A school is an educational establishment designed to offer various learning spaces and learning settings for the education of children under the guidance of qualified teachers. Generally, most countries have systems of private formal education, which can be either compulsory or optional. In such systems, prospective students progress through several schools before reaching a diploma. Private schools are usually established for the purpose of academic training or higher education for children of ages from kindergarten to twelfth grade. They differ from regular public schools in having different types of curriculum and teaching methods.
The term’school’ can refer to any educational institution that offers education or instruction to young children. Such educational institutions may be primary schools, junior schools, secondary schools or colleges and universities. All such schools provide their students with an equal opportunity to learn.
Primary schools, as the name suggests, are the first schools a child attends. Such educational institutions may be neighborhood schools, reform schools or private schools established by a family or a group of parents. Public schools, as the name suggests, are the schools which are publicly run educational institutions. They are generally identified by the location of their buildings, school buildings or campus and other physical features. The students in such schools may either be local or from other parts of the country.
Charters are non-traditional schools that are funded partly or wholly from public money. The tuition fee is free in a charter school, as opposed to the fees charged in public educational institutions. A large number of parents have opted for the charter school approach, as they allow flexibility to control costs while offering quality education to students. Parents who do not wish to send their children to a mainstream public school may opt for a charter school. However, it should be noted that public schools often have better student records, as they are subject to periodic checks by the state.
A charter school may follow a traditional curriculum or a progressive curriculum, as decided by its governing board. However, the most commonly followed curriculum in public schools is the academic type, as schools that receive public funding are required to follow a specified set of academic standards, all of which are approved by the state. Academic special education is another major type of curriculum in public schools, and a significant number of teachers are required to have a master’s degree in this field. Advanced Placement Studies and Math are two other important forms of curriculum used in public schools.
Magnet Schools are schools located in a given geographical area and are supported by the local government, but are not funded by tax dollars. A large number of communities in the U.S. have incorporated magnet schools in their curriculum, in addition to the traditional public school. Magnet Schools generally require students to follow a specific course of study, for instance, all students in a magnet school would need to complete a science elective, unless they opt out of this requirement. The courses and subjects provided in a magnet school may include art, history, math, reading, science, and other liberal arts subjects.