The differences between public and private schools often seem to be very stark. When the transition between middle school and high school comes, a very common question asked by parents is whether or not they should send their child to a private or public high school. 

While there are major differences between the two, the days the students themselves experience do not differ much. With a window into these daily routines, parents and their children might be able to make a more informed decision on which route they would like to take.  

As the look into the private school perspective, Acadamy of the Holy Names student, Hope Nellis (11), described her day-to-day life. 

“I wake up at around 6 am every day to do work before my school day,” Nellis said. “I am enrolled in Latin 4, AP Calculus AB, AP Chemistry, AP Language and Composition, AP Capstone Research, AP US History, Yearbook and Morality in Religion.”  

These classes come with a hefty workload Nellis must balance, and she does so by waking up early to get ahead of her work.  

On the other hand, Emma Brown (11), a student at Plant High School, described what her mornings often look like.  

“Most days I get up at 7:20 because school starts at 8:30,” Brown said. “I do a lot of my homework for all of my classes the night before because it stresses me out to not have the work done, so I let myself sleep in in the morning.” 

According to her schedule, Brown takes AP Biology, AP Capstone Research, Newspaper, AP Language and Composition, Pre-Calculus Honors, AP US History and Spanish 4 Online.  

So far, the similarities between Nellis’ and Brown’s schedules are evident. With the exception of their preferences of when to get work done, both juniors have very rigorous courseloads. Both girls take 5 Advanced Placement, AP, courses which equate to lots of work.  

The differences in their schedules begin to become prevalent however when you break down their day-to-day schedule.  

Nellis said, “Acadamy breaks down their days into block schedules. We have four classes one day and another four the next day.” 

This is one benefit of the private school route. Due to the school’s scheduling, Nellis is able to take eight classes per year meaning, without any additional classes taken, she will take four more classes by the end of her high school career as opposed to a Plant student. This may seem beneficial, but every positive does have another perspective to look at it from.  

“One disadvantage to the block schedule is for classes like math and science,” Nellis said. “Those classes are all about constant repetition and learning so having days in between learning them makes it difficult for me to keep up with concepts”.  

Additionally, as seen in her course load breakdown, Nellis is required to take a Morality and Religion class that Plant students simply do not have to take. 

On the other hand, Brown has all of her classes in the same order every day. 

“I love having all of my classes every day,” Brown said. “It lets me have a type of consistency and routine that just couldn’t be achieved otherwise. However, it is not all sunshine and rainbows. It is so easy to fall behind, get burnt out, and just get bored of the same thing over and over again.”  

When questioned about how Acadamy of the Holy Names students will take four more classes than Plant students made her feel, Brown said, “It feels unfair but at the same time, Plant students have that same opportunity. We can take as many Florida Virtual Learning Classes (FLVS) classes as we want technically want.” 

Brown is not wrong, even though Acadamy students take these extra classes in person; Plant students are able to take extra classes online and receive those extra credits possibly missed out on by going to a public school as opposed to private.  

While this does level the playing field, it is also important to still consider how Acadamy students are able to take these classes in person and have them built into their schedule as opposed to being extra work on top of their already significant workload.  

Following their everyday classwork, both girls then described what their after-school routines looked like most nights.  

Nellis said, “Now, I typically come home from school, chill out for 30 to 45 minutes, go the gym, come home and do all of my work, and finally make it into bed at around 11. However, when I played volleyball, my nights were a lot busier. I would go straight from school to the Acadamy gym and ref middle school volleyball games for about an hour, go to practice right after that for about two hours, come home and shower, then do work until about midnight.” 

As shown in Nellis’ schedule differences, sports can significantly change what an average night looks like for any student regardless of the status of their school. Nellis found this schedule to be simply too overwhelming considering her workload, leading her to make the decision not to play anymore.  

On the other hand, Brown does play a sport – cross country. Cross country is a fall sport, similar to volleyball, which Nellis played, and it alters Brown’s schedule depending on whether or not her sport is in season.  

“When I’m in season, I would get home at 3, do homework, go to practice until around 6, eat dinner, do homework and go to bed at around 11,” Brown said. “When I’m out of season, I go home, work until dinner, eat and then go to bed at around 10.” 

When comparing their schedules, many similarities and differences are highlighted between the two girls. Ultimately, both are using high school simply as a catalyst to get to their final destination, college, so does it really matter which school they use to get there? 

Alas, that question cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. While you can theoretically get into any college from any high school, mental wellbeing and statistics are very important to take into consideration. Highschool happens between the ages of 14 and 18, which are very formative years for both boys and girls. Choosing a school which will set themselves up for the best possible outcome socially and academically could drastically alter how successful that student is later in life. 

Building on this concept, Nellis said, “I did seriously consider attending Plant. Coming from a private middle school, I wondered if a public high school was the change I needed to bring myself out of my shell. Ultimately though, Academy gave me the security socially and academically I needed to reduce any anxiety I had.” 

In the end, Acadamy was the school perfectly tailored for Nellis to be as successful as possible in her high school career, making it the right choice for her. 

Contrastingly, Brown said, “I never really considered going to private school. It always seemed more strict and I have always been pretty self-sufficient so the more freedom I had the better for my mental health.” 

While both girls ended up confident in their choices of high schools, they also heavily considered the implications the type of school they went to would have on their college resumes.  

Nellis said, “Generally, over the past three years, I have noticed that less and less Acadamy students are being accepted into the University of Florida.” 

This concurs with Brown’s statement on the same matter when she said, “I think the University of Florida is very hard to get into either way, but more Plant students are accepted because of the appeal of the pipeline from a public school to a public university.” 

While both statements are subjective, it is important to take into consideration the statistics of acceptances from your high school and preferred college of choice, because when it comes down to the wire, it could mean the difference between acceptance and a waitlist.  

Ultimately, with all of the information presented, the differences and similarities between public and private schools often overlap. It is very important to choose which school will be the best fit for any specific student based on their social, academic and mental wellbeing, so they have the best chances to thrive in all aspects of their lives before becoming an adult.