There are several different titles for what most of us call a prep school. Some of you may have heard them called university preparatory schools, college preparatory schools, or just preparatory schools. Many shorten the name to simply prep school.
No matter what you call them they serve the same purpose. These schools are private schools that are designed to prepare students for college. Most are a secondary school. However some do include a junior high and an elementary section.
The title prep school is mainly common in North America. Other locations such as Europe often call their preparatory schools gymnasiums.
North America basically has different types of prep schools. Some of the schools require students to live there. These we typically call boarding schools. Many more are what are known as day schools in which students do not reside on campus. Other prep schools combine the two and allow students who do not live nearby to stay on campus and those that do live nearby to travel back and forth each day. Some of the schools only allow one gender to attend while others are coed. However the majority of the prep schools are proud to say that they are selective, challenging, and mainly independent of state and local government control.
Some of the prep schools can cost mom and dad a small fortune. Top-tier prep school tuition may be comparable to that of an Ivy League university. These schools can cost parents over $30,000 a year.
Besides being honored with the prestige of saying that you or your children attend a prep school, these schools have a low student teacher ratio and longer-term higher qualified teachers (because of paying more).
Some of the schools have scholarships. Scholarships may be given for those playing sports. Most prep schools place a strong emphasis on sports. Some schools even require that students participate in at least one sport.
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