TWCA/Houston Private Schools (The Woodlands, Princeton: homes, neighborhoods, elementary school)

[AcresHomes44]

I was looking at tuition for The Woodlands Christian Academy, and the prices are about as much as you'd pay for a year at Rice or UH. Truth be told, folks are crazy to pay for private school education. My wife & I are Master's degreed folks that could afford private school education if we had kids (which we don't, but if we did) & even she said it's ridiculous. Houston has plenty of good public schools in good neighborhoods, so I'd just send my kid to a good public school and they'll thrive there as long as they're focused. I went to Eisenhower aka Ike and I did well academically because I was focused on my education & my teachers knew it. I think it's funny, and sad how some Houstonians are willing to pay for private education even if they live in a good neighborhood zoned to good schools.

[chitown50s]

Of course.

Anyone I've even known who went to or was admitted to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT or Cal Tech went to public schools. I admit though that I don't travel in the rarified circles.

[chitown50s]

Of course,

Every kid I've known that went to or was admitted to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT or Cal Tech went to public schools.

[chitown50s]

Of course.

Every kid I've known that went to or was admitted to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT or Cal Tech went to public schools.

[AcresHomes44]

Originally Posted by chitown50s

Of course.

Anyone I've even known who went to or was admitted to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT or Cal Tech went to public schools. I admit though that I don't travel in the rarified circles.

To me, admitting you went to a top notch school is bragging rights. I went to such & such school, like folks are supposed to be impressed.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by AcresHomes44

I was looking at tuition for The Woodlands Christian Academy, and the prices are about as much as you'd pay for a year at Rice or UH. Truth be told, folks are crazy to pay for private school education. My wife & I are Master's degreed folks that could afford private school education if we had kids (which we don't, but if we did) & even she said it's ridiculous. Houston has plenty of good public schools in good neighborhoods, so I'd just send my kid to a good public school and they'll thrive there as long as they're focused. I went to Eisenhower aka Ike and I did well academically because I was focused on my education & my teachers knew it. I think it's funny, and sad how some Houstonians are willing to pay for private education even if they live in a good neighborhood zoned to good schools.

A year at Rice is $70k without financial aid($52k for tuition). UH is $9k for tuition, and around $20k for a year with room and board, etc. Rice and UH aren't comparable from a cost perspective. TWCA is a decent school, I know some folks whose kids went there for HS, and they were very satisfied.

If the parents are involved, public schools are a good choice. My kid goes to Waltrip, and we've been very happy with his education.

[AcresHomes44]

Originally Posted by WRM20

A year at Rice is $70k without financial aid($52k for tuition). UH is $9k for tuition, and around $20k for a year with room and board, etc. Rice and UH aren't comparable from a cost perspective. TWCA is a decent school, I know some folks whose kids went there for HS, and they were very satisfied.

If the parents are involved, public schools are a good choice. My kid goes to Waltrip, and we've been very happy with his education.

I've heard good things about Waltrip. They're a solid HS from my POV. If someone goes to TWCA from PK-12, they'll pay more than they would at UH or Rice over the course of several years.

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by AcresHomes44

Truth be told, folks are crazy to pay for private school education.<snip> I think it's funny, and sad how some Houstonians are willing to pay for private education even if they live in a good neighborhood zoned to good schools.

It's not always as simple as it sounds. Allow me to bore you...

I went to public schools, got a great education. When we had kids, we lived in a demographically mixed area, because I liked it. Had no desire to live in a cookie-cutter suburb. (I'm White, by the way)

We sent our daughter, incredibly smart & tested off the charts, to HISD. Because why not. And I got a great education, right? The elementary school we were zoned to was 50% Hispanic, 30% Black, 20% White & other. At first, it was okay. She was bored, not challenged, but it was manageable. By third grade, we had a problem. She was put in a class of ESL kids. When we explained to the school admins that our daughter wasn't ESL, they said there was nothing they could do. What?!? They even claimed it would be good for her, as she could help the other kids in the class, which would help her in the long run. Double WTF?!?

Finally, after talking to higher-up admins, they moved her to a "normal" class. But very quickly, she became bored, complaining that the spent half the day going over what they learned the previous day. We moved her to a private school mid-year, and never looked back. My wife even took a job at that private school, to help pay for it (we got reduced tuition). She went on to college, then a Masters, and now a top-notch job in the Sciences. She is an over-achiever, in every sense of the word. HISD failed her. Failed us.

Public school can do a good job with the 80% Bell Curve. But if you have a kid who falls on the extremes, it fails them. It also matters WHERE you go to school. I make fun of cookie-cutter suburbs, but they probably do a better job with over-achievers than inner city schools, which quite frankly, have some unique challenges.

Every kid is different. Most can do well in public schools, with involved parents. But not always. So painting all families with your broad brush is not accurate, nor fair.

YMMV.

[houston-nomad]

Yeah, when my son was in elementary (a really good HISD elementary), they had some kind of reading contest. You got points for each book you read. They took my son out of the competition because he had too many points and was ruining it for everyone else. He's not a great student these days (high school). I think it's mostly just who he is, but maybe he would have been more motivated in better schools, who knows.

[AcresHomes44]

Originally Posted by astrohip

It's not always as simple as it sounds. Allow me to bore you...

I went to public schools, got a great education. When we had kids, we lived in a demographically mixed area, because I liked it. Had no desire to live in a cookie-cutter suburb. (I'm White, by the way)

We sent our daughter, incredibly smart & tested off the charts, to HISD. Because why not. And I got a great education, right? The elementary school we were zoned to was 50% Hispanic, 30% Black, 20% White & other. At first, it was okay. She was bored, not challenged, but it was manageable. By third grade, we had a problem. She was put in a class of ESL kids. When we explained to the school admins that our daughter wasn't ESL, they said there was nothing they could do. What?!? They even claimed it would be good for her, as she could help the other kids in the class, which would help her in the long run. Double WTF?!?

Finally, after talking to higher-up admins, they moved her to a "normal" class. But very quickly, she became bored, complaining that the spent half the day going over what they learned the previous day. We moved her to a private school mid-year, and never looked back. My wife even took a job at that private school, to help pay for it (we got reduced tuition). She went on to college, then a Masters, and now a top-notch job in the Sciences. She is an over-achiever, in every sense of the word. HISD failed her. Failed us.

Public school can do a good job with the 80% Bell Curve. But if you have a kid who falls on the extremes, it fails them. It also matters WHERE you go to school. I make fun of cookie-cutter suburbs, but they probably do a better job with over-achievers than inner city schools, which quite frankly, have some unique challenges.

Every kid is different. Most can do well in public schools, with involved parents. But not always. So painting all families with your broad brush is not accurate, nor fair.

YMMV.

Parents of inner city school kids could care less about their child(ren)'s education. By & large, inner city parents have to work 2, sometimes 3 jobs to make ends meet so they don't have the time to keep abreast of their child(ren)'s education. Because of that, the child(ren) is on their own when it comes to their education. Your story is an exception because from what I read, your daughter wasn't challenged so you did what was best, and I respect that.