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I've been saying the same thing for years. Seems like everybody I've ever met who went to Westminister ends up at UGA. Not knocking it all, UGA is a lot better than the school I went to, but for all that money I would think an Ivy League school or at least a Duke or something in that ballpark would be the end result. I went to elementary school with a bunch of kids who were private school bound. WT Jackson was cool for the far NW side crowd, but a lot of those parents didn't want their kids going on to middle school which it fed into. And I distinctly remember hearing stuff from the kids themselves that their parents thought the middle school was "too ghetto". Even back then I knew what that was code for. It is what it is though as I ended up going to that middle school (Sutton) for a little bit then ended up at Kennedy, and I quickly saw what a ghetto school really was.
Well, after shelling out almost $250,000 in private school education, the parents may just be at the point where looking at ANOTHER $200,000 for college is just the straw that breaks the camel's back, and it's a huge relief to have a child who is probably going to easily hang on to their HOPE for 4 years, if not a Zell Miller.
Both of my kids went to a Christian private school here in the Atlanta area. They both did very well -- one got a full ride to one of the "Public Ivies", graduated in 4 years with a triple major (thanks to all those AP classes). This one had also gotten an offer of a full ride at UGA, honors program, etc., etc, but when we did the math, it was actually cheaper for this child to go out of state. Second child wanted UGA for several reasons, not the least that their major was only offered in a very few schools within 500 miles of home (the limit they were comfortable with, not mine. :-) They hung on to their HOPE/Zell and graduated in 4 years.
While I know many students who have enjoyed Duke, it's also odd that Duke seems to be THE school that I most often hear about kids going to and then quickly changing their mind and transferring elsewhere.
Why did we send out kids to a private school? Well, frankly, when they were small, the schools that we were redistricted for were struggling -- very overcrowded, lots of ESL learners. When I visited the Kindergarten the year before my eldest started, I was shocked that each classroom had over 30 kids, of whom at least 1/3 were ESL learners, due to a large swath of transient housing. I wanted more for my kids than the fragmented attention they would be receiving, and I liked the flexibility that the private school had vis a vis the public schools -- kid is outstripping their math class? Create an enrichment class! Kid needs accommodation in order to participate in short-term high-school level internship in DC? No problem -- we'll make it happen. Kid demonstrates a unique artistic talent? Push them as far as they want to explore and develop it. Small classes, good manners were expected as a matter of course, and it constantly reinforced the values that were important to us at home -- respect for yourself, respect for others, and a sense of service to the world around you. And, for those kids who DID break the honor code, there were swift and sure consequences, not the exhausted, "Well, what do you expect?" attitude that seemed to permeate the public schools. One girl was caught stealing from lockers -- she was expelled immediately. One kid was caught buying weed in the parking lot three months before graduation. He was expelled immediately.
Even *great* public schools can be hit-or-miss when it comes to teacher quality--a mediocre (or even poor) teacher looks good when teaching a class full of students that bring in their own high expectations, minimal behavior problems, and strong parental support. The students will learn less than they could/should, but the standardized test scores will still be strong, and the school will still be considered great. At a private school, I am guessing that more of the mediocre/poor teachers are weeded out--along with children that have low expectations, major behavioral problems, and minimal parental support.
While generally happy with our public schools, I can understand not wanting to risk losing a year to a lousy teacher, or having your child in a class with too many students that demand an inordinate amount of the teacher's time, or dealing with unresponsive administrators, or buses that don't show up, or non-functioning city-wide support staff--even in *great* public schools.
Well, after shelling out almost $250,000 in private school education, the parents may just be at the point where looking at ANOTHER $200,000 for college is just the straw that breaks the camel's back, and it's a huge relief to have a child who is probably going to easily hang on to their HOPE for 4 years, if not a Zell Miller.
Both of my kids went to a Christian private school here in the Atlanta area. They both did very well -- one got a full ride to one of the "Public Ivies", graduated in 4 years with a triple major (thanks to all those AP classes). This one had also gotten an offer of a full ride at UGA, honors program, etc., etc, but when we did the math, it was actually cheaper for this child to go out of state. Second child wanted UGA for several reasons, not the least that their major was only offered in a very few schools within 500 miles of home (the limit they were comfortable with, not mine. :-) They hung on to their HOPE/Zell and graduated in 4 years.
While I know many students who have enjoyed Duke, it's also odd that Duke seems to be THE school that I most often hear about kids going to and then quickly changing their mind and transferring elsewhere.
