Private To Public School: A look into the transition from the private to public school world

My four-foot-one self started first grade at St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School at the age of seven, hobbling through the front doors with my Dora the Explorer backpack that was heavier than me. I continued school there until eighth grade year, when I started at Indian Hills Middle School in hopes to ease my transition into public high school at Shawnee Mission East. 

While my one year at IHMS helped my nerves going into high school, the transition from private to public school was still a challenge. I had little exposure to the “real world”. Coexisting with large numbers of people was a foreign concept to me and being independent was a trait I didn’t maintain — I grew up in a sheltered, private school after all. 

St. Paul’s is an Episcopalian private school with an average grade size of 28. An entire grade filled with only 28 kids. My high school’s grade size average is 444 kids — it’s mind-boggling to think that I used to consider a 17 person class normal. 

The second craziest part was that the number rarely fluctuated — meaning kids transferring in and out of the school was completely foreign to the St. Paul’s community. I spent my life from ages three to 14 growing up with the same people in my little bubble. 

And that’s the problem.

By bubble, I mean the untouchable uprising I had at St. Paul’s. In simpler terms: we were beyond sheltered. The majority of kids at St. Paul’s were from high-income homes which meant meeting families with different backgrounds was rare. 

When you’re young, being slightly sheltered is good. You have so many years to innocently enjoy life without being compromised, and that should be taken advantage of. However, when you reach the age where high school and the real world becomes a dinner-time conversation, being sheltered isn’t necessarily what you want. 

At St. Paul’s the last grade you can attend is 8th grade, then onto high school it is. Most kids who grew up in the private school environment further their education at a private high school — like Rockhurst or Sion. For those kids, the adjustment to high school is a far more seamless transition from sheltered to sheltered with just a slightly larger class size. 

For me, it was a rude awakening. As we were introduced to only a few new kids throughout several years, many of us — including myself — lacked social skills. The only friends we were making were practically carbon copies of each other. The basic ability to socialize with new people is an important life skill for making connections and even just making friends, which I didn’t receive at my school.  

The choice to come to East instead of following the pack of 28 kids to schools like St. Teresa’s Academy or Pembroke Hill was a difficult one. I liked my bubble. The thought of being opened to a world of hundreds of kids on a daily basis felt inane. But I needed it. I knew this step would be crucial for me to thrive in college and the real world. 

After deciding on attending East for highschool, the instant panic hit that I knew nothing about the Shawnee Mission district or any of my soon-to-be classmates. Once that panic set in, the idea of spending a year at Indian Hills felt safe. 

My summer before eighth grade year was filled with reluctance and fear. Was I making the wrong decision by going to a high school with just “mutual” friends? 

You could argue that kids at East grow up in a similar way — around similar people in the same privileged area. In reality, SMSD kids only spend around six years at the same school with some of the same people, and transferring is much more common. Your elementary school and seven others flow into one middle school where you can adapt to being in a bigger class and school. For SMSD kids, the transition from primary to secondary school is full of social experiences that private school kids just don’t get from being in the same group.

Not to mention, the hand-holding I dealt with at St. Paul’s sparked — in simpler terms — my laziness. My motivation and self drive only existed in a questionable matter. With a 1:8 teacher-student ratio, constantly being pushed by other people is common. I never really learned to push myself. After all, I had other people do it for me for years.

Once I started in public school, specifically highschool, not being constantly hounded or questioned about my grades and assignments was brand new to me. But it ended up being a relief. I learned to push myself and hold myself accountable for my grades, my assignments, my homework, my community service hours and deadlines instead of it being handed to me. 

Since St. Paul’s, I’ve grown and hopefully adapted more to the “real world.” I’ve grown to appreciate more diverse experiences than I had before, taken more opportunities presented to me and become more self-driven and hard working.