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 89th 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.
A recent expansion in page size allowed us to add information to our School Feature Indexes. Two resulting additions to the Indexes are particularly noteworthy: 1) an evaluation of each school’s affordability relative to other schools listed in this edition, and 2) an 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 this information whenever it has been furnished by the schools.
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 90 percent of applicants (by far the largest group of schools) typically have been identified as “selective”; institutions accepting 90-some 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 added two new elements to this edition’s editorial listings. In addition to providing the number of Advanced Placement tests a school’s students took last year, we now indicate the percentage of test scores of 3 or above. (A score of 3, 4 or 5 typically results in college credit for the course in question.)
The second new feature relates to religious affiliation. Schools that are affiliated with a religious denomination now often carry a reference to the percentage of enrolled students who identify themselves with the specified religion. We feel that adding this new layer of data results in a richer depiction of the school’s student body.
In closing, please note that we 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.