Private School Parents: Schools Worth the Price

We received such a large response from private school parents about their children's education that we have posted more of their statements below:

Elizabeth Bertsch, Riverhead:

"I send my child to the Hayground School in Bridgehampton. She began attending Hayground at three and she will ten years old in the fall. She loves learning, loves tackling a juicy idea or project, loves the work of school as well as the play, enjoys her relationships with all of her teachers who she calls by their first names, and has excellent relationships with her peers.

Additionally, she eats an organic lunch daily that is prepared by students and the culinary arts teacher. The most important period of a person's life is their early childhood and so I believe that the quality of K-8 education is crucial to the development of a child. By quality I don't mean the state and federal standards and how they are delivered – I have higher standards ...

If we want kids to become innovators we need to educate them not to just perform well on a test – tests have no bearing in the real world – but to instead facilitate their development as creative scientists, writers, historians etc."

, Aquebogue:

"We sent both our children to Catholic elementary schools as well as one to McGann-Mercy High School. It was important to us to give them our faith tradition along with their academic education. We never regretted this financial sacrifice as the results far outweigh the costs.

Love for God, each person, and all creation is established early in a child's life and is a foundation for that child's future. Catholic schools, as well as other denominations' schools, provide a child with a moral foundation for life."

, Greenport

"If you were to go over there [the Ross School] and look at the setup – the art they have on the building, the layout of the buildings, and quite frankly the teachers. The way they teach is quite different than a public school ... 

It's an incredible learning environment. The classes are very small and the setup itself is great – especially in the senior building ... 

When you go to Ross, you look at the exposure these kids get. The arts, the quality of teachers over there. The layout, and concept is quite different. It's a bit more global. There are a lot of different students from all over the world over there."