It's Time For School! (Part II)

In my last post I decided to pop your wondrous baby bubble by reminding you that at one point or another, your baby is going to grow up. Now whether you want to talk about it or not it's going to happen sooner or later so I want to continue discussing the different schools you can be looking into for your little one(s). Last time we talked about two non-traditional public schools and although there may be others besides those two, I felt they were the ones that aren't looked into enough when searching for schools. This time we are going to look into the different kinds of private schools.

Private Schools

For those of you who do not know, private schools are schools that do not receive funding from the state. Private schools receive money by having students pay tuition or, in some cases, students receive scholarships and by having fundraisers. They decide their own admission's process, curriculum, teaching methodology, enrollment requirements and they are not required to hire credentialed teachers. About 5.5 million students attend private schools throughout the U.S., according to the Council for American Private Education’s most recent survey. That’s about 12 percent of all elementary and secondary school students nationwide. Some of the different private schools are:

Independent Schools

Andover High School - Andover, Massachusetts

Independent schools are private, nonprofit schools governed by boards of trustees. They get their funds from tuition payments, charitable contributions, and endowments rather than from taxes or church funds. They may be affiliated with a religious institution but cannot receive funds or governance from them. A lot of independent schools have boarding students as well as day students. The average tuition for day schools is $17,880, meaning half are less expensive and half cost more. For boarding schools, the average tuition is $34,900. This category includes the famous private schools Andover and Exeter. 

St. Pius X Catholic High School - Atlanta, Georgia

Parochial Schools

Parochial schools are church-related schools, most commonly owned and operated by Catholic parishes or dioceses but also by Protestant denominations. Some Hebrew schools may also be termed parochial. Parochial schools make up the majority of private schools in the United States. The academic curriculum at these schools also includes required daily religious instruction and prayer. Teachers may be clergy or laypersons that may or may not be trained educators. Although your child doesn't have to be Catholic or Protestant to attend these schools, but they will be required to attend religious education classes and prayer services. Parochial schools cost, on average, $6,733 per year for an elementary school student and $10,549 for a high school student. 

Proprietary Schools

Proprietary schools are private schools run for profit. This is a relatively new category of school. They do not answer to any board of trustees or elected officials, so they claim to be able to respond quickly to the demands of the market. Most of these schools belong to an organization called the National Independent Private Schools Association. Tuition is comparable to that of private, nonprofit schools.

Some of the top ranked private schools in the U.S. can be found HERE.

Interesting facts HERE.