11 minute read
g Education Guide
A GUIDE TO EDUCATION
Considering Private Education?
Although academic outcomes are the main reason to consider a private education for your children, there are also other compelling reasons
By Mary Crystal
The comparisons between a private and public education usually focus on outcomes, specifically in terms of test scores and grades in the next level of education. These are good reasons to send a child to a private school, but they are not the only reasons, and academic performance is not the only reason why parents choose private schools, nor why they choose a particular private school.
A sense of community and belonging is very important to both students and their parents. Public schools offer this through sports and extracurricular activities. Sports get everyone involved, foster school loyalty and a sense of belonging to those who may only know the school song and colors and do not actually play sports. And most private schools have sports and activities that promote school loyalty and a sense of belonging. But there is more to a community than cheering a team.
Real community in a school setting begins with people knowing each other. Private schools have smaller classrooms, which allow even the shyest of students to know the names of others and most importantly to be known by others. Lifelong friends and future networking often begin at school.
Community, whether big or small is based on a set of shared values. Parents can choose a private school based
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Maria’s House Montessori
Montessori is not a method. It isn’t a style, an approach or a set of materials. It… rather she… was a person, a physician and researcher, a 19th century girl with a dream who grew up to be an indomitable woman, a voice of reason in a dehumanizing industrial age, a reformer who challenged institutions and governments to look carefully at the young souls around them, to see their faces hope and their innocence, and to offer them the dignity and compassion that we all deserve.
Maria Montessori. In 1896, she was the first woman to earn her Medicinae Doctoris (with distinction) from the University of Rome. Industrial Europe’s appetite for coal was exceeded only by its appetite for working-class males whose 12 hour days six days a week kept factories running. Boys were expected to follow their fathers into the workhouses. Prussian-model factory schools prepared them for that work, separating them from their families at 6 years old, dividing them by age, and confining them with an instructor whose primary job was to produce compliant young men. After nearly a hundred years of this type of compulsory servitude, boys (being boys) had become unwilling to cooperate. In response, city officials began arresting dissenting youths, deeming them “incorrigible”, and sentencing them to… (wait for it)… factory work.
In 1897, Maria chose to spend her residency years working in the relatively new field of psychiatry. “My colleagues,” she wrote, “are far too ready to apply medical treatments to children whose only illness seems to be that they are too healthy to be treated as slaves. We have raised children instinctively for tens of thousands of years. Surely that process is not broken.”
And so began the mission that would consume the remaining 55 years of her life. From her first days as a public health physician at Rome’s San Lorenzo tenement in 1907, Dottoressa Maria Montessori was drawn to the work of restoring, protecting and enhancing the natural processes that drive human development. An insightful systems thinker with a singular aptitude for research, Maria produced hundreds of intricate, elegantly designed works and lessons for children ages 2 through 12, offering her world (and ours) an organic, holistic view of the wonders of early childhood. It’s our privilege, our pleasure and our passion to study and practice Montessori at Maria’s House Doylestown. The children around us are remarkable, always curious, constantly becoming. They truly are our heroes. v
601 New Britain Road, Doylestown, PA 18901 610.290.5019 • www.MariasHouseMontessori.com
Experience the Husky Difference at Bloomsburg University
Prepare for in-demand careers through our top-ranked, accredited academic programs. Unleash your creativity with our Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in our 132,000-square-foot Arts and Administration Building, or master accounting, marketing, IT and more in our AACSB-accredited Zeigler College of Business. Considering a career in the Health Sciences? Consider BU! Our Nursing program is a nationally recognized leader in the field, and our Pre-Med students had a 93 percent acceptance rate to medical school last year. If you’re eyeing a future in education, BU can help prepare you to be a teacher who inspires, and offers one of only two four-year American Sign Language degree programs in the U.S. Want to fight crime and seek justice? Our Criminal Justice program is ranked among the best in the country, and our Digital Forensics and Cybersecurity program is designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education from the National Security Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. And, we’re one of 84 institutions across the country selected by the U.S. Cyber Command as part of its prestigious Academic Engagement Network.
Unsure of your major? At BU, get personalized attention to explore your options while staying on-track to graduation.
With our articulation and program-to-program agreements with local schools, including Bucks County Community College, BU offers you pathways to success for high-demand careers with majors such as Business Administration, Chemistry, Art, Communications, Biology, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, English, History, Mathematics, Early Childhood PK-4, Psychology, and Social Work. We also offer a dual admission agreement at BCCC for our RN to BSN and Technical Leadership programs.
