Joe Raymond/AP Photo. This is particularly true when we examine school rankings because private schools’ higher average test scores are at the heart of the conventional belief that private schools are better than public schools, along with their typically well-funded programs. “Make sure the child goes for a day visit or whatever the school allows.” McCauley agrees: “I was a classroom teacher in the private system, and had kids come and sit in my classroom for a day. And families with lower incomes or academically high-performing kids may qualify for scholarships or bursaries directly from the school, usually covering half the cost of tuition; ask the admissions office for details on how to apply. “If they get a reputation as having a school that families abandon ship from, that’s a problem. What types of resources — musical instruments, computers, athletic equipment, science labs — are available to the students? More than 85% of BC's private schools receive some provincial funding, thereby increasing their affordability. However, private colleges can be quite expensive. Average class size is 12 to 22 students. For starters, you have to pay about 100 bucks for the honour of filling out a pile of paperwork that puts your kid in the running for a place at the school. I thought, Holy God, you just don’t see that anymore.”. For tips on how to do that, see Class distinctions. Start your kid in kindergarten, and you’ll be out a quarter of a million dollars by her high school graduation. After-school supervision for your eight-year-old? Additionally, schools vary in admission process, programs and size. Share on Linkedin Are private schools really better than public schools? Private schools themselves can be tiny (esp some religious schools) or huge. Make an appointment to speak to the principal at the school, and arrive armed with several very good reasons why your child should be allowed to make the switch. Shockingly, there are no laws in place to stop a person with zero educational training to hang a shingle outside their door and start enrolling students. In my area, it's about $10K per year per kid, and I'm told that is really cheap compared to places like the Bay Area and D.C. where it might be $30K per year per kid. About 68% of all private schools have a religious orientation, while 32% are nonreligious. Start by trying to find a school for your child, not trying to make your child fit a school.” You don’t have to be an expert like McCauley to find the right school for your kids; you just have to know your kids. Right? Between 2000–01 and 2016–17, funding for BC independent schools increased by 95.9%. This feature offers names and locations, as well as links to the schools’ own Web sites, many of which are packed with information. A smaller class size means more individual attention and more intervention before issues arise. The only way to find out is to visit the school and see for yourself, as Michelle Wille did when scoping out St. Margaret’s, the school in Victoria, B.C., that she ultimately decided on for her daughter. If you’re convinced that a private-school education is the best thing for your little learner, you’ll be relieved to hear that some of the expenses can be recouped on your income tax return; see a short course in writing it off. They’re doing it for noble reasons. This is larger than student enrolment increases by 54.6%, and larger than funding increases for public schools by 90.0%. Now, that doesn’t mean a school without a board is necessarily disreputable; but it does mean you have to check it out even more rigorously before entrusting your child. I was duly impressed.”. Student loan refinancing can mean big savings in the right circumstances. In order to enter a private Canadian boarding school, following documents are required: A copy of the student's passport or ID card “The biggest mistake is probably deciding on what school your kid will go to without involving your child in the process,” says Judy Winberg. In 2011, OECD’s analysis of PISA results found that while students in private schools tended to outperform their public school peers, the difference was primarily the result of the higher socio-economic status of private school families. Photo created by freepik - www.freepik.com. Here’s what you need to know, More on private schools from the September/October 2014 edition of, Calculating how much money you’ll need at retirement. That's right, private school. Reviews on Private Schools in Ottawa, ON - Westboro Academy, Heritage Academy, Lycee Claudel, Collège Nouvelles Frontières, Astolot Educational Centre, North American Transport Driving Academy Ottawa, Bedmas Academy, Home Tutors 4 U, Ottawa Robotics Academy, Interlangues Language School MoneySense is fully owned by Ratehub Inc, but remains editorially independent. That’s why, in addition to having their academic record looked at, children are often asked to write essays and sit through personal interviews before a school gives them the green light. We are unable to control and are not responsible for any of the content on external sites that we may link to. And keep that chequebook handy. These school are usually co – ed and have a low student – teacher ratio. Some private schools deliver great educations. After, all, she’s the one who’ll be sitting in front of them seven hours a day. (At the renowned Upper Canada College, for example, only one out of every four boys who apply is accepted.) A lingering myth about private schools continues to cloud public perception in Canada—that private schools are only for the wealthy few. Entrance Scholarship to Grade 7 is available. The well-respected private schools that boast 100% university acceptance do so not by giving away good grades, but by making them more difficult to achieve. High Schools. If that contentment is missing, or their outlook on teaching doesn’t match what you have in mind for your kid, you’ll be able to tell very quickly in the course of even a casual conversation. “What you’re guaranteed when you go into private is you’ve got teachers who are there by choice, as opposed to being placed there [as they often are in public school systems]. Those steps can be essential to finding the right fit, especially in schools where the number of applications far exceeds the number of empty