News broke recently about a new school coming to my town. A private school. A private Islamic school.
I really hope that distinction doesn’t freak out the townies but you can never underestimate the power of ignorance.
Anyway, aside from this one being an Islamic school there’s always questions when adding new schools to the community.
- Do we need another school?
- What happens to the funding of my town’s public school?
- Doesn’t it just take away resources dedicated to the town?
- Are these kids even from our town? Who are these families and where are they from?
- Will it split up kids from their friends and create us vs. them mentality?
The modern reality is that parents today want greater choice when it comes to school for their kids. Some are ok with sending their sons and daughters to the local public schools, some prefer private religious schools, some prefer private boarding schools, some prefer charter schools that focus on science or drama or other topics, and some parents just decide to home school their kids.
I know several families who sent their kids to public schools in neighboring cities. In some cases it was because they felt those schools were a better fit, and in other cases it was simply because one parent was an employee at that other school and it was a choice of convenience.
And of course there are those who send their kids to parochial schools (mostly catholic schools in the area). Most common reasons I hear for the parochial schools are tighter community, smaller classes, more discipline. I rarely hear anything about the religious education and you NEVER hear that it’s because the school offered more resources. Parochial schools are usually broke.
At the end of the day, like most things, it’s hard to criticize or fault a family for making ANY choice when it comes to doing what they believe is best (or “right”) for their kids.
Again, there could be a number of reasons to do it, but the important factor here is that families get the choice to do it.
My family had the fortune of sending our kids to two different schools in town. It gave us tremendous perspective into each one — both the pros and the cons.
My older daughter went to the large public high school that was equally known for big classes, big sports, big parties. Typical high school stuff. It was the school all the locals cheered for under the Friday night lights for generations.
My younger daughter went to a small public charter school that focused on math and science. The school was less than ten years old when she started there in 6th grade. They still had sports and they still had parties (they’re high school kids, after all) but things were much more tame and families tended to be more focused on academics. The kids themselves were much more intense about their academics.
What’s important is that each school was the right fit for each kid. That was all that mattered to us as parents.
Both kids flourished academically, socially, and athletically. Each graduated and went on to very good colleges (no surprise: the older one went to a big southern public university with a powerhouse football program and party scene while the younger one goes to a smaller private university best known for its engineering and technical prowess).
Two different kids. Two different personalities. Each with a correct choice.
Fortunately we HAD a choice to make. When it comes to our kids, nothing should be one-size-fits-all.
