The numbers for CRLS, the city's only public high school, are slightly more reassuring than those for the elementary schools. Though the school has lost 7 percent of its population since 1995, enrollments remained steady from 1998 to 1999, stalling at 1,910.

"I think the high school is a very good place for a self-motivated child," she explains.

But for her older son, she says private schools are attractive because "I think he'll get more attention there."

However, Miller says her son would actually rather continue in the public school system than switch to private.

"Whenever my kids go out to the suburbs, they take pride...in being tough city kids," she adds. "They feel like private schools have a snob-ism they don't want any part of."

Since private school reporting is less stringent, no conclusive data is available on the numbers of Cambridge children attending private schools.

However, private schools that report to the Massachusetts Department of Education counted 1,606 students from Cambridge in 1996, according to the district office of public information.

In 1998, that number had risen significantly: The same schools reported 1,704 Cambridge students.