[reslinal]

Originally Posted by davwve

Why do you think that a private school will offer a better educational experience than some of the top public schools in the State? Don't think I saw you mention any specific private schools. As like public schools the quality of education and resources varies across the options for private schools.

Well, it is just that some of our neighbors and friends living in Westport longer than us still choose to send their kids to private schools (some regret not doing so). The idea is that kids in public school like Staples are under a lot of self-pressure if they are shooting for top colleges while private schools will be able to offer more help/tailoring to the student's specific needs. We are still quite far from private high school decisions so haven't looked at the rankings yet.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by stevem85

what's a "better" college? I understand stanford, duke, vandy and harvard are "better" colleges but normal kids don't get in those.

Again, what you say there is all fine,you did a really tremendous job, but a new haven extrovert might ace an interview while a weston introvert might nervously fumble through it and bomb. You never know.
You keep skirting the bottom line though, which is, at the end of the day, after all the interviews have been completed, they all end up in the same place - clicking mice in corporate america.

The ops kids will get into colleges regardless whether they come from westport or avon or west hartford.
I wish them nothing but the very best in their decision.

1000%

[reslinal]

Originally Posted by ct1615

1. totally get that
2. understandable but be aware as they do get older they will have demands

3. just something to be aware as you hear stories of more offices requiring people to be in the office although I feel I'm more productive when I work from home.

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah if my wife wasn't so against commuting from Westport to NYC regularly, we may not have considered moving in the first place just because of the risks of returning to office.

Given our situation and considerations, do you think moving is a good idea? Any other factors we may have missed in our thought process?

Originally Posted by ct1615

I could see Staples being a pressure cooker like some other competitive high schools. I've also met plenty of people who told me they did nothing at Green Farms but drink while teachers looked the other way. Fairly recent even as I worked with a young lady that went to Green farms before her folks shipped her off to another school.



In my personal experience with my kids, schools now do a much better job tailoring education to kids specific needs especially when the parents are involved with the teachers and there is an open dialogue. My daughter and son are almost finished with grammar school and to be honest with you I don't think I've ever scene a report card yet I know how they are doing because we have monthly video calls with the teachers and they keep us in the loop. At first it was shocking to me as I went to school when it was "your job" to get good grades and parents only spoke to teachers when there was a problem but I find these younger teachers exceptional in their understanding of how different students learn in different ways.

This is good to know! If we ever decide to send our kids to private high school, guess we will have to do more due diligence then That's good to hear about the public schools, we do think one or two of our kids may not need private high schools, so it is good to know the public schools are doing such good job too!

[notghinsaw]

Originally Posted by SteveM85

That’s correct. It really doesn’t matter.
On the flip side, a bright genius is a bright genius. If you can cure Ebola you can cure Ebola. They will succeed and make real impacts in the world with or without Westport public. You can’t create genius.

The moral of the story is the OPs children won’t miss out on anything between Westport and West Hartford. From what I understand both are prominently Jewish so that may be a plus for them as well.

You are funny. It's the same approach where they say that Jeff Bezos started Amazon in his garage. It took me 35 years go get a garage. Kids going to waterbury high will be dealing with fentanyl and violence, not curing ebola.

[notghinsaw]

Originally Posted by reslinal

That's nice. How about drive to Boston? Is the traffic usually good on weekends?

Very good. You'll be the only one going there. As long as it's 3am.

[reslinal]

Originally Posted by ct1615

I think moving is a sound idea in your case and you clearly need the extra room. Both Avon and WH are very good communities with very good school systems even if on a scale Westport may be ranked higher. I don't think you are losing anything there. I've always been partial to westport but it's far more materialistic and has far more traffic today then when I was growing up.

Thank you. We have also been considering either just spend the money and buy a very large house in Westport or expand our current house (cheaper option but more work). But we are really turned off by the amount you need to spend versus what you get in Westport compared to Avon/WH area. I mean the difference is always there, but the absolute dollar difference just seems really stark when it comes to large/very large house market (especially since covid).

Originally Posted by ct1615

People always swear by one or the other but to me it's more of a change of scenery. If one can help keep your child motivated to learn better than the other, that's the right one for them.

Very good take on this. We have been wondering why some of our neighbors send kids to Greens Farm Academy when the school doesn't seem much better than Westport's public schools. But you are right, each kid is different in terms of the environment kids need to motivate them.

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by reslinal

We have been wondering why some of our neighbors send kids to Greens Farm Academy when the school doesn't seem much better than Westport's public schools.

That's for prestige and bragging rights. Most of those kids later on will just end up in the same place as many Westport public and some Waterbury High grads - mapping formulas between Excel workbook tabs at ABC Corp HQ.
They won't be discovering new planets orbiting their respective sun's goldilocks zone in far off galaxies or using electron paramagnetic resonance to study materials that have unpaired electrons.

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by notghinsaw

Kids going to waterbury high will be dealing with fentanyl and violence, not curing ebola.

Many will but there are some there who will "want" it - to make something of themselves. They'll go on to college and eventually get on a zoom call with a Westport or Avon High grad to figure who will handle what part of the Powerpoint slides they'll be responsible for in that quarter's Marketing presentation.

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by ct1615

prestige is a french word (itself a take on latin word) meaning to trick or deceit someone

my point exactly

Good take on the teachers thing too CT615, fantastic.
People don't realize public school teachers are certified with very good pay and healthcare bens and a 75% pension after 30 years. God bless them if they can last that long. I wouldn't last 30 mins in a KG classroom.
Private school teachers on the other hand are paid peanuts and may or may not have certifications. They'll just hire anyone.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by notghinsaw

Very good. You'll be the only one going there. As long as it's 3am.

Boston traffic is usually pretty easy on weekends.