Advanced Learning Frameworks: Programs that Shape Global Thinkers

When critics inveigh against private schools, they tend to pick on issues such as the following.

Everybody's Rich

Looking at most private schools' beginnings, you will discover that their original clientele was not children from wealthy families. Many of the founders of schools back in colonial times - the Phillips family, for example - saw education as the way forward for the infant democracy in the United States. For the nation to survive, it needed a literate, educated, proficient population. European crusaders like Dr. Maria Montessori and Rudolf Steiner - the founder of the Waldorf Schools movement - began their work among the poor and working classes. Their teachings captured the imagination of the American middle and upper classes when their movements spread to the United States.

Over time, as the schools expanded, they became highly prized for what they accomplished, namely providing an excellent academic education combined with sports and solid core values. Market forces conspired to drive the cost of education up. Social forces conspired to make private schools the place where the elite sent their children. In the 21st century, egalitarian ideas once more have the upper hand. Private schools seek out and encourage applicants from every social and economic strata. Diversity rules. Not everybody who attends private school is rich.

This video offers an overview of Ransom Everglades School in Miami, Florida.

Compulsory Sports

What's not to like about sports?

Do Your Child's SSAT or ISEE Scores Really Matter?

Standardized admissions tests are part of the drill in most private school admissions offices. You may well be wondering why your child's academic transcripts and teacher recommendations from her current school are not sufficient. Why is it necessary to prepare and register for a standardized admissions test? The results of a standardized admissions test indicate to the school what your child knows and doesn't know academically. Essentially, it would serve no purpose to accept your child only to have her flounder academically. You would be unhappy. Your child would be miserable. The school would also be in a difficult position of being unable to deliver the academic results it can achieve. To avoid this losing situation, most private schools will insist on all applicants taking a standardized admissions test.

SSAT and ISEE

The two most commonly used admissions tests are the SSAT and ISEE. These tests measure your child's language and math skills. How do the admissions offices use the test scores the testing organizations send them? Primarily for comparison purposes. For example, if a school has an applicant pool with an average verbal score of 600 and yours is 700, you will be at the top of the list in that one aspect of all the factors the school looks at. Conversely, if your quantitative score is 550 and the pool average is 750, you will be at or near

Athletic programs in private schools are an integral part of school life. They are not 'optional'. All students participate in some athletic activity weekly while school is in session. Most private schools set aside a weekday afternoon - generally Wednesday - for athletics. There are no classes. Everybody is involved in some athletic activity somewhere on campus. In boarding schools, part of each Saturday is also given over to sports. Throughout this article, I have quoted from private school websites so that you can get an idea of how private schools view competitive and recreational sports.

"Competitive or recreational sports at Putney are valued for fostering individual skills and strengths. Sports do not conflict with art activities, so there is no need to choose between one or the other."...The Putney School, Vermont

This is also a fundamental difference between private and public schools. I am not saying that sports in public schools are not important. It's simply that when money has to be trimmed from a public school budget, it is often trimmed from the athletics budget. Why? Because the board would rather trim that expense than lay off more teachers. It is a tough choice that most private schools don't have to make and will not make in most cases.

"The Gunnery's sports program cultivates competition and cooperation in the context of organized athletics. This is a tradition that stretches back, unbroken, to Mr. Gunn's era. A staunch advocate of physical fitness, he created the school's

Most parents expect to see a progress report with grades on it. The standard letter grades tell where your child stands at a glance, or at least, that's what we have been led to believe. More important than the grades are your child's teacher's comments and the discussions you have concerning your child's progress. This is particularly important in the primary grades when learning difficulties surface. For example, our youngest daughter began struggling with math in 4th grade. We monitored her progress closely and did our best to help. Finally, it was obvious to us that some tutoring would be helpful. We arranged several months of math tutoring, which developed our daughter's confidence in understanding math concepts. Put another way, a grade is simply an indicator. Always look beneath the surface to determine what the real issue is.

Standardized grades. Common grading schemes.

Most schools use letter grades these days. But not every school uses the same letter grade scheme. This can cause problems when sending your child's transcripts to college admissions offices. For example, the A at one school may not be equivalent to the A at another school.

The most common grade scheme is the following:

A+ 97-100
A 93-96
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
D+ 67-69
D 63-66
D- 60-62
F Below 60

If your school uses a variation of this scheme, then be sure to send a key or explanation sheet attached to each transcript. Failure

One of the most compelling arguments for private education has to do with the curriculum. Because very few private schools accept public funds, they are not required to comply with federal and state rules and regulations regarding what is taught. In other words, they do not have to teach to the test. George Bush's No Child Left Behind does not apply to private schools.

Private schools use a variety of curricula according to their mission and needs. For example, a Jewish day school will blend Judaic studies with a core curriculum designed to accomplish two things: to raise observant Jews who are well-schooled in their religion as well as producing well-prepared matriculants ready for the rigors of a college education.

A Classical Christian education will emphasize traditional subjects such as rhetoric. It will also infuse every aspect of its teaching with evangelistic fire and purpose. Religion in a Classical Christian school is not an option any more than it is in a Muslim or Jewish or Roman Catholic school. All these schools can take valuable teaching time to accomplish their missionary objectives because they take no state funds. They basically can march to their own pedagogical tune as long as their clientele is satisfied that the school is doing a good job.

This video offers an overview of Rochelle Zell Jewish High School.

What about prep schools? Religion for most prep schools