Public vs Private (school)

[Hydro]

Originally Posted by CajunSaint

Thanks I know I did a better job at school when I was threatened with St Stanislaus not only the fact of NO girls but a shaved head! ( that wasn't Kool in the early 80's)

Man, I havent heard the "Stanislaus" threat in a long time

That kept my brother and I on the straight and level for sure... He went to Catholic school and I went to Public, each fit our different personalities...

My daughter is a senior @ Comeaux and loves it there, great grades and good friends so I can't complain... She has been in public schools since pre K and we have been very fortunate to not have had any negative issues...

Good luck !!!

Hydro

[simplepeddler]

Man it seems this is a tough one.
I can tell you that I only have one left and he is in public school.
If your son is having some sort of identity issue, then changing schools will only make it worse in my opinion.
You may only get him to talk in a duck blind or a one on one deal.

This is a tough time for boys that age, some are maturing quickly physically and their brains are not capable of handling the attention their hormones are getting.

and the one that are not physically maturing and intimidated by those that are.

You HAVE TO MAKE HIM TALK or at least talk to him about becoming a young man and what it means.

just the fact that you are willing to seek advice here, shows you are a dad with the stones to care enough.

Family dynamics are tough but if it was easy we would likely pay at lot less welfare and have less crack heads.

Don't give up dude, hunting season is here.......get them boys out with some quality other young guys with strong dads and watch them grow......

[RonnieF]

My daughter went to private schools in Baton Rouge and graduated from St Joseph's (all girls). She did great in school. Once she got to LSU, those auditorium classes w/500 people intimidated her, no to mention the professors not caring if you pass or fail. Lost her TOPS, had to go to BR community college, then SLCC in lafayette to get her grades up. UL wouldn't accept her with her low average, hence SLCC, which was a welcome to reality moment for her. She's gonna graduate from ULL this semester and has maintained great grades since. I cost a boat load of money to send her to the private schools, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Ronnie

[Slidellkid]

Saint,

I think it will depend on how good the public schools are in your area. Some are awesome and some not so good. Check out www.greatschools.com (or it may be greatschools.net, not sure) and you can look up the respective schools in your area and see how they have faired in national testing. The schools here in Deridder are actually pretty darn good and they are good in Kinder as well. I have been very satisfied with the teachers my kids have been involved with in the public schools. Just because a school is private doesn't make it a good school. Many private schools don't require any type of certification to teach. On the other hand, I think there are certainly a limited number of private schools that are a cut above strong public schools. These schools will invariably be very expensive.

I am a lawyer, my older brother is a physcian and my younger brother is a civil engineer and we are products of an average public school. Several of my friends went to private school and they thought their s****t didn't stink. Many of them were from wealthy families and they had no clue how to how to interact with blacks or rednecks when they graduated. Many of them had just about everything given to them growing up and they ended up being worthless as adults.

If your son in the sixth grade is having trouble where he is, maybe he is hanging with the wrong crowd. I would seriously consider a move for him, whether that be public or private, just to give him a change. Most times I think solid parenting can overcome a bad crowd, but there are times when a kid just gets wrapped up with the bad apples and there is nothing a parent can do except move him.

Best of luck.

[huntin fool]

Hey the inventor of yahoo! Went to public school..(my high school to be exact.) Look how great he turned out to be!

[gasdad]

Everyone knows you can put anyone in a tin box and they can learn if motivated enough. I think all of the rules of engagement have of course changed since I went to school (I'm 57 now). Most public schools were decent then.
Once we had kids, we tried public schools for our kids in Lafayette and we were frequently sent "corrected" answers on spelling and math quizzes that were totally wrong. This happened on time too many and we went the private school route and have not regretted one penny spent. In private school there are a bunch of motivated, involved patents that have a vested interest in making their kids have the best education possible. That lends itself to a bunch of motivated kids that want to do well for themselves also. Peer group pressure is such an influence upon kids and I feel if your kids can be afforded the opportunity to be alongside a majority of parents and kids that are motivated to succeed then your much more ahead of the game.

[seahorse]

yeah, im just saying that not all kids who go to private school are rich. i went to a private high school and my family has always struggled with money. i remember having a rich kid sterotype on me and i worked after school doing concrete work just so i could stay there. private schools are great and so are public, i think public prepares you more for the real world though.

[Duck Butter]

Does anyone have children that go to St Pius in Lafayette? My wife teaches 7th and 8th grade there

[Ducktrickster]

Kids with involved parents will do well no matter where they go. I see kids all the time that switch fro public to private and vice versa. Most of the time, they have the same problems they had before. On the other hand, i feel that a kid will be more successful in a place that they feel most comfortable. Good luck with your decision.

[BassAssasin]

Man this thread is really stressing me out! my oldest is 3 and i am not ready for all these big decisions.

