BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM 2015 NPYLL Score and Results

Far superior? You need to do much more research on secondary education, even in Howard and Harford counties. Even for the good student.

Why the hate and negative comments?

That jokes a little early It's not close enough to April 1st yet

I'll have what he is smoking. Howard and Harford counties better than any of these private schools?? Sheesh

Do your research. Average scores are not better in public but that is because of the more diverse population. If you look at high scores, course curricula offerings etc. , public schools are actually better and most educational articles support this. Often the intangibles are better at private but just because you pay more, does not mean the education is better.

For the exceptional student public high school has more to offer! Catholic school is geared towards the average student.

. Totally totally incorrect. Have no idea where you get your facts from, but they are very flawed.

Private schools offer a safe learning environment when the available public school is unsafe.

Private schools provide personal attention to individual students that would not be possible in overcrowded public schools.

Both private and public schools have can good to excellent students.

However, many public schools have horrible students that do not want to be there and cause problems for the kids that do want to be there to learn and contribute. The zone you live in dictates number of students that fall into this category.

And when you remove your child from the "bad" kids they have no idea what the real world is like and what real problems are. This is why there is a disconnect with the upper class and the others in this country.

Agree on the above. For good students who want to learn, public schools have programs and services not available in private school. Yes, the classes are bigger and there is not as much hand holding, but for a good student this is not a bad thing and more reflective of real life.

It is a family choice and believe it or not there are kids who have been offered significant discounts or full tuition to private school to play lacrosse and/or football and choose to remain in their public school for valid reason. Private is not the best or only choice and for some families supporting the public school systems, exposure and immersion in an environment only a large public school can offer in neighborhood school, not sitting on buses for an hour a day, convenience, access to certain unique curricula, not vying for playing time are all valid reasons. Families pay premiums for homes in these counties in terms of the base prices of the house itself and significant taxes that help fund the public schools-why double spend when it is not necessary . The judgment they receive from team mates and families who are private school attendees is a poor reflection on some of those families and further supports why some don't want their kids in that environment.

Or maybe they grow up not making judgment calls about why other students might be "horrible" and learn a bit about real life, socioeconomic differences and empathy while also getting an excellent education.

Agree with the original poster. We spent months comparing the pluses and negatives of public vs private for our son who was recruited and invited to attend private schools because of his lacrosse talent. When you remove the outliers on a normal curve, standardized test scores are virtually identical so for a motivated student, the fallacy of private being a better education is totally unsupported. A good student does not need smaller classes. Good students in public schools are placed in classes with other exceptional students so the free flow of ideas and creativity is similar in both a public and private environment. the programs for specialized study outside of core courses are significantly greater at public schools as they have the scale and resources to offer those opportunities and curriculum. Just look at the course offerings for the private schools versus the public schools-there is a huge difference and this is important for a student who wants to investigate or experience specific areas of study while still in high school. Private schools are great and have many wonderful virtues but broadness of curricula offerings is an area where public schools do excel.

True but your kids have to be around like minded students to succeed. Many of the knuckleheads are in the gym classes, lunch room or on misc sports teams if they can keep their grades up. My son is public school AP and honors classes. He is in with the knuckleheads in Band, gym and his off lacrosse season sports. It is a full education with out the fees. I already pay almost $9000 a year in property taxes.

I agree and guess what everyone, those knuckleheads are everywhere you go your whole life. Our kids are shielded from everything bad and not like them. Then they become adults and cant handle things not like them or bad.

Are there any magnet programs in private schools? My son is going into high school already completing algebra 1 and geometry. Speaking with a few of the private schools mentioned earlier they won't have a math class for him in a couple years and he will have to go to a community college for math classes his senior year. Public schools meet that need without having to send the kids elsewhere.

Based strictly on academics public schools are better and have more to offer the AP student than any of the private schools.

That is just a minor thing to overcome. At the private school my son will be around prefect little angles and I will not have to pay attention to anything he does because all the kids at the private school are great kids with no issues. And as a added bonus there will not be anyone who believes in a different god then me.

You have been talking to the wrong people. The schools my son and daughter attend offer up to Calculus II, and both of them finished Middle school having completed Algebra I and Geometry.

