Originally Posted by Bostonian
Originally Posted by 22B
I would have to guess that a fair chunk of that private school fee is profit that is lining someone's pocket.
Looking at the fees charged (except for some Catholic schools, which are reasonable), I agree, but private schools, both at the college level and below, are typically organized as non-profits that can receive tax-deductible contributions. They often say that tuition only covers a portion of their actual costs, with the remainder covered by the endowment.

Re: tuition-- Offering a customized experience is expensive. After costing out specialist teachers, facilities renovations, expert speaker series, and specialized sport instruction, I've hit $25k as break-even tuition for a nonprofit school in our urban location.

Personally, if I had 2 or more gifted children I wanted to homeschool under a tutor model, this is what I'd do with a $60K budget:

1. Hire a recent teaching graduate (ideally specializing in gifted education) with a degree in the teachable subject for an average of 2 hours weekly for each of:
- Math
- Science
- Language arts
- Social sciences (history, civics, geography)
- Music (private instruction, later adding ensemble training)
- Foreign language

For 40 weeks at $50/hour: $24,000

2. Engage community experts for:
- Phys ed: sport specific instruction in the community from experts (~1-2 hours/day, blend of structured and free play)-- Factor in at least $1,500/year for each hour of weekly instruction, including equipment per child, for sports that require a lot of gear/ $1,000 per weekly hour of low-gear sports
- Group classes for visual arts, drama, technology/engineering (~1 hour each) -- Factor in ~$1,000/weekly class
- Foreign language instruction (culture based community group--free)
- Theology (Sunday school-- free)

Community athletics & arts: ~$15,000

3. Buy memberships to the local museums and incorporate a lot of inquiry based learning in the community. $1,000

4. Set aside $20K and plan a few trips to interesting destinations that tie into your foreign language or social science studies. For instance, based on DS' interests this year, we'd see the pyramids in Egypt, visit some Medieval castles in the UK, tour old Quebec City, and head to Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta (maybe timed with the ski season to fit in some time at Banff).

So:
1. Tutors $24K
2. Athletics & arts $15K
3. Museums $1K
4. Travel $20K

*Note this assumes a parent or caregiver at home with child. Childcare would obviously be extra.


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