The Value of an Independent School Education
by Victor Cosentino,
President, Board of Trustees
Chatsworth Hills Academy
Chatsworth California
Originally Published in News from the Top of the Hill, February 2008
Over the holiday break, my mother came for a visit from New York. While she was here, we talked about the kids and CHA. And, tuition. She’s seen the school and acknowledges that it’s a beautiful campus. Still, my mother was shocked at the cost of sending three kids to private school. Perhaps her idea of private school is a little dated. I went to a parochial high school thirty years ago and tuition was only $25 per month. My mother took no comfort in the fact that today other CAIS accredited independent schools in the Valley are 30% to 35% more expensive than CHA or that the same education in the Bay Area would be even higher. So, she had no context to understand the extraordinary value a CHA education presents. Her view was that my kids, her grandchildren, were smart, articulate and confident and that they would do well anywhere, including in public school.
Well, it got me thinking about how to explain this to my mother. Why do my wife and I make a very real sacrifice to put our kids through private school? Is my mother right, would they do just as well at any other school? (My mom has the interesting habit of showing great support for my achievements generally, but then questioning each decision I make along the way—“You and Sue are doing a wonderful job raising those kids, Vic, but why are you spending all that money to send them to private school?”)
Intuitively, I knew we were doing the right thing, but how could I best explain it? So, I told her about the small class sizes and the devoted teachers. I told her about the close relationship CHA students develop with their teachers. I explained about the drive for academic excellence and the school’s success in helping each child achieve his or her full potential. I told her about how CHA parents shared a common interest in the importance of education for their children and a desire to see those children develop into confident adults who will lead successful lives with integrity. I explained that independent schools go beyond academics to instill values and leadership.
As I thought about it more, I considered all the kids that had graduated from CHA over the years. I realized there weren’t really that many, probably just 1000 to 1200 students over CHA’s 30-year history. For me, that really clarified just how individualized an education each student gets at CHA. No one at CHA passes through under the radar. No one is overlooked or invisible. Each student, by virtue of the size of the school, is fully engaged. Kids growing up in that safe and familiar environment develop a level of confidence that lets them become the most capable people they can become. Sure, each child moves at a different pace and goes through his or her own phases on this road, but overall I look at my children and their friends at CHA and see kids who are as comfortable being themselves at school as they are at home. That’s a far cry from my own experience at public elementary and intermediate school.
In the end, I summarized it this way: Susan and I initially chose CHA because it met our objective requirements but also because we felt an instinctive connection to the school. We then made the financial investment in tuition, betting on that choice with a very substantial amount of money. To date, that investment has paid off more than I could have imagined. Yes, my kids are smart, articulate and confident and they would do well anywhere. But that’s in part—a very important part— because they are here, at CHA. Had they gone to a public school or even a bigger private school, they would be different people, at risk of being lost in the shuffle of a larger school or exposed to the unfortunate distractions of L.A. public schools. We know life only gets harder and more complicated so the confidence and skill our kids develop now are what they will rely on for the rest of their lives. This is why the National Association of Independent Schools calls this type of education “the investment of a lifetime.”
I don’t know that my mother was completely satisfied with my answer—are mothers ever? In fact, somewhere along the line, as I started using terms like “character education” and “spiral curriculum,” her eyes glazed over and she started looking out the window at the kids playing in the yard. She had a quiet smile on her face. I realized she might not recognize the cause and effect relationship of sending our kids to CHA, but I knew she was quite happy with the people they are becoming.
Posted: February 17th, 2008 under School Mission, Tuition and Giving.
Comments: none
RSS
