Some students not only get to pick which college they want to attend, but some have the opportunity to choose their high school, too.  Students who can choose to go to a private or prep school do so for multiple reasons, including for a better education, athletics, arts, or to help them get into college. But these benefits come at a cost.

Students do not need to pay to attend public school, but they do to attend private ones.  Prep and private schools range from $20,000 to $60,000 a year.  Many students who attend prep school get a certain amount of financial aid based on their family’s needs.

One of the major differences between public and private schools is athletics. The question is often asked: Are re prep school sports better than public school sports?

Money plays an important role in an athlete’s high school experience.  At many public high schools, there is little funding for the athletic programs.  Even if a public school does have a strong budget for athletics, the athletes often have to pay to play.

Many athletes will not have the opportunity to play a sport because their families do not have the money to pay the extra cost of a sport.  This leaves many talented athletes unable to pursue their dream of playing a college sport.

At Foxboro High School, athletes do not necessarily have to pay to play.  Jackie Touzos, a graduate of Foxboro High in 2015 explains, “At our end of the year banquet we will have to pay thirty dollars, which goes to our boosters to help pay for expenses.” Touzos says her varsity field hockey team would hold fundraisers and car washes to help pay for their expenses instead of the school charging them separately.

At Williston, students will have to pay additional fees to participate in certain sports.  To be a part of the equestrian team at Williston, students have to pay a thousand dollars.  The extra thousand dollars on top of a student’s tuition will sometimes drive interested students away.

To help pay for the athletic expenses, prep schools will have trustees who often donate their money.  Without the trustees, prep schools, like Williston, would have trouble with paying for all the required equipment.

Public schools do not have the luxury of having wealthy trustees, but some do have outside contributors to help pay for athletics.  Athletic Director of Foxboro High, Caitlin Brown, says Foxboro is lucky enough to have many outside donors.  Ms. Brown states, “Foxboro High has had grants through the NFL, the Hockomock area YMCA, the charitable fund of the New England Patriots, members of the community, Dunkin Donuts, Schneider Electric, and other companies.”  Not many public schools have the exceptional donors that Foxboro High has, and it allows them to be a competitive high school in sports.

Every department in a school will be given a budget for each year.  At Williston the budget for the different departments are dealt by Mr. McCullagh, the Chief Financial Officer.  Depending on the amount of money that Williston receives, the budget for the athletic department changes every year.  Brown explains how at Foxboro High School, “the budget is around $450,000, which includes salaries of coaches, transportation, supplies, and contractual services.”

In general, prep schools have bigger budgets to spend on athletics than public schools do.  Prep schools need to have a large budget for athletics because at some prep schools, like Williston, it is a requirement for students to take part in the Afternoon Program each trimester.

Williston Athletic Director, Mr. Mark Conroy, explains why all students have to participate in an Afternoon Program. “The Afternoon Program is simply part of the educational experience here. We believe that that there is a lot that can be learned by working with others in a collective experience whether that is as a member of a competitive team, a dance ensemble, a theater tech group, a drama production, etc.”

At Foxboro High school there is no requirement to play or be a part of an afternoon program.  Though sports are not required Ms. Brown explains, “We have about 50-60% of students play a sport at Foxboro High school.”

Another factor for those who choose to attend prep schools is the level of athletics at these schools as compared to the level at public schools.

Throughout the time that my sister was a student at Foxboro High, she felt that the sports were very competitive.  Mansfield High School student Trisha Murphy ’16 agrees.  Murphy states, “The majority of the players on the girls varsity soccer team play to compete. Our team hated losing and would always be devastated after a tough loss.”

To make the teams even stronger my sister thinks that “[her] high school should have tryouts for every team and use the process of making cuts. I feel as if this will not only make the athletes work harder for a position or spot on a team but also with the level of competitiveness the school will have.”

Not all the teams, including the Foxboro field hockey teams, would make cuts from varsity because there are not a lot of girls who try out.  Even though Murphy and Touzos think that there sports are just as competitive as prep school sports, they still know students who went to prep school.  Murphy knows two kids who have recently left Mansfield to play a sport at a prep school; she notes that it depends on what sports students are looking to play.

Christina Zalewski ’14 came to Williston as a repeat sophomore. Zalewski was not able to play hockey at her old high school because they did not have a girls’ hockey team.  When Zalewski attended Williston she explains, “I was able to get on the ice every single day during the season, which is something I did not have before prep school.”

Zalewski also believes that prep school helped her into a better college.  Zalewski explains, “I wouldn’t be at Northeastern if it wasn’t for Williston. I think that it was worth moving away from home to take advantage of such a great opportunity.”

On the other hand, my sister believes that Foxboro High School did not do a very good job in helping her play a sport in college.  She explains, “My club helped me with exposure I was able to attend a variety of showcases and tournaments across the country, I think that most of my help came from family and friends who have been through the whole process and were willing to help me.”

Throughout the past, year both Foxboro High School and Williston have helped about the same number of athletes play a sport in college.   Williston had twenty-two seniors go off to play a sport in college last year.  Foxboro High School had around twenty to thirty athletes play a sport in college last year.

Many students, especially students who attend prep school who notice the difference significantly, compare school spirit.

School spirit is what makes a game even more exciting than it already is.  Whether it is a football game under the lights or a basketball game in the gym, most high schools will have a student section.

There are many differences between public schools and prep schools, but one comparison that many students make between the two is school spirit at games.

Meg Rickard ’16 came to Williston as a repeat sophomore, and she agrees that the school spirit at Williston is nothing like her old school.  Rickard recalls, “At my old school there was a stadium that could fit twenty times more people and was filled top to bottom in the student section.”

At Williston Rickard explains, “We arrive to the game in small groups of friends and occasionally get a chant going.”  At most Williston games there will usually be a small group of fans, but nothing compared to some public school’s student sections.

Students at Williston are required to play a sport.  Therefore, a majority of the students are not able to go to any other team’s game because they have their own.  Often teams will have games at the same time, whether they are home or away.

Rickard describes, “At my old school students would have one home game Friday or Saturday night, no matter what sport, and more than half of the school would be there cheering the team on.”

Mansfield High School, in Mansfield Massachusetts, senior, Trisha Murphy, explains how pep rallies are a big deal at public schools.  Every school’s pep rallies are different, but they all usually consist of bands, chants, and speeches.  Murphy talks about how everyone gets very excited for pep rallies because it is a fun tradition that they do every year.

Another big deal at public schools is Homecoming.  Murphy explains, “Before homecoming our school has spirit week where we dress up with different themes every day. Then we have the big football homecoming game followed by a dance.”

Some prep schools have pep rallies and a homecoming, but Williston does not.  Williston will have night games in the fall where a majority of the student body will attend.  A club at Williston called Wildest Cats will sometimes will set up themes for each game such as, black out for girls varsity soccer game and red, white, and blue for boys varsity football game.

Rickard says, “At my old school in the parking lot near the stadium there would be a student tailgate with hot dogs, hamburgers, drinks, outdoor games like KanJam and corn hole.  The upperclassmen then rally around getting ready for the game.

Every high school has school spirit, but the way that school spirit is compared is different between prep schools and public schools.  Williston will only have a couple of night games to attend to, but at public schools they have games that everyone can attend to every weekend.  If Williston changed the scheduling of games, then more students would have the opportunity to come support each other.

There are many factors that separate public schools from private ones. It is up to each student and his or family to decide whether the cost of prep schools is worth its many benefits.

This is the Williston student section at the Girls’ Varsity Soccer game.  The theme of the game was black out so everyone wore black and someone dressed up in the wildcat suit.