School Reopening: More and More Parents Opting for Private Schools

Many parents are opting for private school education to provide their kids the skillset they need in the new normal. Various schools will fit each student, with options ranging from preschools to boarding schools to alternative schools. 

The exodus has been felt in school systems around the world. Since the fall, public school enrollment has been declining in most states as parents opt for independent homeschooling, private schools, or new online learning options.

After last spring's school closures, the awareness for school choice initiatives has been increasing, with parents and taxpayers favoring funds to follow students in the form of education savings accounts, vouchers, and tax-credit scholarship programs. More than a half-dozen states are currently considering or enacting legislation to broaden educational options.

READ: Parents Warned to Be "Vigilant" as Schools Begin to Reopen

Why Parents Opt for Private School

Enhanced Academic Opportunities

One of the many known advantages of private schools is that they are known to provide quality and challenging educational opportunities through advanced placement courses, extracurricular activities, advanced diploma programs, to name a few. Moreover, students in private schools regularly receive high scores on standardized assessments and college entrance examinations. 

Small Class Size

Smaller class sizes sometimes have an essential effect the longer a child is exposed to them. In 2002, researchers David Berliner and Bruce Biddler made a systematic report on class size. The result is that the smaller the class size, the better a student performs on academic tests.

Private schools also differ in size, yet almost all stress the importance of small class sizes to support students with their poor areas and advance their strengths, depending on their teaching style.

Parents Participation

Private schools prioritize open contact between parents and administrators and include parents in the group. Families become a vital part of a child's education due to the parent-teacher meetings, social activities such as parent breakfasts and family camping weekends, and parent committee engagement in fundraising initiatives. This common ground also assists in the strengthening of parent-child ties.

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Committed Teachers

In a 2007 study by the Fraser Institute, 91 percent of parents said that the teachers' commitment was the most important factor in their decision to send their children to a private school. Instructors are trained and enthusiastic.

Students have strong relationships with their teachers, who also serve as role models within the close-knit school community. Furthermore, small class sizes enable teachers to be more readily available for extra assistance or question individual students.

Conducive Learning Environment

Private schools have a reputation for upholding high discipline and respect levels as lower staff-to-student ratios allow for better monitoring and control. Private schools also have a good sense of community, which deters risky activity.

According to the Fraser Institute, about 72 percent of parents with children in private schools strongly agreed that their school is excellent.

Ample Scholastic Resources

Private schools have tremendous opportunities to aid student learning in the classroom, on the sports field, in the art studio, and elsewhere. Students can fully develop their interests and abilities thanks to excellent opportunities and extracurricular activities.

Those are some of the reasons parents want to provide their children with the exclusive private school experience and why the financial commitment is worthwhile.

READ MORE: Frustrated Parents Start to Protest Against School Reopening Pace