Why Kids Need the Community of Sport

Scott McNevan

Assistant Head of School

Residential Life & Co-Curriculars

Director - Athletics

You remember it.  

It was the awful feeling that you just didn’t fit. 

It was like you were on the outside of things and no one understood. 

 
Loneliness.  

We were all there at one time or another as young people. 

Was it your first day of third grade at the new school?  You were the new kid on the playground, friend-less, and feeling as if everyone was staring at you. 

Perhaps it was in middle school.  What are these new social rules?  Why wasn’t I invited to the sleepover this time?  How come those kids are laughing over there?  Are they laughing at ME? 

Maybe it was a high school moment.  You felt adrift, without a place, without an identity.  They tell me to just ‘be myself’ but...who am I?   

For some, that lonely ‘fish out of water’ feeling is an isolated bad memory from childhood.  It lives in a back drawer of the memory bank, able to be recalled but buried under the sediment of many years.  For others, this feeling was so significant, so enduring and terrible, that it negatively shaped social and emotional development completely.  It can be the root cause of adult anxiety and present personal challenges deep into adulthood.
 

Regardless of what level or frequency of loneliness we experienced as young people, we can all agree that it was negative.  It stunted us.  It prevented us from being our best, from feeling the electricity of being plugged in to something, from feeling known. 
 

WE ARE NOT WIRED TO THRIVE ALONE  

 
We are undeniably at our best as members of a community, connected with others for support, care, health, and well-being.  Communities bring people together, often striving towards a common goal or mission.  As adults, we understand this.  We choose to join clubs, groups, and organizations of all kinds for their numerous benefits.  However, kids often lack that initiative.  Slowed by natural insecurity and doubt, they don’t always seek out community for fear of rejection.  They need the community brought to them.
 

At AOA, ‘Community’ is one of our core values.  We bring this to our students in many ways, at many levels.  The dorm is a community unique to its residents, the middle school division is a community unto itself, the ‘Star Wars Club’ that meets weekly during morning mix is a community to its members.  There are endless examples of community connection available for an AOA student. However, I’d like to highlight an offering we bring to students that has been a life-altering source of community for many young people for generations and is, I believe, more important than ever. 

The community of sport.      

 
CONNECTIVITY BREEDS CONFIDENCE 

If you were a fly on the wall of most admissions conversations with new families, at some point you would likely hear a statement like this, ‘If there is a sport that Jenny has even mild interest in, we really encourage her to give it a try here.’
 

This wise encouragement is grounded in years of successful stories.  A typical story usually goes something like this.

 
-Jenny is a new student who knows no one, is quiet, unsure, and reluctant
-Jenny joins the volleyball team
-Within one week, Jenny is known by coaches and a team of players
-After several weeks, Jenny feels connected and affiliated while walking the hallways of school
-After a month, a more confident Jenny has forged new friendships and social roots
-By season end, the volleyball team has become a community Jenny undoubtedly belongs to 

CONFIDENCE IS LIKE ‘MIRACLE-GRO’ FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 

Sport (both team and individual) instantly provides a young person with connection to a community.  Relationships naturally develop and confidence inherently grows as they share the ups and downs of a season with their teammates.  They push each other to new boundaries in practice.  They experience the thrill of victories and the agony of defeats during competition.  They laugh out loud during bus trips and share inside jokes that only the team would understand. 
 

For many individuals, sport has provided that ‘aha’ moment in their young lives.  The traction they had been lacking takes hold.  They belong to a group now.  They feel a part of something. 
 

They no longer feel alone. 
 

SPORTS ARE A SAFE HAVEN 
 

There are unspoken boundaries that all adolescents learn to understand.  For instance, you might be able to sit and socialize with Jordan in the student center after lunch.  But...you definitely cannot sit near Jordan and his friends in the hallway between 5th and 6th period.  That is a no-no.  Everyone knows that.

Cliques and exclusive social circles abound.  That group by the pool table?  All seniors.  If you’re an underclassman, you do not go over there.  Those kids sitting outside every day during lunch on the picnic tables? Lifers.  They’ve all been here since Pre-K together.
 

