So, Where'd You Go To High School?

Education in St. Louis is a hot topic. We are, after all, the city of “Where did you go to high school?” a question so loaded with implications of judgment and box fitting it would make Cojo blush. Because, in St. Louis, where you went to school and where you send your kids to school means something. We all love to run through our "peek into your neighbor’s medicine cabinet" filter. It indicates income, status, religion and political views, just to name a few. It is such a hot topic I can clearly imagine the girls from The View tossing it around:  Elisabeth vehemently (OK, preachily) defending her choice to send her children to a private, elite school. Joy chipping in about her children’s progressive, newer-age (crunchy) school, and Sherri singing the praises of some uber-religious institution. And Whoopi, well, she would definitely support the public school choice, accredited or not. That’s just how she rolls.

So, how do you roll? From my perch as an educator, parent, consultant, and writer, I see people in St. Louis a little obsessed with this. It matters to us. Our decisions are not the same, our criteria for making them differ, but at the end of the day, we all kind of want to take each other's pulse with this little snapshot of information.

For the majority of us living in the city, the topic of where to send your child to school surfaces at, oh, conception. This question comes right after “girl or boy?”  If you are committed to city living, as I am, you may be leery of the continuing saga of St. Louis Public, or lack awareness and confidence in the immerging presence of charter schools.  Your other choices involve tuition or religion or both. You can shop private schools, but most are in the county. And if we wanted to go that route, well, we would just live there.

My family is a typical multi generational south city family. Meaning, at one point in time, we all lived within one square mile of each other. I’m not kidding. When faced with the schooling decision, however, we are divided: My sister sends her boys to Catholic schools, my brothers went "county," and my other sister home-schools.  I opted for public for one (this was before the accreditation issue, not that it matters) and private, crunchy for the other. If you live in the city, what path are you going down?

For those of you who live in the county, with great, award winning districts, what’s your pickle? When, why and how are you choosing private schools over your public school options? Is it family tradition? Religion? Better school lunches?

So tell me, who are you? Elisabeth, Joy, Sherri or Whoopi? I’m kind of the love child of Sherri and Whoopi (yeah, sorry for that mental image). I believe in public school education and micromanaged my son all the way to middle school in SLPS. It fit him. But this time, with my daughter, I choose private. It makes more sense for who she is. I guess for me, my criteria are more aligned with who my children are and what will meet their needs.

Oh, and btw, Cor Jesu.

By Sharon Linde, Education Blogger for SmartParenting