Do most kids at St.Stephen's attend public or private elementary schools?

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

I know many who go that route too! Private K-8th and then on to LASA, Anderson IB, Westwood, or Westlake HS. St. Stephens doesn't have an elementary, they start in 6th grade. I also know folks who choose private school only for middle school (including SS) so it can be hard predicting how many slots they have for high school. But if you are set on SS, there can be an advantage to starting at 6th grade.

As a general rule, private schools produce better writers, public schools are generally better in lab science (this appears in national data, any individual school may or may not fit the pattern)

Wow, even though my eyes read "St Stephens" and my hands typed "St Stephens", for some reason my brain was thinking "St Andrews" (even pictured their HS campus in my brain). Scary stuff.

But yes, St Stephens does indeed start at 6th, and I would guess that they have the most open spots then.

We know other parents who are/have taken our current approach. As well, we know others who are angling the same way the OP is looking at. And all things in between (straight private school from PS->HS, straight public school from K->HS). A lot also depends on the individual kiddo and what their particular likes/strengths are. We know kids who went to private school and didn't like it and went to public (a couple from St Stephens AAMOF). We know kids who started in private and went to public and didn't like it and went back to private in HS (including Westlake and LASA). So it's always a tough call to give any kind of generic advice, other than to be flexible, have a reasonable understanding of what the end goal is ("a good education" sounds great, but makes it tough to make good decisions since that can be had anywhere if you are willing to make the effort), and have a good understanding of your kid.

[blakely]

Originally Posted by austinnerd

So it's always a tough call to give any kind of generic advice, other than to be flexible, have a reasonable understanding of what the end goal is ("a good education" sounds great, but makes it tough to make good decisions since that can be had anywhere if you are willing to make the effort), and have a good understanding of your kid.

Great advice, very true.

We currently have our kids in a mix of Austin's public and private schools, and at the moment, each of their needs are being met beautifully. They are very different kids and we have made their schooling choices accordingly. I couldn't have predicted the choices we've made 10 years ago.

[deathpenalty03]

these are all great posts. i toured the school it was pretty sweet! i could of gone there but at the time i was thinking stupidly i cared more about getting by in easy regular classes in A public aisd school and partying. But if i could go back i would have gone to st stephens easily! the tuition is a lot i believe i think its like 23k? and like 2k for books and i think 5k for fields trips? so your looking to spend a little under 30k a year to send your kid there. The kids i met, and i knew a few as acquaintances, were all very rich and very very smart and good kids. the so called (bad kids the school had) were hardly bad at all. i do not consider being drunk 5x in your life and smoking pot a few times bad at all.

anyhow i do not think that all the kids who attend that school are rich, im sure like all private schools there is finacial help. but its 1 of the top private schools if not top 2 in central texas if not the state. st andrews is also really good. I have not attended or know to many people who went to st stephens. i knew a lot of kids at st andrews and almost went there. most of the kids i thought maybe what 80%? were rich. but they all have good heads on there shoulders.