LOCKED OT: Public or Private School?
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Good deal... you owe us a Yeti full of Fat Tire
The money usually stops the discussion unless you make enough for it not to really matter. If that's the case for anyone, good on you and do what ya want. And now that you've decided we can stop tip toeing around the Pinelake thing by calling it strange. It's exactly what you think it is... they think public schools are one of the weapons of a certain birth certificate defecient President's socialist, gay loving, Islamic agenda. And no... that's not indicative of any sort of majority at Pinelake whatsoever. In fact, it is a very small minority, but these people exist and they love to be seen and make others think they are important.
The money usually stops the discussion unless you make enough for it not to really matter. If that's the case for anyone, good on you and do what ya want. And now that you've decided we can stop tip toeing around the Pinelake thing by calling it strange. It's exactly what you think it is... they think public schools are one of the weapons of a certain birth certificate defecient President's socialist, gay loving, Islamic agenda. And no... that's not indicative of any sort of majority at Pinelake whatsoever. In fact, it is a very small minority, but these people exist and they love to be seen and make others think they are important.
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The Lynn Weathersby clan is what needs updating in Rankin County Schools. My last kid is graduating from NWR this year and I'm damn glad. I've had a kid in Rankin District schools for past 22 yrs and it is going down, not fast, but going down. The overcrowding is terrible, facilities (other than baseball) at NWR are subpar. Now Charles Frazier is telling baseball team they can't spend money they raised for baseball on the baseball facility, telling them it needs to go to tennis, track, etc. That all said, mine is graduating next month from NWR w/ 15 hrs of college credit after doing the dual enrollment deal. She has academic schollies for MSU, not full but good ones. I can say I'm satisfied w/ education that mine have gotten in Rankin but glad we are done because I don't think the future is all that bright.
Friendly wager...
Your elementary school time at public school will be great. Middle school will be ok, but not as good as elementary. Something will happen around the 6th or 7th grade that will give you worries. It's 8th or 9th grade and one parent is pissed and wants to look at other options. You visit ________ private/parochial school and are impressed by what you see. Assuming you can afford it, one of three things will happen: 1) you transfer to said school, 2) you want to transfer but kid talks you out of it cause he/she doesn't want to leave their friends, or 3) you go to said school the next year, because what is bothering you gets worse.
At lease that is what happened to me in Madison. There is no right or wrong, in my opinion. You do what's best for your kid. I've got one at MRA and one in public school and couldn't be happier.
Your elementary school time at public school will be great. Middle school will be ok, but not as good as elementary. Something will happen around the 6th or 7th grade that will give you worries. It's 8th or 9th grade and one parent is pissed and wants to look at other options. You visit ________ private/parochial school and are impressed by what you see. Assuming you can afford it, one of three things will happen: 1) you transfer to said school, 2) you want to transfer but kid talks you out of it cause he/she doesn't want to leave their friends, or 3) you go to said school the next year, because what is bothering you gets worse.
At lease that is what happened to me in Madison. There is no right or wrong, in my opinion. You do what's best for your kid. I've got one at MRA and one in public school and couldn't be happier.
My 2 cents would be that if you go the private route, make sure the school is SAACS accredited. Our local private school is not and most graduates have to go the community college route (if they go at all) because the college prep is atrocious, at best. If you are going to spend the money, make sure it's going to better your child's future and not just because of a fear of common core (or whatever)... Just my thoughts.
FWIW, I think Hartfield is accredited.
FWIW, I think Hartfield is accredited.
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It'll be interesting to find out. Wayne Academy looks to have upped their game in recent years as they're now SACS-accredited. I know that several schools (public and private) offer dual enrollment classes here in the Jackson area.
