Private education in elementary school can be a big commitment: six years of tuition checks. More than high school. More than college.
But advocates say that the educational foundation built in elementary school, which is traditionally defined as kindergarten through fifth grade, is vital to performance in later grades.
“It could be argued that they are the most valuable six years — everything rests on that,” says Tamar Lindenfeld, founder of Chalkdust Inc., which provides tutoring and educational consulting.
“I feel very strongly about having a strong foundation in pre-K, kindergarten, first grade,” she says. “If you’re behind in third grade, the ways in which you propel forward — being behind in fourth, fifth and sixth — are just astounding. So, yes, it might be six years. But it’s six years that you need for the rest of your life.”
[Read: Top-Ranked Elementary and Middle Schools in New York]
The Appeal of Private Elementary School
New York parents choose private elementary school for many reasons, admissions consultants say. Some are interested in religious education. Others want specialized offerings such as engineering, theater or music. Robust extracurricular activities are also sometimes part of the attraction.
Yet some say the draw is more basic, attributes like small class sizes and low student-to-teacher ratios. “For families who are looking for more of that individualized attention, having … one-on-one learning experiences, that’s something that you don’t necessarily find as frequently in a public school,” says Whitney Shashou, founder and president of Admit NY, an educational consultancy.
Many New York parents also choose a private K-12 school at kindergarten in order to smooth the path to middle and high school later on, says Christopher Rim, founder and CEO of Command Education.
“It’s actually slightly easier to get … into the school at that age than it is to transfer into high school,” Rim says.
Tuition and Financial Aid
The major argument against private elementary school is cost. The average annual tuition for private elementary schools in New York state is about $11,000, according to the Education Data Initiative. But like everything else, costs are significantly higher in the city. The Brearley School, for example, charges more than $56,000 a year in grades K-12, according to the school, and other top schools have similar price tags.
Of course, most schools also offer financial aid. At Brearley, about 20% of students receive financial assistance, and the school reports it has given out about $7.5 million in aid. But consultants say that financial aid, like admissions, is competitive at most schools and that families with higher incomes often find it difficult to obtain need-based aid.
[READ: Is Private School Tuition Tax Deductible?]
Private Elementary Schools in New York City
For parents who want to take a closer look at private elementary schools in New York, here’s a sample:
— Alexander Robertson School, which can trace its lineage to 1789, serves children in junior kindergarten through fifth grade. The school emphasizes its small class sizes, offering one class per grade with a maximum of 12 students.
— Bank Street School for Children offers a progressive education for students from preschool through eighth grade. Affiliated with the Bank Street College of Education, the school’s curriculum is rooted in child development and serves roughly 450 students, 52% of whom are students of color.
— The Brearley School is an all-girls K-12 school serving about 770 students, including about 280 in elementary school. About 60% of the student body are students of color, and the student-to-teacher ratio is about 6-to-1.
— The Browning School is an all-boys school serving about 400 students in grades K-12. The student-to-teacher ratio is 7-to-1. The school’s 62nd Street campus is “422 steps” from Central Park.
— The Caedmon School is a Montessori school serving about 190 students in grades PK-5. The school, which has a student-to-teacher ratio of 8-to-1 in kindergarten through fifth grade, offers sports and has its own music school and chorus program.
— Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School serves about 1,280 students in grades PK-8, with about 465 in elementary school. The student-to-teacher ratio in pre-kindergarten through fourth grade is about 4 to 1.
— Horace Mann School is a PK-12 school serving about 1,790 students, including about 460 in grades K-5. The school has two campuses in New York, as well as the 320-acre John Dorr Nature Laboratory in Bethlehem, Connecticut, which serves as an outdoor education center.
— Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn serves about 1,080 students in grades PK-12. The school has a student-to-teacher ratio of 7 to 1 and about 51% of elementary school students are students of color.
— Riverdale Country School is a PK-12 school whose student body represents more than 70 nationalities. The lower school serves about 400 PK-5 students on an 8-acre campus alongside the Hudson River and Wave Hill Public Garden.
— St. Ann’s School in Brooklyn Heights serves about 1,100 students in grades PK-12. Visual and performing arts are treated as co-curricular and the school rejects formal letter or number grades and class rankings.
Searching for a school? Explore our K-12 directory.
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Exploring Private Elementary Schools in New York City originally appeared on usnews.com
