Private school -COVID 19

[WCInovice]

From what I have observed, the private schools here have a much more robust remote learning experience than the public schools. We live in the 2nd best school district in the state (has been ranked #1 at times), and over the course of my daughter’s public school career, it has matched the quality of offerings and education of my son’s private school experience. (One major difference is that the private school handles anything that involves parents MUCH better, including college counseling, communications for whenever a problem arises, open houses, etc.)

However, the pandemic has demonstrated another difference. The private schools (and this includes my old school in a different city) have online live classes, replacing the in person classes, with resumption of high expectations for work and achievement. My daughter’s top public school posts daily or weekly assignments with limited expectations and about an hour per day of effort required. She is a high school senior and one assignment was to count the number of light bulbs in our house. She has had an hour or two of live class, since this began, which has been more like a hangout than a class. It’s like night and day

This has 100% been our experience.

Our kids are in public schools but some friends in private school have been giving us their learning materials and letting us see some of their online stuff...and the difference is VAST. And we are in arguably the top ranked public elementary school in the state. We have been enamored prior to COVID with this school.

Some of it is a scaling issue (smaller private schools versus the bigger public ones), but some of it is an equity/woke issue (initially our county was told no online learning due to some kids not having computers...but then they reversed that decision after uproar). The good public schools are having their hands tied by higher level bureaucracy telling them what they can and can't do during COVID where as during normal times they can get around some of that I think. The teachers are doing zoom classes out of their own accord as the district didn't mandate that they offer it. And they literally aren't allowed to introduce new material.

[VagabondMD]

This has 100% been our experience.

Our kids are in public schools but some friends in private school have been giving us their learning materials and letting us see some of their online stuff...and the difference is VAST. And we are in arguably the top ranked public elementary school in the state. We have been enamored prior to COVID with this school.

Some of it is a scaling issue (smaller private schools versus the bigger public ones), but some of it is an equity/woke issue (initially our county was told no online learning due to some kids not having computers...but then they reversed that decision after uproar). The good public schools are having their hands tied by higher level bureaucracy telling them what they can and can't do during COVID where as during normal times they can get around some of that I think. The teachers are doing zoom classes out of their own accord as the district didn't mandate that they offer it. And they literally aren't allowed to introduce new material.

Our school district is comprised of 80% from our upper middle class/affluent community and 20% bused from the inner city. (We can talk about the pros/cons elsewhere.) Every family in this community has WiFi, multiple computers in the home, calculators, and whatever resources required to learn including supportive (if not overbearing) parents. The same cannot be said of the 20%.

One of my closest friends is the CIO of a school district in a small lower middle class and indigent area of our community. Online learning has been extremely challenging for this district due to the lack of computers and connectivity. They have the resources to provide every child a computer but cannot provide internet access. They also cannot afford to replace 50% of the computers in the fall, which is the expected replacement requirement based on past experiments with loaning technology in this population.

[uksho]

This has 100% been our experience.

Our kids are in public schools but some friends in private school have been giving us their learning materials and letting us see some of their online stuff...and the difference is VAST. And we are in arguably the top ranked public elementary school in the state. We have been enamored prior to COVID with this school.

Some of it is a scaling issue (smaller private schools versus the bigger public ones), but some of it is an equity/woke issue (initially our county was told no online learning due to some kids not having computers...but then they reversed that decision after uproar). The good public schools are having their hands tied by higher level bureaucracy telling them what they can and can't do during COVID where as during normal times they can get around some of that I think. The teachers are doing zoom classes out of their own accord as the district didn't mandate that they offer it. And they literally aren't allowed to introduce new material.

I am not denying the fact that online teaching is better in pvt schools compared to public schools. But still it is nothing compared to Pre-COVID school . I am still trying to figure out if it is worth paying $16000 per kid, if school remains online .

[WCInovice]

I am not denying the fact that online teaching is better in pvt schools compared to public schools. But still it is nothing compared to Pre-COVID school . I am still trying to figure out if it is worth paying $16000 per kid, if school remains online .

We are having the same conversations in our house.

[fatlittlepig]

Hello,

Wanted to check with forum members to see what their pvt school is doing with tuition.

For this academic year, they are putting in efforts for online teaching , but obviously content is not the same and we end up doing all the work

Anyway , this year is almost over

For next year, they have told us that tuition with this year’s increase will remain the same .

I thought at least they will not increase the tuition. I am not sure how school will look in coming academic year . If we have a surge, they might close it again or might not even open it in fall.

I understand the views of many forum members regarding the pvt school . So my question is for parents who believe in pvt school education

Thanks

Don’t be a fool. Unless you are living in inner city Chicago or Baltimore don’t pay 16K for private school and especially not if schools remain closed in the fall which I think is a likely possibility depending on where u live.

