Types of Schools

Do you prefer to peruse a book rather than going online to find private schools? If so, there are some excellent guides to private schools available. While most of the information contained in these guides can be found online, the truth is that most of us do not have the time nor the expertise to do all that research involved. If you are beginning a serious search for private schools for your children, then buy one of these guidebooks. Use it as a reference tool.

Besides the cost factor, the only real disadvantage to this method of researching schools is that the information is frequently out of date.

• Applying to Private Schools in NYC
• The Manhattan Directory of Private Nursery Schools, 6th Ed.
• The Manhattan Family Guide to Private Schools and Selective Public Schools, 5th Ed.
• Private Independent Schools 2007
• The Kindergarten Wars
• The Parent's Guide to Private Schools in Hawaii: Oahu
• The Whitney Guide To Los Angeles Private Schools
• Private K-8 Schools of San Francisco & Marin
• Private High Schools of the San Francisco Bay Area
• Georgia Irvin's Guide to Schools, 2nd Edition: Metropolitan Washington

Sooner or later you ought to consider a single sex school as opposed to a traditional coeducational school. Why? For several reasons. First of all, coeducational schools have only become 'traditional' or commonly accepted in the last several decades. Private education has its roots in single sex education, both in this country and in England.

Indeed, if you look at the history of most of the legendary prep schools in America, you are likely to find that they began as a single sex institutions. For example, Phillips Academy Exeter began as a boys' school. It only began admitting girls in its summer sessions in 1961 which was fifteen years after it dropped the two year Latin requirement - horrible dictu! It would be another nine years before Exeter admitted girls in its regular sessions.

So, what's really happening here? American private schools like Exeter have always pretty much mirrored the society which they seek to serve. Back in the late 1700's and early 1800's when many of these schools got their start, educating girls was not considered as important as educating boys. Those views changed over the centuries as the young republic grew and matured. So did views about education. In the 1960's and '70's single sex schools gradually fell out of fashion. In order to survive, some boys' and girls' schools merged to form coeducational schools. Others, like Exeter, saw the handwriting on the wall and moved with the times by admitting girls.

In the 21st century

A private school education is not cheap. It is a substantial financial sacrifice for many families. So why do parents willingly pay $30,000, $40,000 or more for something which public education provides free? Here are five reasons why you would do so.

1. Public education is not free.

We often forget that public schools are not free. You and I pay for public schools directly and indirectly through our property and other taxes. Public school facilities and properties are not taxable. As a result, they reduce the tax rolls of the municipality in which they are located. Attend a budget hearing for your local school district. Examine the financial statements. Then you will understand how and where your tax dollars are spent.

What kind of education are your public schools providing? Do the public schools offer the depth and breadth of academic programs you want and need for your child? What about sports programs and extracurricular activities? Have these been cut or substantially reduced because of budget cuts? Peter Green spells out what budget cuts can do to an arts program in his article What We Lose When We Cut Fine Arts Education. It is pretty much the same story with any program which is deemed an extra in public education.

Private education is an investment in your child's future. You educate your child privately because you want something better for your child. Private schools do not cut sports, arts and extracurricular funding as a rule.

Most private schools belong to state associations. Besides the 'strength in numbers' which benefits them in state and local issues, schools learn from each other through seminars, workshops and conferences. State associations often provide listings of open houses and employment opportunities. Find out whether the schools in which you are interested belong.

• Advancement for Delaware Valley Independent Schools
• Alabama Independent School Association
• Association of Colorado Independent Schools
• Association of Independent Maryland Schools
• Association of Independent Michigan Schools
• Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington
• California Association of Independent Schools
• Connecticut Association of Independent Schools
• Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools
• Florida Council of Independent Schools
• Georgia Independent School Association
• Hawaii Association of Independent Schools
• The Minnesota Independent School Forum
• New Jersey Association of Independent Schools
• New York State Association of Independent Schools
• North Carolina Association of Independent Schools
• North Carolina Christian Schools Association
• Ohio Association of Independent Schools
• Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools
• South Carolina Independent Schools Association
• Tennessee Association of Independent Schools
• Virginia Association of Independent Schools
• Washington Federation of Independent Schools

Private K-12 schools are non-public schools. In other words, they are not part of the public K-12 education system. While private schools are regulated in the same way most businesses are with respect to safety, zoning and registration, they are not required to do many of the things public schools must do such as state testing and accepting any student who applies.

First, let's take a quick look at the history of K-12 education in the United States of America. What were the first colonists were up against as far as education was concerned? The challenges were enormous simply because there was nothing here. Native Americans did not have school buildings. They educated their offspring in their natural surroundings. The colonists, on the other hand, had left a country with an organized educational system. For example, King's School, Canterbury, opened its doors in 597. In the Middle Ages, the kings and queens of England established schools and universities to educate young men. In most cases, these educational establishments were founded to educate and train clergy, judges, and other public officials. Edward VI set up free grammar schools which were open to all, regardless of religious beliefs or ability to pay. Many of the great cathedrals and abbeys had choir schools where they provided for the education of boys.

Leaving a country with a long history of education, the earliest settlers in America arrived here in the early part of the 17th century and very quickly and resolutely set