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The Road Less Traveled
In Connecticut's private schools, the gap between demand and supply has never been greater
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Business New Haven
5/12/2003
By: Karen Singer
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At Cold Spring School in New Haven, fourth- and fifth-graders use probes and Palm Pilots to study the Mill River, while others e-mail information about American Colonial history to students in England who visited their Web site.
At Cheshire Academy, teenagers dangle from ropes in a course designed to boost self-confidence. Later they dine with classmates from 18 states and 23 countries.
And at Ezra Academy in Woodbridge, students visit a local Jewish day-care center once a month, playing games with seniors and collecting their oral histories.
Though each educational institution has a different mission, all are part of a long tradition of independent schools in Connecticut.
Such schools have existed since the 1600s, but have grown in numbers and diversity in recent years.
There currently are about 350 non-public schools in Connecticut, including parochial and non-sectarian institutions, according to state Department of Education spokesman Thomas Murphy. With enrollment hovering at around 77,000, he says, they account for about 12 percent of the total school-age population of around 568,0000 students in the 2002-03 academic year. State statistics also indicate non-public school enrollment figures have been
fairly steady, remaining between 76,000 and 77,000 since the late 1990s.
And although applications to private schools are growing rapidly, enrollment figures have risen at a much slower rate, and is largely "limited by board policy," according to Peter Tacy, president of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), which had 91 members.
"Very few Connecticut private schools are expanding student populations, although demand is high in most parts of the state," Tacy explains. "The situation has little to do with local opposition," which has spawned several legal disputes in Fairfield County towns involving neighbors concerned with changes in land use. "Mostly it reflects an understanding boards have that increased school size may not improve - and could even degrade - student outcomes."
Funding is another factor, Tacy notes, because "independent school capital projects must be driven by current or projected philanthropy."
Non-public schools in Connecticut need not have state approval or certification, but many seek it. Around 16 schools currently are approved by the state, which requires a self-evaluation as well as an on-site visit. Most are small parochial elementary schools.
Certification by organizations such as CAIS or the New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC) involves a much more rigorous and time-consuming process.
NEASC, which serves around 1,855 public as well as independent schools, colleges and universities in the region, has 120 Connecticut private elementary schools and 60 private secondary schools among its membership, according to William Bennett, director of the group's Commission on Independent Schools.
As in other New England states, most secondary independent schools in Connecticut are accredited, Bennett says, "because parents believe such validation is important."
But more elementary schools are seeking accreditation, especially Catholic schools, a growing trend in Connecticut since the mid-1990s.
"Our high schools have been accredited by NEASC for years, but around that time we decided to get it for all our elementary schools," says Armand Fabbri, superintendent of schools for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport.
Fabbri, who likens the NEASC logo to the "Good Housekeeping seal of approval," oversees 39 elementary schools, one middle and five high schools with around 12,000 pre-K-12 students in Fairfield County. Two other school superintendents, for the Diocese of Norwich and the Archdiocese of Hartford, are responsible for parochial school instruction in their areas.
Independent schools are increasingly diverse these days, notes Patrick F. Bassett, president of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) in Washington, D.C.
"Over the last decade we have seen a 20-percent increase of students of color as a percentage of total student body to an average of 17 percent, and a 47-percent increase in staff of color [to a current average of ten percent faculty and eight percent administrators of color]," Bassett says. "In fact, independent schools, contrary to public opinion, tend often to be more diverse than public schools."
Private schools differ from public schools mainly by their smaller size and focus on individual students, though that may be changing, Tacy observes, as the public-education establishment experiments with charter schools, magnet schools and schools-within-schools.
"The differences that matter most seem to be the long-term ones," Tacy says. College graduation rates for independent school students, for example, are much higher, especially for children from low-income families.
All that extra attention comes with a price tag - often a rather hefty one.
Annual tuition costs at private schools in Connecticut range from around $3,000 to $6,000, depending on grade, for day programs at parochial schools in the Diocese of Bridgeport, to between $13,000 and $22,000 for other types of day schools in the state.