Social media is hard.  I want to ‘like’, ‘friend’, or ‘follow’ the right people, the cool people.  I mean...I don’t want to seem over-eager, but I do want that attention.  While I think Bernard is kind of funny, most of my friends think he’s a dork.  So, I can’t follow his posts.  It wouldn’t be good for me. 
 

These sorts of dynamics in a young person’s landscape are very real and always seem in play.  They create pressure and social obstacles that hinder community building in many circumstances.
 

Perhaps the most amazing thing about the community of sport is that it cuts through these dynamics and provides a safe bubble for young people where those unwritten rules lose their power.  Friendships form between grades, backgrounds, and socio-economic status.  Comradery develops amongst the group that can feel family-like. When you’re on the team, you can safely go where the team goes, sit where the team sits, or speak with a team member in the hallway.  
 

There is a support system within the community of sport that transcends.          
 

THE BIG PICTURE
 

Relative to our size, we offer a wide range of sports to our students at AOA each year.  There is a long list of reasons why you, as a parent, might want your child to get involved. 
 

Earn a college scholarship?  Perhaps, although the statistics are not in your favor.  (only 2% of high school students earn an athletic college scholarship each year)
 

Get exercise and stay fit?  Of course!  With obesity rates amongst young people soaring and the digital age supporting a more sedentary lifestyle than ever, this is an excellent reason. 
 

Stay out of trouble?  Sports will definitely consume a lot of your student’s time during the course of a season.  There will surely be less opportunity for shenanigans if they are practicing and competing daily. 
 

These are all standard, sound reasons to support a student’s participation in sports.  However, think even bigger!

Participating in sports is joining a community.  It is feeling known and supported. It is membership in a tribe and learning to contribute towards the common goal.  It is a breeding ground for connectivity and confidence.  It is a safe haven away from the pressures and turbulence of today’s adolescent landscape.   
 

Kids need the community of sport more than ever. 
 

Go AOA!

From High School to College: What I've Learned from the Other Side

Stephanie Wismer
Andrews Osborne Academy Director of Residential Life

“My child cannot live with that student. They’re just too different.”
“My child needs a single room because having a roommate will be too much change for them.”
“My child needs to live in a specific building because I’ve heard students who live there are happier.”
“My child needs help waking up for class. Can you pop by their room every morning and make sure they don’t sleep through their alarm?”

OK, that last one was just once, but it was memorable! As a former college administrator, I received requests like these from parents of first-year students every year. You may say, “No way!” I can assure you, this is the reality. Others may think, “Helicopter parents! They need to back off!” The purpose of this post is not to shame these parents. I empathize deeply with parents of high school seniors and first-year college students because many of them have one thing in common: they are afraid. Truthfully, why wouldn’t they be? The transition from high school to college is one of the most difficult and all-encompassing transitions students will ever experience. Parents are worried about their child’s ability to manage, adapt, and ultimately, be successful. In my experience, students worry about these same things.

Over the last decade, I have worked in multiple areas of student affairs including admissions, career services, financial aid and university housing. Every year, I witnessed more students struggle with balance and mental health during their first year. In my most recent role supporting a residential campus of 6,000 students, it was evident how quickly transition anxiety can become debilitating. There is a lot of research that explains why the current generation of college applicants, referred to as “Generation Z”, is experiencing more anxiety around the college transition than any generation before them. I will summarize by saying this generation of students is stressed about things both within and outside their control, and experiencing what Psychology Today described as, “A narrowing definition of life success leading to destructive perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking,” (Hibbs & Rostain, 2018). Although schools try to prepare their students for the next step academically, very few students are adequately prepared for life outside of the classroom.

Today, I serve as the Director of Residential Life for Andrews Osborne Academy, with oversight of 6th-12th grade boarding students from all over the world. Having seen where our students will end up, our Residential Curriculum has been designed to better prepare boarders for this transition and manage their anxiety whenever possible. Our students learn how to live in a community, develop healthy habits, act with greater independence, communicate across difference, and elevate their academic success. Our Houseparents, Faculty Fellows and Proctors all contribute to this mission by fostering meaningful relationships with students, facilitating activities with their houses, and serving as additional sources of support.

