Private Schools in Phili Area? (Philadelphia, Penn: school districts, bus, moving to)

[orrmobl]

Not at all. Most answers are readily available if you are smart enough to know how and where to look and willing to ask the hard questions...

[Tone509]

More talk, less bashing please...

[toobusytoday]

Schools have changed since I attended. Schools now have much more rigid standards regarding discipline and inclusion. Disruptive kids are not suspended, they get detention only after they've caused bodily harm and then they're put right back in the classroom. Kids with special needs are mainstreamed (I'm not saying this is a bad thing) and teachers have to take some extra time to teach to them too. Badly behaved kids with an IEP (learning disability) must be treated with kid gloves and learn to push the envelope until the whole class revolves around them. I'm not talking about city schools here, I'm talking about my district with 95% white kids, 7% free lunch. Parents feel that their kids wouldn't do anything wrong and think the teacher is picking on them. I know someone in administration that said that she saw parents deny that their kids did drugs when presented with the evidence in their kids locker.

I'm fortunate that my kids are relatively smart and once they hit high school they can take the honors or AP classes and get away from the slackers who really don't want to be in school, but until high school the only classes that are leveled (in my district) are math and english. If we could have afforded it, I would have put my kids in private schools. BTW, I consider myself a public school proponent, I was a PTA president and my daughter is a teacher, now looking for a job in any school.

[sbhubbell]

Great point. My MIL is a first grade teacher in a suburban district in PA. This year they decided to put ALL the badly behaved and special needs kids in her class because they have a special aid for some of these kids and they didn't want her have to hop between classrooms....turns out she's 400 lbs and can't even get up out of her chair to deal her "problem" children. But because it's first grade some of these kids will have to be in her class for months before they can be designated as needing outside intervention, wrap-around aids and the like. The rest of the kids in the class will suffer because my MIL will spend most of her time on discipline. She knows this from experience. She's the best teacher in her school which is why they put all the bad kids with her.

She tells me horrible stories about these kids, how they physically abuse other kids, abuse themselves, can't sit still, mouth off. First graders!! And the parents are the worst, denying any problems, accusing the teachers of picking on their kids.

Even my best friend, who's kindergartener has CLEAR behavior problems despite her best efforts with him, refused intervention for a long time because she didn't want him "labeled for life."

Private school? Not the same issues. Teachers aren't union, there isn't so much red tape with putting kids in special programs, and kids can be suspended or expelled at the schools discretion.

[mltimes]

OP asked about Episcopal Academy 20 posts back. I didn't see that anyone answered so I'll try.

EA is not evangelical at all. It is barely religious. The students go to chapel but I would venture that Episcopalians are outnumbered by everyone else. Based on my experience as a Main Line resident (and a private school grad), I expect (but have no hard numbers) that EA reflects the population of the Main Line-- a mix of Jewish, Catholic and other Protestant religions, with a much smaller but still significant percentage of Muslim, Hindu and other religions. I'm not sure how the move from the City Line campus will affect their draw of students from the city.

Years ago (1980s and 1990s) there were concerns that the transition from all boys to co-ed was not entirely successful and the school retained an old boys network vibe. I cannot speak to the school's success in remedying this issue.

[Dockery04]

Hi,

I'm "New" to the board and I"m also the mother of a 4 year old and I'm considering homeschooling her and I have a year to do my ivestigation . Which leads me to my question which homeschooling program is good .ex: connections academy, pdela,palcs etc.

I welcome all comments

[orrmobl]

You may also want to post in the parenting forums or do a google search for this information - I don't know how big homeschooling is in PA in general or this area specifically.

[pennquaker09]

Originally Posted by mltimes

OP asked about Episcopal Academy 20 posts back. I didn't see that anyone answered so I'll try.

EA is not evangelical at all. It is barely religious. The students go to chapel but I would venture that Episcopalians are outnumbered by everyone else. Based on my experience as a Main Line resident (and a private school grad), I expect (but have no hard numbers) that EA reflects the population of the Main Line-- a mix of Jewish, Catholic and other Protestant religions, with a much smaller but still significant percentage of Muslim, Hindu and other religions. I'm not sure how the move from the City Line campus will affect their draw of students from the city.

Years ago (1980s and 1990s) there were concerns that the transition from all boys to co-ed was not entirely successful and the school retained an old boys network vibe. I cannot speak to the school's success in remedying this issue.

That's pretty accurate. I lived in the area up until April and I have an uncle whose kids went/go to EA.

[JHG722]

For what it's worth, I'm a Lower Merion grad, and my brother is a senior at one of the top private schools in the area. IMHO, it's not worth it in the slightest to pay for private school if you live in SEPA. We have too many great public schools in the area.

[orrmobl]

Originally Posted by JHG722

For what it's worth, I'm a Lower Merion grad, and my brother is a senior at one of the top private schools in the area. IMHO, it's not worth it in the slightest to pay for private school if you live in SEPA. We have too many great public schools in the area.

Finally! Another voice of reason in a sea of insanity! Welcome brother, now duck and cover...