Private Education in America

Christian education largely shaped the role of schools in America. The first American schools in fact were started by the church in an attempt to provide Christian education. The first private school in American, the Collegiate School, which is a day school for boys, was founded in 1628 in Manhattan and is still in operation today. In 1647, Massachusetts passed the Old Deluder Satan Act, which required the teaching, reading, and writing of Christian education scripture in schools. The act was named as such because the belief was that Satan wanted to keep people away from the Scriptures, and therefore ignorant of true knowledge. This idea was the impetus for the emergence of Christian education such as private Christian schools and universities.

It was not until 1830, however, that free public schooling was funded by the government as a right for all American school aged children. Today, there are more than 33,000 private schools including Christian education, independent schools, and private high school in America, and 36 Norfolk private school. According to the Council for American Private Education, one in four American schools is a private school including Christian education institutions.