Boarding schools are even more expensive, starting at close to $30,000 annually.
Overall, tuition seems to increasing between four and five percent annually at independent schools of all types in the state.
Bassett notes, however, that more students than ever receive financial aid, and grants are up 38 percent nationwide.
"What we have found is if parents are doubtful [about their ability to pay] they will hold off until secondary school, and send their children to public elementary school," Tacy says.
Vouchers, which would allow parents to use public dollars to send their children to private and religious schools, aren't available in Connecticut, where the combination of a powerful teachers union and a Democrat-controlled state legislature have rendered voucher support
political suicide.
Even so, educational choices abound for those able to take advantage of them.
"The independent school landscape in Connecticut and throughout the U.S. is a garden with a rich varieties of species, allowing parents to choose just the approach that best matches the needs and interests of their child," Bassett says.
"The continua include boarding and day schools, coed and single-sex schools, religiously affiliated and non-sectarian schools and schools with special orientations: military academics, schools for the arts, schools for the gifted, schools for those with learning differences," Bassett says. "Because independent schools define their own mission and philosophies and target populations, each has its own distinctive personality and profile."
There also are a few hybrids in the bunch. Norwich Free Academy, Woodstock Academy and Gilbert School in Windsor are private independent schools serving as high schools for several towns. The towns pay tuition for each student, but the schools are entirely self-governing.
Academic excellence has been a hallmark of New Haven's Hopkins School for centuries, and remains so today. A day school for 650 students in grades seven to 12, Hopkins provides an oasis for those "dissatisfied with the public sector," says admissions director Dana Blanchard. "Our market position is we accept only kids who are very bright and highly motivated.
"One hundred percent [of Hopkins graduates] go on to college; that's why people are spending the dollars."
Although its core curriculum is "traditional standard college prep," there "has always been a component of public service" at Hopkins, Blanchard adds. Extracurricular programs allow students to become mentors and tutors in area public schools, work in residential homes for handicapped and serve at soup kitchens.
Community service is likewise important to students at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, where administrators added a 30-hour volunteer service requirement - at students' insistence.
"They really pushed for it, and most of them were doing more than 30 hours [total] anyway," explains communications director Charlotte Murphy. The school draws about a third of its 850 students from Connecticut, and the rest from 36 other states. Ninety-five percent of seniors go straight to college; the other five percent have been accepted but take a year off.
A survey of recent graduates shows "they feel really well prepared for college and they've developed strong time-management skills," Murphy says. Famous grads include actress Glenn Close and President John F. Kennedy.
Cold Spring School in New Haven offers "a progressive approach with very hands-on curriculum," says Jeff Jonathan, director of the school, which has around 100 K-6 students and is starting a pre-kindergarten program this fall. Students are about equally divided by gender, and nearly 28 percent are minority, primarily African-American.
"We like to think of ourselves as student-centered," adds technology coordinator Karen Zwick." While we have parameters of skills that we cover at every grade level, the course it takes is driven by the interests of the students."
Zwick oversees the Mill River research project, which recently was singled out by the NAIS for outstanding achievement in technology. The school was one of 12 honored nationwide. Cold Spring students also work on a variety of projects with public schools in the New Haven area.
"What I hear most from alumni is, 'What you taught me was a lifelong love of learning,'" says Jean Lamont, head of the Foote School in New Haven, which has 475 boys and girls attending kindergarten through grade nine. "We've always been a child-centered school."
At Foote, children often pursue a thematic approach to learning. Lamont recently observed several fourth-graders making presentations as artists (one was Claude Monet) at the end of a year-long study of art.
"Diversity has dramatically over the past 10 years, from 15-percent to 29-percent minority," Lamont explains, adding the school also collaborates on programs with local public schools. Some alumni have taken part in Foote Bridge, a literacy program for inner city children that has been "transforming for some" in making career choices.
