Selecting the right school for a child is a decision with far reaching implications. The choice of preschool can influence grade school, which affects middle school and so on until that same child graduates from a University and enters professional life. Many parents and educators view private institutions as the best educational option available due to the many benefits to such institutions. However, those benefits must be measured against the disadvantages of such schools as well.
The Advantages of Private Education
- One thing parents will certainly notice when deciding on the best academy middle school for their is the vastly smaller class sizes of private institutions versus most public versions. The same holds true in the elementary and high schools with the national average at 12.5 students for each teacher in private schools and 15.4 per teacher in the public schools. Consider that 86% of all private institutions have a student body that numbers below 300 in all. Smaller class sizes are much easier to accomplish with fewer students.
- The amount of funding the best academy middle school has in the budget far exceeds that of the majority of public middle schools. This allows for the purchase of better equipment for student athletes, newer books and advanced technology for the school library, and, most important, better teachers and faculty. The staffing advantage especially allows private schools to provide a superior educational experience to the students enrolled.
The Disadvantages of Private Education
- In the previous section, the financial resources of private education was discussed in positive terms, but this situation also can be a prohibitive factor for the majority of parents looking at school options. Private schools obtain their funding through the tuitions paid by the students and their families. Although many such institutions offer some scholarships, those spots are limited, making the education of a child a large investment for a parent, sometimes too large to handle.
- In the United States, those families able to afford the tuition required for even one child to receive a private education are not generally a very diverse group. Although there are certainly exceptions, the students are often white and financially well established. Children of color are far less common. Such an education leaves out an essential element of the social learning that also takes place during school, making the best academy middle school the least capable of teaching understanding and tolerance.
Private education has benefits that few parents could, or even should, resist giving to their child. However, those same parents should be aware of where such schools may be lacking and supplement their child?s education accordingly with volunteering or youth groups.