Why Private School

Why would anybody want to teach girls in a single sex setting? Aren't girls' schools quaint and out of touch? Aren't girls more likely to succeed in a coeducational setting? Are there advantages to educating girls in a single sex setting?

The answers to these and similar questions are varied, contradictory and subjective. Furthermore, the amount of research into girls' education is fairly limited. With those caveats in place let's explore some sources and resources for those special corners of the education world which are girls' schools.

Organizations which promote girls' schools

A good starting point for our exploration of girls' schools is the National Coalition of Girls' Schools. Just like the International Boys' Schools Coalition is one of the major umbrella organizations for boys' schools, so the National Coalition of Girls' Schools is one of the major umbrella organizations for girls' schools around the globe.

The NCGS champions girls' schools. And it champions them better and more vigorously than any other organization I know. The NCGS encourages research on the education of girls. It offers an Advanced Professional Certificate in Girls’ Education. "This unique blended learning program, which includes a separate track for STEM and for humanities faculty, helps teachers gain the expertise needed to forge a contemporary approach to teaching girls. It is intended for girls’ school educators who have distinguished themselves in classroom teaching and learning and wish to both learn from experts in the girls’ school community and connect with fellow learners."

Are you thinking about sending your child to a private school?

• There are many reasons why you should consider sending your child to a private school.
• Most of us parents have had the same concerns as you do.
• We all want our children to receive the very best education possible so that they are positioned for success in later life.

Here's how to make that happen.

1. You want your child to receive specialized instruction from well-qualified instructors.

• Your local public school can develop an IEP or Individualized Education Program for your child.
• This is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
• While your child's needs will indeed be identified and an instructional program devised for her, she will probably not receive as much individual attention as if she were in a private school with smaller classes.
• Depending on your area's public school district, resources are often spread very thin.
• When you send your child to a private school for special needs, she will be taught by credentialed, highly skilled teachers and paraprofessionals throughout the school day.

This video explains an IEP.

When your child has a learning difference, enrolling her in a private school with specialized teachers can be beneficial. I know this was the case with my eldest son who had never learned how to read before he came to live with us.

• Hundreds of private

This is the first of three articles addressing the advantages of sending your child to private school. Private schools offer several advantages specific to students, of which you, as a parent, need to be aware. Here are three of them.

1. Your child will build a network of friends that she will have for life.

Some may wonder why I would put this benefit for students at the top of my list. That's because I sincerely believe networking is the key to success in almost everything. Because most private schools are relatively small communities, your child will have a perfect chance of getting to know almost everybody in the school community, especially her classmates. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, private schools generally have smaller enrollments than public schools, creating opportunities for closer relationships among students and teachers. While your child may come from an entirely different background, perhaps even another country, from her classmates, she will get to know everybody in the classroom, on the playing field, and on the stage. With social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and other messaging apps providing instantaneous communication, it is relatively easy to keep that high school network of friends going after she graduates.

This close-knit network of friends from school will help open doors for years after she graduates. The bonds of friendship developed in private school are an essential advantage for a private school student as she begins her career.

Private

I am often asked what benefits there are for parents when they send their children to private school. The quintessential "What's in it for me?" is a legitimate question. After all you are thinking about sending your baby off to a school where you are being told she will work hard, learn how to get along with others and be involved in all kinds of activities. And it is going to cost you a small fortune to boot.

Your concerns are well-founded. So against that backdrop let's examine what I personally consider to be the three main benefits for us parents of sending our children to private school. Lest you think that I am speculating or theorizing, all four of our children went to private school. All grades too. Nursery school. Elementary school. Middle School and high school. So I speak from my own experience as a private school parent.

1. Knowing that your child will receive a comprehensive education: academics, sports and extracurricular activities.

Private schools educate the whole child. Educating the whole child requires an integrated program of academic studies, athletics and extracurricular activities. Essentially a private school is going to pick up where you left off when you sent her to school.

You have invested some serious time raising your child. Remember how you did it? Always a variety of activities. Always encouraging your child to do things she didn't know she could

Why teach boys in a single-sex setting? Aren't boys' schools archaic and out of touch? Aren't boys more likely to succeed in a coeducational setting? What are the advantages of educating boys in a single-sex setting? The answers to these questions and many more are contradictory and subjective. Furthermore, the amount of research into boys' education is fairly limited. With those caveats in place, let's explore some sources and resources for the special corners of the education world: boys' schools.

The research

A good starting point for exploring boys' schools is the International Boys' Schools Coalition. Just like the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools is one of the major umbrella organizations for girls' schools, the International Boys' Schools Coalition is one of the major umbrella organizations for boys' schools around the globe. It champions boys' schools. It encourages research on the education of boys.

The IBSC terms its research papers Action Research Projects. Papers such as Teaching Boys at the Coal Face: Mining Key Pedagogical Approaches, Ready, Willing, and Able: Boys and Writing, Volumes I & II, Journeys into Masculinity, Positive Relationships, Positive Learning, Boys and Digital Literacy, and Boys and Reading give you and me valuable insights into teaching boys.

For more background on this educational model, read Single-Sex Education: An Overview.

As you read these papers, you begin to realize that the secret to boys' schools is that they are appropriate for many young men. Not all young men.