"We fall somewhere in the middle of progressive and traditional education," says Fred Acquavita, headmaster of St. Thomas's Day School in New Haven, which is affiliated with Episcopal parish schools and has 153 pre-K-6 students. Nearly all go on to independent schools such as Hopkins and Hamden Hall.
While instilling the basics such as reading and math, St. Thomas's teachers integrate cutting-edge research on child development.
"We're very interested in Reggio Emilia, a city in northern Italy said to have the finest education program in the world," Acquavita says. "They believe children are natural researchers and should be problem-solving immediately.
"They're always trying to reinvent their world, so we have them do a lot of art work."
A recent trend Acquavita finds troublesome is "middle-class parents are being squeezed out of private schools because they make just enough money not to qualify for a lot of financial aid."
A "morals and value-driven" religious education is part and parcel of the St. Thomas's experience. "Our children go to chapel every day, and we feel that we can enhance whatever religion they bring to school," Acquavita says.
The schools of the Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport emphasis educational excellence "within the tradition of the Catholic faith."
Children attending Ezra Academy spend half their day on Jewish and Hebrew studies. "Our kids are used to carrying ten subjects, as opposed to the usual five [in public schools]," says Shelley Kreiger, head of the conservative Jewish day school with 195 kindergarten through eighth-grade students.
One of several Solomon Schecter schools throughout the state, Ezra instills values "we think give kids a focus, and a sense of security in who they are," Kreiger adds. "Some people think it's narrowing to send your kid to a religious school, but I see quite the antithesis. People who know who they are more respectful."
The 340 students at Cheshire Academy include sixth- to eighth-graders attending day classes and students in grades nine to 12 who may be boarding. They come from 18 states and 23 countries, including Aruba, Fiji, Mali, Nigeria, Russia, Taiwan, Singapore and Venezuela.
Head of School Jerry Larsen describes the program as "college prep," adding the emphasis is on a student-centered "constructivist" approach.
"A student will come to us with knowledge, and we will try to build on that with a one-on-one, multi-modal type of learning," Larsen says. "Many may not be performing at their potential, and Cheshire has a long history of unlocking that potential."
Cheshire also stresses character education, with an emphasis on "trustworthiness, respect, responsibility and caring for others."
Larsen says 99 percent of Cheshire graduates are admitted to a "pretty broad range" of four-year schools.
In recent years security concerns have increased at independent as well as public schools, resulting in updated safety plans. Teachers, who unlike those at public schools need not be state-certified, are undergoing more scrutiny, including background checks. (Recruitment and retention of teachers remain a challenge because they may typically earn less than teachers in public schools.)
World events also have altered travel plans. This year Choate cancelled its summer China semester program, as Ezra Academy did the same with its annual student trip to Israel. And the SARS scare recently prompted Lamont to urge one of her teachers, recently returned from an English language instruction assignment at Foote's sister school in China, to stay home a few more days as an extra precaution.
As for the future, Cheshire Academy's Larsen believes the sluggish economy may spur more private school applications as towns continue to slash public-education budgets.
Public school testing may also become a potent parental motivator.
"Elementary and middle schools in the independent sector are under much less pressure from outside testers than public elementary and middle schools are now feeling," CAIS' Tacy notes. In most states, including Connecticut, these schools are not subject to state instructional mandates or to testing based on state curricula.
Even more testing is in the works for public schools, which must now contend with the "No Child Left Behind" legislation enacted under the Bush administration. Beginning with the 2005-06 academic year, Connecticut public schools, which already administer state competency tests for students in fourth, sixth, eighth and tenth grades, must add tests for third-, fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders as well. Failing schools receiving federal funding will be required to offer supplemental services such as after-school tutoring or the opportunity for parents to choose another public school for their children. The first list comes out this fall but it's a baseline. A school must be on the failing list for two years before remedial action is mandatory, according state education department spokesman Murphy.
"It is all speculation as to how parents will respond to schools listing as in need of improvement," Murphy says, adding, "it is possible some parents may elect to send their kids to non-public schools."
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