Boarding Schools, and Private schools

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I know you hear horror stories about boarding schools, and private schools, but in all honesty, do you guys think they might be good for a kid, better education, and all that.

If the student actually wants to do well, then a private school will be much better for them. There are generally less students in a private school so teachers are able to spend more time helping students outside of class time.And from my own experience in a private school, the kids that usually go to them are either a) very smart and have a great chance of success in life, or b) very rich and by status alone are more likely to succeed in life. My old school openly told us that they tried to gather people who would be the most successful in life so that we'd all know eachother when we're older, so we'd have good contacts. I'd assume thats its probably true for a lot of private schools, be they religious or secular.

Just remember one thing, in private schools teachers are NOT required to have credentials or a college education. That doesn't mean you'll have any less of quality teachers. I used to teach in many private schools and I consider myself a very good teacher. For some people, they want to know the teacher has credentials. One of those loophole things you have to jump through.

Originally Posted By: bobalicious My old school openly told us that they tried to gather people who would be the most successful in life so that we'd all know eachother when we're older, so we'd have good contacts. What an ignorant thing to say, coming from an educator.

i liked my private school. i wish she had let me sty instead of putting me back in public school in 7th grade. i dk anything about boarding schools tho. i got help in my private school that the elementary school i was at wasn’t willing to help with. i know lot of people say bad things like teachers let them get away with whatever cuz their mom’s and dad’s are rich.... i didn't see that. accurse that was 3ed grade threw 6th grade too lol anyway I liked my academy school. i didn't get picked on there and they were more willing to help than call me something mean. My teachers incouraged them to help. My sister goes to a private college… she loves it there.

It's a cynical thing to say, but I fear it's all too realistic. It's a very great help knowing the right people, even if it's not what education should be principally about.

The implication that I find ridiculous is that these kids are being labeled already (as success stories) and also the implication that you're still going to live in the same town with the same group of peers all your life. I know contacts are good, but usually these are people who you meet AFTER you've considered what you're going to do with your life, not during your education.

Well my school was founded and run by businessmen, they created a school 50 years ago to send their own children to.

I go to a private high school, grades 9-12m and it is no different than the public schools. Im in a wealthy, high-class state and in a wealthy town so the kids that go to my school are loaded with money. plus it is a catholic school and a very white community. [im NOT bragging at all] im only saying this because more money = more drugs. there is a HUGE drug problem at my school. it is all "under" the radar but it definitely goes on. there are more parties where students are drinking and doing drugs (pot mostly, not heavy stuff like coke). The parents have the money so the kids use it. The classrooms are 20-23;1. There aren't a lot of after school activities other than sports. im in 8 classes and 4 of my teachers aren't 30 yet and the other 4 are in their 30's and 40's. none of my teacher's have experience out of the high schools and my younger teachers dont even have their master's yet. There are more honor's classes, but the students in them are only in the honors classes because their parents can afford to put them there, not because they have the 'smarts' to be in them. Last year, our valedictorian, (im in the U.S.A.) didn't get accepted into harvard, yale, princeton, berkley, or stanford. He ended up going to a mediocore state school. yes, going to a private school looks good on your transcript, but the SAT scores and GPA's are just as average as our state public schools. Also, its a smaller town, people in my school may be 'connected' because of their parents, but its not like they're going to stay in this town or state forever. When they go off to college on the other side of the country, no one will have heard of their parents just because their mom or dad was on the board of education or the superintendent or the local physician. The connections are small, its all about money, and there are A LOT of people that have A LOT more money than they do, so its not like money will get them through life. In my opinion, private schools aren't any better than public schools.

One issue that can happen is that if the school is a good one at getting good results, it may be because they give the student so much help - carefully graded materials that cover each point carefully, instructions on what problems to do when, and so on - that the student doesn't learn how to study and learn on his/her own.There is some evidence, and it fits with my observations, that students from top private schools do less well at college than those with the same score who had a difficult road - especially those who took studies in areas that the school didn't really teach, and so were largely self-taught. However, of course, usually students of equal ability will get higher scores in schools that give more support than they will in schools that give little support.

It really depends on what's available. I wouldn't be surprised if my High School, which is public, is better than most of the private schools in the area. Almost all of the students essentially get automatically accepted into the University in the same city, which is a top 100 University. Heck, one of my friends got accepted to it without even applying. And a lot of the courses I'm taking are college-level classes (especially math for possibly 2-3 years). As long as a school is run well, it doesn't really matter too much what type of school it is, be it private, public, or boarding.

Something you might want to consider is the area that you live in. In some places, the public schools are known to have a better education and better students in them. Around here many of the kids in private schools are the kids that got kicked out of the public school system, so you're more likely to become involved in gangs and drugs than you are in a public school. I went to a football game at a private school once and they only had one policeman guarding the entrance. Underneath the bleachers after the game, there were tons of students from that private school smoking illegal drugs and drinking. Private schools around here are only good up to about 6th or 7th grade. After that, it's best to go to a public school. Take a look around and do a lot of research into the local area schools. Bug people constantly, if needed. A child's education is possibly one of the most important things that happens in their life and if they get involved with the wrong crowd, there's no way that you can keep them away from those people at school. Even if they can't hang out with them outside of school, they can still pick up some bad things possibly end up sneaking out of the house frequently to go do God knows what. You might want to look at other schools in other areas. A move might be needed to get the best education with the best peers.

I went to a public school for most of my life , its only because we are currently living away from the UK that i am in a private school.To be honest i think my old public school was better than the school i am currently in , the only difference is here i take the IB program where as in the uk i would have taken A-Levels. Private school still have all of the problems that local schools have (i.e. the drugs and alcohol , if anything i would say its more predominant because the schools are often smaller where as in bigger schools there are more people to 'hang' with) ,and to be honest i think the people in these schools are more money orientated and etc than in local schools/