Private day schools are becoming more and more popular here in the United States, in all parts of the country. In fact, private day schools now make up one quarter of all of the schools in this country alone. But why have private day schools become so popular and so widely utilized. For one, many private day schools are religious and parents who are looking to provide their children with a religious education alongside their secular one often will send their child to a private school primarily for this reason. But most parents simply see that private day schools are of a better quality than the public schools in their area. From the best private elementary schools to the best private middle schools to the best private high schools, the quality of the average private day schools is typically miles above the qualities of the public schools in that same area.
This gap in quality can be seen in the teachers that were surveyed from private day schools alongside public schools on the topic of key issues that the schools faced. More than twenty percent of all public school teachers who were surveyed said that there was a definable problem with both student engagement as well as parent involvement. In the public school setting, it is all too easy for students who are struggling to slip between the cracks, with most of the attention going to those who thrive. For parents who work and lead busy lives, there is little incentive to become involved with the school, particularly if the child is not having a remarkable experience there.
Among the private day school teachers who were surveyed, it was a different story. In both categories, less than five percent of private school teachers said that there was a problem, showing that not only are the students engaged in their work and the community of the school, but so too were the parents. In many private schools throughout the country, there are simply more resources to devote to students, as the money that private schools have to use is privately generated through tuition fees and donations and is not reliant on the government in the way that public schools are for funding (and so often getting shortchanged). Private schools often have more personnel per number of students and are able to devote the time and attention to all of the students, not just those who are excelling and garnering attention in that way.
The benefits of sending your kids to private day schools can most clearly be seen in the average private high school here in the United States. For one, private high schools have impressively high graduation rates with, on average, as many as ninety five percent of their graduates going on to various college programs. This is even more impressive when we compare it to the college attendance rates of former public high school students which sits just below fifty percent at forty nine percent. While this is a higher number than it was in the past, it is not even in the same realm of the success of former private high school students.
Why is this the case? Again, it comes down to available resources and the commitment to education for all students that is seen in the typical private day schools all throughout the country. Let’s take a look at the average high school guidance counselor. In public schools, high school guidance counselors are often overworked, seeing so many students per day that they don’t really have the time to focus on each one. In fact, public school guidance counselors are only typically able to devote just around twenty percent of their time to counseling students on various aspects of preparing for college. In a private school setting, however, it is a different story. Here, there are likely to be a greater number of guidance counselors and better resources overall, allowing the typical private school guidance counselors to spend up to fifty five percent of their time talking to students about college and all that goes along with it.