Thanks, Ashley. No, your thread did not scare me, but I was (still am, to some extent) wondering about investing in private schools. Where I live, the quality of schools (depending on where you live in suburbia) range from good to excellent. And, there are usually teachers on staff for art/library/music/PE/technology/. So, I think I should set my expectations really low, based on reading your thread.
Also, I am surprised -- but when does Science start ? My kid's K class had science and social studies. Should I expect the school not to have either science or social studies ? I am guessing so, but this is sort of 'culture shock' I am referring to. Also, the schools and community seem to be very strongly tied (where I live). Most kids go to the same school from K through 5, go to the same middle school, and then high school. From what I read, it seems like the school population is rather transient in California (am I reading this correctly ?).
My biggest problem last year was the lack of challenge and the teacher suspecting a 2E issue. Thanks for the reference to the curriculum (I will read up on those). Also, when I checked out the school districts in PS in CA, they seem to sway rather wildly from one geographical area to the next.
No, I don't doubt at all that Harker is an excellent school. I am also not saying that no one in the East Coast pays 40K for early elementary education. Just that it is more the exception, than the norm.
Thanks for your post. Rather enlightening to me. Plus, now my expectations are super low.