Whether or not you have access to a boarding and/or an international community before college, I have some advice for students and parents to ease the transition:

For Students:
Establish a routine now and take your self-care seriously. Most young adults do not know what to do with the excess time they have after high school. That lack of routine impacts their ability to focus, eating and sleeping schedules, and overall ability to function at their best in college. Schedule time for studying, exercising, relaxing, and yes, even sleep. Take those scheduled times as seriously as your school schedule and extracurricular activities. Students who take care of themselves will always outpace those without that same balance.

Ask questions and seek out resources upon arrival! The most successful college students advocate for themselves. Between time and financial management training, success coaching, study tips, and counseling sessions, there is so much available for free on college campuses and in the surrounding communities to support you.

Your college roommate does not need to be your best friend. In fact, in most cases, it is more beneficial if they are not. Your college roommate needs to be someone that you can live well with. Often, that has more to do with when they go to sleep and their noise level preferences than how much friendship boxes they check off.

Conflict is inevitable. Too many first-year students request room changes to avoid conflict and those students typically end up more unhappy than they were to begin with. Before the honeymoon period is over with your new roommate(s), have an honest conversation about how you plan to share space throughout the year. Although it may add to your anxiety in the short-term, this is a best practice that will make life much easier down the road!

Discomfort and personal growth often go together. Please do not measure your success in college (or high school) by how comfortable you can become. Students who only surround themselves with similar, like-minded people and only experience things they already know they like will not grow as much as those who challenge themselves to step outside their comfort zone. Your college may be the most diverse community you have ever lived in, and the more you expose yourself to different people and perspectives, the more you will transform yourself. This is not to take away from the importance of self-care or finding affinity space, but a reminder to embrace discomfort and be open to the wonderfully diverse world we live in!

For Parents and Advocates:
Ask questions and listen. I can understand wanting to solve problems for your child, but what they often need is to feel empowered to advocate for themselves and seek out their own solutions. College is about starting that transition to independence. If they tell you they are upset with how something is going, you can first support what they’ve said with a statement like, “I can see why you feel that way” and then ask a follow up question like, “Have you shared this with anyone at the school?”

Remind them they are not alone. It can take awhile to find true friends, and feeling lonely or homesick during these times is very normal. Sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is to remind your student that they are not alone, and that there is a long list of people at their school that are there to support them. This list may include their RA or another student leader, Hall Director, Advisor, or counselors on campus, depending upon what they need.

There is no “best” residence hall on campus and your student will learn to wake up on their own. For the record, no college I have worked for has ever had a “best” residence hall. In my experience, some of the happiest and most tight-knit communities were formed in older buildings with cinder block walls and community bathrooms. If your student has a good relationship with their roommate, the shape, size and age of their room will quickly become inconsequential to their happiness. Regarding my other note above, I promise you that no college administrator I’ve ever known would agree to wake your child up every morning. Just make sure they have a loud alarm and let them take it from there!

The Economics of Higher Education: When and How to Start Saving so it's Affordable

Melissa Nipper
Director of College Counseling at Andrews Osborne Academy

HOW WILL I PAY FOR COLLEGE?  

According to the Wall Street Journal, the average college graduate’s student loan debt is at a whopping $37,172 and that’s just the average! The most recent data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows the overall student loan debt in America hovering just over $1.3 trillion. Trillion! 

We all want our kids to go to college debt free (for them AND for us!). But how can we make this possible? What are the ways to pay for college? Well, read on and find out.  

First of all: KNOW WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD! No school, no matter how elite, is worth graduating with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt! Parents and student NEED to have a conversation about paying for college well in advance of May 1st- the National college ‘commitment day’. 

Is there a college fund? How much can parents pay per year...how much are parents willing to pay per year? Start the conversation with your high school student now! 

Second, make sure to take care of yourself first- pay off debts, pay your mortgage, pay into your retirement fund. Don’t forget to take care of YOUR future and your own money goals before saving for college for your child.  

Finally, know how much college may cost for your child. If you can estimate this, then you will have a better understanding of just how much you will need to save and can make a well thought out plan from there. 

The first step toward getting a realistic understanding of how much a college or university will cost is to use the Net Price Calculator and Estimated Family Contribution Calculator. Many colleges and universities use the College Board’s Net Price Calculator and EFC calculator to estimate how much the student’s family will be expected to contribute for the year.   Other colleges and universities have developed their own net price and estimated family contribution calculators.  