Because your college education is a crucial investment in your future, we’re committed to providing you with a high-quality, affordable degree with a faster route to independence. We invest in your success with $9 million in institutional scholarships each year, and 88 percent of our students receive financial aid.
Beginning this fall, there’s even more exciting opportunities available to you! Our partnership with Lock Haven and Mansfield universities will boldly transform higher education in our region. What does this mean for you? You’ll customize your college experience with expanded academic opportunities, dedicated support services, and a vibrant campus life.
With 99% of our recent alumni employed or in grad school within a year of earning their degree, there’s never been a better time to join the Husky family! We invite you to hear first-hand from current students and alumni about what the Husky Difference means to them at bloomu.edu/husky-stories. Then plan your own visit or start your application at bloomu.edu.
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400 E. Second Street, Bloomsburge, PA 17815 570.389.4000 • www.bloomu.edu/adminissions-visit
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Individual Promise. Inspiring Curriculum. Inviting Community
At Buckingham Friends School, an independent K-8 school, we believe deeply that each individual, at every age, offers unique and powerful promise. We cultivate that promise through our flexible and responsive curriculum, within our comprehensive value-added programs that add breadth and depth to their individual learning experience, and within a diverse and inviting community. We are excited to get to know you, and discover together how your child can thrive with BFS.
For more information or to register for a personal tour, visit www.bfs.org or contact our Director of Admission and Financial Aid, Melissa Clayton, at mclayton@bfs.org. v
Villa Joseph Marie
Villa Joseph Marie is a private Catholic college-preparatory high school for young women located on 55 scenic acres in Holland, Bucks County. Villa welcomes girls into a remarkable community, inspiring them to learn, grow, and serve others, and empowering them to succeed. Our dynamic and dedicated faculty nurture each student's individual interests and talents, and guide her in the pursuit of her unique goals. Beyond the classroom, students find ample opportunities to explore and develop their artistic, athletic, spiritual, and other gifts, and create enduring friendships and lasting memories. We invite you to experience all that Villa has to offer as we enter into our 90th year of faith, education, and service.
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For inquiries and tours, contact admissions: admissions@ rivervalleyschool.org | 610.982.5606
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shared beliefs. For example, religious families can send their children to schools that promote and teach their religion and it values—something a public school cannot legally do. This, not only fosters belonging, but brings together a preexisting community. There are many choices when it comes to shared values promoted by private schools.
Private schools also foster community by specialization. Some schools have a strong emphasis on sports and athletic accomplishment, drawing students who want to excel in these areas. Schools can also emphasize an academic discipline such as math, science and languages. Students gifted Some schools help gifted students by specializing in music, art, and other pursuits. Specialization promotes community based on common interests and a shared purpose.
Besides community there are choices between consistent educational philosophies. This has to do with how a parent wants their child educated. An example is Montessori education, which is based on eight principles that Montessori schools put into practice. Other philosophies may include classical education, progressive education and so on. The point is that private schools have the ability to adopt and be consistent with a particular philosophy of education, and well-informed parents can choose among these philosophies and methods.
Finally, there is no doubt that private schools have an edge when it comes to academic outcomes. U.S News reports, “The most recent NAEP data shows what other research has found: Private school students score better in almost all subjects … On college entry tests such as the SAT, NAIS found that students in private schools consistently outperformed their public-school peers in all subject areas.”
Students attending private schools make up 25 percent of all students. They are there because of parental choices based on intangibles like community, values and a sense of belonging, and more tangible things such as smaller classrooms, more individual attention, better academic outcomes, specialization, and choices between educational philosophies. Private schools offer parents and students choices and outcomes. v
Private schools also foster community by specialization River Valley Waldorf School
At River Valley Waldorf School, students learn by doing – in a screen-free, nature-based environment. From pre-K through 8th grade, our teachers are committed to educating the whole child—through creativity, activity and purpose. With an arts integrated approach to rigorous academics, we prepare self-confident, independent thinkers who are socially responsible and globally conscious. Visit our 7-acre campus in Bucks County and see for yourself what a Waldorf education can mean for your child. For more information and to schedule a tour, visit www.RiverValleySchool.org. Flexible tuition and rolling admissions are available.
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1395 Bridgeton Hill Rd., Upper Black Eddy, PA 610.982.5606• www.rivervalleyschool.org
Mary Crystal is a freelance writer who specializes in business, education and public relations.
