Private School Info Requested - American Heritage, NSU, Pine Crest, NBP (Miami: real estate, mortgage)

[Movingmom100]

Hi,
We will be moving to the Fort Lauderdale area from Brentwood, CA. I am looking for a private school for 1st grade and 5th grade for my daughters for next year. We love their school right now and are looking for something similar - then we’ll decide where to live. They currently go to a school with strong academics but also a focus on Social/Emotional learning and the whole child. It’s not the most competitive academically in town, though they were accepted at that school too, but we wanted a more whole child approach and no need for high stress/cut throat at this age. But it is still academically strong enough to feed into the Ivies, etc.

Is there a similar school in South Florida? Some that we’ve heard of are American Heritage, NSU, North Broward Prep and Pine Crest. My kids are also into sports, design, engineering, dance - but we can do that at school or outside of school.

Any honest opinions on these schools? Is Pine Crest more competitive among students than American Heritage? Any big differences between NSU and North Broward Prep?

Thank you in advance for your time and feedback. It’s a big change and a lot to figure out.

[trendjewelry]

My daughter went to American Heritage and my son went to North Broward. Both are great school. AHS is extremely competitive. If you want to avoid that, I'd recommend NBPS. We had a great experience there!

[Movingmom100]

Thank you! Very helpful! Any thoughts on school culture and academic differences at NBP vs. NSU University? From the websites, they seem kind of similar and we are open to living in either neighborhood. I’m sure once you live there, you hear of a lot of differences though.

[BNBR]

Is there a reason you want to pay $60k/year for schooling? You may want to consider Weston where your kids can go to the Weston schools. It's one of the best family areas to live in and the best public schools in the area. Kind of a win/win and no need to blow obnoxious amounts of money on private school. Our kids go to school in Weston and they are outstanding. We see absolutely no reason to pay for private, even though private is well within our budget. Especially not for elementary.

The issue is that if you go to these other private schools, you either have a long commute or you end up living in a less desirable area. Do you think your kids want long bus rides to school or long commutes? American Heritage has excellent housing in the neighborhood but the public schools there are terrible. So if you decide to go that route and live near there, then keep in mind you won't have public schools as a backup. Which is why I'd go either West Davie, Cooper City, or Weston - with Weston probably being the best fit for you.

[City Guy997S]

BNBR is correct in his logic.

The "private school, elite academy" idea is fine but the fact is they are being paid huge money for mediocre results in the end. Paying 300K for K-12 education so the kid can get into Auburn or LSU? Seems like everyone but the school gets short changed.

The pitch is always the same, elite private schools get your kids into elite universities. Definitely not the case. In my experience these private schools tend to be feeding grounds for tier 2 colleges that want to latch on to that tuition gravy train! Continue the average education for 40-50K a year by telling parents their angel is special and will get a great opportunity upon graduation from ...........

Need an example:
https://www.thebenjaminschool.org/ne...ail?pk=1098125

Now the top 10% did get into some very good schools, tuition is $30,650 a year so parents blew 120K+++.

But note: Davidson, Flagler, FL gulf coast, Indian River State college (former community college turned 4 yr), Univ of Miss, Rollins, Santa Fe/Valencia (former community colleges turned 4 yr), Valdosta State.......all very low admittance requirements and hardly seems like 120K in high school tuition was spent wisely. I suspect any C student with a 900 SAT score could attend most of the above.

Also if you do some digging, likely the valedictorian and the rest of the top 10% got into multiple schools so they are clearly on the list of schools. So the follow up question is: Is a Benjamin graduate actually attending each one of those schools? Likely no, the valedictorian will only go to one school yet probably 5 of their top acceptance schools are on that list.

How do I know these things? I graduated from a private high school in Boca Raton years ago..........A mistake my parents never made again with my siblings.

[gixxer1000]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

The pitch is always the same, elite private schools get your kids into elite universities. Definitely not the case. In my experience these private schools tend to be feeding grounds for tier 2 colleges that want to latch on to that tuition gravy train! Continue the average education for 40-50K a year by telling parents their angel is special and will get a great opportunity upon graduation from ...........

We were having a similar discussion in the Miami forum as someone from NY was looking for the best public schools in Miami and undoubtedly it came up that Ransom and Gulliver (private) were the best which I disagree with.

I'll agree with you that if you are singling out Ivy/elite schools then I don't think there is a huge value in the private schools UNLESS you just have more money than you know what to do with. From my experience in Miami (and South Florida) you have plenty of people for whom $80k a year for tuition for 2 kids (almost $1M in total) is simply pocket change. Now these people also have the resources to give their kids all kinds of other support and experience that help to round them out and make them the most attractive candidates.

So then I know other people who are at the upper end of the middle class scale who can also scrounge up enough money to get their kids into these same private schools but have to make sacrifices in other areas. These are the people who are hurt most by this type of system. Because as you pointed out most of the kids at these private school are going to the same basic colleges.

So for the rich kids its just extra networking. But for the middle class kids they missing out on all kinds of other opportunities because their parents mortgage their future on the private school so their isn't much left over to enrich the children outside of school.

When I look at Broward I see very clear schools tracts with Cypress, Marjory and Cooper that all have a solid track from elementary to high school depending on where you want to live. Great graduation rates with a good portion of the kids taking AP courses.

For example Cooper City sends more kids to Harvard than American Heritage with only about 1/3 the class size. Pine Crest seems to be the only school that is leaps and bounds better in terms of getting kids into top elite schools. After that there seems to be no significant statistical difference and comes down to the merit and accomplishments of the actual kid in question.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by gixxer1000

We were having a similar discussion in the Miami forum as someone from NY was looking for the best public schools in Miami and undoubtedly it came up that Ransom and Gulliver (private) were the best which I disagree with.

