Well, aren't we special
You know, Folks -
Some people have more dollars than sense. Religious schools are one thing, serving mainly as brainwashing centers for whatever sect is running the operation. In the Middle Ages the Jesuits said to tell them what kind of a person you wanted when you dropped off the kid, and in a few years you could come back and pick him up. The loony lady in Jesus Camp expressed a similar idea.
These schools are not as expensive as the preppie schools since their aim is maintaining and expanding the sect. Keeping the poor, working class, and middle class kids out would be counterproductive; so tuition levels are moderated.
On the other hand, establishing class differences is worth any cost to some insecure upper-crust filberts. In fact, if tuition isn't extreme, the underlying need these schools exist to address cannot be satisfied.
One can feel sorry for the "faithful" who are afraid God can't protect their darlings from the upper middle class heathens of suburban Westerville without help from the Tree of Life Christian School; but these climbers, the Nicks, are disgusting. First, they move from Upper Arlington, a suburb near the top of the status food chain, to New Albany where even richer folks (e.g. Les Wexner) live. AND, although Upper Arlington Schools always score at the top of every measure and New Albany schools are so plush they have a Kinko's store on-site making student copies for free; these Nick-ies have "never thought of attending schools there."
The Nicks aren't just anybody; they're special and willing to spend $50,700 for one year of their three kids' schooling. Supposedly that's because it's "a great investment in the future . . . Hopefully, the investment pans out when they are applying to and getting accepted to good colleges, " says Phillip, the Nick-head.
Yeah, right!! If the little Nicks have a brain and the motivation they don't need a fancy-dan, private, snooty-toot education to get into a good college. Mom and Dad Nick just need to feel special, no matter what it costs.
- Uke Man
Priceless education?
Some families in high-performing districts still opt for private schools
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 3:39 AM
By Charlie Boss
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Elizabeth Nick moved to New Albany from Upper Arlington but has never thought of attending schools there.
Public schools seem incredibly gigantic, she said.
At Columbus Academy, where she will be a senior this fall, Nick will graduate with about 90 other students. Her classes have ranged from nine to 20 students. She has weekly sessions with an adviser and has befriended most of the school's staff members, from the teachers to the lunch ladies.
Her workload is challenging, and the lessons she's learned since coming to the school three years ago have been invaluable.
"My confidence has grown," said Nick, who attended Wellington before transferring to the Gahanna-based academy. "Even though I have a big workload and it's stressful, I can handle it and handle it well."
Families like the Nicks live in expensive neighborhoods with high-performing public schools, but they still shell out big bucks to send the children to private schools.
"Why would they pay for a product that is otherwise available for free?" said Joe McTighe, executive director of the Council for American Private Education, based in Maryland. "They do that because they don't think it's the same product."
He said many parents look for schools that reflect their expectations and enhance the lessons learned at home. They are drawn to the rigorous academics, small-class sizes and family-like environments for which private or religious schools are known. Many also hope that private schools will help get their kids into a competitive college.
In Franklin County, parents can choose from 84 private and religious schools, not to mention the traditional public schools and charter schools.
Families can spend about $4,000 to $20,000 a year per child, depending on the grade and school.
Even some pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs, such as those at Columbus Academy and Columbus School for Girls, cost more than Ohio State University's annual tuition of $8,676 this year.
"I would give up the very house we live in to keep our kids in our school," said Dena Bell, who lives in Westerville. She and her husband will spend about $13,000 to send her two kids to Tree of Life Christian School on the North Side this fall.
"It's not inexpensive," she added. "I see the value in watching my children grow up knowing the Lord. It's in their academics; it's in their sports. It's all incorporated. It's just a really unique environment. We could never go back."
Strong alumni contacts, counselors to help with the college application process, specialized tutoring centers and small classes were pluses for Karen Groeber, whose daughter will be a freshman at Columbus School for Girls this fall.
"It was worth the sacrifice to send her there when you look at the big picture," said Groeber, who lives in Clintonville. Tuition for ninth-graders this year is $17,515.
Families that choose private schools come from various income brackets, said Dan Lips, an education analyst for the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based research organization.
John McKenzie, headmaster at Columbus Academy, conceded that tuition is expensive but said the school has aggressively increased financial aid. This year, officials hope to award about $1.4 million of need-based assistance to 20 percent of incoming students. Last year, about 15 percent received such help.
Lou Schultz, director of admissions at the school, said that as tuition rises, the school's board of trustees increases financial aid by twice that rate.
Private and religious schools say enrollment statewide has remained steady, but in Franklin County it has dipped slightly.
Last year, about 10 percent of Franklin County students were enrolled in private and religious schools, compared with about 12 percent in 2000.
Administrators say private and religious schools have everything that good public schools have: competitive athletics programs, foreign-language offerings and honors and Advanced Placement classes.
"It's a great investment in the future," said Philipp Nick, who will pay $50,700 this school year to send Elizabeth and his other two kids -- a sixth-grader and sophomore -- to Columbus Academy.