My mom graduated from Callaway, and my dad graduated from Starkville High. I was born and raised in the city limits of Jackson. My dad wanted to send my sister and me to JPS, but my mom talked him out of it, and we went to a Jackson private school from pre-K through 12. They did what they thought was right, and I probably would do the same thing if my family lived in Jackson city limits. Now I am married, and my wife teaches in the Rankin County School District. We don't live in the Jackson city limits. I think Rankin County and Madison county school districts have more to offer than JPS, so we may not do the private school thing. But, we don't have kids yet, so who knows what it will all be like at that point. I know Hartfield will have some good things going on in the future with David Horner taking over as head of Student Life and the basketball coach. He is a great guy and great leader. I don't know if it would be worth it for me with Rankin County schools as the alternative, though. Everyone will have different priorities in what they want for their children, and that is understandable.
I could go on for a while about things about Pine Lake that piss me off
in fact there are very few things I like about it. i pretty much go because it makes my wife happy. shes been going her entire life, and even she disagrees with about half of what comes out of Chips mouth.
in fact there are very few things I like about it. i pretty much go because it makes my wife happy. shes been going her entire life, and even she disagrees with about half of what comes out of Chips mouth.
You know every time I go by Hartfield all I can think of is UCS and that school was not great. UCS was pretty much the replacement for "Big A", aka Brandon Academy. BA was notorious as the private reform school, much like French Camp (I know this will start a war lol) but the same way Char(or Bravo?) is still Shoneys to me I could never send my kids to UCS rebranded as something fancy
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Yeah their preschool and elementary school class numbers have grown exponentially lately. I wouldn't be surprised if they become a AAA sized academy within the next 10 years. I think a lot their growth has to do with people my age (20-30 years old) that grew up in the the Wayne County School District and don't want their kids in the same crap hole that our public school system here in Wayne County has become. The inmates are running the asylum. It's a darn shame too, because when I was in school WCHS was briefly a level 5 performing school that looked to be trending upward. But after all the administrative struggles, teacher departures, and Common Core crap that has taken place, the school system degenerated into an underperforming school district. We can build state of the art football complexes though. It's a good thing we have our priorities straight.
A friend of mine did this spreadsheet. This was sending your kid to First Pres then Prep. During the first couple of years of the 2nd child , they were in a preschool program. It was assuming a 2% increase in tuition each year. He also assumed if you took that money and invested it and got a low 4% return. So for over 16 years, you spend out of pocket around 280K. If you invest it with 4% return, it grows to 380K.
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| 13-14 | 14-15 | 15-16 | 16-17 | 17-18 | 18-19 | 19-20 | 20-21 | 21-22 | 22-23 | 23-24 | 24-25 | 25-26 | 26-27 | 27-28 | 28-29 | 29-30 | |
| First Child | $ 5,450.00 | $ 5,613.00 | $ 5,781.00 | $ 5,955.00 | $ 6,133.00 | $ 6,317.00 | $ 6,506.00 | $ 14,534.65 | $ 14,970.69 | $ 15,419.81 | $ 15,882.40 | $ 16,358.88 | $ 16,849.64 | ||||
| Second Child | $ 180.00 | $ 300.00 | $ 300.00 | $ 300.00 | $ 6,133.00 | $ 6,317.00 | $ 6,506.00 | $ 6,701.00 | $ 6,902.00 | $ 7,109.00 | $ 7,323.00 | $ 16,358.88 | $ 16,849.64 | $ 17,355.13 | $ 17,875.79 | $ 18,412.06 | $ 18,964.42 |
| TOTAL | $ 5,630.00 | $ 5,913.00 | $ 6,081.00 | $ 6,255.00 | $ 12,266.00 | $ 12,634.00 | $ 13,012.00 | $ 21,235.65 | $ 21,872.69 | $ 22,528.81 | $ 23,205.40 | $ 32,717.75 | $ 33,699.28 | $ 17,355.13 | $ 17,875.79 | $ 18,412.06 | $ 18,964.42 |
| Prep | $ 11,818.00 | $ 12,172.54 | $ 12,537.72 | $ 12,913.85 | $ 13,301.26 | $ 13,700.30 | $ 14,111.31 | $ 14,534.65 | $ 14,970.69 | $ 15,419.81 | $ 15,882.40 | $ 16,358.88 | $ 16,849.64 | $ 17,355.13 | $ 17,875.79 | $ 18,412.06 | $ 18,964.42 |
| Public School Savings | |||||||||||||||||
| $ 5,630.00 | $ 11,768.20 | $ 18,319.93 | $ 25,307.73 | $ 38,586.03 | $ 52,763.48 | $ 67,886.01 | $ 91,837.10 | $ 117,383.28 | $ 144,607.42 | $ 173,597.12 | $ 213,258.76 | $ 255,488.39 | $ 283,063.06 | $ 312,261.36 | $ 343,163.88 | $ 375,854.85 |
