Public VS. Private

Q: Dear Mrs. Bottstein

I am thinking of sending my child to private school. How can I make sure this is the right decision?

Public vs. Private

A: Dear Public vs. Private:

Thank you for your question. The decision regarding whether or not to send your child to a private school as opposed to the public school system is easily made by some parents, while others must weigh certain factors. There are some questions you should ask yourself when trying to decide the right educational environment for your child. The following are factors to consider: cost-it is no secret that tuition for private schools can be costly, and you need to check into payment plans if this is a concern; course offerings-most schools, both public and private have a variety of course offerings, including access to vocational programs such as those offered by BOCES. It is important to look at the course offerings, to see if the private school offers the same “track” of study that the public school offers, and vice versa; this includes regents courses. Some private schools do not participate in regents courses and exams. This should not be a concern, however, unless you already know that the college your child may attend only accepts regents diplomas ( FYI- it is not true that students will not be accepted to college without a regents diploma, however some New York colleges may have their own preferences regarding this. Regents exams are only given in New York); religious orientation- if it is important to you that your child learn academics from a particular religious perspective, then a private school in that particular religious orientation would be worth considering; class size-some private schools have the advantage of offering quality education in smaller class sizes than public schools; sports and extracurricular activities-most private schools have the same popular sports, clubs and extracurricular activities as public schools ,but it is important to double check the sports and activities offered at each school you are considering; teacher qualifications-some private schools do not require their teachers to be state certified. If this is important to you, you may want to meet with the principal of the private school you are considering and ask what the qualifications and experiences of the teachers are; special education services-some private schools may not offer the special education services that some students may need.

I hope I have answered your question and given you some things to review when deciding whether to send your child to private school or public school.


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