Buzz Versus Reality in Private Schools
Independent schools operate from an entirely different economic base than public schools. Since independent schools are successful or stop working based on the number of families who are paying tuition, a lot of the laws of marketing and retailing use. That is why you may even see commercials on television for a private school which you would never see for their counterparts in the public school arena.
So the independent school technique to education and the worth they hope you will see in them consists not just 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 closely at specific private schools, you might believe that a few of the huge promises and grand “vision” that they provide to make their school appearance excellent to you may be as much buzz as it is truth.
Hype is that type of salesmanship that appeals to the grand and the noble in us all. So if an independent school discussion constructs on your love for your children, on how kids are the future of our society and on the poetic charm and splendor of all that is youth, someplace in there is some amount of hype.
We have to include a measure of sound judgment and down to earth thinking to all the hype before we decide to in fact put our own kids into a private school as an option to having them in public school. A question has to be asked and responded to prior to we sign documents to register in the school which concern is, “Can the school measure up to all those grand promises and to all that hype?’
To get to the bottom of how to examine an independent school, you need to use the same technique you did when assessing public schools in your location. You need to examine the school based on it’s performance. And performance is measured in longevity, quality of existing trainees and quality of graduated trainees, e.g. alumni. If you decide yes or no about whether a specific school is all that they state they are just based on their commercials, their well prepped presentation when you go for an interview and the tour of the grounds, you are not getting to the heart of what makes a school fantastic.
To do that, you need to become a detective. Start with the moms and dads of students currently in the school. You may 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 typically quite honest about whether the school measures up to its buzz.
Schools that take kids from Kindergarten to High School graduation are undoubtedly doing something. Schools who see a lot of departures after a year or two have some kind of issue that is driving individuals away, whether they confess it or not. Here is a school in Pennsylvania that is great:
Provide yourself time to dig deep into the existing population of the school and to talk to alumni families. By being comprehensive, you can find out if the school is able to perform in keeping with the pledges they make and whether the school is a valid option to public school. And that is the kind of reality info you require prior to putting your kid in that school to further her academic profession.
By being thorough, you can discover out if the school is able to perform in keeping with the promises they make and whether the school is a legitimate option to public school.