LOCKED OT: Public or Private School?

[Shamoan]

well, having been a prep student and member of first pres, i can undoubtedly say the high school youth weren't remotely close to the numbers you proposed (85% of 130 people for my class alone). my graduating class at prep was roughly 130 people and my first pres sunday school class was maybe 40 people total. your estimation is grossly over-estimated at least in my opinion. that aside, i was in high school in the late 90's to very early 2000s, so things could have been different, but those siblings i spoke of had similar numbers to the ones I had in sunday school and in graduating classes.

specifically, what made it a circle jerk? is that just something cool to say when projecting yourself to a moderately anti-prep message board? if so, i guess that is understandable.

just so this board knows, yes, many prep graduates do go to ole miss, but a sizable portion also go to state. i would say we had 20 to 30 (roughly 1/5 of the whole class) went to state while 3/5 went to om. the remainder went elsewhere.

edit: besides, where else are you supposed to go if you are presbyterian and live in northeast jackson? perhaps we should just become baptist or...gasp....methodist. a **** tone of prep students are those two denominations.

 

[seshomoru]

I was 7 of 135 that went to state. 57 went to Ole Miss

I was 6 of 135 that came from Jackson Academy. Over 100 went to 1st Prez elementary. First Prez ran the bible studies that anyone at Prep who was active in a church went to. Christ United and JA were the same way. It's not like I'm making this **** up. I went to Prep. Still have many, many great friends from there. But there was absolutely a status/click-ish thing with the 1st Prez/ Prep crowd and there is the same thing happening with Hartfield/Pinelake. Primarily with the PARENTS. Again... I'm not bitter in the least. I benefited GREATLY from my Prep education, but those attitudes and social circles absolutely existed. They exist lots of places. I'm not saying it's something terrible. I'm just saying it's a reason people in Rankin County... specifically some that go to Pinelake, send their kids to Hartfield.

 

[rabiddawg]

I hate to tell you this but your wife suffers from I'mgoingtobetheoutcastofmyfriendsgroupitis. Especially when you factor in the Pinelake elitism. Her need to feel accepted by her equally snobby friends is about to set you back a quarter mill. Have fun with that.

 

[ronpolk]

well, having been a prep student and member of first pres, i can undoubtedly say the high school youth weren't remotely close to the numbers you proposed (85% of 130 people for my class alone). my graduating class at prep was roughly 130 people and my first pres sunday school class was maybe 40 people total. your estimation is grossly over-estimated at least in my opinion. that aside, i was in high school in the late 90's to very early 2000s, so things could have been different, but those siblings i spoke of had similar numbers to the ones I had in sunday school and in graduating classes.

specifically, what made it a circle jerk? is that just something cool to say when projecting yourself to a moderately anti-prep message board? if so, i guess that is understandable.

just so this board knows, yes, many prep graduates do go to ole miss, but a sizable portion also go to state. i would say we had 20 to 30 (roughly 1/5 of the whole class) went to state while 3/5 went to om. the remainder went elsewhere.

edit: besides, where else are you supposed to go if you are presbyterian and live in northeast jackson? perhaps we should just become baptist or...gasp....methodist. a **** tone of prep students are those two denominations.

Sorry if you felt I was attacking you. I'm certainly not having a circle jerk. I'm just agreeing with an observation that he made about 1st pres/prep and pinelake/Hartfield. Certainly nothing wrong with prep or 1st pres. Both are great.

 

[seshomoru]

I was trying to be more delicate...

but you're right

 

[rabiddawg]

The only issue I see with Madison Central is Bawby Hawl.

 

[ronpolk]

The only issue I see with Madison Central is Bawby Hawl.

Ha I agree with that. Hopefully if we have another kid and it's a boy, he will be gone by then. If Germantown keeps growing he may be gone sooner rather than later. At this point, the only difference between Germantown and MC football is the old flora high school guys.

 

[rabiddawg]

LOL. Having "tried" Pinelake numerous times I will be glad to stay at my United Methodist church and cut out all the ******** that happens at Pinelake. But the snobs at Pinelake are truly the only thing that keeps them from going "full Branch Dividian" so they have that to be thankful for I guess.

 

[LawDawg97]

Seriously, no offense, but if you're asking a message board this question

then just go ahead and send them to public school. You're probably just trying to justify what you already feel is the answer right? I went to public school, and living in the NWR district I think it's a great district. But mine go to private because I'm lucky enough to afford it and my personal research uncovered enough benefits to justify it for me (but only you can answer what benefits it would give your kids and whether it is worth it for you). It is true, that instead of the 100K on your kid over 12 years you could have yourself a nice boat, a new car every 3 years, and a shitload of Yeti coolers.

 

[rabiddawg]

Yeah. Every NWR parent looks at Madison Central and sees what NWR should be. I am nothing but impressed with how Madison County handled the consolidation of their schools into the perfect public school system.

