草榴社区

What is financial aid?

• Financial aid is money given by individual private schools to help families pay for a private school education.
• 草榴社区 schools give families millions of dollars annually to help them afford a private school education.

What is the purpose of financial aid?

• Financial aid is one tool private schools can use to make their school more diverse.
• Yes, many years ago, private schools had a less-than-positive reputation for being elitist.
• However, thankfully, times have changed.

Being able to pay for a private school education is no longer the only admission criterion that matters. If your child has the qualifications that the school is looking for, but you cannot afford to send her, then financial aid is certainly an option that you need to explore.

Read what one of the most prestigious private schools in the United States of America has to say about diversity:

"Andover's broad socio-economic diversity is a hallmark of the Academy as displayed in the inclusive distribution of financial aid grants to low-, middle- and upper-middle-income families."

, like a great many private schools, has a Need-Blind Admissions policy in place. What that means is that the school does not look at your financial circumstances as part of its admissions criteria.

• Ask whether the school to which you are applying has a Need Blind Admissions policy in place.
• Find out more about how it works.

This video offers a video of the Latin School of Chicago.

Actually, there are many more things to know about private schools than the four items I have chosen. But let's get you started with these. They are the ones I consider most important.

For most of us, the idea of sending your child to private school begins with that nagging feeling that she's very bright and needs the very best kind of schooling possible. She needs an enriched academic curriculum. She needs time to explore subjects that interest her. She needs an athletics program with lots of options. She wants to be on the stage. These wishes and desires on her part are not always easily fulfilled in a public school setting. As a result, you start exploring your private school options. That leads you to individual private school websites and resources like this site. And it also raises many questions. So, the four points I will expand on below affirm what you probably already knew anyway.

You cannot rank private schools.

As you explore schools online, you quickly realize there is no way to rank schools. It is perfectly normal to want to send your child to the best school possible. But how can you identify that school if there is no ranking system? First, let's deal with the reality of private schools and ranking. They cannot be ranked. Why? Because they are unique. We have approximately 400 boarding schools in the U.S. Each one is different. Not better. Not worse. Simply different from all the

You want the best possible education for your child. The local school district may be reasonably good, but many families continue to face concerns about budget pressures, staffing shortages, curriculum debates, and changing educational priorities. You don't want to sacrifice your child's educational opportunities or spend money needlessly on other educational options, such as private school or homeschooling.

草榴社区 school makes sense on many levels because everything is there. Academics, activities, sports, facilities, and staff are the critical components of every private school's package. In a private school, learning and teaching are continuous. It doesn't matter whether your child is in the classroom or on the playing field; he or she will be learning.

Perhaps you are considering homeschooling. While homeschooling is certainly possible and has grown significantly in recent years, it requires careful planning, recordkeeping, curriculum selection, and compliance with state regulations. It can be a rewarding experience, but it is also a significant commitment for families.

Now contrast that with the kind of life and activities your child can have at private school.

So, what about some of those rumors you have heard about private schools? Are they true? False? Are things changing? Are private schools different from what they were fifty years ago?

Well, things have indeed changed over that period. Most of what people think they know about private K-12 schools today can be charitably categorized as misconceptions. Frequently, discussions about private

It's kind of scary to realize that most openings for teaching positions regularly draw dozens of applications. Sometimes hundreds of applications. It never used to be like that. But these are tough times. Thousands of public school teachers lost their jobs in the downturn which began back in 2008. Thousands more new teachers are looking for their first job. In the meantime school budgets have been reduced, some drastically, by changing community demographics and changes in the local and regional economies. These are major factors which have changed the dynamics for teachers all over the nation. The realignments which follow these major changes take time to fall into place. For example, when a major employer shuts down a call center, an office or a plant, it will be years in most cases before that void is filled.

While many teachers might well prefer to remain in the public K-12 system or possibly teach at the tertiary level, the realities of the job market mean that those same teachers will also be competing for private school positions. In most cases the best a K-12 teacher can hope for as far as teaching college is concerned is some sort of adjunct instructor position. The reality is that those teachers will probably be applying for the same positions private school teachers are applying for as well.

Tips to Cope with the Job Search Process

Here are some tips to help you cope with the job search process in these tough

It is a scenario that plays out more often than you might think. You have been looking at your child's high school with much trepidation. A couple of concerns keep bubbling to the surface of your thinking. For one thing, the school is enormous. While the students get a relatively good education, according to the statistics you have seen, you still have that persistent, nagging feeling that your child deserves more. Her school offers about a dozen AP courses. There are still some clubs and other extracurricular activities available. The sports program seems to focus on the football and basketball teams. The other factor influencing you to decide that you both work. Frequent business travel has become a regular feature of your life, and it looks like it will continue for many years. The bottom line is that you want your child to attend private school because it will solve some of these problems and correct some of her current public education deficiencies. But how are you going to convince her to go along with you? Let's look at some strategies and approaches that work.

This short video illustrates some of the reasons why parents consider sending their children to private schools.

Don't dictate what is going to happen.

The quickest way to turn your child against any idea, no matter how rational and well-intentioned that idea may be, is to dictate. Telling her that she