Not sure about the poster above but we have spoken to many of the private schools on our journey and there are definitely more AP course offerings in public schools in Harford and Howard. Not that there are not AP courses in privates-there are just not as many choices. In addition, outside of the core courses which both will have in order to graduate students, there are numerous magnet programs offered at most public high schools such as Engineering, Medical, Finance, Biomedical, Computer Science for the more advanced students. We are not just talking about a finance class or an engineering class here and there but a four year curriculum offered for advanced students. Both private and public have the high school requirements of geometry, algebra, calculus etc but it is the offerings outside of this that differentiate public in terms of curriculum. Foreign language offerings are more broad simply due to economies of scale with Latin, Chinese, Italian, German, ASL and others in addition to the usual Spanish and French. Most are generally offered through the AP level in addition to 1 & 2. It is not a criticism of private - they just do not have the scale and the resources to offer many of these things. They can touch on many of these things but they can not go into depth with their offerings. Just go online and compare the high school course catalogs for both with the class choices of the privates - many of us have spent time doing this and you will come to the same conclusion. For a child that needs a smaller class or specialized attention to graduate and soar, the private school small class size is probably ideal as well as, other pros such as more hand holding for college acceptance process, food service, alumni contributions etc. but in terms of curriculum, public schools do excel.

That math progression is very much the norm for both public and private school students and it is great that you go up to Calculus II which would be considered a standard high school offering for advanced students. But the majority of private high schools do not offer anything outside of the standard Algebra, Geometry, Algebra II, Pre Calculus, Stats, Calculus. That is not a bad thing but the point was that curricula offerings were broader and more in depth in public - looking at BL's math offerings, it is similar to the above as are the other privates. Howard or Harford would have the above plus go further with all including calculus to include Multivariate Calculus, Discrete Mathematics, Math Design, Differential Equations, Trig, Math Analysis, Financial Literacy, Advanced Algebra and Functions and others- most for 11th and 12th graders who already completed their high school requirements and want to take more at GT or AP levels. Private schools are great in many ways but can not and do not offer what a public can in terms of more classes and more advanced classes. This is not just for math - it holds true for the sciences, languages, english and the number of "interest" type courses can be overwhelming but allows for a different experience for the kids who want it.

-Smaller Teacher to Student ratio has nothing to do with a students learning ability. Severn School has a very small Teacher to Student Ratio. Most of those kids end up in Ivy League Schools!! So I respectfully disagree.

"And as a added bonus there will not be anyone who believes in a different god then me"

Bingo!!! I am allowed to send my children to a Catholic Institution that teaches the values I believe in and follow. Contrary to your opinion you can keep your religious diversity. Ask Western European countries how that is working out for them!!!

No where in this thread does it say you can not chose to send your kid where you want. That said, let me know where it is your kids go as I would prefer my child not join you on your pedestal. Have you read the papers lately - both public and privates (including Catholic) have more then their share of non teaching of values and "scandals" - just because you believe something to be true, does not make it true. And being fearful of diversity does not make it go away. The reality is that diversity is the future of our country. Kids that can not understand this and can not accept it, regardless of their parents stance, will be set up for failure. We are thinking you are confused about the Christian faith/Catholicism as the faith (especially the Pope) do not share your opinion with respect to "keep your religious diversity".

^^^ ready for the next Crusade? If you are not Catholic you are wrong. LOL The man in the sky will help with everything. Just put $20 in the collection tin and heaven awaits. Stand, sit, stand, sit, chant, cross, give money, leave. You are absolved. WOO Hoo. Now cheat on your wife, drink beer, curse your neighbor, say hateful things about kids and other people. Sunday will be here soon enough to pay off the sins. LOL

Who cares about academics...Public school lacrosse is terrible in Md.

Who gives a sh!! You tell me one time in your life you will be asked to factor polynomials? 80% of our education system is complete junk and waste of time. Thats the problem with the public system. They have to follow core standards. Who gives a crap about the feudal system? Really? Thats what their teaching my 11 year old. Serfs and lords and moats

Yep. All the good players are in Privates. That fact is well known!!

You hit the nail on the head with this. If you are top notch student, your needs will be better served at a good public school. You will be able to take a wide range of advanced classes to meet your needs and you will be sitting in classes with students who are just like you. Most private schools "meet superior students needs" by having them take advanced classes with older students. For example an 8th grader who has already taken Algebra I, they would take Geometry with 9th/10th graders because the "normal track" has the majority of kids taking Algebra I in 8th/9th grade. If you don't believe that publics better serve the needs of advanced students, take some time to look up the course offerings of private and public. I think you will be shocked. If your kid is an average student who needs more attention, private is surely the way to go. But not if you are advanced at all.