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My understanding, correct me if I'm wrong, is that a voter referendum for BHS was passed by voters. The one for NWR was not, correct? Also, Brandon's old high school was built in the 50's. NWR's was built in the late 70s early 80s, so it's not like Brandon was not in need. I do agree that NWR needs a rebuild. That school is incredibly overpopulated and outdated, but I don't think there is some incredible Brandon bias happening. Let's not forget that Richland got a new high school the same year as Brandon, and the NWR zone opened two new elementary schools a few years ago through the same referendum as those high schools. The really big issue is that RCSD tried to pass a tax hike (for NWR and BHS athletic facilities) in a down economy and the voters said no.
Lulz. I was in microbiology with a chick that was home schooled. She became hysterical in class every time she missed a question on a test. She also refused to share a microscope with anyone because someone else's eyelashes could have touched it. She demanded her own and the teacher promptly afterwards had her removed from his class for being such a social misfit that she was a disruption.
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Move to Madison if you want a great public school experience. To me, NWR cannot compare academically. But, your wife shouldn't use "my kid will get bored academically" - the accelerated classes at good public schools are just at good. Madison Central has the highest number of National Merit Finalists in MS (including Prep, St Andrews, etc). They do a great job of getting kids ready for the ACT - lots of kids score >30. Go to their Honor's Day and see the scholarships given out - it was shocking. I don't know as much about Germantown, but the principal is great. If you go to either and your kids are smart, the accelerated classes are excellent. I have 2 kids -one graduated from MC and one from a private school. MC was just as good in accelerated classes - better in science. My private school child got a full academic scholarship to State - because it being smaller and could participate in more so had a great resume. Participation would be a reason over academics in Madison. If you go to a smaller private school, be careful of the class your kid is in. The kids and the mothers can hurt a class (and thus your child). At a bigger public school, that is not the case as much. And, Coach 66 is right - private schools do expose your kids to more successful people. But, like he also said, there is a terrific pressure to go to OM. (I know a lot of big Bully families that their kids all went to OM. Parents get caught up in it, too.)
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Yeah I believe this as well. I think the key to not raising a homeschooler that is really smart but a complete social outcast is to get them involved in things outside the home like church youth group, time with friends/cousins, Dixie-Youth baseball, etc... I think a lot of your weird overly-sheltered homeschool kids are more a result of their even weirder overly-sheltering parents than anything else. The kind that want to go on the kid's honeymoon with them after they're married...... Yikes.
NWR has an A+ school rating by the state so your assumption is wrong. Better facilities? Yes Madison Central blows us out if the water there. Better academics? You can't get higher than A+ in the State of Mississippi's rating system. And we have dual enrollment courses too. And your national merit finalists list is proportionate to size of the school. It is massive and they are feeling the effects of overcrowding as well, hence building Germantown. Madison, the school district, is much more densely populated that the NWR zone so you have kind of coming close to hitting your limit on growth. We have not.
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Sorry for jumping to conclusions. I just find it ridiculous how many of these women in the Flowood area never return to work after they get married or as soon as they have their first child. It's ironic, most of their mothers didn't work and felt "trapped" because they didn't have a way to support themselves away from their husbands if they were unhappy. So they encourage their daughters to do well academically and achieve college educations to be able to stand by themselves then as soon as this happens they get married, have that first child, then their moms start the "well you know we didn't work, we stayed home and raised our children and that is what you should want as well".
