by Timothy Jung (6th)

School. CMS is a public school, but what does that really mean? A public school is a school created by and monitored by the government. There are many types of schools, like private schools, public schools, specialized schools, and other alternatives for school. But what are all of them and which ones are the best? Let’s dive deeper into these different school types to see their pros and cons.

First off, we have public schools. These can be separated into three smaller groups. Traditional public schools, charter schools, online schools, and magnet schools. We are all in a traditional public school district, Colonial School District. This type of school is fully monitored by the government, which means that the base of the rules is all the same. This can be either incredibly good or bad, depending on your point of view. However, it is free to go to, creating a big difference from other schools. In charter schools, the rules can be different from traditional public schools. This again can be good or bad. They do require money from the guardians/parents, but not nearly as much as homeschools and private schools, which we’ll dive into later. However, the charter schools do also get a school tax from the government, so both government and popularity is necessary in charter schools. We also have magnet schools, which are free to go to. These focus on STEAM and other advanced subjects. But don’t be fooled. You normally have to apply or audition to be able to attend. Finally, we have online schools, which would be a lot like Colonial School District in 2020, during the pandemic. All of these schools are great to go to, but there are still more schools.

Next up are private schools. These consist of both normal private schools, boarding schools, specialized schools, and religious schools like catholic and jewish schools. These all need to be paid money from parents and guardians, and can be far away to get to. They are not monitored or paid by the government, meaning that rules and regulations can be very different from those inside CMS. If you go to a religious school, then you can get to know your religion better and grow in both academics and belief. Also, some private schools get a wider variety of knowledge, even in younger years and grades. They might get different days off, especially in a religious school, longer or shorter summer and winter breaks, (or not even have them,) and more. They might not even allow application depending on IQ tests. As you can see, private schools are very different from CMS. But there are some schools where you live. These are called boarding schools, and they provide a place to stay and sleep. This might sound cool, but it gets better. Most of these schools have houses that you are put into, and if you do well, you can win your house points. The only thing that can be bad is if you get homesick. Now we’ve come to specialized schools. These schools focus more on how to teach someone than what they teach someone. They consist of Montessori schools, which focus on hands-on learning, Waldorf schools, which focus on the caring and development of a student, special education schools which focus on people with disabilities and people who need special care, and language immersion schools which focus on a certain language as part of the academic curriculum.

Last of all, we can’t forget about homeschooling. There can be homeschool groups, hybrid homeschooling, and microschooling. These all are expensive, and all of them except for the homeschool groups and hybrid homeschooling don’t have any interactions other than a parent, guardian, or tutor. They also are not controlled by the government, but they use all rules that your parent or guardian sets. Homeschool groups are groups of students homeschooling that come together every week or so in a meeting space, and can be even religious. Homeschool groups can have the benefit of making new friends and have new encounters, unlike most homeschooling options. Hybrid homeschooling however is a mix of both traditional public schooling and homeschooling, so that you get new encounters while also learning at home and not just school. Finally, Microschooling is a type of homeschooling where you have a small group of people learning with you. This can raise problems though. Different age and grade groups could result in misunderstandings, and that could be fatal for your academic career. However, in regular homeschooling, you are self-centered, and that can be bad because you don’t have many people to talk to, and it might be pretty boring. However, your tutor, parent, or guardian can teach you at your own pace, so you aren’t held back and you aren’t completely confused.

All in all, there are so many schools to choose from, and all of them are different. They all have different pros and cons, but I’ll leave you up to choose which is the best. They’re all good in a different way. Some are free to go to, others decide to teach you differently, some let you live there, and others teach you more quickly than others. In the end, you should appreciate the fact that you get to go to a good school, CMS.