Is it worth it to explore private schools? (Dallas, Richardson: home, theater)

[stan4]

I would say my kid has more of a head start and academic and social advantage NOT bc he goes to a top private but bc he has had very involved parents who are both home most of his waking hours.

Follow your heart...and you are in a good district.

[walker1977]

Originally Posted by Aggielina

I'm taking all these comments to heart, thank you everyone. I'm leaning towards public school. It would likely be better for us as a family (no commute to school, free!, much better potential for me to become a SAHM, and easier for my son to have nearby friends.) And right now, I have no reason to doubt that my son won't have a great experience at our elementary school. I haven't heard one single parent with kids there say anything negative about it, ever. And there are quite a few former teachers and administrators with kids there (and some who taught at private school!) who rave about it.

Also, in terms of amenities as calgirlnnc mentioned, the school is going through an extensive renovation now so by the time my son starts, everything will be practically new. Another thing I like about it is that it's diverse income-wise and racially. I went to a diverse public school and it benefitted me immensely in my life. My DH is from a small town without a diverse population, and I sometimes have to explain to him why some things he says are not PC, or I have to explain cultural behavior. I'd like my kids to not be so insular.

Without my income, we'd still be over the $100K HHI level, so probably little or no aid if we do go the private school route, it sounds like. That's a shame that they take debt into consideration, I didn't know that. Shopping spree time, LOL!

Sending my children to private school for religious reasons isn't a consideration for us. Although we are regular (mainline Protestant) church-goers, I don't necessarily desire a religious school, though I'm not opposed either. I'm happy to teach him that at home and keep him involved in our own church activities.

As many of you have mentioned I'm beginning to agree that it might be better to send him to a private school later if his academic needs indicate that he'd be better off at one. Like all parents, I just want the best for my kids, and I almost feel negligent if I don't explore all the options. But it's just not realistic or practical in our case, or even needed, I'm seeing. I can't thank everyone enough for your thoughtful replies. They've given me a lot to think about. I can't say for certain that I won't at least browse some private schools' websites just to see if there are any that I really, really like, but right now I'm thinking we'll stick with public school.

You can always go check out open houses for select private schools in the fall just to get a feel or idea of them. Be careful though, you might get sucked in if you do that as some of these schools are just so impressive when you look at them, sit in classes observing, talk to administrators, etc.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by walker1977

You can always go check out open houses for select private schools in the fall just to get a feel or idea of them. Be careful though, you might get sucked in if you do that as some of these schools are just so impressive when you look at them, sit in classes observing, talk to administrators, etc.

Along those lines years ago some friends with little intent to actually send their kiddo there visited Hockaday -by the time the visit was over they had decided their daughter simply had to go there. They next fall she was admitted.

[jgn2013]

Go with the public schools.

Your kid will be fine in the future if they load up on the various gifted & talented programs, AP/IB courses etc. It's not we're talking about fancy English or northeast boarding schools where the entire class goes to Harvard, Yale and Oxford upon graduation. An intelligent kid with passion and drive will succeed whether they're in a public or private.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by jgn2013

Go with the public schools.

Your kid will be fine in the future if they load up on the various gifted & talented programs, AP/IB courses etc. It's not we're talking about fancy English or northeast boarding schools where the entire class goes to Harvard, Yale and Oxford upon graduation. An intelligent kid with passion and drive will succeed whether they're in a public or private.

In a sense you are right legions of kids graduate public schools and go one to great things. That said let's not short sell local private schools via the, "not every grad goes to Harvard" thing, that's simply a faulty test.

After too many, "man years" of experience with private schooling via my kids and nieces and nephews it's pretty clear to me that many people rationalize top notch private schooling around here as maybe just shade, "better" than the best publics and in some really important ways that's true and in others it simply isn't. It's narrow for sure but did you know Jesuit's robotics team won a world championship a couple of years ago? Came in 3rd this past year? I looked a while back no local public was to be seen anywhere close to that. Linking that to a more broad point.........the better privates for lots of reasons concentrate exceptionally bright kids.

Gotta go more later.

