Hi moms! Looking for some advice on chosing a school for my daughter. We are looking at two different private schools for my daugther. Here are the details for each school:
1st school: tuition is much cheaper, about $4400/year. The building is older and is not in as nice of a neighborhood as the other school. The school is TINY! They have one class for each grade, which makes for great student/teacher ratios. I've heard a ton of great things about this school though. A girl that I work with sends her kids there and she loves it. I know a couple at church who send their kids there and they love it. I don't think I have heard one negative thing about the school. They use ABEKA as their academic cirriculum. They don't have all the bells and whistles that the other school has, such as ipads, very nice computer/media room, choir room, etc.
2nd school: Much higher tuition, about $7200/year. Very nice campus and in a nice neighborhhood. They have a much bigger student body, about 800-900 students, so they have 1-3 classes for each grade. They obviously have very nice equipment, such as the ipads, computers, music room, media room, etc. I also know some people who send their kids to this school and they like it. They use a combination of materials for their academic cirriculum.
Both schools are accredited. My main thing is, since we are taking her out of the private school she is at now, do we put her at the school that is in the same price ranges as the one she was at so she gets all the bells and whistles, or go with the less expensive school where she will probably get more attention from the teacher, other students, but just be in an older building with a smaller class size. I'm pregnant right now, so my emotions are making me so emotional about this choice. I talked to my husband and we think we might put her at the smaller school this next year and see how she does/if she likes it. If she doesn't like it, we can always move her to the other school.
What would you moms do? Thanks for any help!!
My son is in a small school (85 kids for K-8). So he's in one class made up of 6 and 7 year olds. I love the feeling of it, he knows all of his teachers, and learning is based on the child's individual learning style. The tuition is 8,600 for the year. The downside--when kids come and go (economy), the class feels it. There are basically two boys in my son's class I like (and he likes), and the others are a pain in the butt. There's also no accommodations made for children with disabilities (which is to be expected with most schools), so if your child is struggling in reading, for example, depending on the issue your child may have to move to public school. That said, I'm leaving my son there. I like what he gets from the school. I say talk to parents, think about what you want (sometimes the really shiny happy looking schools are just a pretty package) and go with it. What's important to me is the staff, the school philosophy/curriculum and opportunities for engagement. The other thing you may want to consider is that if your unborn baby will be attending when your dd is, can you afford both kids? I know several parents who didn't plan well for the expense and ended up leaving because they couldn' t handle having two in at the same time. Good Luck!
Personally I would go with the smaller school. I feel if you have to many kids in a classroom then they do not get a good quality education. As for not having all the fancy equipment..... If you can afford to send your child to a private school then you should be able to afford to buy that kind of stuff for her use at home. I do not think all that fancy stuff needs to be in schools.
I think there is more to say for smaller class sizes than technology.
I would go with the more attention from the teacher and smaller class size. In the elementary years, I think that's more important than the technology being in the classroom.
Heck, with that price difference, you could buy her a few tablets of her own every year if you think she needs more technology.
Personally, I would choose the smaller school. In K, my child was one out of a class of 26, and he had some mild learning issues - nothing that would require an IEP, but some extra attention would have gone a long way. The instructor just could not do it - not enough time.
Now, in grade 1, in a smaller private school, my child is one out of class of 10. Not as much extra 'stuff', but the additional time/effort the teacher can (and is VERY willing to) do has made so much difference.
Good luck - I know hard this decision can be. It would be so much easier if we were choosing something for US, rather than our kids.
Not knowing the schools it's hard to say. But in general I would pick attention from the teacher over bells and whistles.
Since we homeschool, I must say I would go with the smaller size and more individal attention and I would get iPads n computers with the extra $ I save lol
I am so jealous of the prices. The private schools in my area are 20,000-50,000 a year.
I agree with this. I went to a few different private schools growing up, and I have to tell you that my personal favorite was the one I went to for K and then again in 4-6 grade. Other than kindergarten, my class size was so small that we had combined classes - I was in a graduating class of 5 sixth grade students (we also had 6 fifth graders, so 11 kids total in the room.) If I could have had classes like those for every single grade, I would have chosen it in a heartbeat, and I wish I had that option for my boys. Unfortunately, the school has since folded. :(
The bells and whistles are not nearly as important as one would think, and as the mom I've quoted pointed out, you would have PLENTY of leftover funds to get those things for her personally if you find them to be valuable tools.
Quoting JasonsMom2007:
I would go with the smaller school. If the technology is important to you then use the savings to buy it for her. For $2800/year she could have an ipad, laptop, and still have money left!
I think there is more to say for smaller class sizes than technology.
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- sunfire79
on Feb. 17, 2012 at 9:38 AM