desks. Extensive marketing campaigns touting a private school advantage cannot be underestimated. “And inside the glossy stuff was a bunch of photocopied stuff: the complete curriculum for the two-year-olds. In addition to observing them in action, you can also chat with the teachers to get a sense of not only their philosophies on teaching, but their level of contentment as well; when teachers feel valued and happy in their jobs, they’re more effective in the classroom. Average Private School Tuition Cost (2020-21) State. Maybe not. Share this article So be prepared to plead your case. Preparatory school sizes can range from 150 – 1000 students. Perspectives is an opportunity for Fellows and others to share their ideas in short, accessible essays. Share on Reddit But [they’re failing] either because they’re not businesspeople or because they’re not educators. Recognize that they’re individuals with their own specific strengths and interests and you’re halfway there. “I loved when a student was sitting in class in Grade 1 and he was upset about something, and the teacher, instead of getting mad at him, excused all the kids to go to their table and do some reading, and she sat down on the floor with him and just talked him through what he was upset about. Keep in mind that the degree of flexibility to jump into a different district varies with the number of students enrolled from year to year. But Catholic schools offer other potential benefits, whether your family is Catholic or not. However, by simply controlling for the socio-demographic characteristics that selected children and families into these schools, all of the advantages of private school education were eliminated.”. The average cost to attend a private college is about $26,000, and elite liberal arts colleges can run as much as $50,000 annually. First, make sure any school you’re considering has membership in a national or provincial association that enforces strict educational standards, such as the Canadian Association of Independent Schools. “Students who attended private high schools were more likely to have socio-economic characteristics positively associated with academic success and to have school peers with university-educated parents … School resources and practices accounted for little of the differences in academic outcomes” (Statistics Canada: Academic Outcomes of Public and Private High School Students: What Lies Behind the Differences?). If you start your kid in Grade 7, you’re looking at a $200,000-plus investment in his education — before university. On average, the cost of private school tuition for the 2011-2012 school year was $10,740 per child, according to the NCES. Less than seven percent of Canadian students attend private schools, but the majority of Canadians believe private schools provide a better education than public schools. “If they find a school doesn’t meet their child’s needs, then they look elsewhere, and not necessarily in their own neighbourhood.”. In the US there is a very small sector of non-sectarian private schools with high fees, but most private schools are, again, religious, with much lower fees than here. Parents send their children to private schools for a variety of reasons that make sense for them. The return on college investment is declining In British Columbia, there has been a 12% drop in public school enrolment since 2000. Many private and independent schools are registered charities and, as such, are required to divulge their financial statements. And even certified teachers don’t necessarily have a degree in education. If you don’t like your kid’s private school, move on. IPE/BC Fellows on privatization and distributed learning, The State of Education in British Columbia, Annual Update: Public Subsidies to Private Schools, “How Canada Became an Education Superpower.”, Statistics Canada: Academic Outcomes of Public and Private High School Students: What Lies Behind the Differences? Over the years — or sometimes overnight — your child’s needs could change. If a child stays in private school from junior kindergarten until grade 12, for example, parents can be on the hook for $500,000 in just tuition, which … And your class size is going to be smaller — they put a ceiling on class size, and they don’t go over it because they’re accountable to a board. Sandra E. Martin  on August 8, 2019, By  If the school’s teaching style doesn’t match your child’s learning style, she may have trouble absorbing her lessons. The private elementary school average is $9,944 per year and the private high school average is $14,821 per year. Not necessarily – indeed the research evidence suggests the answer is “no.” I will come back to this point in moment, but first let’s explore the conventional wisdom that private schools are better than public schools. Another factor related to increased private school enrolment is marketing. When you add in books, uniforms and lunches (which sometimes cost extra), a year of private school for a student within daily commuting distance can easily inch towards $40,000 a year. The price for secondary education in Canada at prestigious private schools with full board varies from 35,000 to 70,000 Canadian dollars per year. Some preparatory schools are more competitive than others. But there’s no shortage of well-trained educators in this country, so regardless of the rules that prevail in your area, you should insist on a school where teachers are not only certified, but have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in education as well. MoneySense will always make updates and changes to correct factual errors. Whatever the case, don’t feel as though you have to stick it out. Elementary. Private school is a money pit from the moment you apply to the day your kid closes her last book. All of that, it was tougher for them.”