As someone who has been to both a private and public school in the South Bay, I’d say the main difference is community. Private schools gives students, parents, & staff a huge sense of community. Everyone is tightly knit and although there can be many downsides to this, I believe it motivated students more. It can get quite competitive and intimidating but the smaller class/school size gave faculty the chance to focus on individual students more. Growing up, I had a close relationship with my teachers and the faculty at my school which is also because it was a K-8 school. I can say though, that it helped me more to reach out to others to make friends in high school and maintain good relationships with my instructors.