Why do you find it necessary to mock and make fun of someone's religious belief's? I find it disgusting and find you disgusting for doing so. This board is about lacrosse and at times, schools that play lacrosse, but to start trashing someone's religious belief's is way out of line.

Very cute.
It is not that public school lacrosse is terrible in Maryland - it is just that MIAA is THAT good. We live in an area where families put lacrosse ahead of all else, including education, allow holding back(can only happen in private schools) while others attend private school for just sports. Many talented high school players are approached and transfer out of public in high school for sports - it takes a strong player to make the best decision for themselves including judging the long term goal, really examining why they are considering it, the academics available and the impact on the family finances even with scholarships. There are definitely a greater number of highly skilled players in the private schools making the teams much better and possessing more depth. Very talented players do exist in the public schools - just fewer of them. As long as they are on good clubs, they will be fine and many stronger for the decision to stay public. Some even have more fun playing for their public high school teams than switching into a private environment just for high school sports. Playing time is never a question and they are studs!

All the kids in my neighborhood who go to private schools have some type of issue. Learning or social. They have tutors over all the time trying to help the kids. Also the hold the kids back a year to get better grades. Very similar to Lax holdbacks. The idea is older kids have better cognitive ability and test scores will be higher. I guess it is the Crabs of private school.

In my job I have to work with many high level math issues. Solving for unknowns or theoretical values. Make sure you kid takes Math. Siri will not always be there.

Ha your probably a math teacher, thats why. I'm not saying Math isn't important, just teach the important math.

will they go to a Christian college and then work for a Christian organization, because non-Christians are everywhere. Even some Catholic Universities have a Mosque on campus!

math teaches kids another way to think about solving something, higher math classes is a good thing. Don't want all kids to think that math isn't important, we have enough ignorant people is society as it is.

Can not tell if you are serious or not but if you are serious, feel bad for your kids and they will have missed wonderful opportunities regardless of whether they are public or private. "80% of the education system is junk and a waste of time"? Would not know where to begin with that -best of luck to you and your kids!

yes, send your kids to private Catholic schools where the pedophile priest are! where was the so called morality when the Catholic church hid their pedophiles? they moved them around so they could prey on kids around the world! keep supporting your local Catholic pedophile institution so your kid can play lax.

There are talented players in both private and public - just happen to be many more in private because:
1) they are legacy and their dads gave them no choice to play since birth.
2)they pay for lacrosse to be part of their school day.
3)kids are "paid" in the form of scholarships to attend private instead of public. The kids who had gone to the school all along and should be part of the team are pushed to the bench to make way for the kids that would have been public had $$ not been flashed before them.
4)kids are held back so they look better
5)Alumni often value sports over the academics and infuse money into the school and lacrosse program
6) Kids and their families rate water cooler bragging rights higher than most else.
7)Not all are willing to work harder to do what it takes to get noticed in a public high school and simply want to associate themselves with a "name lacrosse school" in hopes of getting picked up
8)Publics tend not to publish their commitments out in the world as they do not feel the same need to boast as privates as it does not offer any funding advantage.

All well and good but let's not kid ourselves on why there is a greater number of talented players - this is Baltimore. The ONLY place it matters where you went to high school.

Depends on what you deem important. You don't have to take the advanced math and can go with remedial to just get out of high school but for premed students, engineering, NSA jobs, NASA etc., upper level math is pretty important.

That's strange, over the past 5+ years or so all we keep hearing about is public school teachers having sex with their underage students, even female teachers having sex with 14 and 15 year od boys. Seems it is much more rampant in the public schools. That and the pedophile's that have hundreds of photos of young students, mostly all public school teachers.

You are foolish if you think that private schools are immune to this and your kids are safe - statistically it may appear to be more but that is because of the sheer number of public schools and students and staff in them. In public it is also less likely to be hid or cleaned up with money. But at private schools in Baltimore you not only have to worry about teachers but the moms of fellow students. Wasn't there recently a conviction related to a mom of a prominent family taking sexual advantage of a private school student? It was kept pretty quiet until the Dean was forced to contact parents. Kettle meet pot.