How to Choose a School: The Different Types of School

Choosing the ideal school for your child can feel like finding a needle in a haystack. Everything is woven together and a lot of research is required to find out the one. While terms like Montessori, Parochial, and Magnet confuse you, they also send you down the road of making the right choice. Let’s understand some of the most common types of schools around the world and avoid repeated confusion and dilemma.

Almost all types of schools can be classified broadly as public or private, based on their funding. Public schools are government-backed financially while private schools receive funding through other sources. While most schools can be classified with regard to these two categories, it scarcely touches the wide variety of schools you can find.

Let’s look at a few most common types of schools.

Traditional Public Schools

Traditional public schools are brick-and-mortar institutions that are financially backed by the government. These schools have trained teachers and staff and are governed by a certain set of rules and regulations set by the government. The teachers are well-trained and they make use of all the available resources to teach children and abide by the syllabus.

Charter Schools

Charter schools are a hybrid model of the public which are free and government-financed like public schools but have limited seats like private schools. To enroll your child in a charter school, you will need to submit an application and might also require your child to appear for an entrance test.

The mission of charter schools is to offer specialization that is required for the community. They offer a unique environment of learning and can have their teaching methods different from other traditional schools. For example, conducting the class of science in the ground through live examples.

One of the important things is to notice that anyone can apply for setting up a charter school and once approved, the government will back the school for 3-5 years and the school will have to show excellent performance and results, otherwise, the government will stop funding the school and eventually it will fail. This, on the bright side, implies that if a charter school has been around for quite some years, it has been able to prove quality education to its students.

Magnet Schools

Magnet schools, as the name implies, attract students who share a particular area of interest. These schools offer specialization in a particular field and have a specialized curriculum. The motto of the school is to prepare the students so that they can enter their field of interest in the future. To get admitted to a magnet school, students need to go through rigorous tests first. They are highly selective. These schools are also financed by the government.

Virtual Online Schools

Virtual schools are fully government-backed schools that allow children to pursue studies from their homes. The course offers flexibility and customization and it can be customized separately for each student based on their needs and progress. Here, learning is based on the distinctive needs of every individual.

Traditional Private Schools

Traditional private schools are not backed by the government hence education is mostly not free in these schools. They are brick-and-mortar institutions that do not need to follow the curriculum set by the government and hence are independent. The education curriculum is mostly set by private educational boards or the schools themselves. The teachers are well paid and well-trained to offer their guidance in each subject.

College Preparatory Schools

A college preparatory school is a secondary school that is public and private both. The motto of these schools is to prepare the kids for higher studies. In different states of the modern countries in the world like Japan and the USA, you can find a public, charter, or private college preparatory school that can either be secular or parochial. Admission is sometimes based on academic merits while sometimes one can directly get enrolled. These schools offer curricula on specific fields of study, in order to prepare the children for college.