Hype Versus Truth in Independent Schools
Private schools operate from an entirely different economic base than public schools. Due to the fact that independent schools fail or prosper based upon the number of households who are paying tuition, a lot of the laws of marketing and retailing use. That is why you may even see commercials on tv for an independent school which you would never see for their equivalents in the general public school arena.
So the private school approach to education and the worth they hope you will see in them consists not only in how they are superior to the general public school system but how they are superior to every other private school in the community. So if you are looking carefully at particular private schools, you may presume that some of the huge pledges and grand “vision” that they provide to make their school look terrific to you may be as much buzz as it is truth.
Hype is that kind of salesmanship that appeals to the grand and the worthy in all of us. So if an independent school presentation builds on your love for your kids, on how children are the future of our society and on the poetic appeal and splendor of all that is youth, someplace in there is some quantity of buzz.
We need to include a procedure of sound judgment and down to earth thinking to all the buzz before we decide to actually put our own kids into a private school as an option to having them in public school. A concern needs to be asked and responded to prior to we sign papers to enroll in the school which question is, “Can the school live up to all those grand guarantees and to all that buzz?’
To get to the bottom of how to examine a personal school, you need to use the same approach you did when examining public schools in your location. If you decide yes or no about whether a particular school is all that they state they are simply based on their commercials, their well prepped discussion when you go for an interview and the trip of the premises, you are not getting to the heart of what makes a school fantastic.
To do that, you have to become an investigator. Start with the parents of students currently in the school. You might know some from your church or some other social circle you remain in. Purchase among these parents lunch and find out what really goes on at that school. Parents who are paying the tuition to have their kids in the school are often rather candid about whether the school measures up to its buzz.
Schools that take children from Kindergarten to High School graduation are certainly doing something. Schools who see a lot of departures after a year or 2 have some kind of problem that is driving people away, whether they admit it or not. This is a school in Pennsylvania that is wonderful:
Provide yourself time to dig deep into the existing population of the school and to talk to alumni families. By being thorough, you can find out if the school has the ability to perform in keeping with the promises they make and whether the school is a legitimate alternative to public school. And that is the type of reality details you require prior to putting your child because school to even more her scholastic career.
By being extensive, you can find out if the school is able to perform in keeping with the guarantees they make and whether the school is a legitimate option to public school.