The Pros And Cons Of Public Schools

High school is a scary place. As an eighth grader, high school felt like some big, daunting shadow looming over me. However, in my experiences I’ve come to realize that not all high schools are the same. In fact, it wasn’t the high schools themselves that scared me, it was the decision I would have to make: which high school would I attend? There are two major types of high schools: public and private. Two similar entities that entail completely different experiences. Public schools offer a more real world feel – the variety of teachers, students, and extracurriculars provide a strong basis for life in the future. However, people often argue that private schools have a leg up on public schools – especially when the private school is highly

All companies, schools, and collective groups are in desperate search for something as simple as a mix of genders, races, attitudes, talents, and beliefs. In high school, the first thing that really surprised me was the apparent variety. The student population at my high school was a vast mix of all human characteristics, there were Catholics and Atheists, poor and rich, Caucasians and Africans, “goths” and “jocks”, and just about any type of classification you could make of a single person. Beyond the students, there was even a variety in teachers; teachers from all walks of life: born in foreign countries, raised in tough single parent households, and just about any background imaginable. With such a large mix of people, it only makes sense that there be a “home” for all. It was a consistent point of emphasis at my high school to “join a group” or “get involved”. There were groups for everyone; the groups literally were created so that anyone and everyone would be included. Groups such as the LGSTB, a group dedicated to lesbians, gays, straights, transgenders, and bisexuals, were formed in the ideal of what way can we create a group to express beliefs without excluding anyone from the equation. These were things I had only experienced in the public school system. In the private school system, it seems as if everyone comes from a similar background: their parents most likely paid their tuition for them, they were all forced to

For months I couldn’t decide between the two. In grade school I attended a private school across the street from McNicholas. To start my day I would attend a math class at McNicholas and afterwards walk to my school. From an early point in time I was exposed to what my high school experience would entail at McNicholas and in my opinion it was less than pleasant. The students were all the same, the same beliefs, the same clothes, and the same attitudes. The main thing drawing me to McNicholas was the group of friends I had grown up. By not attending McNicholas I would be leaving the social life I had lived for the past nine years. Turpin however, was something different; it was a new start. By going to Turpin I would be forcing myself out of my previous inner circle into new experiences. I knew very few people attending Turpin and I really had no clue about what life at Turpin would be. About halfway through my eighth grade year I took a day off of school to shadow Turpin and what I experienced was something I’ll never forget. The environment was unparalleled, the students were lively and the teachers embraced the fact that they had an unfamiliar face in the classroom – it simply felt right. Ultimately it was the environment, the freedom, and the change of scenery that drew me to Turpin and it is a choice I never second