The Net Price Calculator is a tool that helps you estimate your “net price” (net price= what you will be expected to pay at a specific college or university for one year minus any grants or scholarships for which you might be eligible). The EFC is the expected contribution each family is deemed able to provide each year towards the cost of college.  

HOW DOES IT WORK? 

The Net Price Calculator looks at the “sticker price” of a college, uses your financial information (which you enter), and then estimates the amount of money your family would be expected to contribute to the cost of college. The Net Price Calculator also evaluates your eligibility for financial aid. 

Remember—it is possible that a college with a high sticker price might end up costing less than a college with a low sticker price, and the Net Price Calculator can help you to estimate “financial fit” at a variety of colleges and universities. 

Because it can be tricky to find the Net Price Calculator on each school’s website, I suggest you consult this list of schools with links to their Net Price Calculators, compiled by U.S. News & World Report.   

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF FINANCIAL AID? 

NEED BASED: 

Loans: these have to be paid back to the lender

• Federal aid offers direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans. The difference between these two loans is that subsidized loans are based on financial need and the interest does not accrue while the student is in college, as the interest is paid by the federal government. Interest begins accruing for Direct Unsubsidized Loans as soon as the loan is taken out.

• PLUS Loans: This is a fixed rate federal  loan for parents of dependent undergraduate students. Our advice is to look into other private lending options as well to make sure you are getting the best interest rate available. 

Grants: A Grant is money the government provides for students who need it to pay for college. Grants, unlike loans, do not have to be repaid. Eligible students receive a specified amount each year under this program.

Work Study: Federal Work-Study provides part-time jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay education expenses. The program encourages community service work and work related to the student’s course of study. 

MERIT BASED:

Scholarships are also money awarded that does not need to be repaid. Scholarships can be awarded based on academics, special talents, leadership, athletics, or other aspects that specific schools, companies, community agencies, and organizations would like to recognize and reward. Some scholarships at colleges are automatic while others must be applied for. 

It is important that you check each school’s website for information about merit aid/scholarships. Some schools might require a separate application and also could require you to submit additional letters of recommendation and additional essays. 

- FastWeb is a great scholarship search engine for outside scholarships opportunities. Also, check with any organizations or affiliation groups you or your family belong to. They may have scholarships available. 

- RaiseMe enables students to earn micro scholarships throughout high school, starting as early as 9th grade, for doing all the things that best prepare them to succeed, whether that’s getting good grades, volunteering in the community or joining an extracurricular activity.

FORMS 

The most common form for financial aid is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This is required by every college and university if you apply for financial aid. There is no fee connected to the FAFSA and filing the FAFSA determines your eligibility for Federal financial aid funds, the backbone of most college financial aid programs.  

* Note: Both students and parents will first need to register for their own individual FSA ID/PIN numbers. Registering for an FSA ID is the easiest way to make sure the financial aid process runs smoothly as it allows users to electronically access personal information on the FAFSA web site as well as electronically sign a FAFSA.   

Prior-Prior Year (PPY) refers to a policy enabling students and families to file the FAFSA using tax information from two years ago. For example, a high school senior planning to enroll in college in Fall 2020 will file the FAFSA using tax information from 2018. The FAFSA opens up annually on October 1st. Students and parents should complete the FAFSA as close to October 1st as possible. Also, many colleges have financial aid deadlines- it is very important to know these! 

**Please note: www.fafsa.com and www.fafsa.net are the Web sites of private companies who will try to charge you money to fill out your FREE Application for Federal Student Aid. Avoid these sites! 

2. The second most common form needed for financial aid is the College Scholarship Service Financial Aid Profile (CSS Profile).  The CSS Profile is what colleges and universities use to determine how much non-government financial aid they can award.  Most often, private colleges and universities are the ones to require the CSS Profile, however it is your responsibility to check with your colleges and the official list of CSS Profile schools to determine if you need to file a CSS Profile. The CSS can be filled out beginning October 1st. Unlike the FAFSA, the CSS requirements can differ from school to school (deadline dates, whether it needs to be completed every year, which parent/s need to fill out, etc).  

