Private school v Public school? The struggle is real.
The biggest change in my little man’s life is his hop over to private school. To merely mention that public school was frustrating would be decreasing the biggest issue to hit our family.
I can talk for hours about Bobby and what he does and how smart he is and his differences, but a good portion of the time should be spent on his schooling. The public school that he attended is small in comparison to other schools in the area. Although people believe a small school is a good idea, it was not the best environment for Bobby to blossom. I think I touched on this subject a few weeks back, with the photo of the comment on the top of his graded paper. His teacher was not the best equipped to deal with his personality and his quirkiness (in other words, his constant talking and his indifferent attitude to school). The frustration level in 4th grade was through the roof. I cried on a weekly basis and questioned why me? I often wondered why did I have to spend hours upon hours on homework while other kids played sports and seemingly completed all their assignments. Bobby fought tooth and nail every day to complete homework, now in hindsight I understand why. The work was arduous. Just to write 3 sentences was painstakingly challenging.
Then someone mentioned The Hillside School. (hillsideschool.org) I have never heard of it and took to the Internet once again to fill my already full brain with more information. The school is a private school located in Lower Macungie Township and is a school for kids with language-based learning disabilities. I contacted them and arranged a tour. It is a very modest one-floor building. The halls were designed with children with sensory processing disorders in mind. The teacher to student ratio is 1:8. Which was very different to Bobby’s class, which was 1:28. I was very excited to start this new adventure! Then the sticker shock hit, $21,000 a YEAR?!? HOLY SHIT! This tuition was more than my car was worth and more than the state university my daughter was looking to attend.
Wow, what a difference to the “free” education I was receiving, and then remembered you get what you pay for. I thought about it, wrote about 3,000 “pros and cons” lists, asked advice from very close friends, talked extensively about it with my husband, which always ended with him saying, “were not paying for private school.”
That was last year; I’m happy to report that we are starting the 7th month at Hillside, and really? It is all that it promises and more. We were eligible for financial aid, which helped more than they will ever know. The homework situation is exponentially better, and he initiates and completes it all on his own. The biggest plus is that we are no longer subjected to the dreaded common core curriculum, or PSSA’s.
If anyone out there is reading this and has a child who is severely struggling in school, please do yourself a favor and contact Karen Mitton at The Hillside School, (610) 967-3701 ext. 308.
I have (unfortunately) not been compensated in any way by the Hillside School for my opinions.
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