[walker1977]

I know this has been posted before numerous times, but EDS is exactly right. Dallas has 3 private schools (Greenhill, Hockaday, St. Marks) that are ranked in the top 50 of college prep schools in the entire nation. So yes, they can compete with the northeast elite schools like Andover, Exeter, Choate, etc. Not saying they have the same reputation, but they are in the ballpark, which is impressive given DFW's location. If you look, St. Marks avg SAT score is actually higher than Andover and Exeter's (and these are boarding schools that only accept students starting 9th grade). Not saying the same kid wouldn't do just as well at Plano/HP but these elite schools are a good choice for some also. I think your best public schools will be well below these on avg as expected. For reference:

AVG SAT

St. Marks-1460
Hockaday-1400
Greenhill-1400

Phillips Academy (Andover)- 1450
Phillips Exeter Academy-1430
Choate- 1360

PS- I know there is more to school than SAT scores but this is just for comparison sake

[BLDSoon]

The comparison between Dallas schools and the NE Boarding schools is unfair on so many levels. How old are those schools? How large is their alumni network? How big are their endowments? How many of their past students now work at those same Ivies? All that plays a part in a private school's reputation (As does their physical location which makes admissions to the Ivies pretty obvious.... i mean, they are right there).

Does that mean they teach better than the privates here? That their teachers are more qualified? Or their students are smarter? I doubt it.

I think private school requires a certain amount of mental commitment.
If a person only halfway believes that its the best decision for their child then writing those checks will get very old, very quickly.

I for one think the top 5 or so privates in the area offer the best all around education to be had HERE.( By education i mean the entire thing...the mix of Academics, Extra-Curricular, Social-emotional, and General education)

Thats not to say an excellent education can't be had elsewhere and it certainly doesn't mean that it cant be had in public schools as Plano West likes to remind us year in and out.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by BLDSoon

The comparison between Dallas schools and the NE Boarding schools is unfair on so many levels. How old are those schools? How large is their alumni network? How big are their endowments? How many of their past students now work at those same Ivies? All that plays a part in a private school's reputation (As does their physical location which makes admissions to the Ivies pretty obvious.... i mean, they are right there).

Does that mean they teach better than the privates here? That their teachers are more qualified? Or their students are smarter? I doubt it.

I think private school requires a certain amount of mental commitment.
If a person only halfway believes that its the best decision for their child then writing those checks will get very old, very quickly.

I for one think the top 5 or so privates in the area offer the best all around education to be had HERE.( By education i mean the entire thing...the mix of Academics, Extra-Curricular, Social-emotional, and General education)

Thats not to say an excellent education can't be had elsewhere and it certainly doesn't mean that it cant be had in public schools as Plano West likes to remind us year in and out.

Good post.
Lawrenceville Prep was founded in 1810 and number of others in the 1700s.

[stan4]

Obviously, it's about selection, too, right?
When I went to UT, the top x% of admitted students had a higher SAT than the top same % at UC Berkeley. But Berkeley at the time was a MUCH smaller school (50% of undergrad #s) selecting for overall better students. But the students at the top of both schools were performing the same prior to admission.

I think that's how it works with Plano West and any of the three privates. The top students are competitive with each other. It's the rest that are different and that's bc the privates select for the well-supported braniacs and the publics take all comers.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by stan4

Obviously, it's about selection, too, right?
When I went to UT, the top x% of admitted students had a higher SAT than the top same % at UC Berkeley. But Berkeley at the time was a MUCH smaller school (50% of undergrad #s) selecting for overall better students. But the students at the top of both schools were performing the same prior to admission.

I think that's how it works with Plano West and any of the three privates. The top students are competitive with each other. It's the rest that are different and that's bc the privates select for the well-supported braniacs and the publics take all comers.

I was going to write a post along the same lines. The average M+V SAT score at HP and Carroll (two publics where 95% of grads go onto college) are in the 1210-1230 range. Considering the size of each school's senior class (500+) compared to 80-120 graduates at the elite Dallas privates, I have no doubt that the top 100ish grads at HP, Carroll, Plano W/S/E, Coppell, etc are putting up comprable SAT scores and gaining admission to a comprable list of impressive colleges. They are private school caliber students.