 

[seshomoru]

I go there most Sundays

which would probably shock a lot of people based on some of the stuff I say on here. Random musings... Kyle York is an associate pastor there and I wish he preached every Sunday. I have had people I met there stop talking to me because of what I believe about some things (not hard to guess what). It is not their association with Hartfield that bothers me... it's just any religious school in general.

 

[rabiddawg]

One day, when all the kids born to mothers who attend Pinelake come out looking like Chip, ala John Redcorn from King of the Hill, they will figure it out.

 

[LawDawg97]

I'm sure you have plenty of rational justification for making a statement like

One day, when all the kids born to mothers who attend Pinelake come out looking like Chip, ala John Redcorn from King of the Hill, they will figure it out.

this. I don't even attend his church but he's a pretty nice guy to make a statement like that about. And a great bulldog to boot.

 

[seshomoru]

Yeah... never heard anything like that.

Don't really have much of a problem with Chip (though I have walked out of a sermon before)... it's the people who want it to be known they are tight with Chip that make my stomach turn. And they are the prime examples of the attitude associated with Pinelake/Hartfield that I'm talking about.

 

[SidneyBurger]

I've seen kids with all the resources in the world from both a public and private background underachieve at life after high school. I've seen kids with little or no resources from both a public and private background overachieve at life after high school.

It all comes down to what my grandmother used to say..."that kid needs home training".

This is spot on. I graduated with thirty other people in a 1A public school in one of the poorest counties in Mississippi. Now, I'm on my way to physical therapy school. But I did have a slow start, I had to work some of the lazy hick out of me when I started college.

 

[rabiddawg]

Just very cultish. Mix that many clicky alpha females in a place where any one of them would slit the throat of their best friend to be one of Chip's inner circle and place a man in that kind of control over said star struck females the outcome is almost never good.

 

[Shamoan]

i think your blowing things out of proportion a bit. when i was at state, i went to bsu, but im obviously not baptist, but to label that as a circle jerk is a bit overboard. its hard not to appear click-ish when you have so many affluent families in a single place. many of those people were presbyterian and also wanted to send their children to what many consider the best, most well-rounded hs in jackson. anyone can go to prep and jackson academy. there were plenty of kids that went to prep where both parents worked full-time just so they could attend, im sure it was the same way at ja. point is, as a member of the apparent circle jerk that was taking place, i never got so much as a tickle or a slap. i guess i missed the party despite being right in the middle of what you are referring to (FPDS alum, Prep alum, and member of first presbyterian).

 

[HotMop]

Public schools in MS are rate in the top 50 of U.S. states every year...why go Private?

 

[rabiddawg]

I was faced with that same dilemma. I went to Morton. ****** ****** school. Therefore I moved to a district, Rankin County, that had good public schools. Chosing to go private in Rankin County anywhere outside Pelahatchie and using any excuse other than social status is kidding yourself.

 

[seshomoru]

There are some things about his theology that I don't like...

and there are certainly a bunch of people that would kiss his *** for others to know that Chip is knows their name.. but I have never had the impression it was anything other than people in the congregation wanting to be close to power. Chip strikes me as a pretty good guy that just has some opinions I disagree with... some strongly. The infidelity insinuations are a bit much for me to believe... from his end at least. I would actually be very shocked and disappointed

 

[HotMop]

^^^kids look like John Redcorn.******

 

[rabiddawg]

I'm not saying he is. I'm just saying all the right things are in the right place for a catastrophe.

 

[seshomoru]

Good lord man...

I never called it a circle jerk and I'm kind of at a loss for how much you are the one blowing this out of proportion. You cannot deny that there is a socially approriate thing in northeast Jackson with the 1st prez to prep deal. Primarily with the parents. It's just a keeping up with the Joneses fact of what goes on. Again... just because it exists doesn't mean it's something awful... it just means it happens. That same thing is happening in Rankin County now... just with a little more religiousity. In fact, in Jackson, though slightly douchey, it is justified because the public school district is awful. In Rankin County it's just about perceived status. Acknowledging that what I'm talking about exists doesn't diminish the people who lived in Jackson and busted their *** to afford private school.

 

[rabiddawg]

I wish! My kids would go to school free anywhere they wanted then.

 

[seshomoru]

That can be said of just about any church of decent size.

Or any business or club of any size. But just because it could happen, it doesn't make it a valid criticism.

 

[paindonthurt_]

I don't usually agree with you or even like seeing your post b/c of your user name.............but you are spot on. Seriously.

 

[treeddeep]

Y'all sound like a bunch of snobby OM fans arguing and gossiping about church and cliques.

I do know this: there's a world of difference between the Jackson burbs folks than the rest of the state.

 

[Shamoan]

serious question: for presbyterians, where else would one go to church if one lived in northeast jackson circa 1990 - 2000? for families that wanted to give their children the best education, what options would they have outside of prep and ja if one were to live in northeast jackson circa 1990 - 2000? its about denomination and geography not some social scene. i didnt say there was no relationship whatsoever, as no doubt there was at least some degree of that, but the VAST majority of people that attended both did so because of the reputation for academics of the school and were presbyterian in an area where there was minimal denominational alternatives. perhaps that is why it is often perceive as something it was not. clearly, we disagree on that matter.