"Hopefully, the investment pans out when they are applying to and getting accepted to good colleges."
cboss@dispatch.com
Some people have more dollars than sense. Religious schools are one thing, serving mainly as brainwashing centers for whatever sect is running the operation. In the Middle Ages the Jesuits said to tell them what kind of a person you wanted when you dropped off the kid, and in a few years you could come back and pick him up. The loony lady in Jesus Camp expressed a similar idea.
These schools are not as expensive as the preppie schools since their aim is maintaining and expanding the sect. Keeping the poor, working class, and middle class kids out would be counterproductive; so tuition levels are moderated.
On the other hand, establishing class differences is worth any cost to some insecure upper-crust filberts. In fact, if tuition isn't extreme, the underlying need these schools exist to address cannot be satisfied.
One can feel sorry for the "faithful" who are afraid God can't protect their darlings from the upper middle class heathens of suburban Westerville without help from the Tree of Life Christian School; but these climbers, the Nicks, are disgusting. First, they move from Upper Arlington, a suburb near the top of the status food chain, to New Albany where even richer folks (e.g. Les Wexner) live. AND, although Upper Arlington Schools always score at the top of every measure and New Albany schools are so plush they have a Kinko's store on-site making student copies for free; these Nick-ies have "never thought of attending schools there."
The Nicks aren't just anybody; they're special and willing to spend $50,700 for one year of their three kids' schooling. Supposedly that's because it's "a great investment in the future . . . Hopefully, the investment pans out when they are applying to and getting accepted to good colleges, " says Phillip, the Nick-head.
Yeah, right!! If the little Nicks have a brain and the motivation they don't need a fancy-dan, private, snooty-toot education to get into a good college. Mom and Dad Nick just need to feel special, no matter what it costs.
- Uke Man
Priceless education?
Some families in high-performing districts still opt for private schools
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 3:39 AM
By Charlie Boss
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Elizabeth Nick moved to New Albany from Upper Arlington but has never thought of attending schools there.
Public schools seem incredibly gigantic, she said.
At Columbus Academy, where she will be a senior this fall, Nick will graduate with about 90 other students. Her classes have ranged from nine to 20 students. She has weekly sessions with an adviser and has befriended most of the school's staff members, from the teachers to the lunch ladies.
Her workload is challenging, and the lessons she's learned since coming to the school three years ago have been invaluable.
"My confidence has grown," said Nick, who attended Wellington before transferring to the Gahanna-based academy. "Even though I have a big workload and it's stressful, I can handle it and handle it well."
Families like the Nicks live in expensive neighborhoods with high-performing public schools, but they still shell out big bucks to send the children to private schools.
"Why would they pay for a product that is otherwise available for free?" said Joe McTighe, executive director of the Council for American Private Education, based in Maryland. "They do that because they don't think it's the same product."
He said many parents look for schools that reflect their expectations and enhance the lessons learned at home. They are drawn to the rigorous academics, small-class sizes and family-like environments for which private or religious schools are known. Many also hope that private schools will help get their kids into a competitive college.
In Franklin County, parents can choose from 84 private and religious schools, not to mention the traditional public schools and charter schools.
Families can spend about $4,000 to $20,000 a year per child, depending on the grade and school.
Even some pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs, such as those at Columbus Academy and Columbus School for Girls, cost more than Ohio State University's annual tuition of $8,676 this year.
"I would give up the very house we live in to keep our kids in our school," said Dena Bell, who lives in Westerville. She and her husband will spend about $13,000 to send her two kids to Tree of Life Christian School on the North Side this fall.
"It's not inexpensive," she added. "I see the value in watching my children grow up knowing the Lord. It's in their academics; it's in their sports. It's all incorporated. It's just a really unique environment. We could never go back."
Strong alumni contacts, counselors to help with the college application process, specialized tutoring centers and small classes were pluses for Karen Groeber, whose daughter will be a freshman at Columbus School for Girls this fall.
"It was worth the sacrifice to send her there when you look at the big picture," said Groeber, who lives in Clintonville. Tuition for ninth-graders this year is $17,515.
Families that choose private schools come from various income brackets, said Dan Lips, an education analyst for the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based research organization.
John McKenzie, headmaster at Columbus Academy, conceded that tuition is expensive but said the school has aggressively increased financial aid. This year, officials hope to award about $1.4 million of need-based assistance to 20 percent of incoming students. Last year, about 15 percent received such help.
Lou Schultz, director of admissions at the school, said that as tuition rises, the school's board of trustees increases financial aid by twice that rate.
Private and religious schools say enrollment statewide has remained steady, but in Franklin County it has dipped slightly.
Last year, about 10 percent of Franklin County students were enrolled in private and religious schools, compared with about 12 percent in 2000.
Administrators say private and religious schools have everything that good public schools have: competitive athletics programs, foreign-language offerings and honors and Advanced Placement classes.
"It's a great investment in the future," said Philipp Nick, who will pay $50,700 this school year to send Elizabeth and his other two kids -- a sixth-grader and sophomore -- to Columbus Academy.
"Hopefully, the investment pans out when they are applying to and getting accepted to good colleges."
cboss@dispatch.com
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