Public or Private? Which School is Best for Your Child?

The age-old question of where to send your child to school, if you’re fortunate enough to have a choice, is one that has been debated for ages. Do you go the private school route to give your child smaller class sizes, more rigorous learning experiences, and a better shot at an upper-tier college? Or do you opt for the public school option, where your child will experience more diversity among their classmates and have more opportunities for exploring academic and extracurricular activities? No doubt, private schools, and public schools have their advantages and disadvantages, which help create a vastly different school experience for your child.

The School Experience

Obviously, there are sharp contrasts in the type of experience your child will have at a public or private school. In private school, your child will likely be in classes with fewer students, with a teacher that is more likely to report enjoying his or her job, and at a school that is more likely to have modern resources, including supplies and textbooks that are relatively new, if not brand new. The curriculum is driven at the school level, with teachers having more say regarding what is taught and how they teach it. Private school students also engage in more physical activities and eat healthier school meals than do public school students.

Conversely, public school students are more likely to attend a school that is socially, racially, and economically diverse. Public school students take part in a curriculum

While some school districts have moved to year-round schedules, most still adhere to the traditional nine-month calendar, with a winter break, spring break, and a lengthy summer break sprinkled throughout the year. These vacations offer much-needed respite from school, but even spring break, which is typically only a week, can have a measurable negative impact on a child’s mental acuity. At 10-12 weeks, summer vacation can result in a substantial brain drain that can significantly impact your child’s education.

What is Brain Drain?

As the saying goes, if you don’t use it, you lose it. According to research, over the course of summer vacation, students lose between 2 to 2 ½ months of math skills from the previous year’s learning. This loss of computational understanding is experienced by children regardless of their background or family income. Some students also experience significant setbacks in reading ability as well. Students with a low socioeconomic status can lose up to three months of reading skills in just 2-3 months of summer break. These deficits also appear during the shorter winter and spring vacations, although not in nearly as robust a fashion.

The vacation brain drain is a serious issue for children of all ages, but the stakes are much higher for kids in high school. With SATs, ACTs, AP and IB courses, and other high-demand academic requirements, high schoolers can little afford to return to school having lost 2-3 months of academic skills. Fortunately, this brain drain can be

With the children home for the holidays, with the spirit of love and peace in their hearts, how did their schools celebrate the season? Or did they celebrate Christmas?

In many locations, holiday parties involve decorating contests with Christmas trees and ornaments. In elementary schools, Santa might make an appearance. Songs of reindeer and gifts ring out, along with talk of who’s been naughty or nice. Children are asked to write essays on “what I want for Christmas,” or after the holidays, they are asked to explain what gifts they received.

However, this Christmas-centric view does not align well with the actual makeup of today’s public schools. Research shows that today’s public schools are more diverse than ever. While the data tends to speak from an ethnic or racial point of view, it still indicates the need to take multiple perspectives into account. Schools have to begin to recognize that not all children celebrate Christmas and have made adjustments that make their celebrations more inclusive. However, there is still much work to be done if public schools are to have a truly multicultural perspective.

In this video, The Doctors discuss a recent news story about a school district that banned all dominant holiday celebrations in the name of inclusion.

Unintended Consequences

There remain many public schools in this country that engage in holiday celebrations that revolve around Christian ideas and principles as they pertain

Ask education experts, employers, and university leaders about the value of learning a second language, and the consensus is remarkably consistent: schools with strong foreign language programs provide students with academic, cognitive, and career advantages that extend far beyond the classroom.

Public schools that invest in world language education, whether through dual-language immersion programs, elementary language instruction, or comprehensive middle and high school offerings, often see benefits reflected in student achievement, cultural awareness, and college readiness. The strongest programs begin introducing languages during the elementary years and continue through high school, giving students sustained opportunities to develop proficiency while exploring the cultures associated with the languages they study.

While access to foreign language education has improved in some districts, availability remains uneven across the United States. Many schools continue to face teacher shortages, scheduling limitations, and budget constraints that make it difficult to offer comprehensive language programs. At the same time, interest in dual-language immersion programs and multilingual education continues to grow as families recognize the long-term academic and professional value of bilingualism.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), schools continue expanding opportunities that prepare students for an increasingly interconnected world, although access to advanced academic programs, including world languages, still varies considerably by district and state.

This video outlines the benefits of learning a foreign language.

There are many reasons why schools, even at the elementary level, should incorporate foreign

Parent-teacher conferences can be a bit unnerving for parents regardless of how many times they’ve attended. It can be difficult to cover all the questions you have in a short period of time, and you may even leave the conference feeling like you weren’t able to accomplish much. However, there are practical steps you can take before, during, and after parent-teacher conferences to ensure you have all the information you need to support your child’s learning.

Before the Conference

Parent-teacher conferences are often set up such that parents have precious little time with each teacher, in many cases 10-15 minutes at the absolute most. Come to the conference prepared to get the most out of your appointment. Begin by reviewing your child’s grades beforehand, including their report card, any progress reports, work your child has brought home, and any comments your child’s teacher has made on his or her homework. Gathering as much information as you can ahead of time allows you to formulate questions to ask your child’s teacher and be ready to dive into the discussion once your appointment time arrives. Some possible questions to ask include:

• Is my child performing at grade level?
• What are my child’s strengths? Weaknesses?
• What can my child do to improve academically?
• What can I do to help my child improve academically?

It’s important to be prepared whether your child is doing well or poorly. On the one hand, if your child is struggling, you’ll need to be familiar with why this is