Community Chat

[Marp]

Excerpt from:  smu.research.com/universities-colleges/average-cost-of-private-school-by-state

Private Day Schools

The majority (91.4%) of private school students attend day schools, which operate similarly to traditional public schools, with students attending classes during the school day and returning home in the evening. The median tuition at private day schools is $16,000: $14,370 for first graders, $15,180 for middle school, and $19,020 for high school.

For private day schools that are members of the National Association of Independent Schools, the median is $27,000. First-graders attending such schools pay $23,330, while high school seniors pay $30,380.

[gertrudecloset]

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@Trailrun23 wrote:

The high cost of private schools depends many times on if it is parochial or not. If it is a parochial school then a church is providing the space so there is no rent and the church also pays most of the staff salaries. Tuition paid by the parents will offset the costs. Private schools advantage regardless of age level is usually smaller classes. There are so many different types of curricula for private schools other than basic academic skills it is hard to know where the high tuition is justified. Almost every one is set up differently. Only the parents can decide if the tuition is worth it. We have many private schools here with every imaginable emphasis. Some focus on the arts, science, classical education, etc. some are boarding schools where the students live on campus throughout the school year then go home for the summer.  There are several here that are for special needs students and some are half day. I think all private schools teach basic academics...,and do them well due to having more parental involvement required than public schools are allowed to require. 

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In my State Parochial schools must adhere to the curriculum of the Public School System.  However, they can go beyond that.  The must do the bare minimum of what Public Schools offer though.  The difference I found in Parochial school for my son was their strictness and their no nonsense attitude toward learning.  I'm glad he went from elemetary school all the way to high school to Catholic Schools. We are not Catholic either.  @Trailrun23 

Private schools in my state take kids who are smarter than average.  There are plenty of them for the wealthy, whether their kids are smarter than average or not.

Many wealthy or well to do families send their kids to good private schools as a stepping stone to Ivy League Colleges (yepper).

[shoesnbags]

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

This thread isn't a question about the value of a good education.  We all know it makes a huge difference in peoples' lives.  It's about the curriculums offered in private schools.

I recently read an article about the private schools in England, and where some of the royals' children attend.   One school named was described as having a tuition of approximately $24,000 per year .... for students ages 4 to 7.   

If there are any educators out there .... what EXACTLY could students ages 4 to 7 be taught to justify a $24k per year price tag?   

Of course, if the parents are filthy rich, the cost really doesn't matter .....  but what are the kids that age being taught?  

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Tink, what kids learn from ages 4 to 7 forms the basis for the entire rest of their years in school.  Children learn to read in kindergarten now, and by age 7 (2nd grade) are using those reading skills to learn science, history, etc.  Math skills are pretty far along by age 7, too.  If a child hasn't had a good foundation in the lower grades, he or she will be behind their peers. 

So depending on what the public school system is like in a given place, it's understandable that parents might choose private school for their kids.  It's not as if you can blow off those early years and then make up for it later. 

[GenXmuse]

My kids did Montessori PreK-6th grade. It was a very hands on experiential learning system that has served them well both in school and out.  
It was a sacrifice and the other moms and I would joke about how old our cars were! 

[FiddleDeeDee]

@Tinkrbl44  DH and I attended Private (known as Public Schools in the UK) from pre-school till HS graduation; boarding schools as well. We followed the same path with our children but circumstances ended that a few years back.

As a parent, it came down to multiple things when we did a compare and contrast between our local public school and the private schools we chose.  DH and I have only taught at the college level so our opinion won't matter to you.

I'll say simply that the environment, the way teaching occurs, what is taught and the numerous opportunities to learn outside 4 walls were just a few of the reasons we believe the tuition was warrantied (and still do).

[Justholdingon]

 I don't agree with putting kids in a private school thinking it's better education or environment  wise. I think it begins at home and what you teach your kids and what morals you teach them. If you teach them who they shouldn't be hanging out with and ethics on studying and their worth, then I think they would be fine.

one of the reasons I believe this is because I and my two other sisters were put into private schools beginning our junior high school years and each of us had different experiences. My older sister skipped a year in elementary school and was always trying to show off and put off an air to the older kids in jr. high and high school. So she turned out extremely snotty.

