Ok, my son was going to go to one more year of pre-school, but we decided this week to go on and get him started in kindergarten. We have 5 options in my area; 2 public and 3 private. The house we live in now is in the county school district, Halifax County, which is one of the worst in the state. We could rent a place in Roanoke Rapids, and send our son there, but this would be very expensive with a house we own in the county having to be sold first. The other 3 options are private academies. Two are very mainstream academies with loose religious affiliations; Halifax and Hobgood Academy. Both are quite expensive, and Hobgood is 10 minutes on the other side of home. Halifax is okay, and its near work, but nothing special. We decided to enroll him for now at Cornerstone Christian Academy. Its a pretty strict school, with Chapel days, dress codes, and all that stuff. They have a brand new building and everybody I have talked to said it was very academically challenging. I work at the city schools and have a coworker who sent two of her kids to city schools, but the youngest is going to Cornerstone. It is the closest and cheapest of the three academies.

So after all that, what are you parents thinking of doing or have done with your kids? Public schools okay in your area? Paying for a private school? And what about the rather religious Christian Academies? I have heard nothing but good things, but did anybody go or send their kids and have a bad experience? I'm rather religious and go to church most Sundays, but I'm not a Bible thumping nutjob either, so I want my kids to make their own decisions about religion, and hope this wouldn't cause them to run away from Christianity. I know this is a college message board, but as some of us get older, topics like this are bound to come up more often, and just wanted to see what other parents are looking to do.

8/23/2008 7:41:26 AM

Ok in my experience it really doesn't matter. I went to public school and was in all honors/ap classes and as far as my hs experience goes it was similar to private school cause we had the best teachers and all of my classes were with the same 50 kids or so it seemed ( not 50/class just that in a graduating class of 600+ i was always in one of 2 classes that seemed like they were the same 50 or so kids)

Now, my friends that went to private school only had 50 kids in their entire class so their classes felt similar but, i would say my classes had a higher over all intelligence level than his and since the 50 kids in their classes were more intellectually diversified... and their financial situation was significantly better... they had a lot of kids selling/ doing drugs in their 50 kid class than i did in mine.


Now if your child is not intellectually motivated or is at a grade level where schools do not yet separate the motivated from the not so... then i would say private is the better choice.


Ohh and i know 3 people from charlotte catholic.... and have you ever seen the movie cruel intentions??? That seems to be that school..... all three had/have drug problems and create excess drama in their lives....

[Edited on August 23, 2008 at 8:48 AM. Reason : .]

8/23/2008 8:46:12 AM

My husband and I both come from public school backgrounds. We both attended public schools, his parents were public school teachers, and I am educated to be a HS English teacher.

As a nanny, 2 of my children started kindergarten last year and I went through this decision making process right along with the parents. It has been a good experience for me because my husband and I recently had a child and we will be going through it for ourselves in a couple of years.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both educational settings. I am sure that other people will bring them up, so I will not go over them. Solid parental involvement can offset the disadvantages in either situation. And if you have a bright kid, they are going to flourish in any setting. So why spend the money on private school?

This was the conclusion that I saw the parents that I work for come to and I whole heartedly agreed with. They decided that the tuition that they would spend on private school could be better spent on enriching the lives of their children. They have enrolled their children in public schools and used the tuition money that they were prepared to spend for music lessons, art lessons, skateboarding lessons (hehe), a family gym membership, summer camps, family vacations, private tutoring, and me!

Now public schooling does not work for every child. My husband and I are concerned that our son may not be able to go to public school because of his health conditions. But I feel that it is worth saving the money on private school tuition and at least giving the public schools in your area a chance. Test scores and other system wide measurements are not good indicators of how an individual student is going to perform.

[Edited on August 23, 2008 at 11:08 AM. Reason : .]

