"They focus on trying to have us become critical thinkers."

Last week I visited Cushing Academy in Ashburnham. I was able to sit in on a United States History Class and a Probability and Statistics class as an invited guest by my cousin Tyler. Tyler, an enthusiastic learner and hockey player is a member of Cushing’s Class of 2011. The experience was doubly unique for me – having spent so much time in and around schools I perceived teaching and learning in the same fashion that I do in my daily work but as Tyler’s invited guest I focused on his in class actions and behaviors. I left Cushing impressed with Tyler’s participation in his learning, and even more impressed with Cushing as a learning organization.

I have spent all but two years of my professional career in public schools. In the two years that I worked as an administrator in a private school I was able to see first-hand how the two systems are alike and how the two systems are different. The compare and contrast of public and private education has been the subject of countless studies, countless articles, and is always a topic of debate. Whether you are a public school or a private school advocate – the fact remains that there are differences, large and small.

If someone were to ask me if I believed in public education or private education, my answer would be, “Yes, I believe in education.” What is really important is that the student who is in the private school believes in his or her school and the student who is in the public school believes in his or her school just the same. Today I sent Tyler a text and asked, “You gotta take mcas @ Cushing?” He responded, “Nope. We have finals twice a year and that’s it.” I then sent another text asking, “They focus on SATs”?” Then Tyler responded, “Not exactly. They focus on trying to have us become critical thinkers.”

Of course I would rather see Tyler at Mahar – but given his answer today, Cushing is fine with me too.