One of the most difficult choices a parent has to make today is whether to send his or her child to private or public school. Years ago, when my parents were faced with that decision, they knew immediately that they wanted their children to be in private school. They believed that if they paid ten thousand dollars a year for tuition, they were going to get something extraordinary. The truth is, is that if I was in their position, I would have also chosen private school too, however, being a product of both private and public school education, I can honestly say that public school is the right choice.
I started off at Hillel Community Day school where I attended from "kittie cottage" through sixth grade. My parents main concern was that I attended a school that would instill Jewish morals and values into me so that I could lead a life on the religious path. By sixth grade they had decided that this particular school wasn't religious enough, so they switched to the Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy. Yes, this school was more religious, but it was a waste of the following three years of my life. One thing that I learned from private school is that you can honestly get away with anything. Rules are made, but nothing is kept to guideline, and if you have a family with a prominent last name; you can get away with just about anything. Now, I for one will never complain about not having to follow rules, however, when it comes to private school it has to do completely with politics. I was aggravated at that point at the fact that I wasn't learning anything and I felt that each day that I went to school was a waste of time because I was not challenged at all. .
Shortly before ending ninth grade, there was a buzz around town about a new school opening in my neighborhood that had a pre-medical magnet program. I knew that that was my only way out of private school. I had known since I was a little girl that I wanted to be a neurosurgeon, so I had brought the topic up at a Shabbat dinner table.
