Thoughts on Private schools vs Public in High School sports

[SOUTHERNFRIED]

Saw a post earlier and thought I would expound on it. What is everyone's thoughts on Private schools vs Public schools as far as sports/education go. How would your sons athletic teams be different IF certain athletes had not gone the "private" route. It is a subject that has been on my mind for a while. The way the public education system is going is not exactly how I want my son to be taught, but, I can deal with it for now. That and the fact he has worked his whole life to excel in high school sports, for his home town, is another reason we wont go the private route, but, at times I see the advantages. For example, on my sons summer 14U travel team there are 14 players. They are all leaving or have left middle school for high school and it breaks down like this: 1 is currently at Davidson Academy, 2 are leaving their home town (Portland) to go to Davidson, 1 is leaving Joe Byrns for JPII, 2 are leaving Beech for JPII, 2 are staying at Station Camp, 2 are at White House, 2 are at Beech, 1 is at Christian school in White House/Home schooled, and 1, my son is at Portland. Is there that big of a difference for the kids going the private route? I see the programs/facilities that Davidson, JPII, Goodpasture, and Friendship have, and see how I would want that for my son. What has happened to the public schools where the private route seems so much better vs playing for your home town? It sure seems the grass is greener on the other side, but, what are the draw backs, if any? Thanks in advance for everyone's response. I would like to hear both pro and con.

Edited June 6, 2012 by SOUTHERNFRIED

[tradertwo]

Saw a post earlier and thought I would expound on it. What is everyone's thoughts on Private schools vs Public schools as far as sports/education go. How would your sons athletic teams be different IF certain athletes had not gone the "private" route. It is a subject that has been on my mind for a while. The way the public education system is going is not exactly how I want my son to be taught, but, I can deal with it for now. That and the fact he has worked his whole life to excel in high school sports, for his home town, is another reason we wont go the private route, but, at times I see the advantages. For example, on my sons summer 14U travel team there are 14 players. They are all leaving or have left middle school for high school and it breaks down like this: 1 is currently at Davidson Academy, 2 are leaving their home town (Portland) to go to Davidson, 1 is leaving Joe Byrns for JPII, 2 are leaving Beech for JPII, 2 are staying at Station Camp, 2 are at White House, 2 are at Beech, 1 is at Christian school in White House/Home schooled, and 1, my son is at Portland. Is there that big of a difference for the kids going the private route? I see the programs/facilities that Davidson, JPII, Goodpasture, and Friendship have, and see how I would want that for my son. What has happened to the public schools where the private route seems so much better vs playing for your home town? It sure seems the grass is greener on the other side, but, what are the draw backs, if any? Thanks in advance for everyone's response. I would like to hear both pro and con.

The real advantages/disadvantages depend largely upon your"hometown school".Some of the publics fall short only because of'no child left behind',the reprecussions of focusing teachers time and resources on kids with learning disabilitys of the physical and enviromental nature,which the privates largely weed out in the admissions process.Facilities are generally nicer at private schools,but you pay for them unless your child is truly gifted,and"chooses"a DII school.The perception that the enviroment at a private is far above public is false(in my opinion)as teen pregnancy,drug use,and general misconduct are present at both,and teaching moral values begins at home.The decision is yours and yours alone wheather the 6,000 to 10,000 per year,per child is a good investment in your childrens future.I'm from rural West Tn,and my hometown school ranks with the privates in graduation rates,test scores,and college enrollment #'s...no brainer,public.I'm very familiar with Jackson-Madison Co.schools,both public and private...no brainer there,private(or magnet)at all cost.Again weighing the pro's and con's between two particular schools will give you the answers you're looking for,not just the public vs. private debate.As for the "what if"question posed in athletics,Riverside has a championship and a runner-up in softball the past two seasons,the past few before that time frame private Trinity Christian,with the talents of the Renfroe girls(Ivy and Ellen,maybe you've heard of them,both pitch for the University of Tennessee)were top dogs from the west.The shame of that is the fact those girls live 50+ miles from Trinity...and less than 10 from Riverside.With those two,and little sis(still at Trinity),how many gold balls would the Lady Panthers have?

[itsanewday]

The real advantages/disadvantages depend largely upon your"hometown school".Some of the publics fall short only because of'no child left behind',the reprecussions of focusing teachers time and resources on kids with learning disabilitys of the physical and enviromental nature,which the privates largely weed out in the admissions process.Facilities are generally nicer at private schools,but you pay for them unless your child is truly gifted,and"chooses"a DII school.The perception that the enviroment at a private is far above public is false(in my opinion)as teen pregnancy,drug use,and general misconduct are present at both,and teaching moral values begins at home.The decision is yours and yours alone wheather the 6,000 to 10,000 per year,per child is a good investment in your childrens future.I'm from rural West Tn,and my hometown school ranks with the privates in graduation rates,test scores,and college enrollment #'s...no brainer,public.I'm very familiar with Jackson-Madison Co.schools,both public and private...no brainer there,private(or magnet)at all cost.Again weighing the pro's and con's between two particular schools will give you the answers you're looking for,not just the public vs. private debate.As for the "what if"question posed in athletics,Riverside has a championship and a runner-up in softball the past two seasons,the past few before that time frame private Trinity Christian,with the talents of the Renfroe girls(Ivy and Ellen,maybe you've heard of them,both pitch for the University of Tennessee)were top dogs from the west.The shame of that is the fact those girls live 50+ miles from Trinity...and less than 10 from Riverside.With those two,and little sis(still at Trinity),how many gold balls would the Lady Panthers have?

