Parents sharing the process of searching for a school in Greater Philadelphia. What kind of school are you looking for? Charter, public, private, city, suburban?
![Deep Freeze for Prospective Penn Alexander Parents [Video]](http://phillyschoolsearch.com/wp-content/uploads/et_temp/pas-exterior2-30713_200x153.jpg)
It's great that the district has a school that inspires parents, but clearly there is something wrong with a system that necessitates parents camping out overnight in single digit temperatures. 
It did not occur to me that a child able to attend Masterman for high school would turn it down in favor of a Catholic school. 
When I entered into the process of identifying a school for my kid, I considered diversity a primary characteristic of the school that I hoped to identify. However, in my experiences visiting schools and hearing your public (and private) comments on this blog, I realized that I have to change my expectations of diversity. 
As I have begun to consider a private school for my son, I have come across some very powerful arguments in the media stating that private schools aren't necessarily as desirable as their glossy viewbooks would lead you to believe. 
There was recently an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times by Charles Blow--Private School Civility Gap. The article references a 2010 study by the Josephson Institute Center for Youth Ethics, "Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth" which surveyed 43,000 kids on attitudes toward sex, violence, race, drugs, alcohol, bullying, and more. There are many fascinating statistics in the study, but the ones that are most surprising (to me) are the one that are referenced by Blow--boys at private, religiously affiliated schools are more likely to 
There is definitely an attraction to providing "the best" for my children. The measurable criteria in favor of private schools are compelling--test scores, college admissions successes, and powerful and successful alumni are powerful selling points for many private schools. Beyond cost, there have not been many tangible or intangible personal factors that argue against private education. Interestingly, I have come across two items in the media over last week on exactly this topic. 
The primary reason why I choose Catholic school for our daughter was that she was not going to meet the public school age limit for Kindergarten. We were coming from Canada where the age limit for Kindergarten was 5 by December 31st and we were only moving to Philadelphia for a couple of years so when looking for places to live, I asked in a couple of Catholic schools to see if they would take her, and St Francis Xavier said they were happy to. This ultimately brought us to live in Fairmount! I think the Catholic schools have a little more flexibility than the public schools in that regard. Overall I was very happy with the Catholic school experience (specifically St Frannies) for the following 
Len Lipkin
PSS Community