Published
May 15, 2013
Here are a dozen or so boys' schools' public thoughts about themselves and their missions.
"As a boys' boarding school, our programs are designed specifically to help young men focus on their development at a time in life when distractions abound. Although numerous opportunities exist for our students to interact with girls from Miss Porter's, Ethel Walker's and other nearby schools, boys are free to live and learn in our structured, supportive environment. In an all-boys context, our students embrace scholastic challenges and compete in the athletic arena while feeling safe exploring the arts, experimenting with poetry, expressing school spirit, and just being themselves."
"MUHS has evolved with each passing decade to meet the changing needs of the young men in our community and like our 17th Century namesake, Father Jacques Marquette, students, faculty and staff members share a passion for exploring uncharted territory, whether it’s in a textbook or their own hearts."
"Bellarmine knows boys.
* We see how they negotiate their way through the different stages of development, and use that insight in engaging them, counseling them, mentoring them and teaching them.
* We teach boys the way they learn best, using specific strategies that motivate young men to learn, and modifying standard approaches to align with their unique needs.
* We encourage them to be competitive - and with the understanding that we are all learning - to discuss,...
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Published
April 15, 2013
I thought it might be instructive to gather a dozen or so girls' schools' public thoughts about themselves and their missions. The words which I have quoted can be found on each school's web site. Hopefully if you are thinking about sending your daughter to an all girls' school, you will be inspired to explore the opportunities available to you in these fine educational environments committed to educating your daughters to be all they can be.
"Founded by two bold, visionary entrepreneurs in the same year that women won the right to vote, the Nightingale-Bamford School has helped generations of girls to become strong, independent, confident women. We offer a rigorous, college-preparatory education from Kindergarten through grade 12 in a caring and attentive school community."
"Saint Mary’s School has developed curriculum and employed strategies that capitalize on the strengths of girls on their journey to college and life. Girls’ schools support a culture, climate and community that together generate high levels of personal and academic self-confidence and a can-do attitude. Research shows that girls in single-gender environments move on to advanced courses more often than do girls in co-educational classes. They earn better grades and report that they have greater confidence in themselves and feel more positive about their learning environment."
"Our Mission: Miss Porter's School educates young women to become informed, bold, resourceful and ethical global citizens. We...
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Published
February 16, 2013
One of the best things about private schools is that there is a school or schools out there just right for your educational objectives, whatever those might be.
What about military schools? When might you consider sending your son or daughter to a military school? Let’s settle a couple of things before we proceed: military schools are not places you send a child with discipline or other issues. They are not reform schools or schools for troubled youth. They are genuine institutions of learning with a specific focus: military training. Secondly, military service is not required when you attend a military high school. If your child decides that military service is a career path which she wants, then a military school will have given her a good start.
If the following are things you are looking for in a private school, maybe a military school is right for you. Check out the web sites. Then visit the schools and see for yourself.
Discipline
Just about anything worth doing well requires lots of discipline. Discipline takes hard work, persistence, stamina and time. In an era when instant gratification seems endemic, good old-fashioned discipline lays a solid foundation for success in adult life. Discipline evolves into a pattern of self-discipline. After several years of this kind of training your child will know what she has to do to accomplish her objectives. Military schools serve up discipline as regularly as they serve breakfast.
Structure
Structure goes hand in hand with discipline. Structure and discipline sound rigorous and they...
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Published
February 15, 2013
When you think of single sex education as a choice or an option, the subject becomes a little easier to understand in the 21st century. Private schools have offered single sex education for decades. Indeed many of our older schools were founded with the purpose of educating boys or girls separately.
Characteristics of Single Sex Schools
What grades do they offer? Typically single sex schools are high schools offering grades 9 through 12/PG. There are a handful of single sex schools which offer the middle school grades 6 through 9. Even fewer schools offer PK-12. You will also notice that middle school grades go up to grade 9 and high school begins with grade 9 as well. Actually grade 10 is probably the most common entry point for private high schools. That’s one reason for the overlap.
Single sex schools come in both boarding and day versions. There are single sex religious schools, military schools and so on.
The Advantage of Single Sex Education
The proponents and opponents of single sex education have firmly-held views. I think it is fair to say that the actual research into the advantages and disadvantages of single sex education is pretty meagre. I list the primary sources for you to read in depth. That’s why I concluded long ago that single sex education needs to be thought of as a choice. It is not better than coeducation in my opinion. Nor is it worse. It is simply an option for us parents to keep in mind as we...
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Published
October 14, 2012
As you begin to pursue the idea of sending your child off to private school, you will need to come to grips with differing approaches to teaching. What it really comes down to is whether you want to send your child to a school that uses a traditional approach to teaching or one that uses a non-traditional approach. In the public school world a traditional school is a regular public school and a non-traditional school is a charter school. That's not what I am discussing here with respect to private schools. The concept of a private school as an independent largely self-financing corporate entity does not change. You and I are going to focus on what is taught in the classroom and how it is taught.
The early years
Your child's age is a major factor when it comes to choosing an educational approach. For example, if you send him to a Montessori school as a toddler, you are exposing him to a non-traditional approach to education. It is an excellent approach and highly regarded. But non-traditional nonetheless. Start your child off in a Montessori, Waldorf or Reggio Emilia school and you will lay solid foundations for learning in later life. But visit a traditional private primary school and you will see a quite different approach to early education.
Obvious differences will be the dress code. Uniforms are required at many traditional religious schools. The curricula follow traditional blocks of science, math, language arts and social studies. Add religion if the school...
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Published
May 15, 2013
Here are a dozen or so boys' schools' public thoughts about themselves and their missions.
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More articles:
Why Private School,
Choosing a Private School,
Pre-elementary,
Elementary Issues,
Jobs in Private Schools