 I went in two years after and got bullied endlessly as I was the only new kid in the whole grade and the only Asian kid too. I begged and begged my parents that I wanted to switch schools to where my friends went , which was a public school, but they were afraid of the potential violence. Meanwhile, I was getting beaten up on the daily. If I had access to pills, I would have taken them.
Two years later, enter my younger sister. She also got bullied and got her hair cut at one point. 
not once did my parents do anything.

[drizzellla]

The private school that I attended was from grade 9 to grade 12. So I was not in private school before that. What I do know is that before a student was assigned to a class, they had to take an entrance exam. And more often than not they were placed back a year. That whatever we were learning was ahead of the kids coming into our school.

I also know that my SAT scores were above the average. 

I looked into sending my son to a private school. There were numerous private schools near where I went to school and I wanted him to go to one. I was told that my son had to start going there at kindergarten. He  couldn't just start at the school say at 5th grade.

It would have been well over a 1.5 hour commute and I couldn't see sending a kindergarten kid on that kind of commute. The school did have a bus that would pick up my son not far from my house. So that meant that there were parents that thought it was worth it to send their kids from that distance. 

[ScrapHappy]

I have been on both sides of the coin.  My daughter attended private school in California and has been in a public school in another state for the past 6 years.  The private school was a kindergarten to 8th grade.  That private school was in a top rated school district and after 8th grade many students went to the high school and others continued with the other private schools in the area (there were 3 that offered high school).  We paid $22,000/year for tuition.  Did not include uniforms and some other things.  On top of that, there was back to school night which was really about the head of school asking to donate more money.  We'd give about $300 but there were families that would give a heck of a lot more....like $10,000 to even $30,000.  Yes, there were families in that school with a lot of money and had more than 1 child enrolled.  I knew of two families in particular that had 3 and 4 kids enrolled at one time.  And let me tell you, the ones that gae the most, ruled the school.  The main reason we put our daughter into private school was that the public school where we lived was horrible.  We were sweating it as 8th grade approached because she'd be going into high school and we weren't the family living in the great school district.  We looked for years for a home in that district but it was so expensive.  A 2 bedroom/1 bath condo started in the millions.  The private schools, there were 3, that were for high school, was like getting into college.  Hundreds of students trying to get the small amount of openings available.  At the time we left California, those private schools tuitions were about $35,000.  I'm sure it's higher now, it goes up every year.  We were happy with our daughter in the private school in California in the beginning, but as the years went on, we felt the curriculum was becoming dated, lack o technology and problems with the head of school (which she ended up leaving).  She started public school in 5th grade when we moved and it wasn't an easy transition.  Believe it or not, the work was harder in public school.  A couple of times she'd be texting her friend in California and showing her what's she's doing in math and her friend said, "what the heck is that?!"  In my experience, private school was about what you did for a living, how much money you made and how much of that you can give to the school.  And truth be told, there were many families who were getting assistance who made a lot of money (and had trusts).  Yes, it's true, they bragged about it and one of those families owned a string of hotels.  Each private school is different but don't kid yourself about it always being better, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.  Most of the time everything is magnified because you're in that smaller bubble.  The same problems exist...bullying, drugs, and most of all a sense of entitlement.  

[KittySoftPaws]

If you read or listen to the news and I mean the news that reports both sides, not a slanted one, then you will have the answer to your question. If I had young children, I would try to get into private schooling or home school. Aside from the violence, there's bullying, drugs, erasing history as it's written, gender changing and influencing without parental consent as a minor, (this is allowed in my state) to name just a few reasons. These few are plenty enough reason for me.

[chrystaltree]

I'm sure it's the same in the UK as it is here.  $24K isn't even a lot of money for rich parents who can afford it.  There are exclusive private schools in my area that charge $35K for elementary school, $50k for middle and high school.   The parents are paying for low student to teacher ratios,  teachers who are better educated and come from a higher socio economic background than public school teachers,  a curriculum that strives for excellence and puts achievement first.  They don't want their children exposed to working class students who are more likely to have troubled backgrounds.  Private schools are free from many government mandates that prevent teachers from actually teaching. And then there are things like music classes, foreign language classes, fencing, ballet beginning in elementary school.  Before my girls started school I would go through those catalogs and dream about being to send my girls to them.  Which isn't to say our family would even be considered by those exclusive schools but a mother can dream.  But we did want something better than public school so we sent them to good parochial schools.  Discipline, respect, strong work ethic were important to us and those things were weak in public schools.