accreditation agencies<\/a> can adopt the educator standards laid out by the state, or they can develop their own, provided their own benchmarks are more rigorous.\u00a0As a condition of accreditation, private schools must screen employees. Private schools still must report misconduct to authorities.<\/p>\nStudents with special needs receive fewer legal protections in private schools. For example, public schools must provide an individualized education program, or IEP, and provide those services at no cost. Private schools do not have to develop such a plan. Also, private schools set their own admissions criteria and can turn students away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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While public schools must administer State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), private schools don\u2019t. However, schools accepting TEFA funds must conduct a standardized test that compares a student’s performance to a representative national sample, such as the Iowa Assessments or ACT.<\/p>\n
What is the timeline?<\/p>\n
Private schools start hosting events, like open houses, in September. Visits are usually scheduled into January. Families test and submit applications from January through March. Decisions are sent out around mid-March.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more touchpoints you have, the more confidence an admissions office can have in selecting you,\u201d said Allen Koh, the founder of Cardinal Education.\u00a0The consulting firm helps wealthy families get admitted to top private schools across the country, including in Dallas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Koh encouraged families to attend as many school events as possible \u2014 and to show up prepared.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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What should I look for in a private school?<\/p>\n
Families should consider a school\u2019s academic rigor. The child should manage the pace and difficulty of the schoolwork \u2014 while having the energy to participate in extracurriculars, Munson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key is choosing a place where your child feels safe enough to take risks,\u201d Munson said. \u201cThey\u2019re not just to keep their head above water, either academically or socially.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Margeaux]()
<\/p>\n
Margeaux Maurer, a fifth grade student at The Hockaday School, visits the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park in Dallas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lynda M. Gonz\ufffdlez\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
Parents should think about when \u201centry points and exit points,\u201d Koh said. Generally, schools with\u00a0 longer durations \u2014 like kindergarten through twelfth grade \u2014 are more competitive, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Families can consider athletics. At a smaller private school, it\u2019s easier to make the team. But in a larger public one, not everyone gets to play on varsity, Koh said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a level of heartbreak some people don\u2019t think about: the athletic fit,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A private school\u2019s culture matters \u2014 for both parents and children, he added. Some schools have a tight parent community with socializing, fundraising and even vacationing. At one school, the \u201ccool kids\u201d are the ones who attend top universities; at another, they\u2019re the ones playing sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery school has different priorities, so you should just really understand what the culture is,\u201d Koh said. \u201cWhat is it like to be there? Does it align with who you guys are?\u201d<\/p>\n
How many schools should I look at?<\/p>\n
Munson suggests families visit five to ten schools, depending on their schedule. Seeing the school in-person will make it clear whether the child belongs there, sort of like a \u201cgut feeling,\u201d Munson said. Parents should visit during the week, so they can watch class in session.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The number of applications depends on the family, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If the family is aiming for a competitive school, they should also apply to safe options, she said. For a child already in a private school, the family can apply to a few schools \u2014 just the ones that spark the most interest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Munson encouraged families to look into unfamiliar schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat may end up being the school that they\u2019re most excited about,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What about testing?<\/p>\n
Some private schools, frequently the top ones, require testing. The Independent School Entrance Examination (ISEE) takes nearly three hours and consists of five sections. The difficult test spans reading comprehension, writing and mathematics.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Collaborative Academic Testing Service (CATS)\u00a0measures a young child\u2019s intellectual aptitude. Since it is administered by psychologists, students cannot receive tutoring on the test.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No test score automatically gets a child in, Koh said. Still, the better you do, he said, the better your chances.<\/p>\n
What does an application look like?<\/p>\n
In general, an application asks for basic biographical information. Schools may request academic records from previous schools. The application could require teacher recommendations and an in-person visit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Admissions officials may consider the behavior of a parent, such as their monetary investment and involvement in their current school, Koh said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the best way for a prospective school to understand how you will behave in their school,\u201d he said. \u201cThey want great parents. Great parents volunteer a lot and they volunteer in high-value ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
What if my child gets rejected?<\/p>\n
While private schools are not required to explain a rejection, some may be willing to give feedback, Munson said. Sometimes, the student isn\u2019t academically strong enough. Other times, there aren\u2019t enough seats.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The duty falls upon parents to request feedback. She recommends they wait a few months after the admission decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo parent wants negative feedback, of course,\u201d Munson said. \u201cBut it is helpful to parents to get a sense of what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab\u2019s journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas-Fort Worth area is home to hundreds of private schools. Private education is set to get a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[732,101345,223,95012,160,162,161,129039,88032,89512,90041,89204,90401],"class_list":["post-397457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-article","tag-arts-entertainment-lifestyle","tag-news","tag-news-texas","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-privateschooltest","tag-tp-dallas-fortworth","tag-tp-texas","tag-tp-ed-lab-school","tag-tp-education-lab","tag-tp-school-choice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}