Hand on a Bible! Craziest ***** I had ever met and I've known some crazy bitches. Now all that didn't come from the simple fact that she was home schooled but every time I hear those two words all I can think of is her.
To me the benefits, if any, of home schooling are largely outweighed by the social interaction that your child learns at school. I guess we will end up with a generation of law enforcement officers that were home schooled because that is about the only job where a home schooled kid wouldn't stand out
To me the benefits, if any, of home schooling are largely outweighed by the social interaction that your child learns at school. I guess we will end up with a generation of law enforcement officers that were home schooled because that is about the only job where a home schooled kid wouldn't stand out
They will be all over IT support departments as well. I'm an IT worker by trade myself, and I have got to say that my field is full of weirdos. The type of folks that are 35 and only will only eat mac-and-cheese that their mom fixes for them every day.
I know what you mean
About the non working woman. I figured it was a generational thing, maybe it's a rankin co thing. My mom didn't work when I was a kid nor did my wife's mom.
i have heard my mother in law mention she wished my wife could be a stay at home mom "cause it's better for the kids." To which I replied, it's not 1987 anymore
About the non working woman. I figured it was a generational thing, maybe it's a rankin co thing. My mom didn't work when I was a kid nor did my wife's mom.
i have heard my mother in law mention she wished my wife could be a stay at home mom "cause it's better for the kids." To which I replied, it's not 1987 anymore
It matters how old your kids are. One of mine went all the way thru Madison Public Schools and it was great - it had the high-level things she was interested in. She made great grades, did great in college, and has a great job now. My youngest switched to a private school after 7th grade - she graduated top in her class and was able to participate in all that she wanted which led to a great resume thus a full-academic scholarship to State. Public was best for one and private was best for the other. I am lucky that money is not an issue, so I didn't have that to think about. But, sending the 2nd to private school thru elementary would have been a waste of money and not exposed her to more friends. Madison elementary schools have excellent teachers and a good gifted program. Wait until later to make a permanent decision about what is best for your kids. I will say this - public school does expose them to things at a younger age. Private schools shelter them a little more. Once they get to junior years, they are all exposed. Hope this helps and good luck as a parent. (Just make your decisions based on what is best for your child - not for other reasons.)
the bottom line of the whole thing, its about where you live. if you can get away with sending your children to a public school, its a huge savings, but the fact of the matter is that its academic suicide to send your children to public school in some areas of this state and in certain cities. i would have loved for my family to move out of ne jackson when i was in high school, but they, for whatever reason, refused to do so and instead sent me to one of the few alternatives, that being jackson prep. assuming everyone will move to get the best accommodating school is not realistic, at least in my parents case, and they did pay the price financially. thats something they were willing to accept for not pulling up roots like so many others. had it been me, i would have pulled up roots.
I don't know if this is still the case but a lot of teachers who taught private school did it because their kids were there and as soon as they graduated the teachers would leave for the public schools for the benefits. I know that was the case at ERA.
Hartfield will live or die on white parents being willing to spend increasing amounts of money so little Johnny or Suzie can play sports. Tons of money is being spent on facility improvements and staff (much like the mother church), driving tuition higher and higher. If the economy hits another rough patch like 2008, I fear the school may be in trouble.
Hartfield doesn't have a set of truly big money boosters like Prep or JA and carries a ton of debt. It may get to a point when parents start thinking, if I am paying Prep/JA prices, why not send my kid to Prep or JA?
My kids went to Pinelake Baptist/Christian when younger but are in NWR now. Pinelake/Hartfield has become all about the show (check out Hartfield's FB page to see what title the new receptionist has), it was a great church in those days. Money and materialism is killing the church, no wonder Jesus talked so much about the dangers of money.
I agree with the posts about the RCSD being a train wreck, there is no reason NWR can't have facilities like Germantown. The NWR zone (and Flowood, thanks to cheap houses and apartments) is on a slow decline. The wife and I are seriously considering a move to Gluckstadt, after more than 15 years at the Rez. Would love to move out of state, but our jobs are too good.