 

[SpiritofSuttleHall]

The word some of you are looking for is "clique."

/public school education

 

[WayboDawg]

If I lived in one of the Jackson suburbs, I would have absolutely no problem sending my kid to Clinton, NWR, Brandon, or Madison Central. Some of you guys don't understand that those are the absolute finest public schools Mississippi has to offer and are no where near the norm in Mississippi. Heck, you might say that by their nature those schools are virtually private. Lets be honest, the reason those communities thrive is because the people in those communities have jobs in Jackson, but don't want to live there.

And to Wicked Pissah, I believe you went to West Jones which is almost a private school itself. I bet you might have some different opinions about the value of private school if Jones County's only option was Laurel High School. It hurts me to say this as a War Eagle, but I wish I lived in the West Jones school district. If that were the case, private school wouldn't even be a discussion.

 

[thatsbaseball]

Real estate 101: This is a big part of the high value of real estate in Madison. Private schools have gotten so expensive you can actually afford to spend twice what you would have spent on a home in a bad school district (where your kids HAD to go to a public school) to live where they can go public. 110K is big bucks..... to me anyway.

 

[Dawg1976]

This is spot on. I graduated with thirty other people in a 1A public school in one of the poorest counties in Mississippi. Now, I'm on my way to physical therapy school. But I did have a slow start, I had to work some of the lazy hick out of me when I started college.

I'm an old goat who went through high school in the early 70's. My parents sent me to private school my last 2 years of hs. It was a rude awakening for me those 2 years. I found out I basically had to learn how to study and prepare for a class. Going to a private school and easing into college by going to a jr college, made it possible for me to have success at MSU. I would have fallen on my face if I had graduated from a public school and gone straight to a university. Having said all that, there are some good public schools in my area. Depends on the area of the county. If I lived in a distric of one of the good ones, I would have no problem sending my child to a public school.

 

[BiscuitEater]

Bingo ...

Do what you feel is best for your kids.

I was in the military and we decided to home school; scary at first but it worked for our family. My wife learned as much as the kids. I taught calculus and statistics. We had a very flexible year long schedule and took off most of the month of each December.

When we moved back to Mississippi for a few years, we registered our kids as 'home-schooled' and were informed that 'if' we decided to enroll them in public schools, that they have to be tested and placed according to their scores. The lady was shocked to learn that our kids took the Iowa Basic Skills Test every year and were already scoring 'post high school' in most areas when they were only 12 & 13.

 

[jb1020]

So yeah, we had the conversation again last night

and when I finally broke down the dollar amount she pretty much said NWR was fine with her. I flat out asked her if she had done the math on the total tuition cost and she said no. Then I said, care to guess? her guess was $40-$50k. So yea, she hadn't completely thought this thru.

Some nice spinoff threads here. We are definitely not pinelake elitist, thought i do agree there are plenty of them there....and it is strange.

Thanks for everyones input...the concensus seems to be like i figured it would be. If you have access to good public school and are an involved parent you're kid should be fine.

thanks for the help in saving my a cool quarter mill...in 15 years you can all come down to my orange beach condo and we'll take my boat out assuming there is room for everyone with all the yeti coolers I'll be able to buy now.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

You forgot Reason 6 for going to Wayne Academy: Mamma or Daddy went to Wayne (or another academy) and that's what they know.

(Note: Heidelberg Academy alumnus here)

 

[Maroon Eagle]

One note: If Wayne Academy offers dual enrollment classes then class selection might be less of a factor.

 

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

I live in Madison (moved from Belhaven) and the primary reason is school. I loved Jackson but just couldn't justify paying for Prep or JA. My daughter will start school in a couple years and unless something drastically changes, she will graduate from Madison Central.

This will be the decision we will have to make in a few years as well, and I can already see us having completely opposite opinions on it. Me, I'd prefer to save the money and I spent my childhood at JA and Prep. The wife, she's going to want to stay in Jackson and bite that bullet. Maybe we will win the lottery or something before we have to make that decision.

 

[WayboDawg]

One note: If Wayne Academy offers dual enrollment classes then class selection might be less of a factor.

Yeah I don't know that they do. I'm sure their classes are pretty basic in nature for the most part, but at least my kids don't get exposed to all the dangers and turmoil that goes down at Wayne County penetentury....errr......High School excuse me.

 

[patdog]

Maybe I'm missing something, because that's exactly the kind of rift I was talking about. And I agree with you completely. RCSD has spent a lot of money on the other schools and has neglected the one that pays most of the bills. It's a shame and I agree that if NWR could possibly break away they need to do it.

 

[tb2]

FREE DAY! FREE DAY!FREE DAY!

You must not have had to take many courses in advanced math because you would have struggled after Gale's class. FREE DAY FREE DAY FREE DAY