3. The third most common form needed for financial aid is individual college and university institutional forms. Many colleges have online financial aid applications. Make certain to check on the availability of these forms. If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact the college’s financial aid office for assistance and guidance during this process.  

After they are submitted online, the FAFSA and CSS Profile are sent to central agencies to be processed and forwarded to the colleges to which you plan to apply. Families complete only one FAFSA and one CSS Profile. Institutional forms, on the other hand, are requested directly from each college and submitted to its financial aid office.

GATHER YOUR PAPERWORK AND INFORMATION 

What you need varies by application, but a basic checklist includes:

• Your Social Security Number
• Your Alien Registration Number (if you are not a U.S. citizen)
• Your federal income tax returns, W-2s, and other records of money earned. (Note: You may be able to transfer your federal tax return information into your FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.)
• Bank statements and records of investments (if applicable)
• Records of untaxed income (if applicable)
• A FSA ID  to sign electronically.
• If you are a dependent student, then you will also need most of the above information for your parent(s) 
• Here is a helpful link that will help explain the CSS Profile vs the FAFSA. 

SAVING FOR COLLEGE:

Beyond financial aid, loans, and merit based awards and the ever elusive ‘full ride’, having a college fund is the optimal way to pay. But what is the best way and when should you start saving? Well, one answer would be to start saving the moment you find out you will have a child. We all know however that this isn’t always possible or  probable. Let’s just say- it’s never too early, and if you can save anything, then it’s never too late to start! 

529 PLAN:

There are 2 types:

Pre-Paid Tuition Plans: You lock in current tuition rates at in-state public institutions. If your child decides to go to a private or out-of-state institution, you might receive only a small return on your original investment. 

Savings plans: You contribute regularly and rely on the account’s earnings to grow. You take on more investment risk but give your child the opportunity to use the funds at public and private schools nationwide.

• Note that you CAN shop around from state to state. You do not have to automatically get the 529 Plan offered in your home state. Check out this article to help you learn more about 529 plans and which may be the best for you.  

EDUCATIONAL SAVINGS ACCOUNTS or EDUCATIONAL IRA:

An ESA allows you to save $2,000 (after tax) per year, per child. It grows tax-free! If you start when your child is born and save $2,000 a year for 18 years, you would only invest $36,000. While the rate of growth will vary based on the investments in the account, you’ll likely earn a much higher rate of return with an ESA than you would in a regular savings account—and you won’t have to pay taxes when you withdraw the money to pay for education expenses. 

UTMA or UGMA (Uniform Transfer/Gift to Minors Act):

An UTMA/UGMA differs from ESAs and 529 Plans in how they aren’t designed just for education savings. The account is in the child’s name but is controlled by a custodian (usually a parent or grandparent). This person manages the account until the child reaches age 21. At age 21 (age 18 for the UGMA), control of the account transfers to the child to use any way they choose. 

WHAT ELSE?

• If a student is considering applying for a school as an early decision candidate BUT is hesitant to do so because of the cost, call the financial aid office and ask if they would be willing to do an early financial read and give you an estimate on what your estimated Family contribution would be. 

• 10 Strategies to reduce your 'EFC'- I’m putting this here just in case you want to read it. Game the system? Nah, just an interesting article.  

Once all the acceptances come in, award letters are sent and financial aid packages are finalized- that is when the determining factor of where to commit takes place. Make sure to sit down with your child and again, have the conversation about funds and paying for college. Review everything. Don’t’ be afraid to reach back out to a college’s financial aid office to see if they’d be willing to reexamine your aid package and merit awards. The worst they can say is no. But if there is a discrepancy between very similar colleges in what they are awarding you, it never hurts to ask. Also, if something changed affecting finances between the time your child applied to the college and when the award package came in, let them know this information as this could have an impact on the award/aid offered. Best of luck to you. The college search and application process can be really fun! The paying for it part-not so much. However, if you are well informed, then you can be well prepared and hopefully, get through this with minimal financial impact. 