Why did we send out kids to a private school? Well, frankly, when they were small, the schools that we were redistricted for were struggling -- very overcrowded, lots of ESL learners. When I visited the Kindergarten the year before my eldest started, I was shocked that each classroom had over 30 kids, of whom at least 1/3 were ESL learners, due to a large swath of transient housing. I wanted more for my kids than the fragmented attention they would be receiving, and I liked the flexibility that the private school had vis a vis the public schools -- kid is outstripping their math class? Create an enrichment class! Kid needs accommodation in order to participate in short-term high-school level internship in DC? No problem -- we'll make it happen. Kid demonstrates a unique artistic talent? Push them as far as they want to explore and develop it. Small classes, good manners were expected as a matter of course, and it constantly reinforced the values that were important to us at home -- respect for yourself, respect for others, and a sense of service to the world around you. And, for those kids who DID break the honor code, there were swift and sure consequences, not the exhausted, "Well, what do you expect?" attitude that seemed to permeate the public schools. One girl was caught stealing from lockers -- she was expelled immediately. One kid was caught buying weed in the parking lot three months before graduation. He was expelled immediately.
What part of town is this in and where were the rezoned into (if they stayed in public school)?
My niece is pretty much following in the foot steps of one of your kids and she went to a public school, now with that said... it is an exceptional school in a mostly single, family-only area in Gwinnett County that is a dark blue dot in that map I posted and she will blend right in with UGA. In other places, I can very much see it being a good idea.
If you have an academically gifted child, even the best public schools dampen their ceiling. There is just more opportunity (sports/clubs/academics) in a private school with a large endowment. Also, if you have a smart child, not necessarily gifted or super motivated, these schools find ways to motivate them.
I don't know why people judge other parents for sending a kid to private school. If you can afford it & want to why not? Why go to Disney world if you have Six flags? Because you want to. You can't take it with you! I think it is worth every penny.
I've always been fascinated by this phenomenon as well. I think David 1502 is spot on, but I think many of these kids would do just as well in any school due to good genetics (intelligence is somewhat inheritable) and affluent parents able to hire the best tutors money can buy.
What I'm most stunned by is the fact that the number one college Westminster and Lovett students attend is the University of Georgia. I'm not taking anything away from UGA because it is a great school, but if I "invested" 250K in my kids private education, and they end up at UGA I'd be somewhat disappointed.
This is one of the reasons why I won't send my kids to private school. I love them and all but honestly, one cannot see the future and know the results and to me it is more like gambling (which I don't do) but I'm fine with whatever people do for their own family though I will admit I don't like it when people complain to me about not having any disposable income when they are paying $40k per year to send 2 kids to private school and they live in a good school district.
I seriously considered sending both my kids to private schools in Atlanta because I didn't think that the public school was academically challenging enough and this is coming from someone who went to "ghetto" public schools in Ohio (and FWIW our "ghetto" schools mean true poor ghetto and not just black kids, lots of different ethnic backgrounds went to my schools). I just moved back to Ohio though as it was cheaper than paying for private school lol. My oldest is kind of a lazy student even though he's smart and I didn't feel that shelling out a bunch of money would be of any benefit to him or me and him not turning in assignments would have been super upsetting for me paying so much money. I was considering it for him for high school. My youngest I would have sent her to a charter then considered private high school as well. Mostly due to the fact that we lived in a district with a "bad" academically performing high school and APS doesn't have the option of transferring as easily as other states do between schools in the district anymore. We purposefully lived in the neighborhood we lived in due to it being much cheaper than a "good" part of town and having the ability to pay for private school if we chose to do that. Both my kids went to a private preschool and I do think that that gave them a boost, especially after letting my daughter go to public pre-k for a few months due to her being a Sept birthday and not wanting to pay for another year of preschool until she got into "trouble" for being frustrated about not learning and I was disappointed in what the teachers felt that students could do in public pre-k.
So I understand people wanting to send their kids to private schools for many reasons, I just don't see myself doing it because it is a gamble. I know a lot of people who went to private schools that cost $20-$30k per year and they make less money than I make and work a career they don't particuarly like and I went to inner city ghetto schools.
Because the best public schools in all of Georgia are still a joke compared to average public schools in the Northeast. People moving down here from the north are appalled at the average SAT scores at some Atlanta's "best" public schools. Just a quick glance at top schools by SAT score shows the highest in Georgia John's Creek High School at 1730. The highest in New Jersey (a Northeast state known for good public schools) is 2247. That's a HUGE difference. In fact, there are 30 public schools on the NJ list that are above the 1730 of Georgia's highest. The 20th ranked school in GA 1635. In NJ it's 1833.
