High School....stay with Public or go to Private if you can?

[jofus]

I imagine some of you have had a similar situation, so I thought I would throw out a post looking for advice...

My DD is in 8th grade. She has a classmate/friend who's older sister got "recruited" by a local private school to play softball last year as a 9th grader (pitcher). So, my DD's friend is planning on going there next year (9th grade) to play softball/volleyball, and she has been talking to my DD about doing the same. Then, this weekend, her friend was telling her that the girl that played catcher for the team last year was a senior, and the coach is really looking hard for a young catcher. So, her older sister and their mom told the coach that my DD is a good catcher, so now she is interested in my DD coming there too. She even wants them to think about coming this year and playing high school as 8th graders. I don't think we will be doing that, because in WV you are only allowed 4 years of high school sports, and that would mess her up if she decides she doesn't like the school and goes back to our public school.

First of all, I will definitely do some research on the private school, which I haven't done yet. My DD is intrigued by the idea, they have very small classes (15 to 1 student/teacher ratio or better), and she says that the high school she will go to otherwise is made up of "mostly rednecks and skanks"

They advertise that their students get X more academic scholarship money than kids at public schools, but most of the kids going there are doctors' kids, etc., so they would probably do well and get scholarships no matter where they went to school, so that figure is probably at least skewed a bit.

The private school's softball team was not good last year, they had very little experience, but the coach is trying to build a team. They are building up their basketball team to compete with the likes of Oak Hill Academy, etc., they have 2 new players this year from Turkey (one of which has Duke, UNC, and others looking at him already), a 7'2" guy from South Africa, and have pulled in a couple of the better young players from instate (a junior who has verbaled to WVU for example). So, she may build up a good team....although, she may build up "too good" of a team and my DD end up on the bench, I guess, but I don't think we would have to worry too much about that....

But, our public school puts out very good girl teams for softball and volleyball normally, and with the girls around my DD's age, I really think they have a chance to compete for a state title in either or both over the next few years, if they have the right coaches in place. Plus, there is a chance (if she works her rear end off and gets lucky) of getting on some of the all-state lists if her team does well (the reputation of the school and a few of the players that have gone through there in recent years may help that too).

I know that the general consensus is that high school softball doesn't do anything toward getting a girl looked at by college coaches, so if the private education is in fact "better", does it make sense to use softball as a means of getting the private education, and continuing to play travel ball for the softball aspect of college?

Man, that's longer than I intended, thanks to anyone who actually read through it, and extra-special thanks to anyone with any comments


P.S. I just wanted to mention that my primary concern is my DD having every opportunity that she can in picking a college to attend, softball or no. If she still wants to play by then and gets the chance, then that would be great, but it's not something that we are betting the house on. As long as she keeps getting straight A's and good test scores, it's all good

[Sam]

Never make a school decision based on softball.....Ever.

[3'sDad]

We have already started this discussion in our household as DD is in middle school. She could get "recruited" to play for the local private schools - that would be nice as the tuitions are quite high and the education better than at most, but not all of the local high schools in the county we live in.

DD will play ball in high school.....college is too far away to venture a guess.

If the academic education, student to instructor ration and overall opportunity is better at a private school than the local public and DD will be playing ball whether at public or private school and as a family you guys believe the expeience at the private school will do her well, take a shot. What the worst that happens if it doesn't work out; she transfers back to public school for her last 3 years of HS.

[jofus]

Sam, that's a good point, and it may have seemed like that is what I was thinking, but it's really not about just softball. I guess one of my concerns is that the team at the private school will continue to be very inexperienced as a whole and lose mightily which may hurt her enjoyment of the sport, where the public school will probably continue to perform well and win some games...but, she will play way more games in travel ball than in high school, so maybe that is a dumb concern.

It is more a case of softball giving her the possible opportunity, since the school isn't cheap normally, but they make "arrangements" for athletes. That's one detail that I would have to find out more about (like, where the money comes from, etc., rules about it, especially if she transfers back to public schools, etc.). I think that they got out of the WV SSAC so they could give scholarships, etc., but I'm not sure of the details.

***Actually, someone told me recently that they don't give "scholarships", but the coaches go out and find "sponsors" to help with the costs, kinda like athletic boosters, I guess....***

[sprtsbimbo]

I was in this situation last year with my daughter and about 5 years ago with my son. Word of advice you should only be looking at the school for her education not for their sports program. Your child sport should be secondary.

