Open House events are easy, low-commitment ways to get a glimpse of a school community. While websites, social media, and print materials all help tell a school’s story, most parents will say that they knew a school was ‘The One’ when they stepped onto the campus.

As you research schools for a young child just starting preschool, or perhaps as you look to find a school in a new city, you may come across a number of different categories of schools. In today’s evolving school landscape, you’ll find public schools, charter schools, parochial schools, online schools, homeschool options, private schools, independent schools and more.

As a school admissions director, I meet with parents everyday who are in the school search process and many are unclear on what exactly an independent school is. Independent schools like Shorecrest Preparatory School are not dependent on the national or local governments to fund any part of school operations. This means independent schools do not receive taxpayer assistance. Instead, schools like Shorecrest receive funding through endowments, donations, and tuition.

Shorecrest is a proud member of the National Association of Independent Schools. The NAIS defines an independent school in five ways: