Where does your child or children go...

Just wanted to know.

I'm in a mood about public schools again. You can see me vent on the debate board, grrrrr.... I agree with everyone's post, but our opinions is not the real world.

Anyway,

our dds go to private school, very small ~ less than 20 kids. They go M-Th and we homeschool Fridays. We pay for it by me cleaning the school/church and they receive a scholarship which leaves us to pay about $800 a year for both of them.

By Melanie on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 01:05 pm:

My kids attend a public school. It is grades K-6 and has 140 kids. There are seven classes. Ds #1's 2-3 class has 17 kids and Ds#2's K-1 class has 18 kids. Both classes have a teacher and an aide. I love our school. We are our own school district and our principal is also the superintendant. Almost all the teacher's live here in our small community. Many residents moved here because of the school. We may consider private school later when the kids are entering junior high, but for right now I am perfectly happy with the quality of the education they are getting at the public school.

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 01:08 pm:

Both kids (5 & 7) attend public school. So far I'm very happy with our district. We live in a small town with a population of 9,000. We would not consider private school or homeschooling unless we were not happy with our public school system. Private schools in our area are $10-15,000 a year per child! Yikes!

By Colette on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 01:10 pm:

Public school. I am very happy with our school district. One school is k-2, then it's 3-6, and then middle 7-8 and high school 9-12. I would put my kids in private school if I was unhappy with our public schools.

By Sunny on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 01:22 pm:

A school is only as good as it's faculty, administration and parental involvement. A deficit in any of those areas, along with poor funding, will greatly affect whether it is a "good" school or not. Statistically, the more wealthy a school district, the better it is.

My kids go to public school in a school district that is not considered wealthy, but who's high school was nominated for a National Blue Ribbon and it's principal (now superintendent) was Principal of the Year. Not bad.

By Yjja123 on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 01:26 pm:

I couldn't find your post in debate section?
I am currently dealing with a lot of frustration with public school. In particular the FCAT testing.
I am almost ready to pull my daughter out now and begin homeschooling her. I am varifying all the details with the school and superintendents office so I am 100% sure this is the right move for her. Her teacher has encouraged me to do it. The FCAT will be given on March 1st. She freezes on this test in spite of her being a straight A student.
This month is going to be spent practicing testing. I feel that is all my kids do all year is prepare to test. Learning to take a test all year is not the education I want for my children.
If I could afford private school they would be in it in a heartbeat. I can't. I can teach them as long as I have a guideline of what they need to learn. This is what I am currently investigating.
Yvonne

By Mommmie on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 01:33 pm:

My 9-year-old is in a private school for intelligent children who learn differently. He has spent 2 years 7 months at an "exemplary" public school and 2 months at a religious private school.

The best school, by far, is the one he is in now. He has 9 kids in his class. They do a lot of hands on stuff. It's Montessori influenced. A lot of very very wealthy parents and grandparents have kids there and they sink a lot of money into the school which benefits the poor folk like me.

Most importantly, they are not tied down to these state tests! And kids with serious behavior issues are either not admitted or asked to leave when necessary. Also, parents are not allowed in the classrooms. They don't need them or want them there. In public, I did not like the constant coming of going of parents - some of whom were scary folks. The school needed the free help, of course. And, sure, I was one of them volunteering, but it was grand central station, constant distractions and loitering and parents who lunch with their kids every single day of the school year. I like it better now in this private school. The kids interact with school personnel and that's it. And the personnel have earned the complete trust of the parents. They are given the resources they need, materials, aids, whatever, without asking the parents. The school is very quiet despite having 810 students. Parents are allowed to eat lunch with their child with advanced notice, however, one or two times a year. And parents of applying students are allowed to observe classes after they've made it passed a certain point in the application process.

The religious private school was a joke. My son's teacher had no education degree, no teaching certificate, no experience as a teacher, and she was going through a divorce which is why she was working in the first place. Also, it was not a particularly competitive school, although it's been around for 50 years, so it was easy to get into. Many kids were there because their behavior problems got them kicked out of other schools. That was a huge surprise to me. I withdrew my son a couple of months into the school year. It was so bad.

At the public school last year, my son's 2nd grade teacher was actually fired mid year due to her behavior in the classroom. She did things liek put tape on a kid's mouth and put him in the storeroom and forgot about him - TWICE. She had worked at the school for 9 years. It was in the newspaper. Thankfully I had already applied to the private school bec I could tell this wasn't going to work for my son.

At my son's current school, the staff actually LIKE and RESPECT the kids. They are also not afraid of their students.

My aunt is an aid at a public school. She is the only teacher or aid willing to walk the 6th graders to recess. Everyone else is afraid of them outside the classroom.

I think homeschooling is great, but I have to work, so I can't do it.

By Marg on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 01:44 pm:

Yvonne,

Go to Momsview Message Board, scroll down to The Kitchen Table (Debate Board) and then the "Oddest Debate yet" I can't remember what I named it, you'll be shocked.

