Hi Moms,
I am wanting your opinions on Public vs Private or Charter Schools. My son is currently 3 and attends Challenger school 2 days a week. I love how much he is learning and growing. It is very structured, and I think for his age I wouldn't want him to be there more than 2 days at this point as I also want him to be able to just be a kid a play. However; I think the school and it's teachers do a fantastic job of teaching and challenging kids, and not limiting their learning or abilities based on their young age.
My question is, 2 years from now when my son starts Kindergarten, I'm not sure where I want to send him. Right now the public school system in Utah is getting terrible reviews (if you read the recent article that came out Utah spend the least money per child in the Nation, and they have very low academic achievement scores in grades K-12). I went to public school and had a good experience, but I think I could have been challenged more, and I can see how easily kids can get overlooked, and never reach their potential.
Private and Charter schools seem to offer more in the way of academics, smaller classrooms and more individual attention to kids. But they can be very pricey, and I don't know if they offer as much in the way of social activities/growth and sports as a public school. Plus there are benefits if my son goes to school and plays sports with the kids in our neighborhood.
What do you all think?
Thanks everyone, such great responses and so much to think about. We'll probably be buying a house in the Fall so schools will be a huge factor. I really appreciate everyone's insight and advice!
If you can afford a private school, go with it. Charter school don't are like public in the cost - taxes as far as I know.
When we were looking into buying our first house, our primary consideration was always the school district. There were only a handful in the area that we would have been willing to send our kids to, so we didn't even look anywhere else.
I know not everyone has that option, though. It seems like you are doing your homework. In the end, understand that there may be no perfect solution, so some compromise (for educational, financial, or other reasons) may be necessary.
I think most kids can thrive in just about any setting as long as their parents are involved and willing to supplement by capitalizing on educational / learning opportunities outside of school. There are outside groups for almost any interest so if your school doesn't provide a certain experience, you can probably find an outlet for it elsewhere.
Good luck!
You might start by asking a slightly different question: "what type of school (e.g., what educational philosophy) do I want for my son?
There are parents who are looking for a very individualized, Montessori-esque progressive/alternative school for their kids. And there are parents who are looking for more of military school type of environment. And everything in-between Then, once you have your model in mind, it'll be easier for you to look for a school that matches. The broad categories public, private, and charter all encompass so many different educational models, it's hard to give any kind of answer on just that basis.
My son attends a charter school here in Utah. I like the small class size and individual attention that he gets. Where we live private schools are not an option because they are an hour or more away. After two years of schooling i would have to say that the biggest thing you can do for your child is be involved in their education --- research their school options, talk to parents who are there. Get them to tell you the bad things about the school (not just the good). Weigh the options, consider what your child will miss from each of them and then determine if you can compensate for what will be missed and what they will gain from each experience. At the charter school my son has the chance to meet people from across the valley and not just our own small neighborhood. That is good for him. It doesn't hurt that his school is one of two blue ribbon schools in the state, so i know academic excellence is emphasized. And in it all, remember that the greatest indicator of academic success has nothing to do with what school they go to---it is how involved the parent is with their education.
I have sent my children to a charter school and a public school and I have had good experiences in both settings. A charter school is actually a public school of choice, it is publicly funded and it is free to send your child there IF your child gets in through their lottery system. Charter schools can be great or awful, there are many different kinds of charter schools based on different educational philosophies and run by very different deans or principals. They are far more autonomous than district public schools so they can more easily change curriculum and more easily hire and fire teachers to suit their needs. At a charter school you may have to pay for uniforms and you will be asked for donations for field trip funds etc. When my kids were at a charter school I was expected to volunteer in their classrooms and at school events as much as I could. I was happy to do so, but if that is not your style then don't send your child to a charter school! I was very sorry when a new job in a different city caused us to leave the charter school, but my husband and I did a lot of research to find a good public school for our children. You can go to your school district's website to see raw numbers from the standardized tests that the children at any given school have taken, although it helps to have an educator (like my husband!) to help you interpret the data. Another good source of information is http://www.greatschools.org/ just put in your city and it will show you all the different schools in your area (public and private) and their rating which is based mostly on tests scores, and reviews written by parents who have sent their kids there, or sometimes even teachers or students from that school. My husband and I used these sources of information (and some input from a local superintendent that my husband is friends with) to create a spreadsheet of our top choices in public schools. Then we worked with our realtor to find homes in the boundaries of the schools we liked, you have to be very careful though because sometimes a realtor doesn’t know for sure where the boundaries are, you can check them online at your school district’s website. We were able to get our kids in a school that was in our top 5 by building our house in the neighborhood adjacent to it. So finding the right school takes a lot of work! And choosing a private school isn’t much easier, not all private schools are alike and some are better suited to your family than others. Best of luck to you!
Charter schools are public schools and are free of cost. However, some charter schools are really great and far exceed the traditional public schools and some fail. Also, there is often a waitlist or a lottery to get into the charter schools so you may as well look into that now. Around here some of the waitlists are 4 years long. You need to tour each school and really do your homework on each one to decide which is best for your son and your family. Try greatschools.com.
The Private schools are really pricey, but our Charter schools are publicly funded. So you don't pay for tuition with a Charter. We love our Charter school, btw! (http://ocslc.org/)
Well, if the public school scores are not that good and you can afford private school, then look into what schools are available and go with the best one.
As for our private school, there are 27/class. That is not that small of a class size. There is an aid available in kindergarten, but not in the grades after that.
Our school has a lot of clubs available, which are free. My daughter attends after school care and during that time she goes to art club. They have soccer, cheer, basketball, & fit club.
The Clark County School District is not so hot here either. I will continue private school as long as I can afford it.
Gotta believe there are good and cruddy teachers everywhere.
Your best bet--start looking & touring the ones you're interested in.
