While there certainly are good public school options in suburban Philly, none are as good as the schools he is contemplating
I assume you are saying this is relation to lacrosse. The academics at Lower Merion, Radnor, and Conestoga are superior to Malvern. Comparable to Haverford and EA. If your child is essentially on level but needs more individualized attention available through smaller class sizes, private schools is a great option. If your child needs significant services, public is a great option. If your child is on level or above, these schools are easily as good as most privates. Privates have higher scores because they don't have to have the lower end of the spectrum. Private may offer value in networking. Public probably offers the benefit of having a more diverse student body. Public has gone far into social indoctrination, which some will view as a plus and others a minus. Private will have some of that as well, but at religious affiliated schools you would anticipate and theoretically value that. EA and Malvern following trends in their dominations and are moving fairly far from their traditional roots. Don't know about Haverford.
From a lacrosse perspective all of the privates are vastly superior to the publics. Radnor has had a phenomenal recent run, but I suspect that is coming to an end. Conestoga had a great run a few years back, but that has ended.
