No single rating system should be used to rate all private high schools, because every student's needs are different. To rate private high schools before you invest the cost of a small cottage in sending your child to one, prepare and utilize your own set of factors. Ideally, student and parents should make this process fun and work together on it--or conduct parts of it individually and compare notes.
Instructions
1. Make a list of the factors that are important to you in selecting a school. Assign a numerical or subjective value to each factor, and begin gathering the information necessary to rate each school on each factor.
2. Begin rating schools by narrowing your criteria based on whether you are looking for a boarding, day or mixed school, with a student body that is either single gender or coed. Other factors may include whether a school offers a postgraduate year or accepts special-needs students.
3. Use Peterson's Private Schools and Boarding Schools Search website to find schools you want to rate and gather preliminary information about them (see Resources below). The Peterson search tool allows you to identify lists of all schools, within a specified radius of your home or any other location.
4. Click on the "Get Free Info" and "School Website" icons next to each school that interests you on the Peterson's website to retrieve detailed information or receive it in the mail.
5. Evaluate each school's success in getting students into the colleges of their choice. Review college matriculation information sent to you by each school and speak to a school's college counselor or a college's admissions staff to ask how well the school does at preparing students for college.
6. Visit each school to evaluate its physical attributes, including the library, performance venues, athletic facilities and--especially for boarding schools--the quality of the dorms and cafeteria.
7. Review the credentials of faculty members and athletic coaches to see how they stack up against other schools.
8. Balance the cost of attending the school against the financial aid resources that may be available at an expensive but well-endowed school.
9. Ask what kind of emotional support a school provides to its students. Satisfy yourself that your child will receive the support he needs to thrive, especially in a boarding school environment.
10. Match a school's selectiveness and strengths with the strengths of your student.
Tags: each school, each factor, high schools, private high, private high schools, rate private high