Hartfield doesn't have a set of truly big money boosters like Prep or JA and carries a ton of debt. It may get to a point when parents start thinking, if I am paying Prep/JA prices, why not send my kid to Prep or JA?
My kids went to Pinelake Baptist/Christian when younger but are in NWR now. Pinelake/Hartfield has become all about the show (check out Hartfield's FB page to see what title the new receptionist has), it was a great church in those days. Money and materialism is killing the church, no wonder Jesus talked so much about the dangers of money.
I agree with the posts about the RCSD being a train wreck, there is no reason NWR can't have facilities like Germantown. The NWR zone (and Flowood, thanks to cheap houses and apartments) is on a slow decline. The wife and I are seriously considering a move to Gluckstadt, after more than 15 years at the Rez. Would love to move out of state, but our jobs are too good.
All very good points about Pinelake. I don't see Flowood in a decline though. Not the way our property value has increased. And we will never be like County Line area because it's Rankin County and we prosecute. A lot of people I know believe in the "Keep it in Flowood" philosophy. I can't tell you when the last time we bought something at a brick&morter store was that wasn't here. We simply don't have to leave Flowood / Rez area.
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Hatfield being backed by pine lake makes me assume it's not going anywhere for a long long time.
Maybe in the next 10 years nwr will have a split like Madison central/Ridgeland did then Germantown.
There's no reason there shouldn't be nwr and Flowood high.
Maybe in the next 10 years nwr will have a split like Madison central/Ridgeland did then Germantown.
There's no reason there shouldn't be nwr and Flowood high.
I agree that Pinelake's backing is important, but the church is more vulnerable than most people think. More and more people are raising eyebrows at the drunken sailoresqe spending and the seemingly ever increasing numbers of paid staff. We have attended Pinelake for 15 years and been heavily involved for much of that time. Many of the long time members have either left or grown apathetic. I know that young people keep coming, but I'm not sure if they believe as strongly in tithing as Christians of my generation. Pinelake's unofficial motto is "if you don't like it leave and 5 more will take your place."
After tithing for our adult lives, my wife and I have come to realize that no where in the NT is tithing encouraged for Christians (giving is encouraged, not a 10% tithe to the church) it was OT law that was done away with by the new covenant. With so much money going to salaries, trips for staff and buildings, many of the old Pinelake crew is seconding guessing tithing. The church keeps detailed budgetary information secret, but I would not be surprised if giving has leveled off. If Chip is ever "called" away, the church will be in serious trouble.
After tithing for our adult lives, my wife and I have come to realize that no where in the NT is tithing encouraged for Christians (giving is encouraged, not a 10% tithe to the church) it was OT law that was done away with by the new covenant. With so much money going to salaries, trips for staff and buildings, many of the old Pinelake crew is seconding guessing tithing. The church keeps detailed budgetary information secret, but I would not be surprised if giving has leveled off. If Chip is ever "called" away, the church will be in serious trouble.
Being a public school teacher that has worked in rankin county I will say this...rankin cnty was def hurt by weathersby. I saw first hand how he mishandled things based on the "buddy system". Not once did it affect me personally so no sour grapes but it did happen on several occasions.
As as far as public vs private it boils down to teachers. If your public school has some good teachers and you can request them then I would go that route. There are some great teachers out there but there a ton of ****** ones, private and public. When my kids get old enough I will definitely be proactive in wanting a specific teacher if I know they are good. On a personal student level the teacher is the difference no matter what school.
As as far as public vs private it boils down to teachers. If your public school has some good teachers and you can request them then I would go that route. There are some great teachers out there but there a ton of ****** ones, private and public. When my kids get old enough I will definitely be proactive in wanting a specific teacher if I know they are good. On a personal student level the teacher is the difference no matter what school.
I like to think they are buying weapons too to fit with my whole "Branch Dividian" hypothesis. I have joked about this to people at work to get a rise out of them (most go there) but when that dude accidentally forgot to leave his gun in the car and it discharged inside the church during a service everybody was like "man I hope "name redacted" doesn't hear about this. We will never hear the end of it".
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