 

 

Lots of really good points here and agree with you. One additional bit of information that needs to be added is that Mrs. Renfroe is a teacher at Trinity - which makes a big difference with the travel. I know of kid from Jackson that went about that far to school in Gibson County but both parents were teachers at that school and they said that the trips to and from school was some of the best quality time they spent together.

Edited June 7, 2012 by itsanewday

[tradertwo]

Lots of really good points here and agree with you. One additional bit of information that needs to be added is that Mrs. Renfroe is a teacher at Trinity - which makes a big difference with the travel. I know of kid from Jackson that went about that far to school in Gibson County but both parents were teachers at that school and they said that the trips to and from school was some of the best quality time they spent together.

Wasn't trying to knock them for it,I'm sure they were(are)happy at Trinity,got their gold balls there,and Riverside now has a championship too.Just wondering (if any) how many 'ships more Riverside would've had had they"stayed home",and it applied to the question at hand.

[boygirl]

Saw a post earlier and thought I would expound on it. What is everyone's thoughts on Private schools vs Public schools as far as sports/education go. How would your sons athletic teams be different IF certain athletes had not gone the "private" route. It is a subject that has been on my mind for a while. The way the public education system is going is not exactly how I want my son to be taught, but, I can deal with it for now. That and the fact he has worked his whole life to excel in high school sports, for his home town, is another reason we wont go the private route, but, at times I see the advantages. For example, on my sons summer 14U travel team there are 14 players. They are all leaving or have left middle school for high school and it breaks down like this: 1 is currently at Davidson Academy, 2 are leaving their home town (Portland) to go to Davidson, 1 is leaving Joe Byrns for JPII, 2 are leaving Beech for JPII, 2 are staying at Station Camp, 2 are at White House, 2 are at Beech, 1 is at Christian school in White House/Home schooled, and 1, my son is at Portland. Is there that big of a difference for the kids going the private route? I see the programs/facilities that Davidson, JPII, Goodpasture, and Friendship have, and see how I would want that for my son. What has happened to the public schools where the private route seems so much better vs playing for your home town? It sure seems the grass is greener on the other side, but, what are the draw backs, if any? Thanks in advance for everyone's response. I would like to hear both pro and con.

[cbg]

The first thing that everyone needs to understand is that just like the public schools there is a big/huge/major difference between the various private schools. When looking at the academics of the prep schools (Baylor, MBA, Harpeth Hall, GPS, etc...) there is no comparison between those schools and the public schools in Tennessee. If someone wants to know what the academics of a school are like just ask what the mean SAT/ACT scores were for the past five years and how many national merit finalist and national merit semi finalist the school has had the past five years. Take a peak at what academic institutions the graduates of the private school are attending. Will those graduates be matriculating to Tier 1 institutions of higher learning or are they finding their way to the lower tier colleges & universities? Some public schools have just as good or better facilities than some of the private schools but it depends on the individual private school. The schools listed above have excellent facilities and I was informed yesterday that Father Ryan (Catholic school that has a different mission than many private & prep schools) will have spent around 11 million on athletic facilities alone within the past three years. Those additions include a new football stadium along with additions or rebuilding of the whole athletic complex. Ensworth is in the process of building an aquatic center for their student/athletes which will be as nice as most all college aquatic centers. MBA has plans to spend a large sum of money and build a new dinning hall that will be a replica of the dinning hall in the Harry Potter movie. One of the most important things that families can do when looking at schools is to attend various functions at the schools you are interested in attending. Athletic events, plays, concerts, graduation and academic recognition events are a few of the things that should be attended before making the decision that school X is best for your child. IMO, the child should make the final decision and not the parent. Some students like a smaller school where they are able to be a big fish in a small pond while others want to experience everything the school and community has to offer. The three or four hours of homework at some private schools after a tough athletic practice may be more than what some student/athletes are willing to bite off. If the child attends some of the school events and does not feel comfortable then it's probably not a good fit for the child. Contrary to what many people may believe there is more to school than athletics!

Edited June 9, 2012 by cbg

[PHargis]

The same debate the same time every year. Its now getting to enrollment times for Private Schools and while its pretty civil this year, one can make cases all over the State of the Pro's and Cons, If education is the emphasis, its just like anything else and a business decision. Look at the cirriculum, what is offered, what is students interest and pay the price if its cost effective. If its for mostly athletics, right now it hard to justify. Whats so great about D2 athletics? I can tell you there is a lot to offer for a D2 to play in a D1 District or Region. If a D1 and D2 is in the same town, that might even things up a bit. But with the huge controversy that has hit the papers this year in D2, Public Schools have taken a pretty good step in a lot of ways and they are much better except in inner city and even there, there have been some good results.

Privates, find kids close to your school. A player who wants to leave an area where his home town is or the friends he has grown up with has to be able to cut ties there. If thats all right fine but if its like the Mt Pleasant player who left town, transferred, then had to transfer to an intercity school and never went back home, hope they remember him. Few students want to do that but some do.

There is a place for both and a good place but there is something to be in a place, close to your friends and family and be known if you walk down the street and see someone you have known, instead of spending your time traveling in a car, or walking into your Middle School and having those who remembered seeing you play crowd around and say, good to see you.

Is is true there is more to school than athletics? News articles have sure born that out and everything comes

from the top down in every school.