what are some different kinds of schools?

So fiance and I are planning on trying for kids in a year or so, so I've been looking into different education options.

First and foremost, homeschooling is 100% off the table, and I don't care to discuss my reasoning. So please don't suggest homeschooling.

Regular public school is also off the table. Not for any political/religious reasoning, but because the school system in our area is one of the worst in America, in literally every aspect from curriculum to the fact that the teachers like to touch kids while the system covers it up. Fiance and I both went through that system ourselves, and it's not an experience we want for our kids. And since we won't be moving due to a vast array of other reasons, there's no chance of getting the kids into a school in another district.

I thought charter school might be a good option, but after looking into them, I don't think that's a good choice. The curriculum in most of them seems to be lacking, and there is exactly one with a decent athletics program- and it's one of the ones with the worst curriculum. I guess sports shouldn't be that important to me, but because fiance and I are both very athletic, there's a good chance sports will be important to at least one of our future children. Obviously I'm not going to force my kids to do sports, but I want them to have a decent opportunity. I mean if it comes down to it, yes academics will come before athletics. But with minimal outside-the-school athletic options, I'd rather not have to compromise if I don't have to.

Then of course there are private schools. Living in the Bible belt, 90% of the private schools anywhere near here are Christian schools. And while fiance and I do consider ourselves christians, there's so much indoctrination and skewed teaching that goes on in those schools. Even as a Christian I don't agree with most of what these Christians schools teach, and I want my kids to learn religion in a gentle and loving manner. Not in a "you can't do this, this or this, or you're going to HELL YOU HORRIBLE SINNER" kind of way that Christian schools tend to teach. Yeah, it's no wonder so many kids come out of those schools hating Christianity in it's entirety- of course they do when they're been traumatized by it. Once again, don't want to put my kids through that.

The other 10% of private schools in this area have their own issues. The few affordable ones have terrible curriculum. The rest have tuition rates of $50k+ per year, which for one child we might be able to afford, but not more than one, even with financial aid. And those schools don't look that great anyway, even if we could afford tuition for multiple kids.

There is only one magnet school around here and every kid that goes/went there hates it, teachers don't tend to last more than a year there, and overall it just doesn't look good. I've looked into Montessori schools too, and while there was one that looked halfway decent, it only did Pre-K through 1st grade, so that's still gonna leave me trying to figure out what to do after that.

So I'm kind of at a loss now. I realize I'm probably being way too picky, but it feels like there are just no good options. Is there even anything else besides what I've already looked into? I mean is there any other kind of schools out there other than what I talked about above?? Who knew making education decisions for kids would be this hard.

Submitted June 20, 2022 at 09:48AM by _AGirlADogAndAJeep_ https://ift.tt/jcMNfvZ