Preface
The original guide to nonpublic elementary and secondary schools in the United States, The Handbook of Private Schools was first published by eminent social critic Porter Sargent in 1915. The annual Handbook soon became a trusted resource for parents, educational advisors and others concerned with private education and interested in placing children in suitable private school settings.
Now in its 90th edition, the Handbook remains the one truly objective resource on nonpublic education in the United States. Unlike other available school guides, this book does not require listed schools to subscribe for space. Programs are selected on the basis of their merits, as evaluated by our editorial staff.
The aim of the Handbook is not to briefly list every operating nonpublic elementary and secondary program. Rather, we seek to provide in-depth information on schools that satisfy our criteria. We have established strict guidelines for acceptance into the Handbook. Prior to consideration, schools must complete at least five academic years of operation. Other criteria weighed by our editors during the evaluative process include accreditation earned by the school, appeal to readers beyond the immediate vicinity of the school, institutions attended by school graduates, and the overall depth and breadth of the curriculum.
Two components of the School Feature Indexes (which precede the editorial listings) particularly merit explanation here: 1) the evaluation of each school’s affordability relative to other schools listed in this edition, and 2) the appraisal of the school’s admission selectivity (along a scale ranging from nonselective to very selective). While these measures are necessarily somewhat subjective in nature, our editors weighed certain statistical figures in making their determinations. By examining tuition data presented by the schools, we found that we could classify both boarding and day schools into three affordability bands. (Please see the School Feature Indexes for details about tuition bands.) While we certainly ascribe to the belief that cost should not be the primary determinant in school selection, financial realities play an indisputable role in choosing an appropriate school. When assessing a school’s affordability, parents and advisors should factor in the availability of financial aid at the school; listings include merit scholarship and need-based financial aid information whenever it has been furnished.
Appraisals of admission selectivity, while more fluid than those of affordability, also have a statistical basis. Schools accepting less than one-quarter of applicants generally have been designated as “very selective”; those accepting between 25 and about 85 percent of applicants (by far the largest group of schools) typically have been identified as “selective”; institutions accepting more than 85 percent of their applicants are described as “somewhat selective”; and schools accepting all (or virtually all) of their applicants have been designated as “nonselective.” In the case of selectivity, we considered the school’s self-appraisal in this regard prior to making a designation, as numbers alone do not always accurately portray selectivity.
Our editors have made some noteworthy changes for this edition. Foremost among them are additions to the computer-related content presented in the statistical portion of the editorial listings. In addition to the number of computer laboratories, we now report the school’s type of Internet connection and the operating system(s) used. Those schools offering a campus wireless network are so designated. Also, our editors have begun to track computer-to-student ratios.
The reader should make note of several other improvements to the 90th Handbook. Certain schools, particularly those with boarding divisions, conduct Saturday classes as a means of increasing instructional time; this information now appears in the statistical portion of the listings. Application fees are now reported alongside application deadlines, and enrollment breakdowns in this edition include mention of international student populations that reach or exceed five percent. In many cases, we have also begun to report the percentage of the school’s buildings that meet accessibility specifications set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Finally, for the first time ever, we are providing matriculation destinations for many schools in the Concise School Listings section (previously, this data appeared only in the Leading Private Schools section).
In closing, please note that we often cannot list schools—however well they may fit our selection criteria—unless the schools complete our annual Handbook questionnaire. For this reason, some eligible programs do not appear in this volume; however, the roster of listed schools is both impressive and varied and will appeal to readers with a broad range of interests.
We wish to express our gratitude to the many school administrators who have devoted the requisite time and effort to updating their school listings for this edition.