High school is a place to learn and make lifelong friends to prepare for life outside of school. And moving from private school to public school can make this experience better or worse depending on the student.

“We had four kids transfer from private to public school and the kids that loved private school had a harder time transitioning into Bowie. The kids that were tired of aspects of private school made an easier transition into Bowie as they were ready for a change,” Gary Miller said.

Private school had a different curriculum and environment than public school.

“At public school we do a lot of busy work and multiple-choice tests the way we learned it in private school was through talking in student led discussions and writing analytical essays no matter what the subject,” senior Julia Lain said.

Students move from private to public school for a variety of reasons like moving to a new house, their parents got a new job, their family can’t afford it or want their child to go to a new school, or they are ready for a change.

“Our philosophy for the first 12 years of education for all of our children is to spend the first third in home schooling, the second third in a private Christian school, and the final third in a public high school, our hope is that this will help prepare them for university life and beyond,” Miller said.

Private schools typically have smaller classes and not a lot of extracurricular options.

“Private school I think works really well for some kids or it doesn’t and I loved the teachers, and the education was aspect was really good, but sometimes the size didn’t allow for a lot do extracurriculars outside of sports, choir, a very small band, and art class,” junior Victoria Newell said.

Private school has a different social environment than public school and a much smaller population.

“The private school I went to was very friendly and inclusive and it was very easy to make friends and everyone always treated each other in a way that reflected how the school wanted them to act,” junior Collin Miller said. “My transition to public school was different in that it was my first time going to school with genuinely mean people or people who didn’t care about their grades, or how others felt, not to say every one was bad, but this was my first contact with people like this”.

Parents sometimes move their children to private school or public school to try and benefit them in the world outside of school.

“The rationale is to gently release them into the world, after first in home schooling in the formative years to assure character development, and with personal attention to the different learning styles of each child and the second third is for providing a challenging educational environment within a Christian worldview, while socializing them in a classroom setting and the final third is a rather big step, especially into a public high school the size of Bowie,” Gary said.

The community of parents volunteering is also very different between private and public schools.

“It is more intense at a private school for three reasons:the whole community intentionally chose that school for their child, they are all paying big bucks to have their child there so they are very invested in getting the best out of the school and most of the moms are highly educated, have had successful careers in their own right and are now “full time moms”. They are a powerful, educated and supportive force for a private school and they have the time,” Alexis Newell said.

Students who have been in private school their entire education don’t mind being in their school and they often have friends that go to public school even if they don’t.

“I have gone to a private school all of my life and it basically feels like one big family,” junior Chase Bradley said.”I go to Hyde park high school and I have thought about transferring to a public school because I would have a better opportunity to play college sports and I have grown up with people I go to school with and some of them I believe will be lifelong friends and I don’t think that specific type of experience can happen in a public school”.

The adjustment period is different for each student, but they eventually find their place in the new school community.

“All the different people you meet, everyone kind of thinks the same at private school, and so going to public I was challenged with some different point of views and beliefs which I think strengthens my own and the adjustment was kind of hard, It took me a while to find my place, but it did help that I knew I wanted to do theater coming in, and the theater community is super welcoming and encouraging,” Newell said.