At the tender age of 2.5 we're already trying to map out our eldest daughter's educational path; a daunting task at 2.5! She's already entered preschool for her first year (and will have several more years of preschool in front of her), but we're already weighing the pros & cons of leaving her at her current preschool versus moving her, and will she take the public school or private school path? There were so many options & paths for her to take school-wise I needed a visual of it all, so I created a flow chart, which is such a mom-thing to do.
Depending on the route she takes, there could be a very hefty price tag to go with her private education. Eastside Catholic High School is currently $17,920 a YEAR. That's today...what about when our eldest is ready to enter high school....in 12 years? Ugh...its staggering to think about the costs, and then of course we don't have to just educate one child, we have two. I know I'm dating myself here, but my out of state college education didn't cost $17,920 a year!!
We do live in the Issaquah School District, which provides for some really wonderful schools, but that's as they are now, what will Skyline High School be like in 12 years? These are questions we, of course, cannot answer. I think we're leaning toward a private education to take out some of the unknowns, but of course that path has its own unknowns. We just want to start her off in one direction (public or private) and stick with it. I hate the thought of taking her away from her friends if we move from private to public or visa versa. That would most likely occur at the high school level, when being a 14 year old girl is hard enough without your parents changing your school & not having any of your friends with you. I don't want to do that to her. So, it leaves us deciding her educational fate at the age of 2.5! That's a monumental task to decide so early in life. We really do want to give our kids (as every parent does) the best shot at their future. I just don't feel like I have all the tools to make an educated decision one way or the other right now.
I personally came from the public schools, and I think I turned out okay...I'm a contributing member of society. My husband...well, he did the private school thing & he turned out okay too! So who's to say if we chose one path or the other that she won't be just fine? It's a tough decision...one that has implications on the rest of her life, and most certainly on our bank account!
Who's got an opinion on public versus private schools here in Sammamish?
For first and, now second grade, he's been in the Issaquah School District, which for us has worked out very well, with it's pooled resources to support kids like my son who need some extra instruction in a few areas. Not that any of this makes the decision easier, but that's been our experience so far. As a kid I attended both parochial and public schools at different times, and found both to be very happy experiences, but I know it was tough financially on my parents with 5 kids!
Because of an accident in birthrates the year he was born, his K - 3 classes were always quite small, 22 students. His 4th grade class jumped to 27 and his 5th was going to jump to 30. At that point, we knew we wanted a more challenging environment for our son and started looking at private school options with their smaller class sizes and greater flexibility in educating kids (methods, curricula, etc.) So, for us, the private decision came be default because we felt our kid wasn't getting what he needed from public and because I have no tolerance for ambiguity and couldn't handle the lottery system for the choice schools in the LWSD. Good luck with your search!