Simply put, being in a good school district by GA standards isn't the same as being in a good district by US standards. For people moving from the North or who know their kids will be competing for top spots, the public schools here aren't good enough, not even the highest ranked ones.
A lot of parents send their kids to the privates in order to keep up with the Joneses and with the appearance of wealth. I am not knocking private schools. Heck, my ex and I sent a kid to Westminster. And, yes, she went to Georgia. Hindsight being 20-20, I would likely not do it again unless I had a very, very smart kiddo who I thought might be a candidate for a Stanford, Ga Tech or an Ivy.
Well, after shelling out almost $250,000 in private school education, the parents may just be at the point where looking at ANOTHER $200,000 for college is just the straw that breaks the camel's back, and it's a huge relief to have a child who is probably going to easily hang on to their HOPE for 4 years, if not a Zell Miller.
Both of my kids went to a Christian private school here in the Atlanta area. They both did very well -- one got a full ride to one of the "Public Ivies", graduated in 4 years with a triple major (thanks to all those AP classes). This one had also gotten an offer of a full ride at UGA, honors program, etc., etc, but when we did the math, it was actually cheaper for this child to go out of state. Second child wanted UGA for several reasons, not the least that their major was only offered in a very few schools within 500 miles of home (the limit they were comfortable with, not mine. :-) They hung on to their HOPE/Zell and graduated in 4 years.
While I know many students who have enjoyed Duke, it's also odd that Duke seems to be THE school that I most often hear about kids going to and then quickly changing their mind and transferring elsewhere.
Why did we send out kids to a private school? Well, frankly, when they were small, the schools that we were redistricted for were struggling -- very overcrowded, lots of ESL learners. When I visited the Kindergarten the year before my eldest started, I was shocked that each classroom had over 30 kids, of whom at least 1/3 were ESL learners, due to a large swath of transient housing. I wanted more for my kids than the fragmented attention they would be receiving, and I liked the flexibility that the private school had vis a vis the public schools -- kid is outstripping their math class? Create an enrichment class! Kid needs accommodation in order to participate in short-term high-school level internship in DC? No problem -- we'll make it happen. Kid demonstrates a unique artistic talent? Push them as far as they want to explore and develop it. Small classes, good manners were expected as a matter of course, and it constantly reinforced the values that were important to us at home -- respect for yourself, respect for others, and a sense of service to the world around you. And, for those kids who DID break the honor code, there were swift and sure consequences, not the exhausted, "Well, what do you expect?" attitude that seemed to permeate the public schools. One girl was caught stealing from lockers -- she was expelled immediately. One kid was caught buying weed in the parking lot three months before graduation. He was expelled immediately.
So only private school kids get Hope or Zell Miller? Only private schools have AP level classes? I know plenty of people who went to public schools that got full academic rides and took AP level classes in school. What's your point? And the people I know who went to the elite public schools here like North ATL, Riverwood, and Grady didnt even want to stay in state. They were going to the Stanford's and Columbia's of the world at best and at worst were going to places like FAMU and Howard. Not too shabby if you ask me. It seemed to me at least growing up that the private school kids were locked into to going to UGA on some legacy or southern heritage type stuff whereas the public school kids were trying to go away as far as possible and see the world. And I've never known anyone to transfer from Duke. I know 2 sisters that both went to Duke, one went to Riverwood and the other to Westlake. Both graduated and both are in Europe now working in finance. Maybe those private school kids you speak of couldn't cut the mustard as good as those 2 Cascade girls from good ol SW?
And you're not familiar with public schools in the city then if you think the types of things you listed would fly there either. Trust me, as a former knucklehead in HS I can personally attest that they wouldn't. I had my share of switching schools mid year and tribunals over there at the old Howard HS in 4th Ward to speak on that with certainty.
There's a reason why I never participate in these "why do you send your kids to private school" threads. Despite the seemingly innocent question, people always come on here to bash. No one here has said that private school is "better." It's a personal decision. Plain and simple. You don't have to agree with it. You don't have to like it. You don't have to do it. I choose not to skydive, but I don't bash those who do. It's their choice. I also don't assume that skydivers look down their nose at non-skydivers (maybe they do, but guess what? I don't care).
200k OR 250k is a lot of money. But it also comes to what you need money for eventually. If you have enough saved for retirement, why not spend on something that may benefit your kids for life? Some buy cars some buy arts some buy education.
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