I'll agree with you that if you are singling out Ivy/elite schools then I don't think there is a huge value in the private schools UNLESS you just have more money than you know what to do with. From my experience in Miami (and South Florida) you have plenty of people for whom $80k a year for tuition for 2 kids (almost $1M in total) is simply pocket change. Now these people also have the resources to give their kids all kinds of other support and experience that help to round them out and make them the most attractive candidates.

So then I know other people who are at the upper end of the middle class scale who can also scrounge up enough money to get their kids into these same private schools but have to make sacrifices in other areas. These are the people who are hurt most by this type of system. Because as you pointed out most of the kids at these private school are going to the same basic colleges.

So for the rich kids its just extra networking. But for the middle class kids they missing out on all kinds of other opportunities because their parents mortgage their future on the private school so their isn't much left over to enrich the children outside of school.

When I look at Broward I see very clear schools tracts with Cypress, Marjory and Cooper that all have a solid track from elementary to high school depending on where you want to live. Great graduation rates with a good portion of the kids taking AP courses.

For example Cooper City sends more kids to Harvard than American Heritage with only about 1/3 the class size. Pine Crest seems to be the only school that is leaps and bounds better in terms of getting kids into top elite schools. After that there seems to be no significant statistical difference and comes down to the merit and accomplishments of the actual kid in question.

Go light on "networking".........recently attended a reunion and NOT one of my alumni friends were in the contact list on my phone and I attended there all 4 years and continued on to college with a handful of my high school grads.

The private school issue tough for some parents because it is essentially a club, kids get in and parents hang out with the other parents. I know a local realtor that sent his kids K-8 to a moderately priced private school then blew over 100K on high school. Daughter went to a very average state college. His concern was the local high school was 3000 kids (too intimidating for kid) yet 4 years later kid went to a college with over 40K kids! Did going to a small high school prepare her for going to school with 40,000? Probably not. Did going to a richer high school prepare her for going to a more moderately based state college? I bet that dorm room was quite a shocker!

Unless you live in a terrible district, pass on the private school non-sense. Put the tuition money in a mutual fund and GIVE IT to the kid upon graduation. My uncle spent almost 1mm in tuition for my cousins, solid b/c students. He jokes today he should have given the money to them, they would have spent it better than he did!

Most parents don't realize the myth of the private school until after graduation.......but if they recognize it early they are very glad they went a different direction.

[gixxer1000]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

Go light on "networking".........recently attended a reunion and NOT one of my alumni friends were in the contact list on my phone and I attended there all 4 years and continued on to college with a handful of my high school grads.

Networking is a mixed bag and not everyone's cup of tea. If you look at the board for some of these schools there is no shortage of millionaires/billionaires and their children go to the school and/or they are alumni which is the reason they're on the board. I mean look at Ransom Everglades. The board is a who's who of the real estate world. You could make the argument if you wanted to work in real estate in South Florida you'd be better served going to Ransom and then UM instead of most of the Ivy's. But then again if you're a kid from a family that did just well enough for you to feel poor around all these rich kids then you may not make the same relationships when other kids can host parties at their beachfront mansions.

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

The private school issue tough for some parents because it is essentially a club, kids get in and parents hang out with the other parents. I know a local realtor that sent his kids K-8 to a moderately priced private school then blew over 100K on high school. Daughter went to a very average state college. His concern was the local high school was 3000 kids (too intimidating for kid) yet 4 years later kid went to a college with over 40K kids! Did going to a small high school prepare her for going to school with 40,000? Probably not. Did going to a richer high school prepare her for going to a more moderately based state college? I bet that dorm room was quite a shocker!

This is a whole other issues where parents are removing too many obstacles for their children to over come not preparing them for reality. My understanding is that college is the fist chance these kids get to react in the real world and its causing all sort of problems with things like suicide rates increasing at the extreme end and kids simply not wanting to hear things the don't like at the more moderate end.

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

Unless you live in a terrible district, pass on the private school non-sense. Put the tuition money in a mutual fund and GIVE IT to the kid upon graduation. My uncle spent almost 1mm in tuition for my cousins, solid b/c students. He jokes today he should have given the money to them, they would have spent it better than he did!

I agree in general as long as you have a need for that money. If you can put your kids in Pine Crest AND still have a good amount of money left over that would be the best option.

[BNBR]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

Unless you live in a terrible district, pass on the private school non-sense. Put the tuition money in a mutual fund and GIVE IT to the kid upon graduation. My uncle spent almost 1mm in tuition for my cousins, solid b/c students. He jokes today he should have given the money to them, they would have spent it better than he did!

Most parents don't realize the myth of the private school until after graduation.......but if they recognize it early they are very glad they went a different direction.

I've been a pretty vocal proponent of this when I get in discussions about private school. 12 years at $30,000/yr at the S&P average can bring in about $750,000. If you hold on to that for another 7 years and give it to your kid at age 25, you could be giving your child $1.2M - $1.5M. You could fully fund their retirement plans for when they get older, pay off their house so that they aren't burdened by a mortgage. You can give that money to your kids in all sorts of different ways and allow them to follow their dreams without running the rat race. And that's not even counting the money parents put away for college, too!

It's insanity. Could you imagine being in your 20's with financial freedom, where you can pursue real passions without worrying about every dollar? Maybe start or purchase a business. Become a police officer or public service. Who knows. I'd take that over some ridiculous private school tuition vs a decent public school.

[TUMF]

I was the first 8th grade graduating class of St. Marks on Oakland Park in 1974.
I loved that school and the bonus of helping some find God.
I'm not at all sure how it is being run now, but if a friend had a child needing elementary schooling living anywhere close to this school, I'd suggest a visit.

Good luck in your mission.

God's speed.