usually means kids are more motivated and better behaved. Even when there are discipline problems, the threat of explusion carries more weight at private schools than with public schools. Also, there is less general chaos in private schools... turn over rates in public schools can be very high if the local population is transient; if a lot of apartment complexes feed into a public school, you can have as many as 50% of the children moving in/out of the school at some point during the year, which is disruptive for the kids who remain year long.

Small class size means more personal, individual attention, which presumably translates into a stronger connection with instructors, instructors who better understand your child's learning style and motivators, and more one on one time for kids who are struggling. When kids feel like they belong to a small community, they learn more, behave better and hold each other more accountable than when they are a nameless, faceless number in a crowd (this is why Bill Gates' foundation is pouring money into establishing small neighborhood schools).

Potential disadvantages are access to extracurriculars & services. Not all small schools have sports, performing arts, or assistance for kids with physical, mental, or learning disabilities.

Another potential downside is homogeneity in the student body. If there is no diversity (or only token diversity) children get a very narrow world view, which to some indicates a failure to truly educate and equip a child for the real world.

Personally, I'd have to balance the stability & security against these latter factors in making the decision.

Answer 3

its a difficult question to answer... I must admit that if i had the money it would definatly be an option and a privilage. But it would depend on various factors.ie why is my child not working to their fullest potential? reports and results of current school and theb private school. To a certain extent i think the learning ability and potential is up to the child and whether they want to work hard at school and they will do that where ever they go but...dont we all want to give our children the best that we can offer? i know i do. When i lived in suffolk i fought to get my daughter in a small village school that had good results and as snobby as it sounds the 'type' of people that are parents and teachers and pupils are to a point a better class than in the town at the local estate primary or secondary school and i feel this does make a difference.(dont get me wrong..im not posh nor am i a snob i am just a normal person) but i have certain standards for my children (which is up to the individual parent). When i moved to abingdon my daughter went to the same school as my step children (who already lived here) and it is a local large primary but im afraid not as 'nice'.When we move again i am going to be more choosy about which schoolshe goes to. All these factors and who she mixes with ,make her into the adult she will grow into and i want the best i can offer. So if you think it best that she/he goes private then i would say go for it.You are the parent.

Answer 4

I would never send any of my children to a private school. My brother went to a private elementary school and te children were horrible. They were all mean, selfish, stuck up, rich, brats who were horrible to each other. My parents had to switch him out because the other kids were so horrible to him.

Answer 5

I send my four children to Catholic School I have no regret,my wife teaches in Columbus(Ohio)city school and she was glad we made that decision,you have smaller class and you have parent,who care more for child ed.I found out their study skill are better

Answer 6

advantages: better infrastructure, better results
disadvantages: cost, escalating demands of the child