Which High School ?

With the facts given, the choice seems easy - private school.  Better education and better baseball.  The summer baseball requirement - Is it because it is school related, and you would prefer your son played on a travel team?  If it is just that you don't want son, or son doesn't want to play summer, than the choice is made easier also.  

Thanks for the input Ryno. He will play summer ball. My preference at this point is to find a top level summer travel team. My gut tells me that the public HS travel team may not be the right choice.

I agree with Ryno.  Unless money and the cost of the private school is a constraint, this appears to be a no brainer.  I think any HS coach in this day and age who requires his  players to play on his or any specific "local" travel team is not only doing the players a disservice but is also hurting himself.  Your son is a perfect example.  He very well may not (and should not) play for him for that very reason.

If the high school team makes players play on their summer ball team and doesn't get players to the next level, it's either coaching, lack of talent or lack of visibility to college coaches. Besides every kid on a high school team shouldn't be playing in front of the same college coaches. Some high school kids aren't college prospects. Some are D1. Some are D3. 

Even if your kid is a college prospect stud would the high school coaching staff know which college coaches to contact? Would they have any credibility with college coaches?

Normally I would say don't make high school decisions based on the baseball team. I would advise getting on the right summer team for exposure. But if the high school team prevents your son from playing on the right summer team, you the answer to your question.

Without knowing your sons ability, I have seen this many times. Parents sends their kids to a top Private HS for the better baseball program, son does not make the team or his play is limited. Player ends up transferring out to a different HS to either make the team or get more playing time. I am of the opinion, send your son to the HS where he will be happiest (as long as it is good academically and usually where all his friends go). HS baseball is not a deal breaker if his wants to play in college.      

It all depends on the discretionary money you have. If you can easily afford the private option it might make sense. If you take a look at the 4 years of what it costs to go there and apply it to his college fund, how does that fit in the scheme of things. You do not want your kid saddled with debt when he gets out of college so take that into account. You should also assume at this point that he will not receive any athletic money from a budgetary point of view. 

Frankly it matters little where he goes to HS whether he will play in college or not - this will happen if he has the talent, desire and drive.

I had my son is private schools up until HS and then we decided that it would be a better fit for him to be exposed to a broader spectrum of kids and experiences that a public school offered. He was in the AP track so most of his classes were college prep, but he had many experiences that he would not have had if he was in a private HS. My son got a great education and in the end could get into almost any school he wanted from an academic point of view. His HS baseball team was middle of the road, but he played Varsity for three years and lead his team in most of the important stats during that time. He was also able to play two ways, which some private schools in the area do not prefer. 

There are a lot of variables that I would weigh, and not just the baseball program, as frankly it is a second order element in my opinion. (unless of course there are real problems in one of them) 

Good Luck.

I guess my question would be, do you have money to throw away on tuition?  Is your kid a brainiac who would thrive in private school and therefore increase his possibility at future academic success?

If you are uber rich and it wouldn't phase you at all to spend the money on the private school and take him to showcases in multiple states, and pay for an elite travel ball team then private school sounds like the way to go.

If it will be even a SLIGHT financial hardship to your family I would rule out the private school completely.  There is no guarantee he will make the team or get the exposure you want him to have, and the financial commitment would be huge for there to be so many maybe's.

In my opinion, send the kid to public school, talk with the coach about your concern, if he won't relent on the summer ball program then you have two choices:

1. Don't let him play baseball on his high school team, join a year round elite team and approach colleges via them.

2. Let him join up for the high school team and make sure you attend every showcase within 200 miles of you to get him the exposure you think he needs...I mean that money would have been spent on the private school anyway, so what's the harm?

I would be leaning toward the private school, if it's within the budget.  Then play on the best summer team you can get play time on.  The HS coach who has a "summer requirement" is not a good sign, IMO.  My HS'er is facing that decision now.  HIs V Asst coach, who took over the summer program this past summer, has laid down the ultimatum of the players are not allowed to play for another summer team without his permission...son has chosen to commit to a very good summer program for 2105 and no awaits to see what the fallout will be during this upcoming HS season.

Assuming the money issue is doable, I'd go where the educational system will maximize his academic potential.

