Premier School Models

For-profit vs. Not-for-profit Schools

Private schools are generally organized as for-profit or not-for-profit (nonprofit) entities.

A corporation or a private individual typically uses the for-profit version to make a profit, but is not eligible for tax-deductible contributions to the extent provided by law.

Most private schools opt to operate under a not-for-profit status, enabling them to generate revenue while also receiving tax-deductible donations to the extent permitted by law.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a for-profit versus a nonprofit school? Is one kind of school better than the other? Let's look at some answers.

Canva generated this image.

For-Profit Schools

A for-profit school is set up by allowing it to be controlled by an owner. That owner could be an individual or a group of individuals, as is often the case with many preschools and some elementary schools. Another form of ownership is a corporation.

This is often a corporation owned and operated by a group of local individuals. Typically, for-profit private schools are owned by a corporation that operates schools in multiple locations.

For-profit schools are typically in business to generate revenue or make a profit. They pay taxes on those profits.
Parents pay for the school's services just as they would for any other service.

Examples of this sort of school include Le Rosey in Switzerland, Sylvan Learning Centers, the Nobel Schools, and thousands of small nursery and primary schools.

The school can be incorporated, a sole

Use this checklist to keep track of your questions and answers to those questions as you visit each school on your short list. There is a lot of information to assimilate as you make those important visits. It will be easy to forget details unless you note them promptly.

Boarding or Day School?

Many parents agonize over sending their teenagers to boarding school or keeping them at home and sending them to day school.

• The issue you really need to address is the quality of supervision you are able to give your children after school and on weekends.
• Let's face it, modern parents lead very busy professional and social lives.
• If you aren't around to see what's going on, do you know what your teen is up to?

Canva generated this picture of a boarding school campus.

The Advantage of Going to Boarding School

When you send your child to boarding school, you are buying the whole package: academics, athletics, social life, extracurricular activities, and 24/7 supervision all rolled into one.

• That's just part of a boarding school's DNA.
• It is an incredibly good deal for many thoughtful parents.

Of course, she will miss her mother and father, her siblings, her own room, and all those other special things she knows and loves.

• But the truth is that she will be off to college anyway in a few years.
• Getting a head start on leaving home is not a bad thing. It will pay huge dividends in later years as she has had to learn to cope and adjust to new circumstances at an earlier stage in her life.
• Teaching her to be independent is a good thing.

Living in a boarding school essentially prevents your

Froebel, Montessori and Steiner: Champions of Children

Friedrich Froebel, Maria Montessori, and Rudolf Steiner were trailblazers in early education in the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries.

• Their ideas and philosophies shaped early childhood education as we know it in the 21st century.
• Who were these people?
• Why did they feel that early education was so important?

Freidrich Froebel

Freidrich Froebel (1782-1852) invented "kindergarten," which means "a child's garden."

• Froebel wanted children to interact with their surroundings. Interacting with nature was central to his philosophy of education.
• He believed that interacting with nature would lead children to a closer examination of how things work.
• Froebel was influenced by the Swiss pedagogue Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827), whose methods and approach to education, in turn, shaped a young Albert Einstein when he attended the local school in Aarau.
• Today, few people, except educators or trivia buffs, know who Froebel is, even though his influence in early childhood education was profound.

One feature of Froebel's approach to teaching children was the use of gifts.

• He developed five gifts to be given to the child in ascending order.
• The gifts were designed to teach awareness of shapes, spatial relationships, and many other concepts to even the youngest child.

This video offers an overview of Froebel.

Dr. Maria Montessori

Italian physician and pedagogue Dr.

Litchfield County, Connecticut, is home to a couple of dozen excellent schools catering to just about every need. The setting about 90 miles north of New York City is convenient to one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world. Picturesque vistas, rolling hills, ancient stone walls as well as quaint New England villages and towns dot the county's landscape. Plenty of acceptable restaurants and accommodations can be found for those inevitable parents' weekends and other family occasions.

• Canterbury Schoool, New Milford
• The Glenholme School, Washington
• The Forman School, Litchfield
• The Gilbert School, Winsted
• The Gunnery, Washington Depot
• The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville
• Indian Mountain School, Lakeville
• Kent School, Kent
• Litchfield Montessori School, Northfield
• The Marvelwood School, Kent
• Rumsey Hall, Washington Depot
• Saint Anthony School, Winsted
• Saint John the Evangelist School, Watertown
• Saint Mary Magdalene School, Oakville
• Saint Peter School, Torrington
• Salisbury School, Salisbury
• South Kent School, South Kent
• The Taft School, Watertown
• Washington Montessori School, New Preston
• The Woodhall School, Bethlehem