The economic underpinning of private schools differs significantly from that of public schools. Many marketing and merchandising restrictions apply to private schools since the number of families who pay tuition determines their success or failure. That is why you may see advertisements on television for private schools that you would never see for their public school counterparts.
So the private school approach to education, and the value they hope you would see in them, is focused on how better they are not only to the public school system, but also to every other private school in town. If you look closely at private schools, you might assume that some of the grandiose claims and sweeping “visions” they offer to make their school appear fantastic to you are more hype than truth.
“Hype” is a type of salesmanship that appeals to the noble and great in all of us. So, if a private school presentation is based on your love for your children, how children are the future of our society, and the poetic beauty and majesty of all that is youth, there will be some level of hype somewhere in there.
How many times have you seen an ad for a private school that depicts a scene that is practically heaven on earth for children? When I see that, I often wonder if those are actual youngsters or something created by the Spielberg team, like the monsters from the Star Wars cantina scene.
Before we decide to enrol our children in a private school as an alternative to public school, we need to apply some common sense and rational thought to all of the hullabaloo. We must ask and answer the following question before signing documents to enlist in the school: “Can the school live up to all those great promises and all that hype?”
Take the same approach you used to analyse public schools in your area to figure out how to evaluate a private school. You must grade the school on its accomplishments. Longevity, the quality of current students, and the quality of graduates, such as alumni, are all used to measure success. If you base your decision on their advertisements, their well-prepared presentation when you come in for an interview, and the tour of the grounds, you are not getting to the heart of what makes a school exceptional.
To do so, you must first complete detective training. Begin with the parents of current school pupils. You may recognise some of them from church or another social circle. Purchase a lunch for one of these parents and learn the truth about the school. Parents who pay for their children’s tuition are typically candid about whether the school lives up to its reputation.
Don’t just settle for one interview; talk to as many current and previous students’ parents as possible to ensure that the picture you get from their evidence is fair. During the interview, a good question to ask is, “How long did your child attend the school?” Something must be correct with schools that educate students from kindergarten to high school graduation. Schools with a large number of exits after a year or two have an issue that is driving individuals out, whether they realise it or not.
Allow enough time to investigate the present student population at the institution and communicate with alumni families. You may establish whether the school is capable of delivering on its promises and whether it is a viable alternative to public education by being thorough. That’s the kind of information you’ll need before enrolling your child in that educational institution.