[fatlittlepig]

We are entering senior year Pvt school. With class size average 12, social distancing within the classes themselves are going to be relatively achievable next year. We fully anticipate inclass instruction next year. A little more challenging with science labs probably will be present and computer and things like robotics where interaction and fomites involved

The ability for public schools to achieve this with any measurable social distancing is Herculean. Not only that, the general attitude to social distancing of our public school kids basically sucks and that's a top performing public school too.

So my daughter will remain in Pvt school with full anticipation of on campus instruction

What does this mean: the general attitude to social distancing of our public school kids basically sucks and that's a top performing public school too? I didn’t realize that kids in public schools have different attitudes to social distancing than private school kids. Kind of a weird statement. That being said, I honestly think social distancing in a school environment is a total joke, really. This is a respiratory viral pathogen that produces aerosols (and droplets) with coughing, speaking etc. If one kid has it, it will spread despite how many feet between each desk is.

[VagabondMD]

Don’t be a fool. Unless you are living in inner city Chicago or Baltimore don’t pay 16K for private school and especially not if schools remain closed in the fall which I think is a likely possibility depending on where u live.

I am going to disagree with this. Schools not being open in the fall might be the BEST reason to go private...unless you want your high schooler bored at home and counting electric outlets and such for assignments.

[pulmdoc]

This has been my experience as well. My son is private elementary school and online has been mostly business as usual-a good 4-5 hours/day of focus needed to complete all the assignments. Meanwhile my partners with kids in public school are complaining they do nothing but play Fortnite all day. Some of it is preparedness (school started preparing a distance learning plan 6 weeks before closing), a lot of it is expectations put on the parents to be accessible to their children to help them learn at home.

[StarTrekDoc]

What does this mean: the general attitude to social distancing of our public school kids basically sucks and that's a top performing public school too? I didn’t realize that kids in public schools have different attitudes to social distancing than private school kids. Kind of a weird statement. That being said, I honestly think social distancing in a school environment is a total joke, really. This is a respiratory viral pathogen that produces aerosols (and droplets) with coughing, speaking etc. If one kid has it, it will spread despite how many feet between each desk is.

Weird statement because you haven't spent enough time in the Bay area public vs private schools. --

Challenge: Go to Danville public and then down the street to Athenian -- very similar SES -- very similar SAT scores and IQ and over aptitude. Very different cultural viewpoints and attitudes.

Same can be said of public universities vs small colleges. It's the age old argument between public vs private education.

Any single self starting individual will succeed gloriously in either setting. Even a few of those self starting individuals may band together as birds of a feather in a public setting nonwithstanding a lack of infrastructural support because they are just that. --- However, if there is an infrastructure that encourages, fosters, incubates that power and elevates broader across the student body--- that's the worth of the private education.

As to social distancing
If one is speaking - show me a reliable study that droplets are traveling 6+ feet.
- it's a joke if one lets a coughing person into the environment in the first place.
This is another pvt vs public clear delineation. My daughter's school put out washing stations before the cafeteria entrance two weeks prior school closures -- NO ONE walked by entered without washing their hands -- they all queued up without exception.

[StarTrekDoc]

From what I have observed, the private schools here have a much more robust remote learning experience than the public schools. We live in the 2nd best school district in the state (has been ranked #1 at times), and over the course of my daughter’s public school career, it has matched the quality of offerings and education of my son’s private school experience. (One major difference is that the private school handles anything that involves parents MUCH better, including college counseling, communications for whenever a problem arises, open houses, etc.)

However, the pandemic has demonstrated another difference. The private schools (and this includes my old school in a different city) have online live classes, replacing the in person classes, with resumption of high expectations for work and achievement. My daughter’s top public school posts daily or weekly assignments with limited expectations and about an hour per day of effort required. She is a high school senior and one assignment was to count the number of light bulbs in our house. She has had an hour or two of live class, since this began, which has been more like a hangout than a class. It’s like night and day

This.
My daughter's school: everything happened during ski week. School closed. They canceled 'interim week' which is an off-campus experience for students and substituted that with their spring break AND moved three teacher instructional days together so they could buy time to setup online environment and teach the teachers how to use. -- then launched 10 days later -- all ready, all set - new schedule; live online instructions on all subjects. -- without any loss instructional days.

Counterview - son in top public school: closed school during schooling. didn't pull any vacation forward. 2 weeks later opens with soft launch - 2 hours/week and homework heavy. then 1 week after start -- spring break. night/day response -- largely because of the guardrails of which public schools HAVE to operate.

Remember, public schools, no matter what their SES and achievement, have a different mission. For better or worse, No Child left behind is paramount. That will skew things very differently on priorities and services.