Here are some considerations to think about: What are the teaching credentials in the private school? Are the teachers good, passionate to teach, and excited to give the personal attention private schools can generally provide? Is it a religious private school? If so, does the academic curriculum match up with the admissions requirements of top schools? How are the guidance counselors? Many public schools have starved the GCs of resources; has yours done that? Ignoring baseball, where do the top kids from each choice attend college? How is the social life at both? Does the public school option have safety/gang issues? Does your son have a personality where one environment is significantly better then the other? Public schools seem to have less flexibility in dealing individually with students academic needs - is that an issue (S would have run out of public school math in 10th grade and there was no viable solution)?

We faced the exact same issue with S. Local public (large, diverse, large classes, APs with 35 kids (if the class was smaller, the AP would be canceled)) with big baseball program v. small (very) private (not diverse, extremely small classes taught by teachers often in their second or even third career but teaching in their fields, big effort made to get the students involved academically, track history of sending kids to top academic colleges) with a baseball program which could barely field a team of (mostly) non-athletes.

In reaching the decision, S played on the public school summer team (with kids who he knew from Youth Baseball) because he thought he really wanted a bigger school with a much more diverse and active social life. In the end, he chose to return to the private school and never looked back.

From the baseball perspective, there was no real difference. Despite the (lack) talent level of the private school/league teams, scouts and coaches did what they do - look everywhere for talent. Academically, my S was able with the assistance of his HS teachers, to break out of his introverted shell, become a class leader, a more proficient communicator (orally and in writing), and thrive in an environment where he couldn't "hide."

So, for us, the selection of a small school which maximized his academic potential worked. Years later, he is still playing ball with a decent degree and wonderful options open.

I would add my $0.02 having just gone thru it with my kid.  First, will he have any friends in the private school.  This seemed to be a "deal breaker" for my kid. He would be happier at the public school with his friends.  We just put an academic requirement on him that if he falls below he suffers the consequences. 

Second, as for the summer baseball requirement are you sure it will conflict with your summer travel team.  Around my parts, the HS have summer teams.  They run Mon, Tues, Wed.  Then the kids go to weekend tournaments with their travel teams.  Something to look into.     

Thanks for all the feedback! Some additional thoughts:

The financial commitment is real and a key factor in our decision. I need more real data on each HS summer team program. Realize it could change too. I also need more info on social aspect of each HS. Gut tells me Private would be better fit. The "Where Friends Go/Where Happy" issues I do not see becoming a concern with 2020 but will keep in play.

Of note there are other Public HS's nearby within same district. Both have +/- with respect to education and baseball program quality. School of Choice allows for application process but based on enrollment spaces it does not look good. Might be worth investigating since one would be a great fit academically and baseball wise.

2020 is only 12 and still has yet quite a bit of growing and maturing to go. Who know where all this ends up? Trying to be ahead of the game while keeping this whole thing in perspective too.

Agree. Trying to understand the HS summer team requirement. I get there is some value from team building/skill development standpoint. But from what I have learned here it's about exposure during summer too.

Exposure, yes, but it is more than that.  As someone else mentioned, it is about each player getting out and playing against the best possible competition and becoming a better player for it. That level of competition is not the same for each player.  BucsFanSon's HS team went 25-3 and were State Champs last year....team chemistry and commitment was off the charts.  To my knowledge, none of the kids played on the same travel/summer team.  Each was encouraged to do their best to get on the best team possible where they could get reasonable playing time.  Many of the players, including my son, went into that season with a high degree of confidence because they had been accustomed to playing with and against a very high level of competition...regionally, nationally, etc....much higher than the average HS team that they would face.  You get it but I thought I'd add to my original comment.

The public coach, has had a good track record from two other HS. Just do not see him putting kids into college BB. Obviously the players have to own some of that. Some of it is talent and the rest I will rack up to a poor program in the past.The summer HS team requirement is a big concern. Still need to dig deeper in the program I guess.

We will be stretching the budget for sure if we go Private. Not rolling in cash here by any means! 2020 is not naturally gifted academically, but works hard at it getting A's and B's. 

Appreciate the note. I like your thinking. Makes sence to me.

My advice would be to take the money you would be spending on the private school and put it in a separate account (seriously set up an account and put the money in each and every month) and this will be your son's "academic/athletic scholarship" from your family. College is expensive, there are all kinds of costs that come up that you don't think about (trust me I know) 

Everyone's experience is different but at least in our case the my son's received an excellent education in a moderately ranked public school, he played in a mediocre HS baseball program, both of which had zero impact in his college opportunities both academic and athletic. 

My 2 cents.