Acting & the Art of Conversation

Darryl Lewis
Andrews Osborne Academy Performing Arts Instructor

 As an aspiring young actor, my automatic “go to” audition piece was a song entitled “If I Loved You” from the musical, Carousel. I have always enjoy performing this song because it was light work for an accompanist to sight read, it was lyrical, it was well suited by bass-baritone and I could pop off a solid G4 on any day of the week. When I was asked to perform a song for an acting class as part of a training exercise, I went with my “go to” piece. The performance went well. While the other acting students in the class stood and applauded, the acting instructor placed a bench next to the piano and selected a young co-ed to be seated. The young student was instructed to stare down at the ground. I was then asked to sing the song again while seated on the bench next to her. I was asked to have a simple conversation with her. I was asked not to perform the song for an audience, but simply remove the audience from the equation and have a conversation with another human being. Everything changed.

“If I loved you, time and again I would try to say, all I’d want you to know...Longing to tell you but afraid and shy. I’d let my golden chances pass me by. Soon you’d leave me, off you would go in the midst of day. Never, never to know, how I loved you. If I loved you.” - Billy Budd from Carousel

My usual, powerful high G was now barely audible as words became more difficult to sing. Now that I was focused on conversation rather than performance, the weight and meaning of what I was saying became profound. Many of the performance tricks I used were gone and simple words, melody and two people remained.  At the end there was no applause from my fellow students. There was no ovation, only silence. For me, it was a quiet moment that resulted in a powerful acting lesson and an important life lesson.

“Face to face conversation is the most human and humanizing thing we do,” says Sherry Turkie in her book Reclaiming Conversation - The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. “Fully present to one another, we learn to listen. It is where we develop the capacity for empathy. It’s where we experience the joy of being heard and of being understood. Conversation advances self-reflection, the conversations with ourselves that are the cornerstone of early development and continues throughout life.”

We are immersed in technology today. Most have experienced the text message or email that was misunderstood by the person on the receiving end. These technological advances are taking away important skills from our students that only come from face to face interactions. Conversation without the presence of facial or physical expression, inflection or spatial relationships can misrepresent intent. That is why a balance is so important. I have yet to experience a stage play or musical that takes place online as an instant message, (but I’m sure some Millennial is working on it). So, for the meanwhile, onstage we are met with the challenge of looking another human being in the eyeballs and expressing ourselves.

This school year at Andrews Osborne Academy, students have an opportunity to explore this idea in all of our productions: Duets, A concert featuring the music of Jason Robert Brown, Mamma Mia, Barefoot in the Park, Disney’s Frozen Jr. and A Raisin in the Sun. This year also brings back the Phoenix Guest Artist Series with Actors Equity Association’s songstress Colleen Longshaw and Maestro Malik Khalfani.

The idea of how we communicate to our family, our friends, neighbors and our acquaintances is paramount in all of these productions. Through this year of theater, I want to give our young performers an opportunity to share in the same experiences I remember. I want them to understand that everything we do as a performing artist is a duet, a conversation. When we sing, dance or perform a monologue, there is another person engaged in the exchange, whether they are present or implied. The beauty of acting and the beauty of conversation is the verbal and physical exchange of thoughts, ideas, dialogue and approval between two or more people. Disappointingly this beautiful culture of dialogue between people is no longer existentially as strong as it used to be. People seem to not have time these days to engage in a head-to-head, or better yet, a heart-to-heart conversation. Hence failing to realize the importance of acknowledgement of another person. If this season be nothing more than an exercise, then I hope it will prove to be a beneficial life lesson for our young performers. I hope to see you at a show or two. It all begins Thursday, October 10th at 7 p.m.

Why Choose an Independent School?

Larry Goodman, Ph.D.
Andrews Osborne Academy Head of School


Generally speaking, schools in the United States are either “public” - funded through taxes and public funds - or “private” - funded through tuition and donations - (excluding those parents who choose to home-school their children). And within the category of “private” schools, there are two major clusters of schools - religious/parochial schools and independent schools. The religious/parochial schools are owned by, or beholden to, a religious organization or creed. The independent schools, on the other hand, are beholden only to their stated mission and their independent board of directors. Statistically, many more families choose public schools (90%) over private schools (10%);¹ and within the private school group, many more families choose the religious/parochial schools (87%) over independent schools (11%).² This effectively means that only 1% of Americans students attend an “independent school.” Given that they are in such a large minority, why DO the families who choose to send their children to an independent school make that choice?

