Piedmont Middle School vs Park Day vs St. Paul’s

My 6th grader loves Piedmont Middle, but he is both socially and academically motivated. Piedmont is obviously a public school system, and as such offers standardized education - at a high level - but in general it's not juicy creative learning, though there have been some interesting projects. From reading the many BPN posts on Park Day and St. Paul's, and from having attended private school myself, it sounds like the teacher attention would be more individualized at private than at PMS. Are you considering moving to Piedmont, or did you receive an IDT? If the latter I wonder about taking a spot from someone who is self-motivated and would love the opportunity to flourish in Piedmont. I'd say that Piedmont education is standardized, while the private schools sound more customized to each child. My child thrives at Piedmont Middle, and as parents we are happy with the school as well - it's the right place for us. It suits his personality, but not that of all children - some prefer private to Piedmont, and some genuinely prefer Piedmont to private, and have moved between the two. Assuming you've toured all three, which environment resonated with your child most? 

While I can't draw comparisons between the schools you are considering, I can share my experience as a new Park Day parent whose daughter joined this year as a 6th grade student. I have really appreciated Park Day's approach to learning. A recent example includes a humanities project in which the students had an opportunity to demonstrate their learning through a project of their choosing. My daughter used the innovation studio to create a wooden tree sculpture with LED lights and talked through how her project illuminated themes in the book around fairness and the fundamental right to express oneself freely. Another memorable project was a student who sewed a dress. I love how students are able to deepen their learning in ways that resonate most with them and utilize their interests/talents (i.e. sewing) or learn a new skill (i.e. using a power saw) in doing so. It is experiences like these, in my opinion, that are the building blocks for growing lifelong learners. 

Best of luck in your search!

I imagine you've already made this decision, but if not--we've known families who've gone in both directions between these schools in recent years. Reasons for not doing PMS were lack of racial diversity/less socioeonomic diversity and larger class sizes/less differentiation than private can offer. Reasons for going to PMS (from private elementary) were cost, IEP/504 supports, and a wider range of extracurricular options, sports, and electives than small private schools can offer. Assuming you plan to move to Piedmont if you go that route, there is also the sense of community factor--kids at Park Day and St. Paul's come from a much wider geographic area. Many PMS kids walk to and from school and to nearby activities. If you have an IDT and would be coming from further away to attend PMS, that may be a con, since most students there do live in the city.

One of our kids is at PMS, yup that's what the middle school is called. My impression is that PMS may not be the place to "inspire his interests and curiosity and spark a love for learning".  But I do think that PMS does try hard to understand and help with the emotional challenges of middle school. Also our son can walk to school as well as to many after school activities which is a plus for developing some independence. Outside the schools, Piedmont has a lot of kids participating in Scouting, chorus and robotics as well as the typical baseball and soccer programs. We have friends with children at St Paul's. St. Paul's might be more of the kind of place you are looking for.