8/23/2008 11:05:21 AM

Yes I agree that public schools in some places are pretty good. My wife and I both went to RR City Schools. But I live in Halifax County, and he would be attending that system. The school he would go to, Scotland Neck Primary, is 93% free & reduced lunch and 95% black. He would be in the 2% of the student population that is white. While I have no issue with diversity in schools, this system is not diverse at all. The city elementary school is 20% black, 75% white, and more importantly 42% free and reduced. The private school we are enrolling him in has 6 students for every teacher, with the worst of the 5 having up to 16 kids per teacher.

I just found this article that rates public school districts in the state that came out this week.

http://www.johnlocke.org/acrobat/spotlights/spotlight-356_parentfriendlyschools.pdf

As you can see, the city school rates 83rd in the state, while the county schools are 107th. I understand parental support is a big component, but when your sending the children to one of the worst school districts in the state, it is not a big help.

So in the end I am really not in a position to send him to a public school right now. If/when we move into the city school district, we have that option. Even if we buy land there now, we could only go there if our primary domicile is in the school district. And with costs to rent very high in that district, I'm either looking to rent or buy after selling my house, which could take months, or send him to an academy now.

[Edited on August 23, 2008 at 2:19 PM. Reason : ]

8/23/2008 2:06:25 PM

I'd like to send my son to a public school, but it really depends on the quality of the school district and if they are going to bus the kids way out of the way for "racial" equality. My public education was ok, it was really the quality of the teachers at that particular school.

Most likely any child would benefit with private tutoring on top of any schooling. I know I did.

I hear ya on your dilemma chris. It sucks being in a position like that.

8/23/2008 2:42:17 PM

^racist much?

8/23/2008 2:43:43 PM

^Maybe he just doesn't like the fact that it means his kid could be sent way the fuck away just for racial equality.

Thats one of the issues in Halifax County. If they combined the three districts, which occasionally gets mentioned, then they might have to bus the white kids from Roanoke Rapids out into the county schools. This could mean 2/3rds of the kids in Roanoke Rapids would have to be sent to schools 30-45 minute bus rides from their homes for racial balancing. That would be a big negative, when you have to pass multiple schools that are equally qualified for your child to attend, but because of their skin color they had to go clear on the other side of the county.

When you have one school system with 2205 white kids making up 75% of the population, while the other districts combined have 257 white kids to 5000+ black kids, its racially unequal and would only be corrected by busing.

8/23/2008 3:34:20 PM

My education was screwed up by someone's idea of a good time. I don't know how much time and money was wasted by busing me 45 mins away from my house instead of going to a school 10 mins away and being able to hang out with kids from your neighborhood after school.

If they propose that, protest vigorously. It's a stupid idea, esp. considering gas prices.

The private schools where I'm from were GREAT. If only b/c they had much smaller class sizes which promoted better student/teacher interaction.

If you can have an environment with less students/more teachers, I'd jump on it. Kids get less distracted if there is someone there to pay attention to them.

Private school is a good idea, if you keep on top of your kids and beat them if they think about doing anything bad.

8/23/2008 9:18:02 PM

protest will do nothing, it is the LAW of the land....if you dont like it, put them in private and pay $texas. At least with school uniforms you dont have to spend so much on the latest styles....I know a family that has 3 in Catholic School, the uniform thing saves them a ton on clothes.

[Edited on August 23, 2008 at 10:18 PM. Reason : w]

8/23/2008 10:17:02 PM

^is your trolling always this bad?

after i was in school for a while, they allowed parents to petition the school board about reassigning the particular student to a different school. so protesting (in a way) is an effective means of getting your point across.

i actually like school uniforms, but what does that have anything to do with your argument.

8/24/2008 10:44:39 AM

You should rent out my old room at my mom and dad's house.

It's cable ready.

8/24/2008 12:49:39 PM

Ahaha, is your mom feeling better?

8/24/2008 1:46:15 PM

I went to a private Christian school all the way through high school.

I would be very selective about sending my kids to one.

They are really good on teaching kids discipline and respect, unfortunately they aren't probably good at TEACHING your kids.

The ones my parents could afford to send me and my sister to didn't require the teachers to have a degree at all, let alone a degree related to what they were teaching. Watch out for this because the one I went to through the 6th grade had great intentions but miserable follow through.

