There are some very clear advantages to a private education that most people are familiar with. Having the ability to infuse our teaching with our spiritual beliefs, small class sizes, and a rigorous curriculum are some of the most evident. But some of our greatest advantages are born from the fact that decisions about our curriculum and our campus are made by leaders who are active members of our community.

In public schools, teachers and administrators are beholden to rules and regulations set by politicians in Tallahassee and Washington D.C. who in most cases haven’t ever stepped foot onto their campus. At St. Barnabas our school is governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees who are members of our community and prioritize the needs of our students and teachers.

Here are 3 more advantages to a private education at St. Barnabas School:

1. Limited standardized testing
Standardized testing is a controversial topic of conversation for parents and teachers alike. Many families fear that strict tests will hold their children back from future success. At St. Barnabas School we have the distinct benefit of not having to administer state-mandated tests to students. This is a huge advantage to students because teachers can spend their class time digging deep into the topics in the curriculum and not having to worry about how that tracks with a test sent down from on high. At St. Barnabas, we understand the value of using standardized testing to measure the progress of our students without allowing the testing itself to become the focus.

2. Hands-on curriculum development
In public schools, the curriculum is designed by people who are often very far removed from what is happening in the classroom. Often these decisions are made to accommodate textbook publishers and the developers of standardized tests rather than to accommodate the students. At St. Barnabas, as an institute of private education, we are able to design an academically rigorous and common sense curriculum that meets the needs of our students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning.

3. Our campus, our rules
In our current political climate, there are a lot of conversations about school safety that are taking place in Tallahassee and in Washington D.C. These conversations are important and bringing discussions of school safety into the public realm is healthy for the future of education in America. However, not every solution works for every community, and when the decision making power is so far from home, our teachers and students pay the price. In private education, our leaders have a direct interest in the safety of our students and are able to make educated decisions to support them.

Private education is the schooling of choice for many families. At St. Barnabas, we take pride in our autonomy to make the best choices for our students based on local data. Keeping our children and teachers safe and providing them all the resources they need to engage in thoughtful and rigorous education is the top priority and from that, we have decades of engaged and successful alumni. If you’d like your child to attend St. Barnabas school, contact us today. We’d love to give you a tour of campus.