Strategic School Choices

Mistakes Everybody Makes When Choosing Private Schools

Because you and I are not professional educational consultants with an intimate knowledge of private schools, we often waste time and make mistakes as we search for a private school for our children.

• For this article, we will be discussing private K-12 schools that do not focus on special requirements, such as therapeutic schools and schools for students with acute special needs.
• Read When Should You Consider A Therapeutic School? and When Should You Consider A Special Needs School? for suggestions about choosing those schools.

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Here are some of the pitfalls you and I tend to encounter as we look at private schools.

1. Only looking at ranks
2. Thinking you can't afford it
3. Waiting until the last minute to submit applications
4. Thinking that schools are elitist
5. Not visiting schools
6. Not preparing adequately for the standardized admissions tests
7. Not hiring an educational consultant

1. Only looking at ranks.

I know what you're thinking. You want your daughter to attend a highly-rated school, the best school, a top-ranked school.

• Trust me. I get it. I wanted the same things for my daughters.
• However, here's the hard truth: rankings have very little to do with finding the best private school for your child.
• Find schools that fit your requirements and her needs as best as possible.
• You are looking for schools that fit

One of the top questions on this site goes something like this: "I'm moving to (name your city) next summer. Can you recommend the top schools in that area?" My standard reply suggests that the writer engage an educational consultant to assess the writer's specific requirements and make appropriate recommendations. I also send along a link to that state or city, as the case may be, so that the writer can get some idea of the diversity of private schools in that area.

Many people think that I am copping out by not making a recommendation or ranking private schools. My reasons are simple: I am not a professional educational consultant. I am an impartial observer of the private school scene, both at home here in the United States and abroad. I maintain a reference site so that you can find a school online and make further inquiries based on that information. I editorialize on trends and happenings in the world of private K-12 education. That's all I do.

Private Schools Cannot Be Ranked.

Why are there no rankings on this site? I maintain that it is impossible to do. I have given it much thought, but I always come back to my experience forty years ago when we were looking for schools for our two daughters. It came down to one thing: the right fit. One size does not fit all when it comes to educating your child.

Our eldest daughter was very competitive. She was also

Life-changing events dot history's pages. Wars, hurricanes, tornados, terrorist attacks - the list goes on and on. Just when we thought that we couldn't imagine anything worse, in early 2020 along came the COVID-19 pandemic. It has brought our economy and our lives to a screeching halt. Will life ever be the same?

Now, if you are thinking about private school for your child in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, you should exercise even more due diligence than you usually would. After all, sending your child to private school is a major expense for most families.

Note: The information that follows does not constitute financial or legal advice. Always consult your financial advisor and attorney when making any significant expenditure.

How private schools operate

Most private schools have one major revenue stream, namely, tuition fees. If that revenue stream is compromised, the school's ability to survive will be doubtful. Essentially, if a school cannot fill its available seats, its financial future will be bleak. It will be on life support before much longer and may have to cease operations. Sadly, most schools have had to cancel their summer sessions. Summer sessions have traditionally been reliable revenue producers for schools. Some schools have rented out their facilities during the summer to outside organizations such as computer camps or soccer camps. That revenue stream may not always be available.

The other factor to consider is that the pandemic may require schools to remain closed into the

Choosing a private school is a process with many parts to it. It also takes 18-24 months to complete. This collection of articles deals with the second part of the process in which you look at all kinds of private schools and see what they offer. I'll show you where to look for schools. I also introduce you to some of the things I think you should look for in a school.

What am I looking for?

If you don't know too much about private schools but are thinking that private school might be a good option for your child's education, here's how to get the search process started.

How To Search For Schools Private School Review has a robust search engine that will make your private school search process much easier to do. Here are some tips on how to use this tool.

Private School Search Tips We look at several ways you can use to search for private schools. Whether you are beginning the search process for a school for your child or just want to find out more about particular schools, we offer some tips and tricks to make searching more efficient.

The Search Process: A 5 Point Checklist Use this five-point checklist to keep your search for private schools organized.

This video offers an overview of The Madeira School in McLean, Virginia.

What kind of private school

I know what you're thinking. "I have already chosen a couple of private schools to look at. So, why do I need to identify schools? What's that all about?" Identifying or evaluating schools is the next step in your school search process. In the first step, you surfed the Web looking at alOur website listsl kinds of schools. Depending on where you live, you had a handful of schools to possibly a hundred or more schools available. The first step involved your scanning school. The second step involves a detailed examination of three to five schools to determine which might best meet your needs and requirements.

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