. Less than seven percent of Canadian students attend private schools, but the majority of Canadians believe private schools provide a better education than public schools. Is the campus safe, pleasant and well-maintained? “Think of your child first and what their needs are — social, emotional, physical, intellectual. The books they were going to read, what different courses of study they were going to be at — this is what we will cover in sciences, this is what we will cover in language arts. Check out a website for Canadian Accreddited Independent Schools. Like most parents, you’ve probably wondered how much private school really costs. Our analysis compared the results of 229 private and 278 public schools. Despite its international “superpower” status, a majority of Canadians don’t believe their public schools measure up to private schools. The national average private school tuition is approximately $11,004 per year (2020-21). If you don’t, then public grade school is a good choice as well. How much are teachers paid? “Private” and “independent” schools aren’t the same thing. Our goal is to provide the most relevant and up-to-date information as possible, but, as with all things you read on the internet, we recommend you digest our content critically and cross-reference with your own sources, especially before making a financial decision. A professor at the University of Illinois … Before you turn your household upside down and relocate three streets over in a quest to place your child in a more desirable school district, know this: most school boards will entertain a request for your child to attend a school other than the one they’ve been assigned to geographically. Ditto. READ: More on private schools from the September/October 2014 edition of MoneySense ». It is by no means true that a private school is always better than a public school, and it is true that public schools can often be more diverse than many private schools. It is worth noting that in Canada, secondary schools are called "high schools", and "middle schools" in turn mean the second stage of the primary link. So before you apply, narrow your top contenders down to a shortlist of two or three schools. “There are many people who have a ‘dream school’ in mind, which may or may not fit their kid at all,” says Catherine McCauley, a Toronto teacher and guidance counsellor who has worked in both the public and private school systems. “We were really helping prepare them with a lot of the skills that will not only help them get into university, but stay in university: the study skills, the organization, how to write. Anyone who scrolls through the rankings of BC schools will find evidence that students who attend private schools have better on average academic performance than public school students. Do they have a good rapport with students? In addition, Pianta and Ansari found no evidence to suggest that low-income children or children enrolled in urban schools, benefited from private school enrolment. To run a school, you’ve got to be both.”. Before you enroll your child, make sure you’ll be getting your money’s worth. Maybe. “The teachers are all well-dressed, well-spoken, and they’re strong women — and those are the kinds of people I want to teach her.”, Nancy Ng had a similar experience on a tour of La Citadelle, which nailed the decision to enroll her son, Ian, in the Toronto school’s pre-Kindergarten program. And, in a study published last month, University of Virginia researchers Robert C. Pianta and Arya Ansari examined the extent to which enrolment in private schools between kindergarten and grade nine was related to students’ academic, social, psychological and attainment outcomes at age 15. Read “How do I become a money coach in Canada?”, Read Strategies for smarter charitable giving. On top of that, some also require you to make a “loan” to the school help pay for upgrades and maintenance of the facilities. They either felt really good, or they decided it wasn’t for them. Last year the BBC ran a story with the headline “How Canada Became an Education Superpower.”  The BBC pointed out that Singapore, South Korea and Finland usually get mentioned as the world’s top performing education systems, “but with much less recognition, Canada has climbed to the top tier of international rankings.”. Newly revised to include the financial fallout of COVID-19,... MoneySense is a journalistic website with freelance contributors who help produce our content. IPE/BC Fellows hold a range of views and interests relative to public education. And I have to say these people who are opening them are well-intentioned. Average Tuition. If public school isn’t the right choice for your child, but private school seems cost prohibitive, Catholic schools might be worth looking into for their price tag alone. All of these factors feed the idea there is a private school advantage. Share on Twitter If it’s less than the salaries of public-school teachers in your area (a figure any private school should also know), be suspicious. This longitudinal study of over one thousand students concluded: “… children with a history of enrollment in private schools performed better on nearly all outcomes assessed in adolescence. It all depends on who your child is, and what kind of education would suit him best. “The facilities, the resources, can be fairly basic in those schools.” Even elite schools fundraise furiously, claiming that tuition fees cover only annual operating costs, and that they need more money to maintain the facilities and purchase new equipment. To a certain degree, you can rely on the admissions department to determine whether the school and your kid are made for each other. So how do you find that perfect match? However, a private school can be expensive. There is a growing body of research evidence that attempts to answer this question. If your child is entering Grade 5 and up, it’s important to get her take on the teachers, as well. Read Near retirement with no defined benefit pension? In BC, key factors that coincide with private school enrolment increases is an historic era of labour conflict, budget cuts, school closures and overcrowding in the public school system from 2000-2016. Conventional wisdom may say they are, but the evidence suggests that is a myth. “It costs parents a lot to send their kids and they might think therefore that those schools are just flowing in resources, but generally they’re not. As for the duration and the beginning of the school year in private schools in Canada, it begins in September, and ends in May. It might be as dramatic as the discovery of a gift for music that you want to foster, or the diagnosis of a learning disability that needs special attention. 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