Public school and private school- both provide students with special attributes, but which system offers the most?

Public school offers a more social atmosphere to students, whereas private is, well, just that: private. It offers a serene, calm atmosphere that makes for the perfect learning environment.

There are multiple differences between the two schools, teachers being one of them. For example, the local Pahrump private school, Community Christian Academy, has one teacher per class, but the majority of the actual  teaching takes place on previously recorded videos from another private school located in Pensacola, Florida.

However, the teachers at the public high school, Pahrump Valley High School, teach their own material live and in person.

The teachers at PVHS also earn much more money than the teachers at CCA do because the public school is government funded, while the private school is not.

Most public schools and larger private schools have numerous electives set out for their students to choose from, but CCA does not offer any sort of elective, mainly due to it being such a small school. All courses that could be considered an elective are pre-chosen for the students by the school’s amazing principal, Mrs. Renee Bell.

CCA also does not offer lunch to the students everyday; they must bring their own. There is a closet filled to the top with ramen noodles for those whose parents do not have enough time to make them lunch every morning. PVHS, on the other hand, provides students with multiple choices for lunch every day.

Students at CCA are fortunate in the fact that they do not have to worry about being late for their next class because they do not have to leave their classroom. All of their subjects can be found lying on a shelf in a plastic CD case.

PVHS students are not so lucky; they have four minutes to sprint across campus to get to their next class.

For most schools, public and private alike, PE is relatively the same. PE at CCA and PVHS are very similar. The only difference is that at CCA grades seventh, eighth, and high school all have PE together at the same time. The students gladly dress out because it gives them a chance to escape their dreaded school uniform, which is something the public schoolers do not have to suffer through.

Classroom sizes are another major difference. CCA currently has four students attending the high school. Their classroom is a rather small trailer that has been slightly modified to fit the “classroom” requirements, (white boards, desks, etc.)

On the other hand, local public high school Pahrump Valley High has classrooms large enough to fit thirty to forty students each.

The number of students attending each school has a very significant difference. Last year, the private school CCA only enrolled approximately seventy students total, while PVHS had 1600 students that were attending.

Private schools make up 25% of the United State’s schools, which leaves public schools taking up the remaining 75%.

In 2009, 49.4% of students attending a private school graduated with their bachelor’s degree. Public schools had 31.7% to graduate with the same degree.

Many students were interviewed on their schooling preferences.

Two local PVHS students who also attended CCA, Hunter Campbell and Alexa Sorensen, were asked which school they personally preferred.

Campbell said he preferred PVHS over CCA because he would rather be in an environment filled with people his own age rather than be in a school that is mainly middle schoolers and under.

   Sorensen agreed and said that she enjoys the social interaction she receives at PVHS.

Another student who attended CCA but currently attends Nevada State High School, Isai Gomez, had a different opinion. He said that he prefers the private school because it offers a much better education and the teachers are able to give more individual attention to their students due to the smaller classes.

   Jasmine Daniel, who attends Nevada Virtual Academy, prefers public over private because she feels that public school prepares a student better socially than private schools do.

However, all of the students who were interviewed agreed on one common idea: private schools offer the better education.

Ultimately, the choice comes down to two final values: socialization or education? Really, it all depends on which life tool a student would personally prefer to have in aiding them in further schooling or careers.