About Us
St. Mary’s School is a private International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, offering Preschool through Grade 8. It is the only school of its kind in Orange County. As one of the area’s premier independent schools, we succeed because of our outstanding faculty, innovative curriculum, small class sizes and unique community. Visit our website for more information.
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Making the Easy and Right Choice of School
You’ve seen the brochures, you’ve been impressed by their alumnae, and you’ve taken the campus tour. Still, choosing a private school for your child is not getting any easier. There are a lot of things to consider, foremost of which are your child’s well-being and academic progress. Here are some tips that could help you make the decision easier.
Private Schools for the Performing Arts
If you find that your child has a keen interest in the performing arts, but is having a difficult time finding a program that can cater to his or her developmental needs, you may want to consider looking into enrolling them in a private school. Not only are they renowned for having impressive alumnae records, achievements, and academic excellence, they are also able to provide opportunities for performing arts students to thrive.
Your Child’s Crucial Years: Why You Should Go For Private Schools
One of the biggest decisions a parent will have to make is choosing over which school to send his child. Time and time again, it has proven that education plays a big role over the development of a child, especially while he’s still at a young age.
The Differences Between Private School And Homeschooling
There are several schooling options that you can choose from for your children. It can be difficult and tough to just go around choosing one without knowing all the other options. Most people say that private schools offer the best quality of education, others have different opinions.
The Advantages of a Private Elementary School
The elementary school years are the most important in any child’s education because they are when the foundation for all further learning takes place. If a child doesn’t learn to read well by the end of first grade, for example, he or she could be trying to catch up academically for decades. While private schools are, of course, not free, they usually are best for elementary-age children and are well worth the financial cost to parents and guardians.
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How Private Schools Avoid Teaching to the Test
Standardized test assessment is a normal part of modern education. It is also harshly criticized on multiple grounds, including its tendency to be narrowly focused and especially the power it has to control curriculum and educational focus.
This practice has placed massive pressure on public schools to teach to the test and focus all instructional time on the narrow skills and practices presented on the test. Private schools, on the other hand, have freedom from this destructive process. They are not beholden to test scores in order to maintain their budgets. A private school may still use some standardized testing, but it is used more appropriately as just one of a variety of assessment tools.
The focus on test scores in public school often leads schools to cut time for important subjects like art, music and physical education. These are subjects that cannot be adequately assessed by a standardized test, so schools tend to see them as unnecessary subjects or simply bonus subjects that can be addressed afterward. There is a variety of research that indicates teaching to a test does not improve overall learning or skills, even if test scores end up improving.
A private school that does not follow this method provides more effective education by giving students a balance of fun and interesting subjects. Students are more likely to enjoy school. Ironically, most students in these superior learning environments end up outperforming public school peers on standardized tests.
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