Should Asian American Families Consider Private School?

By Devika Koppikar

    At age 16, Phyllis Kesslen’s son Randy* took Mandarin in school with only two other students. Randy, now 17, is currently fluent in three world languages: Mandarin, Spanish and Latin, in addition to his native language, English.

    Kesslen said that if she had her son attended a public school, he would not have had the same opportunities to develop his multilingual talents. For example, in a public school, a class with only three students would have likely been canceled due to low enrollment and lack of funds to support such a small class.

    “There is more flexibility in private schools, while in public schools, you have limited choices as to the courses you could take. ” said Kesslen, a New Jersey resident, whose son attends Riverdale Country Day School in New York.

    When it comes to choosing between private and public schools, parents often weigh the choice between costs and benefits.

    From the beginning, Elizabeth Lan and her husband Mike Davis wanted to give their son a quality education. When they had to move from Alexandria, Va. they researched schools and moved to Bethesda, Md. to have the option of sending their boy to of one of the top-ranked schools in the country: Montgomery County Public Schools.

    But last year, when their son began pre-school, they instead choose Beavoir, the National Cathedral Elementary School in Washington, DC. The tuition: $32,000 per year.

    “Despite the cost, we’ve been thrilled with our choice. The class sizes are much smaller so we feel like he gets more attention which we hope will turn into more confidence in the long run,” said Lan.

    Like many parents who choose to pay for private school despite living in an area reputed for high quality schools, Lan had concerns about the crowded nature of public schools.

    “Our son is on the quiet, sensitive side and seeing how overcrowded the public schools are, we opted to go private (Beauvoir),” said Lan. “We haven’t ruled out public schools completely, but for now we feel like private is a better fit.

    The perception is that private schools offer a more rigorous academic curriculum, something Asian American families put a high priority on. However, many local public schools say their standards are just as rigorous as private schools.

     “All FCPS schools share a level of excellence that has earned the school system a national reputation for high student achievement” said John Torre, Public Information Officer at Fairfax County Public Schools, where 20 percent of the student population is Asian. “FCPS was one of only 388 school districts across the country to be named an Advanced Placement Achievement District by the College Board in 2011; and 23 FCPS high schools were designated among the most demanding in the country by the Washington Post in 2012.”

    But even in areas where the school district are ranked among the best in the nation, many parents choose the private route, said Aaron Cooper, the head of the Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, New Jersey. The 85-year-old private school has a 20 percent Asians enrolled in its school, which costs anywhere from $13,000 to $28,000 per year.

    “We have a holistic approach toward education,” said Cooper. “Along with academic excellence, we develop the student’s character, moral growth, lifelong learning, and leadership.”

    At Elisabeth Morrow, the student teacher ratio is 6.5 to 1.

    “This allows the teacher to have a thorough knowledge and really get to know his or her students and personalize the lesson. They don’t get individual lessons, but this allows the teacher to present the lesson according to how the student learns best,” said Cooper.

    Kesslen, whose son attended Elisabeth Morrow from the 5th through 8th grade, said that she choose private school for her son due to the smaller, more nurturing environment he would receive.

    “He is a creative, out-of-the-box thinker and needed more stimulation and experiential learning than what public schools were offering,” said Kesslen. “In public schools, teachers are often busy handling discipline problems and catering to the lowest achieving child. So they’re forced to teach the same math lesson three times, which is not stimulating to students who get it the first time.”

    Amy Warner, Director of Communications at the Loudon County Day School concurred with Cooper and Kesslen.

    “One of the reasons families choose our school is because of the small classes and individual attention students receive. We have a well-rounded program which includes a robust curriculum, two foreign languages, the arts, technology, and athletics.”

    Kesslen added that both public and private schools offer benefits to students. But, the success of the education is based on the student’s learning style and needs. While her son thrived in private schools, Kesslen’s daughter, now 20 and a junior at Dartmouth College, attended and graduated from public schools. Kesslen also served on the school board for 10 years.

    “Every child has different needs. Private school education helps meet these individual needs,” said Kesslen.

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*Name has been changed