Examined Life

   Students can have many opinions when it comes to certain topics. One of those topics is moving from a private school to a public school. Do students prefer public or private schools? Find out more by reading below:

    Since this is a conflicting topic we asked former private school students around Byrd about their thoughts towards public schools. A lot of private schools across the parish have their students wear uniforms to school. Most students said that they preferred to have uniforms. Like Harper Harris, sophomore, who went to First Baptist, said, “ I liked having to wear uniforms because I didn't have to pick out an outfit.” This relieved some stress from the students for having to not worry about finding the perfect outfit. 

  On the other hand, some were on the fence about uniforms. We asked Tyler Franks, freshman from St. Joseph’s Catholic School, about her thoughts on wearing uniforms, she said “ I didn't have to think about what I was going to wear the next day but they were also really uncomfortable.” Taking into context these opinions, uniforms were very conflicting throughout private schools. Some people disliked uniforms while others loved having to not prepare the night before they went back to school.

   Transferring to a public school as a private school kid can be very overwhelming and stressful. So we were wondering, would private school kids want to transfer back to their original school? Some students responded with a simple “no”. While others loved the atmosphere and the environment that they are experiencing at Byrd. A few even said that transferring to a public school from a private school was a good change.

   While these kids liked staying at public schools others were neutral and liked both private and public schools. These students liked how the small classes allowed all the students to interact with each other, and really get to know one another. Now, rather than, at Byrd there is a significant difference in the number of total students in their grade than there was before. Freshman, Caleb Payne, from First Baptist, said, “I would go back to First Baptist for middle school but I'm happy at Byrd.” Using this context, private and public schools are no better than the other, it just depends on what works for the students.

 Public schools tend to have a wide range of social and economic diversity. This allows students to view a wider range of perspectives. While most private schools don’t offer much socio-economic diversity, they tend to have a stronger sense of community. Currently about 24% of all the freshmen of Byrd came from out of state, homeschool, or private schools. Students all over Shreveport have come to Byrd to be a part of The City. Whether they came from public, private, home schooling, or out of state we couldn’t be more excited to welcome them into The City!