I graduated with 56 people and really, I had a pretty solid education. Somewhere along the way I became rather weak at grammar but I probably have myself to blame for that one. The major shortcoming of a school that small is that they can't offer nearly the same variety of classes that a larger public school can b/c they can't afford to staff/equip things like home ec, shop, a variety of foreign languages. Also requiring a bible class every year eats up an elective that could be well used for something else AND classes are only offered once a day so while it was worked out pretty well, there were occasions where you couldn't take a certain class b/c one you needed was in the same time slot (although this definitely happens in college too so I guess it's not that big of a deal).

I would say it entirely comes down to the individual teachers. Better private schools are going to have better teachers b/c they can pay more and have more people to pick from.

Watch the movie "Saved" and that's exactly what I dealt with for the first 18 years of my life.

8/24/2008 4:39:13 PM

i went to public K-10th and to private all guys catholic 11th-12th - both had about 1600 kids and roughly the same number of teachers - we moved in between my 10th and 11th grade for my mom's job and she worked into the deal for the 3 kids left in school for their tuition to be paid for since the public schools in our area we were moving to weren't the best

my wife went to public the entire time

in my opinion there were advantages to both - personally i preferred the public school at the time more but looking back i think the private was better

the teachers were better in general at my private school even though they were paid less than their public school counterparts (tuition when i went there was ~5.5k/yr and i found out this past weekend that it's currently over 9k due to some recent renovations

class size was about the same but the private school's campus was much much nicer

dress code much more relaxed at public school - at private it was dress shirt/tie every day - you could get a JUG (judgement under god = detention) for having your shoes untied or not being clean shaven

more advanced/AP courses were offered at the private school

due to a number of things (access to more $$ being one) there was a higher level of harder drugs being used at the private school

there were a very low number of non-white kids at the private school that weren't on scholarship and didn't play sports - not a lot of diversity in my opinion at the private school

there is a noticeable difference on the web
http://www.saintx.com/ - louisville, ky
http://bhs.sumnerschools.org/ - hendersonville, tn (suburb of nashville)

when my wife and i make the decision it'll be based on our current financial situation and the schoos in our area - i think this decision is a different one for everyone and too hard to generalize

8/24/2008 5:15:22 PM

Oh I know its definitely hard to generalize this. And when number 2 becomes of school age, the decision may change. But right now I think its the best decision for all of us.

And I agree at the high school level that a public school can offer more things. I think we might send them to the public school at that point, but I think it will not make much of a difference in elementary school.

8/24/2008 7:02:37 PM

I think it's funny that you could get in trouble for not being clean-shaven, when there are passages in the old testament that direct men to grow their beards out.

Anyway, it depends on the district. I got a pretty good education in the Wake County system, but it's way, way better than a lot of other places. I would send a child to a public school if it had good A.G. programs and advanced classes, to challenge him and keep him from getting slowed down by the stupid kids, but only if I couldn't afford private school. At any rate, make sure the private school doesn't force bullshit on the students like Earth Day and mandatory Christmas caroling at the nursing home.

8/25/2008 4:36:44 PM

I would be more concerned with the education that my child was receiving, rather than the fact that the school is Title 1.

Even in areas that have high concentrations of low income, the teachers that are employed by the public schools still have to be Licensed by the state.

My wife is a 2nd grade public school teacher. She teaches a LEP cluster in Johnston Co. Being that my wife is a teacher, my child will go to school where she teaches, even though it is out of the district where we live. (the big benefit is that my wife and I have input into who will be my child's teacher since she is a school employee...it is one of the perks that her principal allows)

I wholeheartedly agree with diversity in the school system, but this doesn't need to be attained by busing. Schools should reflect the demographics of the community and for the most part, Wake, Chatham, and Johnston counties do this very well because of the way the districts are organized; by community.

I have never even considered putting my child in private school. I went to public school and have cousins that attended private Catholic school. The only difference that I have seen in the education that I received in public school in Wake and Chatham county and the one that my cousins received, is the copious amounts of tuition that my aunt and uncle have paid over the years to educate their two daughters. If anything, the small class sizes created more of a culture shock than I experienced when I went to college.

