The High School Your Teen Attends Makes All the Difference
Educational Components
You want your kids' high school to prepare them academically for college and a solid future. In private schools, class sizes are often smaller and students are given the personal attention they need to succeed. Many public schools are designed to save money by housing masses of teens under one roof. The districts can save money on transportation costs, equipment, and even on the cafeteria. When thousands of students attend one facility, they share the buses, the gymnasium, the laboratories, the cafeteria, and the athletic field. When you divide these costs up, it's way less expensive per student than a smaller facility with manageable class sizes. Too many kids in one class mean less attention for your teen and worn out teachers. Smaller classes equates to more one-on-one teaching for each student.
Faculty
In high school, teens are at one of the most impressionable phases of their lives. They are maturing into independent free thinkers. At a private facility, the faculty is comprised of highly educated individuals who have dedicated their careers to teaching. Because they chose to teach at a small, top quality educational setting, it shows their commitment to quality. In private schools, teachers, students, and families have a better chance of getting to know each other and forming a community.
Fellow Students
If your teen is a brainy chess player, you want him or her to be surrounded by classmates who respect intelligence. You want high achievers and kids who are on track for attending college to be sitting in the classroom next to your sons and daughters. Humans naturally absorb their environment and this is especially true of impressionable adolescents. Teens often end up speaking like, dressing like, and acting like their peers. If you send your kids to a high school where their fellow students are respectful, well mannered and motivated, it's likely that your kids will follow suit. If delinquents and gang members surround your youth, watch out for trouble.
When parents are able to send their kids to a private high school, they are giving them an opportunity to grow and thrive in a healthy environment. The setting, faculty, and fellow students will all have an impact on your student's development during their freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years.