The Trinity School in New York City is widely regarded to be among the best private schools in America; "Forbes" magazine recently named it number one on its list of top prep schools while the "Wall Street Journal" regularly names it among the three best high schools in the country. The curriculum focuses heavily on mathematics and languages, particularly French, Spanish and Latin, but the school makes psychical education a priority as well. The six-to-one faculty-student ratio helps to ensure that a high standard of education and attention is given to each of the 900 or so enrolled students.
The Phillips Academy in Andover, MA is a boarding and day school for grades nine to 12. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, a collective (similar to the New York-based Ivy Preparatory School League) of eight leading private schools in and around Massachusetts. The student to faculty ratio is excellent (5:1) and the school is notable for its unusual grading system that gives students a rating between zero and six. Former presidents George H. and George W. Bush were both educated at Phillips Academy and a third of its students attend MIT, Stanford or one of the Ivy League colleges.
Horace Mann private school in the Bronx, NY offers a varied curriculum with an emphasis on a well-rounded education that encompasses everything from the arts, to world history, economics, languages and everything in between. The 220 members of staff hold between them 210 Masters degrees and 34 doctoral degrees, an exceptional figure which trumps all of the other schools on this list. Along with a handful of other New York private schools, Horace Mann is a member of the exclusive Ivy Preparatory School League that helps gravitate its students toward the top Ivy League universities.
The Brearley School is an all-girl private school that bases its curriculum on the liberal arts and offers a variety of languages to its students including Greek and Mandarin Chinese. The "Wall Street Journal" named it number two in terms of its student's acceptance into the United States' eight best universities and liberal-arts colleges; similarly "Forbes" magazine placed it fourth in its list of the best private schools in America.
The Collegiate School in New York City, established in 1628, one of the oldest schools in the United States. It is considered the sister school to The Brearley School. The all-boy school is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League and aims to develop its students intellectually, ethically, artistically and physically. The student to faculty ratio is 5:1 and more than a third of its students matriculate toward the nation's top universities.
The Roxbury Latin School in Roxbury, MAm, founded in 1645, is the oldest school in continuous operation in the United States. The school's alumni have, among other things, established Yale University and Harvard Medical School. Roxbury Latin students have an average SAT score of 2230 out of a possible 2400, which the school attributes to its demanding curriculum of analysis, reflection and expression. The tuition fees are also notably lower than those of its competitors, and still more than a third of Roxbury Latin's students go on to attend one of the country's best universities.
The Harvard-Westlake School is a merger of the Harvard School and the Westlake School for girls, which until 1991 had been considered sister institutions. Now the school, based in locations in North Hollywood and Beverly Hills, is considered the best private school on the West Coast according to a recent "Forbes" list. This can be attributed to the fact that 84 percent of faculty members have advanced degrees and that almost a third of Harvard-Westlake's students go on to attend the nation's best colleges. Among the required subjects in the school's curriculum are visual and performing arts and public speaking, as well as the more traditional core subjects, making Harvard-Westlake a progressive school.