Preparatory school
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In the United States a preparatory school, or prep school, is usually a private secondary school (or high school) designed to prepare a student for higher education. In the United Kingdom and some parts of the Commonwealth of Nations, a Preparatory School, or Prep. School is a private school, designed to prepare a student for fee paying Public Schools. The age range catered for may be only eight- to thirteen-year-olds, or it may include younger pupils as well. A private school which only caters for under eights is a "pre-prep" and the junior departments of prep schools which cover the first years of schooling are also called "pre-prep".
Both forms have some things in common. Many are boarding schools; often, such schools are highly selective and academically challenging; they are largely independent of state or local authority control. Such schools are usually expensive, with high tuition used to pay excellent teachers and provide enriched learning environments, through features such as large libraries, advanced science laboratories, and new computers. British and New England preparatory schools, in particular, place a strong emphasis on sports.
In the United States, college preparatory schools often place an emphasis on offering a wide variety of Advanced Placement courses, rigorous academic programs, and small class sizes of 20 or less. Admission is rigorously selective and often based on standardized college entrance exams like the SAT.
The preparation for college that such courses provide, the higher-than-average SAT scores, and other attributes of their students lead many colleges and universities to actively recruit prep school students. In the United States, preparatory education is also often associated with the Preppy subculture.
Because they pay well (and/or offer superior working conditions), American college preparatory schools are often able to recruit faculty and staff with graduate degrees from the top universities, particularly the Ivy League. In contrast, most teachers at public schools usually hold only a bachelor's degree (which may not even be in the field that they teach) and a teaching certificate.
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Partial list of international preparatory schools
Schule Schloss Salem (Salem, Germany)
Institut Alpin Videmanette (Rougemont, Switzerland)
Institute Le Rosey (Rolle, Switzerland)
Partial list of U.S. preparatory schools
- Atlanta International School (Atlanta, Georgia)
- Avon Old Farms School (Avon, Connecticut)
- Bellarmine College Preparatory (San Jose, California)
- Blair Academy (Blairstown, New Jersey)
- Brownell-Talbot School (Omaha, Nebraska)
- Buckingham, Browne and Nichols(Cambridge, Massachusetts)
- The Buckley School (Los Angeles, California)
- Castilleja School (Palo Alto, California)
- Choate Rosemary Hall (Wallingford, Connecticut)
- The Collegiate School (New York City, New York)
- Cranbrook Kingswood (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan)
- The Dalton School (New York City, New York)
- Deerfield Academy (Deerfield, Massachusetts)
- Emma Willard School (Troy, New York)
- Episcopal High School (Alexandria, Virginia)
- Ethical Culture Fieldston School (Bronx, New York)
- Fordham Preparatory School (Bronx, New York)
- Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School (Washington, DC)
- Governor Dummer Academy (Byfield, Massachusetts)
- Groton School (Groton, Massachusetts)
- Harvard-Westlake School (North Hollywood, California)
- The Hill School (Pottstown, Pennsylvania)
- Holderness School (Plymouth, New Hampshire)
- Holy Ghost Preparatory School (Bensalem, Pennsylvania)
- Hopkins School (New Haven, Connecticut)
- Horace Mann School (Riverdale, New York)
- Hotchkiss School (Lakeville, Connecticut)
- John Burroughs School (St. Louis, Missouri)
- Kent School (Kent, Connecticut)
- The Kiski School (Saltsburg, Pennsylvania)
- Lakeside School (Seattle, Washington)
- Lawrence Academy at Groton (Groton, Massachusetts)
- Lawrenceville School (Lawrenceville, New Jersey)
- Loomis Chaffee School (Windsor, Connecticut)
- Loyola Blakefield (Towson, Maryland)
- Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School (St. Louis, Missouri)
- Middlesex School (Concord, Massachusetts)
- Millbrook School (Millbrook, New York)
- Milton Academy (Milton, Massachusetts)
- Miss Porter's School (Farmington, Connecticut)
- Morristown-Beard School (Morristown, New Jersey)
- Noble and Greenough School (Dedham, Massachusetts)
- Northfield Mount Hermon (Northfield, Massachusetts)
- Oakwood School (North Hollywood, California)
- Peddie School (Hightstown, New Jersey)
- The Pembroke Hill School (Kansas City, Missouri)
- Phillips Academy (Andover, Massachusetts)
- Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, New Hampshire)
- The Pingry School (Martinsville, New Jersey)
- Regis (New York, New York)
- Rutgers Preparatory School (Somerset, New Jersey)
- St. Andrew's School (Middletown, Delaware)
- St. Albans School (Washington, DC)
- St. Ignatius College Preparatory (San Francisco, California)
- St. Ignatius College Prep (Chicago, Illinois)
- St. Mary's Preparatory (Orchard Lake, Michigan)
- St. Paul Academy and Summit School (St. Paul, Minnesota))
- St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire)
- Sidwell Friends School (Washington, DC)
- Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (Houston, Texas)
- Tabor Academy (Marion, Massachusetts)
- T.M.I.: The Episcopal School of Texas (San Antonio, Texas)
- The Thacher School (Ojai, California)
- Trinity School (New York, New York)
- The Walnut Hill School (Natick, Massachusetts)
- Western Reserve Academy (Hudson, Ohio)
- The Westminster Schools (Atlanta, Georgia)
- Williston Northampton School (Easthampton, Massachusetts)
- Worcester Academy (Worcester, Massachusetts)
Partial list of British preparatory schools
- Bancroft's Preparatory School, Woodford Green
- Dragon School, Oxford
- Haslemere Preparatory School, Haslemere
- Fairfeild Preparatory School, Loughborough
- St Ives School, Haslemere (http://www.st-ives.surrey.sch.uk)
Partial list of Canadian preparatory schools
- St. Michael's College School (Toronto, Ontario)
- Upper Canada College (Toronto, Ontario)
- Bishop Strachan School (Toronto, Ontario)
- Trinity College School (Port Hope, Ontario)
- Appleby College (Oakville, Ontario)
- St. George's School (Vancouver, British Columbia)
In France, some high schools offer special postgraduate classes, equivalent in level to the first years of university, for students who wish to enter Grandes Écoles.