March 9, 2015
Kirsten Kaschock
The
United States offers two main types of school for children under the age of
18, public and private schools. Personally, having gone to a private, all
girls, school that required me to wear a uniform my whole life (14 years), I do
not know much about public school. Private schools are known for their small
classes, liberal arts education and high tuition costs, where as public schools
are known for their large classes, bigger schools and basically, free tuition.
Ever since I can
remember, my morning routine has been the same until this year. I recall me
waking up, putting on my uniform and going to the Baldwin school in Bryn Mawr
Pa. I loved everything about it. It was a place where judgments were thrown out
the window and I did not need to worry about impressing anyone. I could simply
be myself and focus solely on getting the best education possible, not what
shoes looked nicer with my outfit.
My graduating class of
52 girls, or sisters as we called ourselves, was an extremely tight knit group
of girls. We always sat, ate and hung out in first our freshman, then sophomore,
then junior, and eventually senior lounge. The schooling I went through
prepared me for college both academically and socially speaking. I was taught
early on how to write all kinds of long and short papers as well as stories. I
was taught time management and organization skills that I still use to this day.
All of my teachers were very dedicated to their student’s success and the
subject they were teaching. They were genuinely interested in the well being of
their students and wanted them to succeed in every way possible. They were
extremely skilled in their fields of learning, even though private schools do
not require a teaching certification. I can honestly say that I had a great
relationship with every one of my teachers. I still keep in contact with some
of them today. Last week one of my favorite teachers, Mr. Kountz e-mailed me as
well as my close friends asking us how we all were and to make sure that we all
stop in to say hello during our spring breaks. Our small class sizes made way
for very close student-teacher relationships; my biggest class being 16 girls. One
of my fondest memories was when I was in 9th grade. I was not
expecting the big change in work from middle school to upper school and I was
falling behind in my math class. My teacher, Mrs. Loke noticed that I was not
doing too well and pulled me aside after class one day. She spoke to me and we
set up regular meeting times and soon enough I was back on track. Mrs. Loke
could have just let me slip through the cracks, but instead showed how much she
cared and helped me better myself. Although I am blindly because I never went
to public school, and biased because I experienced so many great things, I
would not change my years at Baldwin for anything. I believe any other
schooling could come close to the experiences and memories I have from Baldwin.
Baldwin taught me to be an independent, strong, confident, women. And, as you
can see I can talk about Baldwin for hours.
Now, of course there
are many different private schools, college prep day schools, boarding schools,
military academies, special needs and art academies, but I will focus on
college prep schools. These schools are highly selective and according to an
article by greatschools.org, private schools are “by their very definition,
selective. They
are not obligated to accept every child, so getting admitted may involve
in-depth applications with multiple interviews, essays, and testing.” Besides
academics, private schools admit students based on their racial and religious
backgrounds. Compared to public school, private schools are known for a great
deal of things. Smaller class sizes where each student receives attention,
large amount of extracurricular activities, high tuition, and most likely a
uniform. According to an article in the New York Times, private schools
“because of their low student-to-teacher ratios, can focus on each student’s
specific needs, helping each child reach his or her potential.”
Public schools, on the
other hand, open their doors to everyone who lives within a specific
geographical boundary. Teachers that teach in public schools do have to in fact
be certified and go through state training to be informed about teaching
techniques. Unlike private schools, public schools do not cost any extra money
to attend. According to the same article mentioned above by greatschool.org,
public schools are “often underfunded operations influenced by political winds
and shortfalls. Financed through federal, state, and local taxes, public school
are a part of a larger school system, which functions as a part of the
government and must follow the rules and regulations set by politicians.” Grade
sizes and individual class sizes in public schools are generally bigger, making
it hard for students to build good relationships with their teachers. Not all
public schools have the means to help students that have special needs or
learning disabilities making it hard for students who have these setbacks to
flourish.
I organized an
interview with one of my roommates, Jessica, and asked her questions about her
experience attending public school throughout her life. I first asked her if
going to a public high school was her choice and she responded “It was mine, my
mom’s and my dad’s choice. I actually considered going to private school for
high school but the public school in my area is very good academically so I did
not feel the need to switch, pay thousands in tuition, and make new friends.” I
listened as the conversation flowed to how many people were in her grade and
individual classes and what the pros and cons were to having large classes. She
answered “I had 270 people in my grade and there were anywhere from 24 to 30
people in my classes. The pros of having a large number of people in my grade
were I would always have people to be with in class or outside of class and
everyone lived near one another. The cons being, I didn’t know everyone in my
grade personally.” I was curious to see if Jessica’s public school education
prepared her for academics in college. She said that her school did not do a
great job in this regard, “I took many free periods in the morning so I never
had to wake up early for classes. I had never written more than a four-page
paper in high school and now I have to write seven to eight pages papers and I
find it very difficult.”
Working on this paper,
doing research, and speaking with Jessica, have shown the similarities and
differences between the two types of schooling. I learned a lot from my
interview, as well as the research I did to prepare for it, and found it
interesting to see a different side of the argument.
Work
Cited
Anonymous.
Private Schools: Exceptional Education. New York
Times Magazine Oct 09 2005: 74. ProQuest. 26 Jan. 2015.
Findings
in Economic Research Reported from Colgate University (The Effect of Private
High School Education on the College Trajectory).
VerticalNews.com Dec 31, 2014. Education Letter.
Patrick
J. Wolf. Comparing Public Schools to
Private. Education Next. July 1, 2014. Vol. 14 Issue 3, p52-54. 3p.
GreatSchools Staff. Private Versus Public. GreatSchools:
Greatschools.org 1998-2015
Guarino,
Jessica. Personal interview. January 2015.
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