Before entering into my freshman year of college last year I had the great opportunity of attending both private and public school systems during my high school career. As a sophomore I believe that the public school system had more of an effect on me with the transition to college rather than private school.
During my freshman and sophomore year in high school the amount of students were small and didn’t have a lot of opportunities mainly because our school was financially insufficient. If private schools are funded mainly on the tuition of the students that attend the school then students would have more opportunities and schools would be able to stay open longer. Over the last couple of years small private schools have begun to shut down, leaving kids to transfer over to the county’s public school, which in some way is better for the kids according to some people.
Deqwan Phillips, a sophomore at Cabrini College, says he enjoyed his time at Plymouth White Marsh Public High School, where he attended all four years. “Public school in my experience was a lot better than other people see it because of the fact our school was really diverse. The teachers were there for you and they wanted to see you succeed,” Phillips said.
In certain experiences public school kids are faced with many different challenges and personalities. There are certain kids that don’t care about school and those who always want to start problems and you see that a lot in a public school setting. With all this, some pros of public school are the many opportunities to show your talents and find callings. At Phillips’ school, he said, “There are a lot of activities to be a part of and coming into college the teachers really prepared us for the next level. Unfortunately for some cons, even we are funded by the government, we don’t have a lot of nice things that you see at private schools.”
Now we look into the private school side of things. When I attended private school for two years, there wasn’t a lot of opportunities for myself to be prepared for college. A lot of teachers were being let go and the ones who remained had to learn to teach different subjects, even though the goal for the teachers was to make sure you succeed but things we limited.
Paige Wagner, another Cabrini College sophomore, attended J.W Hallahan Catholic Girls High School. She explained to us that, “Hallahan better prepared me for college in many ways. There were many pros and cons of attending a private school. Firstly, due to being located in Center City, I was open to many experiences that helped me grow within my major and my academic career. Also, the scholarships that came through my high school have been an incredible help. However, when revolving certain aspect, private schools are strict which can deny people from certain experiences.” If you are a student that attend either public or private school, if they wish to pursue a college degree, then they should be able to achieve that goal.
