flu, I would assume private school have a higher concentration of “over-zealous,over-accomplished kids and pushy parents” than any affluent school district out there. Which is why I putting them into private school from Preschool through 2nd grade. I was pondering whether it would be worth it (save some $) to send them to public school if they can get into the Seminar program. But I definitely will be playing it buy ears in a few years.
Assuming my kids is smart enough (I will crack the whip, so if they’re not self driven, I’ll drive them), I don’t know if private school or even affluent school district will make that big of a difference, especially when comparing with Mira Mesa School, when it comes to Jr. High and High School. I think private school (especially Montessori) makes a bigger difference in K-5 because in public K-5, there’s 1 single curriculum that everybody have to stick with. While in 6-12, you have a lot of choices and you can push yourself as hard as you want to.
I know someone who are CEO & CFO with their kids going to Torrey Pine and one of their kid who graduated last year didn’t even get into any school better than CSU San Marcos. I know another CEO & CFO who have their kid going to Cathedral HS and their kid end up attending Jr. College after HS. Then I know gardeners living in MM who their kids went to Cornell and UCLA. When I was in MMHS, there were plenty of very driven students who end up going to Harvard, Cornell, Standford, UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCI, etc. Those kids tend to hang around w/ like minded kids, not the slackers. So, just because you’re in affluent district doesn’t mean you can be anymore driven.
I personally think having 1 parent stay at home and going to MMHS will make a bigger difference than 2 parents working long hours and going to TPHS. Also, to get into top rated school need more than just the name of your HS. GPA, SAT, essay, leadership, sports, community service all play a big role. You don’t need to be in TPHS to do all of that. Especially if you have a parent home pushing you to do all of that. No time to slack.