[southern151]

Originally Posted by BassAssasin

Man this thread is really stressing me out! my oldest is 3 and i am not ready for all these big decisions.

I concur! My little boy is 4 today so, I have to strart getting this stuff on my mind!

[BassAssasin]

i Went to Westminster and it was pretty good, but still unsure if i wanna pony up the dough to send my kids there.

[Raymond]

IMO, sent son to Cathedral for three years but were not allowed into the cool club due to not living in the "Hot Neighborhood" or "Driving" the best autos. Academics in most Private schools in the Lafayette area are below par with the exception on ESA but who can afford $12,000 a year? I believe the money spent on three years of Cathedral was wasted but he came away with a better understanding of how you should treat people.
It is what you put into it, public or private. Out of zone exemptions are available for any child that is not getting an education so no reason for any child to be stuck in a low preforming school.

[Hunt Fish Nap]

Originally Posted by Duck Butter

Does anyone have children that go to St Pius in Lafayette? My wife teaches 7th and 8th grade there

Yes, I have two nephews that attended St. Pius and one still there. I also have a sister-in-law that is a teacher there.

[mailreg]

You'll have issues no matter what school. If I were sending my kids to school for the best education this area has to offer (which I am) they are going to Westminster. Hands down the best education your kids can receive in the Acadiana area. As for as someone stating they want a small fortune, that person should do his homework first! Westminster is cheaper than Fatima and there tuition includes all fees unlike many if not all other private schools. Fatima is about $650 more per year than WCA.

[Hunt Fish Nap]

Originally Posted by Raymond

IMO, sent son to Cathedral for three years but were not allowed into the cool club due to not living in the "Hot Neighborhood" or "Driving" the best autos. Academics in most Private schools in the Lafayette area are below par with the exception on ESA but who can afford $12,000 a year? I believe the money spent on three years of Cathedral was wasted but he came away with a better understanding of how you should treat people.
It is what you put into it, public or private. Out of zone exemptions are available for any child that is not getting an education so no reason for any child to be stuck in a low preforming school.

Raymond: I will have to adamantly disagree with you on the "below par" quote. If you were to compare academics between the private and public schools in Lafayette, you would find that the private school students fair much better. Now I will admit that the variety of courses offered in a private school are fewer than that of public schools but if you compare the core courses, private would win out. The gifted program at Lafayette High would come close to private schools. I have one nephew that was in the gifted program from 1st grade through his senior year and he did exceptional, but he would have done so any where he went.

As for the "cool club", I never thought you would have wanted to be in such a snotty group and you drive/drove a Z so whats not cool about that?

[CajunSaint]

Man you boys have made my decision all that much more difficult!
The wife and I decided to give him another six weeks (maybe conference tomorrow).

To all that say it's the crowed everyone of his friends are honor roll students??? Maybe he has my jeAns??? J/J he's a very intelligent kid!
He does the work but doesn't turn it in?!?!?!?
How do we help that?

You guys have helped out greatly!
Thank you!

[simplepeddler]

Originally Posted by CajunSaint

Man you boys have made my decision all that much more difficult!
The wife and I decided to give him another six weeks (maybe conference tomorrow).

To all that say it's the crowed everyone of his friends are honor roll students??? Maybe he has my jeAns??? J/J he's a very intelligent kid!
He does the work but doesn't turn it in?!?!?!?
How do we help that?

You guys have helped out greatly!
Thank you!

Was thinking about you guys earlier today.
I hope he comes around man, I can also tell you that it's likely the other parents are saying the same thing "it's the crowd" all parents blame the other kids........

for what it's worth, I think you guys are on the right track....

[Insidiator]

Public V Private. weird subject for this board, but I have experience with both. The issue, like lots of things in life, is whether extra money is worth it, and I can tell you with certainty that.........it depends. I agree with Slidellkid above.

I grew up in an area where the private school was definitely better up through 8th grade. But public high school was arguably better than the local private school. Then I had kids, moved elsewhere, and found that the public elementary school was better than the private, and the public high school HONORs curriculum beat the crap out of the private option. So that's where I sent my kids (public), and today they're both doctors, one is a M.D. the other a PhD. BUT....It doesn't matter where you send your kids if you don't teach em to learn at home, help em with homework, get them excited about math and science, take em to museums, help with science fairs, assist judge their speech competitions, volunteer as den leader, share how cool it is to be smart and tell them they're special. Gain their respect and tell them life is tough, but it's tougher if don't study hard. If you don't do that, you might as well save your money, cause they're stuck in mediocre drive and you won't need to spend money on college, cause they won't be "college material". Conversely, if you do those things, they'll be successful almost anywhere you send them, and you'll save a bundle on TOPS. JUST MHO.

[Dink]

Originally Posted by Duck Butter

Does anyone have children that go to St Pius in Lafayette? My wife teaches 7th and 8th grade there

My little sister is in kindergarten there and my step Mon teaches(not sure the grade)