8/25/2008 6:02:48 PM

I don't have time to give this the response it deserves, but we are considering private for elementary in order to avoid the annual reassignment nightmare in wcpss. There are some other reasons related to our son's particular needs, but reassignment is the driving factor (assuming we are unsuccessful in getting him into a magnet). Obviously not much of an issue in Halifax, and I agree that private looks like the best choice in your situation.

8/26/2008 8:41:25 AM

^^While that is true Dozer, when my own aunt who teaches at the public elementary school that we are in the district for says not to send him there, then I think I should listen to her. She's been teaching there 25 years and has seen it go downhill dramatically. I even went there for half a year when we first moved into the area. But it wasn't as bad as it is now.

After his first day Monday and checking it out, we decided to bite the bullet and enroll him at Cornerstone. We may move in a year or so and re-evaluate things afterwards, but the teachers at the elementary level at least come highly qualified.

8/26/2008 10:51:02 AM

although I do not have children, my sister does. both she and I went to public school in Greensboro. she sends her kids to those free private school things, called charter schools maybe? basically you put your kid on a waiting list when he/she is born and hope they get in. it's like a private school, but you don't have to pay for it.

when I have kids, I will try to do something similar or I will send mine to private school. but that is solely because the public school system in Guilford County is in really bad shape right now. the only way i would even consider public school would be if I move away from this area.

[Edited on August 26, 2008 at 4:39 PM. Reason : a]

8/26/2008 4:38:58 PM

Has Greensboro's entire school system really decayed that badly? I've heard stories that Page HS and her feeder schools were falling apart, but I thought that Grimsley, Northwest Guilford, and their feeders were still in good shape.

8/27/2008 10:36:30 AM

Among teachers, Guilford County does not seem to have a good reputation. They are always hiring. Always. They seem to have a low retention rate.

8/27/2008 11:14:48 AM

I went to public k-4th, Wesleyan for 5th grade, then a non-affiliated private for the rest of the time.

I felt a bit lost in k-4th, didn't make many friends, 5th grade was fun but guilt ridden, and the history class was bullshit because they tried to incorporate the bible and god in the ancient history part. My private school experience was very good, tho a bit contrained--saw the same people every day, and there weren't alot of classes to choose from-- no home ec, shop, things like that, and not many advanced topics. I do wish I hadn't missed out on that, and on finding people that were more like me....

but then, I might be even weirder than I am now, if I had.

8/27/2008 7:29:18 PM

Quote :

"Among teachers, Guilford County does not seem to have a good reputation. They are always hiring. Always. They seem to have a low retention rate."

true. the administration there is lost. low pay + silly politics + extreme lack of discipline + not firing incompetent teachers + too much focus on test scores (not entirely their fault) & racial based busing (their fault) + not balancing workloads = high burnout rates.

i'm sure it's the same at almost every other school, but guilford county was once great, now not so much.

they need a ground up restoration. new administration, new policies, etc... it's never going to get better if they don't start now.

greensboro is a great place to raise a family, if you send your kids to private school (i.e. greensboro day school - and only if they don't hang out with the rich kids with low morals/druggies).

8/27/2008 8:08:20 PM

grew up in Enfield

went to EA for 13 loooooooooooong years.


to this day i wish i had gone to HS at northern nash(dad lived in nash co)

with the exception of a couple of teachers/classes the school sucked.

i was so unprepared for some of the classes i had to take when i came to state.

going to EA for primary school was ok, but if i had to do HS over i would go to Nash county. Halifax County schools suck ass on way too many levels.

Halifax County schools rate worse that Mississippi schools if that tells you much.

as you are probably aware RR is the only school district in the county worth a damn.

I am still a little bit sad that EA closed a few years ago..... my mom even went to elementary and middle school there.



oh yeah, this has no relevance to this thread but i have to say it anyway............fuck hobsnob

9/10/2008 8:11:48 PM