[fatlittlepig]

Weird statement because you haven't spent enough time in the Bay area public vs private schools. --

Challenge: Go to Danville public and then down the street to Athenian -- very similar SES -- very similar SAT scores and IQ and over aptitude. Very different cultural viewpoints and attitudes.

Same can be said of public universities vs small colleges. It's the age old argument between public vs private education.

Any single self starting individual will succeed gloriously in either setting. Even a few of those self starting individuals may band together as birds of a feather in a public setting nonwithstanding a lack of infrastructural support because they are just that. --- However, if there is an infrastructure that encourages, fosters, incubates that power and elevates broader across the student body--- that's the worth of the private education.

As to social distancing
If one is speaking - show me a reliable study that droplets are traveling 6+ feet.
- it's a joke if one lets a coughing person into the environment in the first place.
This is another pvt vs public clear delineation. My daughter's school put out washing stations before the cafeteria entrance two weeks prior school closures -- NO ONE walked by entered without washing their hands -- they all queued up without exception.

It's well established that SARS-CoV-2 produces aerosols (not just droplets). Aerosols can be produced by speaking, singing, (i.e. breathing), along with coughing/sneezing. By definition aerosols linger and stay airborne for hours.. (granted it hasn't been established how infectious aerosols are, but given that the R0 of the virus is significantly higher than influenza I suspect there is airborne transmission) In other words, when schools open, it will only be a matter of time that an asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic kid comes to school and spreads to unwittingly to other students, regardless of social distancing. So unless private school kids are somehow breathing less, I'm not getting your argument. With regards to private schools at large, my observation is parents over-rationalize the benefits to make themselves feel better, since they are spending the big bucks.

[CordMcNally]

My son is private elementary school and online has been mostly business as usual-a good 4-5 hours/day of focus needed to complete all the assignments. Meanwhile my partners with kids in public school are complaining they do nothing but play Fortnite all day.

Your partners' kids in public school will probably end up making millions per year being online video game streamers while your privately educated kid will be stuck in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per year range.

[Tim]

“Remember, public schools, no matter what their SES and achievement, have a different mission. For better or worse, No Child left behind is paramount. That will skew things very differently on priorities and services.”
”Any single self starting individual will succeed gloriously in either setting. Even a few of those self starting individuals may band together as birds of a feather in a public setting nonwithstanding a lack of infrastructural support because they are just that. --- However, if there is an infrastructure that encourages, fosters, incubates that power and elevates broader across the student body--- that's the worth of the private education.”

Whatever path you chose for a junior or senior, probably best to follow it through. Changing schools can seriously disrupt and require adjustments that personally and academically difficult.
Anecdotally, same school district we moved so our kids would be zoned to better middle school and high school within the same district. The former had a student population that socioeconomically wasn’t challenging enough.
Face it, a teacher teaches to a class. Then through in a realistic appraisal of your child. In the lower grades, especially elementary, the parent has a much larger impact than in high school. That is the point most critical. How much better environment, teaching, support and motivation?
It really depends on your specific schools and the specific teachers. Yes, smaller classes and likely more teachers that are gifted in motivating learning in private schools. Tuition changes the environment, not necessarily the education.Kamban

His daughter chose a public school “because “ of a program. The point is that is specific to your options rather than covid or public/private.
Cost wise, public wins every time. One public teacher basically does a daily video. Geez, she must put in 10 hours. Challenging, stimulating, dares the kids to explore with other online references and research. It’s not all bad or good.

[resident_1]

Got a friend who sends their kid to private k-12 school, tuition is $23k. What is interesting is that our catholic school ($5.5k) did a much better job once schools closed down in terms of online learning. Our school went to online learning right away (private school took their 2week "spring break". Our school did a great job with covering the material, having kids regular assignments, zoom meetings, etc (kids stay busy until lunch time,to get assignments completed, do zoom gym class, etc. Compared to the private school. It was certainly a sore topic when I would remind my friend that all that money is going to crappy online learning.

[G]

Got a friend who sends their kid to private k-12 school, tuition is $23k. What is interesting is that our catholic school ($5.5k) did a much better job once schools closed down in terms of online learning. Our school went to online learning right away (private school took their 2week "spring break". Our school did a great job with covering the material, having kids regular assignments, zoom meetings, etc (kids stay busy until lunch time,to get assignments completed, do zoom gym class, etc. Compared to the private school. It was certainly a sore topic when I would remind my friend that all that money is going to crappy online learning.

Well, to beat a dead horse and continue to derail OPs thread: my kid is busy from 9a-3p with assignments, zoom meetings, phone calls and emails from the school for $0.