Here in the United States, private schools have truly become more popular than ever before. From private preschools all the way up to private high schools, many feel that giving their child a private school education is the way to set them up for success later on in life. In fact, there are now more than 33,000 private schools in the United States alone, meaning that private schools alone make up as much as twenty five percent of all schools in this country.
It can be a difficult thing to send your child to school for the first time, especially if they were never in daycare because at least one parent stayed home. Private preschools can help to ease whatever anxieties that a parent might be feeling about the whole thing, as private preschools are likely to be able to devote as much attention as is needed to your child. Aside from just private preschools, this tends to be the case for the vast majority of all private schools, from private grade schools to private middle schools to private high schools. This can be attributed to the fact that more than 85% of all private schools in the United States have no more than 300 students, even when we look at private high schools (as high schools tend to be much larger than other school locations).
And the teachers found in private schools, from private preschools to private elementary schools and beyond, are often among the most qualified to be teaching your children. In fact, more than half of them have obtained advanced degrees such as master’s degrees and even doctorates. In some private schools, the percentage of teachers with advanced degrees will even reach up to 80%. And these teachers are likely to be very connected with the students that they teach and even with the families of those students.
The data that has been gathered on this subject more than backs up this claim, showing that an impressive less than 5% of all teachers who work in private schools, from private preschools to private high schools, feel that there is a problem with student apathy. A similar percentage feels the same way about parent and guardian engagement. On the other hand, more than 20% of all public school teachers note a distinct lack of student engagement, as well as a lack of engagement on behalf of their parents or guardians.
In private schools, there are often simply more resources to go around. In private high school settings, this often means that college preparedness is much more thorough than what would be seen in a public school. While public high school guidance counselors are able to give less than twenty percent of their time to discussions of college with their students, the average private high school guidance counselor typically dedicates up to fifty five percent of their time just to matters of college – where students are interested in, planning college visits, and helping students to prepare their college applications towards the start of their senior years.
There’s really no surprise then that students who go through a course of private schools, from private preschools to private high schools, are likely to get their college degrees. In fact, more than 60% of the 300,000 plus students who graduated from a private high school in the year of 2011 alone went on to have a college education. While some most likely did not complete college, it can be anticipated that the vast majority did.
While private preschools might not seem necessary, enrolling your young child in a private preschool can help them to get their foot in the door for the private school system in your area, likely securing them a spot for years to come. In addition to this, the smaller class sizes and better allocation of resources is something that will help the vast majority of all children to succeed to their fullest potential. In a public school setting – particularly in a public school district that does not get much funding – this will not always be the case, with some student slipping through the cracks.
