Preparatory school
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 primary (elementary) school, designed to prepare a student for Public School.
Both forms have some things in common. Many are boarding schools; often, such schools are highly selective and academically challenging. Such schools are usually expensive, with high tuition used to pay teachers better and provide enriched learning environments and services, such as libraries, science laboratories, and computers. Some British prep schools 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. The preparation for college that such courses provides, the higher-than-average SAT scores, and other attributes of their students lead many colleges and universities to actively recruit prep school students.
International preparatory schools
Internationally well-regarded preparatory secondary schools include Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, Schule Schloss Salem in Salem, Germany, Institut Alpin Videmanette in Rougemont, Switzerland, and Institute Le Rosey in Rolle, Switzerland.
Partial list of U.S. preparatory schools
The following is a partial list of preparatory schools in the United States:
- Brownell-Talbot School (Omaha, Nebraska)
- Bush School (Seattle, Washington)
- Choate Rosemary Hall (Wallingford, Connecticut)
- The Dalton School (New York City, New York)
- Deerfield Academy (Deerfield, Massachusetts)
- Groton School (Groton, Massachusetts)
- The Hill School (Pottstown, Pennsylvania)
- Horace Mann School (Riverdale, New York)
- Hotchkiss School (Lakeville, Connecticut)
- Lakeside School (Seattle, Washington)
- Lawrenceville School (Lawrenceville, New Jersey)
- Loomis Chaffee School (Windsor, Connecticut)
- Milton Academy (Milton, Massachusetts)
- Northfield Mount Hermon School (Northfield, Massachusetts)
- Peddie School (Hightstown, New Jersey)
- Phillips Academy (Andover, Massachusetts)
- Phillips Exeter (Exeter, New Hampshire)
- Princeton Day School (Princeton, New Jersey)
- Rockhurst High School (Kansas City, Missouri)
- Sidwell Friends School (Washington, DC)
- St. Andrew's School (Middletown, Delaware)
- St. Mary's Preparatory (Orchard Lake, Michigan)
- St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire)
- Tabor Academy (Marion, Massachusetts)
- The Walnut Hill School (Natick, Massachusetts)
British Preparatory Schools
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.
