Switch from "great" public school to private?

I haven't done this but many people I know have done this for a variety of reasons specific to their particular circumstances.  For all these examples I'm drawing from families who attended the public schools in Alameda, Piedmont or Albany:  One acquaintance moved her child, who was being bullied, because the school wasn't a good fit for her quirky personality.  A few years later she confidently enrolled her next child at that same public school b/c she "fit" there.  I know at least three families who sent their daughters to Julia Morgan for middle school, b/c the parents thought that single sex schooling improved the performance of female students in mathematics.  They all planned to enroll the girls at their public high schools after their middle school years.  Several families simply felt that their public school wasn't rigorous enough for their particular children.  During grade or middle school, Head Royce is a common destination, for high school, CPS.

We moved our child after kindergarten from a "great" public school to a private school.  It was definitely a hard decision, financially speaking, especially as we, as it sounds you did, moved into the neighborhood for the school, and all of our neighbors sent their kids happily to that school, and if anything were sending their kids to private middle schools.  On the other hand, based on how he was doing at the school, it was kind of a no-brainer.  We never expected him to have trouble, as he had always made friends easily and adjusted beautifully to new situations.  And his teacher was really as wonderful as everyone said.  But he was miserable almost from the start, and was doing weird things (for him), like playing exclusively with girls (even though there were plenty of boys in his class, some of whom he is now friends with, that he would befriend under other circumstances) and crying whenever I had to leave after volunteering.  There were also behavioral challenges that suggested low self-esteem.  It was clear that he did not want to/was not ready to do the hard work of learning to read and write and sit still for long stretches and listen quietly, as required of kindergarteners who are one of 20+ kids in a classroom with one teacher.  That being said, after we moved him to private school (EBI), he happily learned to read and write in two languages (why pay for private school if you can't at least get a second or third language out of it?).  I think the nature of public education did not work for him as a little kid; too many worksheets and independent activities, not enough collaborative learning opportunities or recess or ways to really engage in the things he wanted to learn about.  In the end, we rationalized we would give him a good foundation so that he learned to love learning and had a chance to figure out who he is and what he stands for before entering middle school, where I expect him to figure more things out for himself.  We also realized that things would get better for him at the public school, but then he would simply coast under the radar, which was problematic in its own way.  This is a super hard decision.  Good luck.  

I discovered that "great" schools are not always great for all families.  I switched my son to private school for middle and high school and things have worked out including having less savings than I would have...

 It depends on who your child is and what you are looking for as a family.  There is no "great" school solution that will serve every student equally.  Seems to me, we want to find the best "fit" for our children and what works for us as well.  You may want to look into, how "great" is determined...test scores?  How many students get into Cal?  Diverse?  Arts focus?  Common Core aligned?   It depends what you are looking for.

You definitely have many choices in the Bay Area. Figure out what YOU want for your family, then explore options based on your values.

It definitely is an adventure and constantly changing given public policy.

My son completed kindergarten at a highly-rated public elementary school in SF, which went fairly smoothly. It had a strong parent community, long-term teaching staff and a focus on social-emotional curriculum and differentiating the needs of students. Our son, who can feel anxiety in new situations, did well with teacher who honed in on the needs of each student and a couple of friends to rely on for support. 

We then moved to the East Bay and my son was placed for first grade at another high-performing school. He was there from September to February and never settled in. Some factors were beyond the control of the school and us as parents, such as the fact that he was coming into the school with no prior social connections. However, we never got over the feeling of being “late to the party.” Without many opportunities to meet parents or regular activities supported by the PTA, it was difficult for us to help our son get over a feeling of unease and exclusion. Academically, the school focused on a lot of homework and frequent quizzing to accelerate and track student progress. The pressure to produce caused our otherwise curious and creative son to “freeze up” in the classroom around what to write or what to do. While he had no problem understanding the homework, he came to resent and fight against the repetition and volume of it. We saw our son losing his love of learning. Five months into the school year, he was too anxious some days to go into the classroom. His teacher was too overburdened with other students’ needs to help us manage the situation, and that’s when we switched to a private school option.

We moved our son to a small progressive private elementary school (Aurora School), and found that the school fit his needs amazingly well from the start and put him back on the track of feeling productive and successful academically, socially and emotionally. He completed the school year in a K/1 mixed grade classroom with two teachers available to support his needs. What the school offered was exactly what we had been missing: an emphasis on having kids feel safe, supported, able to recognize and react productively to their own state of mind. In tuning into his own needs, we saw our son again be able to trust and be proud of his strengths in learning and being with others. From this solid place, we see that so much is able to happen for students at his school. They learn not just how to be successful academically but why and how to seek information and apply it to the world around them, and how to work with and rely on each other (both as learners and mentors) to further this understanding. The school also has a wonderful and dedicated community of staff and parents who work closely together and have an enormous amount of mutual respect and friendship. It’s been a wonderful way for our whole family to find a home base and community in a new city. Our son now loves going to school and all school-related functions, and has friends and advocates across many grades, each year strengthening this network. 

I know of so many great families who have connected in wonderful ways with their public schools, and I don’t discount any of their experiences. I speak only for our family when I say we couldn’t be happier to have discovered our private school situation.

We bought our house so that our kids could attend Berkeley's great public schools.  All three children thrived at Washington Elementary.  The two oldest (who are twins) are now at Black Pine Circle, a fabulous private school; my youngest is in fifth grade at Washington.

Our decision to move schools was not  a reflection on the public schools.   Our decision was based on our childrens' needs and skills.  Our twins thrive when teachers' set high standards and closely watch his work.  One of them is  a budding "efficiency expert' and does not do any unnecessary work.  My husband and I want him to attend a middle school where teachers  frequently challenge him to do his best.  Black Pine Circle (BPC) has that environment . It's a small middle school where academic teachers push students to philosophical questions and hands-on science projects.  There's lots of talk at BPC about the "growth mindset" and being a "school of thought." 

For us, sixth grade was a natural time to look at all of the schools in the community.  The kids would be moving to a new school and leaving some of their friends .  My husband and I also had different goals for middle school than for elementary school.  In our minds, elementary school is about understanding democratic values, making friends and learning academic skills.  Middle is about all of those things plus discovering your talents and learning the value of hard work.

Our kids will likely attend Berkeley High.  Like all the other Berkeley public schools, its fabulous.

We have two children, aged 11 in 6thgrade and 9 in 3rdgrade, and we moved them both from a “great” public school in Oakland to St Pauls, a private school located right off Lake Merritt.  Honestly, we felt very lucky, that both were good options for our kids.  The public school has a fantastic community, very involved parents, and – in general – a solid education.  However, we are very pleased with our move for the following reasons:

1. Values. St Paul’s infuses its values both proactively and reactively in every part of its education, from chapel on Friday mornings to expected class behaviors to responses to behavioral issues. We feel much more of a partnership with our new school in raising our children with the values that we want to instill, where in our public school we felt more on our own.
2. Consistency in teaching.  Our public school has some teachers who are excellent; however, it also has some teachers that are surprisingly poor.  It proved very difficult to move teachers or switch classes, while – so far – we have found consistently good teachers at our new school.  
3. Individual passion.  We found that our kids were well served at the public school for basic skills and knowledge.  In our new school, we have found that both are kids are exploring their own passions, often in new areas.  The teacher-student ratios and the focus of the teachers have 
4. Study skills. We have found – especially for our 6thgrader --  that she has a completely new approach to homework and study skills, and we thank our partnership with our new school.  

Good luck with your choice…I know it’s a difficult one!