Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with privateschool

I can't believe Blair did that to Serena!

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:27:51 -0800

It looks like my daughter will be earning a full scholarship to essentially the private school of her choice in NYC. These schools on average cost around $35,000/year. What's it like to go to an expensive private high school on scholarship? While I have no doubt her education will be top notch at any of the potential schools, I do have some concerns about the social challenges she might face. What is it like in these schools if you are there on scholarship? We probably will end up sending her to one of the more progressive schools, but their per year cost is still > 75% of our yearly income. Basically, she won't have a Louis Vuitton bag unless she buys it on Canal St.

Obviously, I know Gossip Girl is not realistic, but I wonder what it is like for a so-called "minority" to attend these sorts of schools on scholarship. What are the challenges? What are the not-so-obvious benefits? What were your experiences or your child's experiences? What do you wish you knew going in? Do you regret going? Etc.

(FYI, my daughter is shy, but confident.)

Do you have to pay taxes when your child is in private school?

FireStyle — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:53:06 -0800

If you put your child in private school, do you still have to pay taxes for education, are you exempt, or do you write it off on your tax return?

Does cost/benefit compute?

Xurando — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:10:14 -0800

What, if anything, are the advantages of attending an expensive private prep school over a local public high school. Help me justify the $31,000 tuition cost of prep school. My 14 yr. old daughter has applied and been admitted, as a day student, to a top 50 prep school. My wife who works at the local high school says nothing can justify the cost (we have been granted significant financial aid.) Is this true? What would she get out of this experience that she might not get from a public school education?

School Vouchers and Private Indoctrination

deep_sea_diving_suit — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 12:33:00 -0800

What do people opposed to school vouchers think of private schools in general, and is supporting them hypocritical? (This is admittedly naive, but please bear with me...)

I am trying to justify positions concerning school vouchers. I take the stance that if the public is already paying for public schools, why should a few "lottery-winning" individuals be favored into a private institution, also payed for by the public? Obviously simplified, this is laid out in essays all across academia.

Elementary class analysis leads me to assume that school vouchers serve the capitalistic interests of the upper class. Private schools can choose which students they accept, so not everyone with a voucher can use it. Likewise, vouchers usually only cover a portion of the tuition, and the families have to come up with the rest.

My problem in understanding is with private schools, as they are, in terms of class. Do most people who oppose vouchers also oppose private schools, as only those with enough disposable income can afford to send their kids to them? On the other hand, having the state dictate what is taught in public schools isn't necessarily good for the community...

I oppose school vouchers because it is shortsighted and creates an inherent hierarchy in education. Private schools obviously reinforce hierarchy and are generally supported by upper-middle class families, who supposedly get a better education. Ideally (not to be read as "utopian"), I would argue that to truly benefit society, all institutionalized schools should be abolished. But I digress...

Why 'meeting admission criteria' doesn't mean 'you're in' at a Montessori school?

rootcause — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 14:30:19 -0800

We went very carefully and timely through the application process for the admission of our son to a Montessori school (first grade). Then, with one month delay, we were notified that due to the higher than expected demand, and despite meeting the admission criteria, our son was not admitted, but placed on the waiting list. This response just drives me crazy, as I cannot understand what else than admission criteria can get a child in. I should say I am not familiar with private school admissions, but the people we talked to at the Montessori school during the few months we prepared the application were very positive about our son's chances. Basically they made us believe the admission was just a formality, if done in time and if our son was not handicapped in some way. I am not sure if it was naive of us to accept these statements at face value, or if we made some mistakes in the way we presented ourselves or interacted with the people at school.
Any ideas what we can do to get over this hurdle?

A public school music teacher finding a private school position?

the_bone — Fri, 31 Dec 2004 14:47:12 -0800

I'm a public school music teacher. I'm thinking about moving to another part of the country. How do I go about finding a position teaching at a private school? [more inside] I'm an elementary school music teacher (I've taught high school vocal music, but I've found that I prefer working with younger students). I'm considering moving back to my homeland of Southern California from Florida, but IIRC public school jobs as an elementary music specialist are in short supply there. So I'm thinking about working for a private school provided I can find a full-time position with benefits, since many private schools have maintained their elementary music programs.

That being said, I have no idea how to go about finding private school jobs. The problem is compounded by the fact that I need to remain in Florida until at least the end of the school year, and that there's no one city that I'm looking at (San Diego would be nice since I grew up there, but I'd also like to live in OC or LA). I'm going to contact the California Music Education Association to find out about job openings, but would appreciate other suggestions regarding networking and seeking out private school employment.

Evaluating Online Sources

Acetylene — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 14:40:15 -0800

Help me mold the minds of future internet debaters. Come inside. I recently fell into a job at a private school teaching computers to fifth through eighth graders. For the most part I'll be following a canned curriculum--which is good, because I have no prior experience as a teacher. Additionally, however, the librarian has asked me to help her teach a class on internet research for seventh graders.

The class will have two major components: effective searching (boolean logic, searching for phrases, differences between search engines, etc.) and evaluating the quality of online resources. The first part, I think, is pretty straightforward. The second part is a challenge. I think I'm pretty good at judging web sites as information sources, but conveying that to kids could be a challenge.

So far I'm aware of Internet Detective, which looks like a good (although Brit-centric--I'm in the US) resource. Do you know of any others? What techniques or advice would you offer to a child wanting to separate the digital wheat from the chaff? I'm particularly interested in methods involving critical thinking, but any help at all would be greatly appreciated.