My son and my daughter both went to public school until 8th grade. The public high schools around our house did not offer what they needed to thrive in school. My son needed structure and a strict accountability. My daughter on the other hand needs to be able to do her own thing but within a structured environment.

You need to look at the classes offered, student to teacher ratio, speak to past graduates and current student along with their parents before you decided.

My son went to a very sports oriented private school with about 1000 students, but he didn't play any sports. My daughter goes to a private school with a total of 250 students overall. 40 in her freshman class, yes they have a softball team, yes they are ok, but I love the student to teacher ratio. Her English class has 8 students to one teacher. Needless to say she is now doing great in English. Grade point average has increased.

You just have to look at the whole picture as to what is important..........
..........

[3rd Base Coach]

Jofus
I was a middle school History teacher for 25 years in a 'nice' area (Palm Springs, Calif). Things began to change in the 1980's when the kids began to be 'grouped' into different classrooms according to 'ability'. The calssroom to teacher ratio was advertised as 25 to 1 but that was wrong. The 'special' classes (like ESL, handicap, etc) had 5 to 10 students whereas the rest of us actually had 35 to 38 students per classroom. I always recommended to parents to put their kids into private schools.

I am now 'retired' from teaching but am beginning my 4th season coaching at a private girls school ($25,000 tuition). I see the difference everyday between public & private school. The girls are ALWAYS studying to keep their grades above 3.25 to 4.5. 100% of the girls go to college. NO boys on a beautiful campus. The ratio for teacher to classroom is 8 to 1 - 12 to 1.

All my players know that grades come first but we are still able to practice well enough to get to the quarterfinals in the playoffs.

[jofus]

Yeah, I'm thinking that if we decide that we like the school, and softball is a means of her attending there, then we should seriously consider it. Not that I couldn't afford it anyway if we really wanted to, but getting to go at a discounted rate would be better.

The good thing is, she gets straight A's now, but she doesn't even really have to try, so hopefully their classes would be a little harder and she may actually learn a little more....

Yeah, coach, one of my main complaints about the public school system is that, rather than trying to help those students who are a little behind academically catch up with students like my DD, they instead make sure that the better students slow down to a pace where the others can keep up. That, plus the complacency among the teachers and administration. There are a few that really care, but they seem few and far between, to me.

We're currently in the middle of an issue that is starting to tick me off concerning my son (who is in 5th grade, and has similar intelligence to my DD, but horrible work and organization habits) and his school's complete lack of communication with the parents, even though my wife and other parents brought up that concern at the beginning of the year, and were assured that it was going to be better than last year

Thanks to all for the comments so far, btw

[greenandblue]

The talent is going to be at the public school based solely on the number of students, even if the private school recruits, which isn't technically allowed in our state.

I personally wouldn't place my child in private school for many reasons, but mostly because I don't want her going to school with kids that didn't choose to be in that school in the first place, they are there because their parent are making them go to private school, not public school. Sounds lame probably to everyone, but a youth pastor friend told us his daughter would not go to a private school for that reason and after seeing some products of our local private schools, I have to agree. (The big catholic private school in our area had "Panty-free Fridays" for almost 3 years before the administration caught on) From what we heard, the boys were crushed and petitioned (unsuccessfully) to bring it back. And now the girls aren't allowed to wear skirts, just skorts or pants. Yea, this has nothing to do with softball, I just thought I'd share.

[jofus]

G&B, I have seen similar situations at private church affiliated schools. The ones I have been familiar with, some kids were there to go to a church school, some kids were there because their parents thought it would straighten them out...but, in reality, usually the "bad" kids influence the "good" kids instead.

This school isn't church affiliated, the local college started it and they are big on college prep, etc., and are wanting to get it on a level with other private prep schools.

Oh, and I guess that they are allowed to recruit because they got out of the WV SSAC, which is where the recruiting rules come from...either that, or they are doing it against the rules.

[softballjunky12]

Keep in mind, every area is different! In our area, private schools tend to have the stronger softball programs which consist of mainly all "A" ball players. Where our local public HS, is not so strong.
My advise, shadow a few schools and go where your DD feels comfortable, where she will get playing time and where she will set herself up to get the best college education. Softball or no softball.. Education first!

Good luck!