Choosing a private school education for their son or daughter is a path that more and more parents are taking. A private school education has a number of benefits, from increased involvement in your child’s life to higher test scores down the line, when they are beginning to take standardized tests like the SAT or ACT and preparing for college. The benefits of a private school education are vast, and many parents are choosing not to let them pass their children by.
Private schools are becoming more and more popular in all places around the country. In fact, private schools alone (including private middle schools, performing arts high schools, and day schools) make up around twenty five percent – as much as one quarter – of all institutions of education in the United States alone. Even private preprimary programs are rising, with nearly ninety percent of all five year olds attending one in the year 2015. Of these children, more than half were enrolled in full day programs, as their parents likely felt that they were in a safe, nurturing environment. Private school is popular for elementary education too, with more than two million students of an elementary school age enrolled in a private elementary school in the United States, as of 2016.
There are many advantages of private schools, especially when they are compared to a public school education. For instance, public school teachers report high levels of parent and student disengagement alike. In a public school setting, more than twenty percent of all public school teachers report considerable levels of apathy among student and nearly as many as twenty five percent of teachers working in public schools believe that a lack of devoted parental involvement is, in part, to blame, citing low levels of parental engagement with the school and their child’s life there. However, the majority of teachers working in private school setting tell a vastly different story. In private schools, less than five percent of all teachers report feeling dissatisfied with both student engagement as well as parent involvement, meaning that more than ninety percent of students and parents alike find a private school environment to be engaging and welcoming and are willing to take the time and effort to be involved.
Practices for college preparedness are also significantly better in a private school setting as well. Take standardized test scores. When it comes to standardized test scores, private schools vastly outrank public schools. The average private school in the United States is likely to have a school wide average score of greater than 1200 on the SAT. In comparison, the public school average SAT score is only just over 1000. And while only half of all public school high school graduates go on to attend and graduate from a four year college or university, nearly one hundred percent (95%) of all private school high school graduates do, particularly those who graduate from a private non parochial school. This can be, in part, attributed to the dedication of high school guidance counselors typically found in a private school, who devote more than half of their time to discussions of college readiness. In comparison, the guidance counselors in public schools do not even give thirty percent of their time counseling students to discussions relating to college and future plans.
Going to a private school can set your child up for a bright future, even as early as preschool. Private schools have many advantages and benefits, from higher levels of engagement from all parties, parents, students, and teachers alike, as well as greater devotion to college preparedness. This can be seen in the overall high standardized test scores that tend to come out of private schools and from the high graduation rates – both high school and, later, college – that the vast majority of private schools can boast. In fact, your child is more likely to succeed with a private school education long past their childhood and long past the years that they spent in a private school setting. Placing your child in a private school can help them years down the line in ways that you may not be able to anticipate.
