School choice: Private vs. Public, that is the question

LACONIA — This is the time of year when parents start signing up their young children for public school. It is also when some begin thinking about enrolling their young learners in private school.

The Laconia Christian Academy, Holy Trinity School and Sant Bani School are longtime private educational institutions in the community.

Rick Duba, head of school at the academy, said the school on Meredith Center Road is embarking on an early-education and lower-elementary program that harnesses the initiative of young people to foster their own learning.

School leaders and community members went through a formal planning process and settled on a supervised outdoor program called TimberNook that encourages young children in creative outdoor play.

A website for the program says it integrates sensory experiences, imagination and nature.

“We inspire kids to play, learn, and explore through stories, games, and unique experiences,” it says.

Children gain the kind of social skills and hands-on learning that used to be typical through childhood outdoor play, Duba said. He recalled his own childhood spent playing in a forested area.

“I would come home from elementary school and we’d be out playing in the woods until mom called us home for dinner,” he said.

“We learned to regulate our behavior in the community, we built things, we played in the swamps, we did everything you could imagine and came home for dinner. I don't think our parents had any idea how important that was for our development.”

The experience of most children today is much different.

“Today kids are in school, they go home, they are largely indoors and in front of screens of some kind – televisions, iPads,” he said. “We want to expose our kids to the outdoors with an opportunity to explore, create, be active in ways that are good for them.”

Community service is emphasized at the school, which enrolled 97 students this year. The current senior class has four students.

Next month, the school will send a team of students and chaperones to the country of Rwanda in central-east Africa for a two-week service learning experience.

Tuition at the school for seniors is $10,000 per year.

Sant Bani School

The yearly tuition at Sant Bani School in Sanbornton is $7,500.

An endowment helps lower the tuition rate at the school, which offers classes from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. About one-third of its 125 students receive need-based financial aid, said Brooke Pearsall, director of advancement.

“Sant Bani” is loosely defined as “song of the spirit” in Sanskrit.

The school once was associated with a nearby ashram, but for the past 37 years has been operating as a nonprofit, independent educational organization with an outdoor focus and an emphasis on academics, arts, music and after-school enrichment.

“A lot of families are looking for alternatives,” she said. “We spend time outdoors and there is a diversity of enrichment with arts, music, drama STEAMS (science, technology, engineering, arts, math, service).

“We just really offer an all-around strong education.”

She said the school’s enrollment has grown, largely through positive word-of-mouth endorsements.

Holy Trinity School

Francine Young, the principal at Holy Trinity School in Laconia, is getting ready for a big move.

The school, now operating out of a historic building at Messer and Church streets, will be located next school year at 19 Gilford Ave., on the Sacred Heart campus in a building that was first constructed as a convent.

Tuition at Holy Trinity costs either $5,631 or $6,830 per year, depending on whether the student is a member of the St. Andre Bessette parish. But many families apply for financial aid or can get tuition reductions through volunteer hours.

Young said everyone is welcome at the school, which will operate a pre-kindergarten class at its new location.

“We have had multiple inquiries for years from families interested in enrolling 3-year-olds,” she said. “Now, with our move, we have the room and ability to do so.”

The school’s enrollment has declined to 65 students, but Young is hopeful the move will allow it to increase its enrollment numbers.

“The reality of this next chapter is taking hold,” she said. “There is excitement in the school community.

“We will have updated technology in all classrooms, an on-campus library, a designated classroom specifically for technology, and to accommodate any students with mobility issues, we have put in an elevator.”

Public school

Brendan Minnihan, superintendent of the Laconia School District, said there are many positives associated with a public school education.

“One advantage I would put under socialization,” he said. “Basically, there are all types of students at public schools. They are from different ethnic, religious, socio-economic backgrounds. That adds a kind of robustness and a variety of experiences that can be beneficial.”

He said public schools have real funding concerns, but they still have the ability to offer programming to meet the needs of a wide variety of students.

“There is career and technical education, AP programs and classes, extended learning opportunities, co-curricular programming,” Minnihan said. “There are a large number of options, sports, plays, music.”

He also said that given the larger enrollment of public schools, there are simply a wider range of classes for students.

"With some of the smaller schools, both public and private, it is just a little harder to do that,” he said. “They don’t have as many teachers.”

New Hampshire does not have school voucher program, but it does have a program that offers tax credits for contributions and awards needs based scholarships that can be used on private and parochial schools.

Minnihan is not a fan.

“That's money that would otherwise go to taxes and help alleviate some of the monetary pressures of not just schools, but other state services,” he said.