What Is A "Private School"? -- Segmenting The Market

In the United States (at least in some circles) "my kid goes to private school" has become a chant of status. However, not all private schools mean "highly selective institution of highly rigorous and demanding curriculum".

The "private school" universe should be properly segmented:

• Schools having a religious foundation


• Parochial schools of the Roman Catholic Church (PBS Ethics & Religon special) --typically under the authority of the local diocese.


• What the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) calls "religious conservative schools" -- typically Christian, teaching "back to basics" and a biblically-based science curriculum (i.e., creationism rather than evolution).
  
• Religious-affiliation schools requiring (or putting a strong emphasis on) attendance at a given church or membership in a given sect (think of the academies of the Seventh Day Adventists).
• Schools run by religious orders, but not under the control of any particular parish--the Sacred Hearts, the Notre Dames of suburbia. At least here in the San Francisco Bay area, the schools ' curricula include theology, but accept students of all (or no) religion, and do not require a profession of faith. Note: There has been a huge growth in Jewish day schools, and I have heard anecdotally that some non-Jews have enrolled because of the excellence in education.
  




• Secular Schools


• Private schools that follow a particular branded philosophy (such as Montessori schools, or Waldorf Schools*).


• Proprietary schools, stand-alone or chain, whose tuition includes a profit for the proprietors. (NECS lumps these into "nonsectarian private schools"--not distinguishing between not-for-profit and for-profit. ) Examples include:
  
  • CardenSchools
  
  
  • Challenger Schools (a chain based in Utah)
  
  
  • Stratford Schools (a chain based in Danville, California)
  
  
  • Pinecrest Schools (a chain in Southern California)
  
  
  
• Truly independent schools, usually with membership in the National Association of Independent Schools. Independent schools are non-public, not-for-profit, pre-collegiate institutions governed by boards of trustees.

What makes an independent school different from a private school? All independent schools, to deserve the name, must be not-for-profit. All independent schools are governed by a self-perpetuating board of trustees. The role of the board is to:

• Establish the school's mission


• Safeguard the mission


• Manage the school and its assets for future generations.

(more on governance in a future post)

That's not to say that a for-profit enterprise can't be good. It is just different.

The Council for American Private Education (CAPE)is an association of associations. It has a page outlining all the different types of schools that make up the CAPE landscape. The mission statement for CAPE follows:

Our nation is blessed by a rich diversity of private schools -- some rooted in religious traditions, some that provide intensive academic experiences, some that reflect a particular pedagogy, and some that are specialized for specific populations. These diverse schools and strong, often faith-based, communities help fulfill the American ideal of educational pluralism and collectively contribute to the common good.

One of the associations that make up CAPE is The National Independent Private Schools Association, an association of for-profit (proprietary) elementary through high school institutions.

Another type of private school is the proprietary academic school organized as a for-profit corporation. There are about 1,000 in the country, according to Jim Williams of the National Independent Private Schools Association. "We are the tax-paying schools," Williams says. "Most schools start with an idea, the vision of someone. Many of the people who start proprietary schools are disenchanted public-school or disappointed independent-school teachers who don't want to deal with a board of directors or a school board." He points out that most of the elite prep schools of the 19th century began as proprietary schools with fees paid to headmasters. "People who get involved with proprietary schools are pleased with what they see," Williams says.

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*Some people make the case that a Waldorf school is actually a religious school
system hiding behind a facade of progressive, arts-based education.