Our local public school is wonderful also with mainstream students, otherwise forget it

Dh works in a very small county public school, knowing this the debate board may shock you. People probably thinks he works in an intercity large public school but that is not the case

By Debbie on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 01:57 pm:

My ds is currently in public school. However, that will change next year. We were very happy with the public schools in Texas. We were in a wonderful school system with lots of parent involvement. However, the public schools here in Illinois do not get the state funding that they need, so they are struggling. The only schools that are doing well are the ones in the very wealthy neighborhoods. I posted before about ds having 32 students in his K class. We currently have my youngest ds registered to start preschool at our parish Catholic school next year. My oldest is on the waiting list, but should have no problem getting in. My ds will be in a smaller class size with a teacher and full time aide. We really like the school and have heard nothing but wonderful things about it. We were lucky that it is affordable. You do have to volunteer a lot, but I am fine with that.

Now, if we move back to Texas in a few years, we will probably put both ds's back in the public school system. We are hoping to get back to our old area.

By Texannie on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 02:15 pm:

My kids are in public schools. I am incredibly pleased with their schools. My son is very bright and my daughter had some learning delays. The schools have been able to cater to both my children's needs.

By Pamt on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 02:25 pm:

In general I am very supportive of GOOD public schools. However, Louisiana public schools rank 49th or 50th in the nation (depending on whether Mississippi had a good year of not *EG*), so my kids go to a private Christian school (bed baby-12th gr) at the same church where my DH is a minister. Their tuition is actually part of his salary so they do go to private school for "free." This school is very academically competitive which I don't like. Both of my boys excel in school, but they start in 2nd grade putting them in honors or on-track classes. Way too much pressure IMHO.

When we lived in MO, my oldest DS went to public school (K-6) and I loved it. The school was 4 doors down from our house with 1 class per grade and about 20 students per class. The principal stood at the door each morning while Kenny G played on the stereo and welcomed and greeted each student by name. They also had monthly assemblies where they gave lots of awards to kids---very boosting to the self-esteem since everyone got at least one award during the school year. I miss that school dearly!

By Jackie on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 02:31 pm:

My son goes to a public school and never had any problems with it.I dont believe in homeschooling, well for myself that is. (Not trying to start a debate). I have no patience to do that, plus I dont want too. If I was unhappy with my sons school, there are plenty of other schools I could move him too.

By Karen~moderator on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 04:01 pm:

As Pamt said, Louisiana schools rank WAY down there. We are not Catholic, and with 4 kids in the house, could never have afforded private schools. Instead, we opted to buy a house in *desolateland* (which is my name for where we live), because it was one of two parishes in the state with good schools. My kids' high school was in the top 10 in the nation some years back. All my kids went to public school, however Jules has Madison in a Montessori preschool and she seems to be thriving.

By Feona on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 04:11 pm:

I am thinking about private preschool for kindergarten in one and a half years. I looked at ds present preschool and the kids were writing sentences in a kindergarten class of 14. Looks good.

The nursery school really stresses letters and numbers and counting and letter sounds. Just what ds loves to do.

The kids are known to be so prepared for kindergarten from this nursery that the public school kindergarten teachers know which school the kids come from by their skills.

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 06:04 pm:

My kids go to public schools. DD14 is a freshman in high school and DD11 is a 6th grader at the middle school. No small schools here. The high school has about 1600 students and the middle school, approx 700. Their elementary school had about 400. I have been happy with their education so far. We can't afford a private school and I don't want to homeschool.

By Melissa on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 08:04 pm:

DD goes to private Montessori for for K last year and now for first. It is awesome. Next year we will try Public b/c the commute is killer for us and I'd like her to have freinds in our town. I went to a private Christian school in H.S. and I will never send her to a Christian school it was a joke educationally as someone else on here said about one. But like everything I'm sure there are good ones too I know of some Montessori schools I would never use either.

By Fraggle on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 09:20 am:

We are planning on trying public school next year for my DD-she will be starting Kindergarten. I have considered home-schooling and would do it if public school does not work out. Right now I am more concerned about the bus system since the bus is late 4 mornings a week! They discourage parents from driving-but what are you supposed to do?

I would not consider sending her to a private elementary school-the ones in our area are in some of the worst places.

By Sue3 on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 09:30 am:

My kids go to a public school.We could not afford a private school.I like our public schools though.
DD will be in middle school next year
hope all will go well.
We live in a rural district that is growing by leaps and bounds so I am curious how they will handle the growth in years to come.
I don`t want to home school either.

By Yjja123 on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 12:29 pm:

My daughter is NOW homeschooled---as in Friday is her last day in public school. We are pulling her in hopes that this is the right solution for her. My son will likely remain in public school through the rest of the year. Next year? He may be homeschooled also. It will all depend on how it goes with his sister.
Not an easy decision to make but what we believe in the long run will be the most beneficial to our children. So many things are going wrong in our public school it is no longer possible to ignore. If I could come up with the money I would try private school but it just isn't in our budget.