College admission and college-readiness

Graduates from independent schools enjoy a strong edge in college admissions. In “Is there a Private School Advantage in College Admissions,” Dave Bergman notes: “Roughly 95% of non-parochial private high school grads go on to four-year postsecondary institutions compared with 49% of public school grads. And it’s also worth keeping in mind that only 10% of children in the U.S. attend private school, yet make up a disproportionately high percentage of accepted students at elite colleges.”³ Said differently, students who attend an independent (non-parochial private) school are twice as likely to attend a 4-year college/university as public school students - and more likely to do so than parochial/religious school students. Moreover, independent school students have a significant edge in admission to competitive colleges and universities over both public school students and parochial/religious school students.

And because of the small class size and high-caliber academic programs at independent schools, students who go to college from these schools also perform better once they get into college. This can be seen in the time it takes students entering college to graduate with a bachelor’s degree; over a 6-year period, 60% MORE independent school students will have completed their bachelor’s degree than their public school counterparts.4

Student-focused model

Independent schools are able to operate in a student-centered way, while public schools are often limited in their ability to do this due to government oversight and class size. When No Child Left Behind became the law of the land in 2001, one of the unintended consequences was that the educators in public schools were forced to focus on the metrics by which students are evaluated - not on the students themselves. In pursuit of more academically successful groups of students, individual students' needs became increasingly overlooked.

Because independent schools do not receive federal funding (for the most part), they were not impacted by NCLB - and while the public schools were moving away from a student-centered classroom, there was a trend in independent schools (aided by the burgeoning digital revolution) to try and tailor the educational formats and programs to the individual students’ needs. An old term - “differentiated instruction” - was being resuscitated and practiced in the classroom.

Average class size amplifies this difference. According to one writer, public school classrooms in urban areas are 2 or more times larger than independent schools in those same areas.⁵ So not only were the classrooms in the independent schools unimpacted by the federal mandates from NCLB, the student-to-teacher ratios were significantly smaller, which further enabled “differentiated instruction.”

More Opportunity Outside of the Classroom

The size of the overall student body in independent schools also creates an important advantage. As a rule, independent high schools are significantly smaller than their parochial and public counterparts - often 2 to 3 times smaller. This means that a student’s chances of making the soccer team, or getting a role in the school play, or being a part of the yearbook staff are 2 to 3 times better at an independent school.

This naturally creates a very different culture at independent schools versus public schools. At public schools, the shear size of the student body tends to segregate by interests and talents (the athletes are in one group, the artsy people are in another group, the bookworms are in a different group, and so on). At independent schools, however, the reverse is true. Because the schools tend to be significantly smaller, many students are part of multiple groups. The star of the basketball team can also be in the school play and be part of the school’s Mock Trial team; in fact, the small numbers almost require this kind of participation across groups. And so the culture that develops is one of shared experiences and closeness.

While this is good news for students who know they want to participate in a specific program area, it provides a second benefit. Yes, my volleyball-playing girl will be able to play on the volleyball team at a smaller independent school, whereas she might not make the cut at the large public school, but she will also be stretched by the experience of attending an independent school in a way that she would not be at a public school.

The smaller independent schools provide their students with more options for co-curricular experiences because they have fewer students competing for the same number of positions. The need for student participation across program areas and the culture of “joining” that evolves stimulates a broader co-curricular experience for the students. And, as a result, the students that attend these schools tend to expand their “comfort zones” into areas they may not have otherwise considered.
If you would like to learn more about independent schools, a great place to start is the website for the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).

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¹Huffpost.com. N. p., 2019. Web. 26 June 2019. Jack Jennings, Former President/CEO Center on Education Policy. ²"CAPE | Private School Facts." Capenet.org. N. p., 2019. Web. 27 June 2019. ³Bergman, Dave. "Is There A Private School Advantage In College Admissions?." College Transitions. N. p., 2017. Web. 27 June 2019. ⁴Capenet.org. N. p., 2019. Web. 27 June 2019
⁵"Public Vs. Private Schools: 5 Major Differences." ThoughtCo. N. p., 2019. Web. 27 June 2019.