1
The Dalton School
New York·New York County·Grades K-12·~1,330 students
Director-verified
Verified by directorCo-ed
Tuition$65.8K/yr
TypePrivate
Students~1,330
Best Private Elementary Schools
Independent rankings of Private Elementary schools, built from director interviews and verified data — never from school payments.
638 schools indexed13 director-verifiedUpdated this week
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School type
Grade level
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Verified
We track 638 private elementary-level schools across our active markets in Florida and New York. Annual tuition ranges from $1.5K/yr to $145K/yr, with a median of $12.5K/yr across schools that publish a number. 358 of these schools accept Florida Step Up / FES scholarships — roughly 56% of the list — so families using state-funded scholarships have real choice here.
Private schools on this page set their own admissions criteria. Most ask for a school visit, prior records, and a family interview; competitive K and 6th-grade entry points often fill 6-9 months before the start of school. Every school is re-verified through direct outreach to admissions teams; data is refreshed on a 180-day cadence and timestamped on each profile.
See also: Charter.
Showing 10 of 638 schools
- 2Trinity School
New York·New York County·Grades K-12·~995 students
Director-verified
Verified by directorEpiscopalCo-edTuition$64.9K/yrTypeEpiscopalStudents~995 - 3The Spence School
New York·New York County·Grades K-12·~760 students
Director-verified
Verified by directorTuition$64.6K/yrTypePrivateStudents~760 - 4St. Francis Preparatory School
Fresh Meadows·Queens County·Grades 9-12·~2,500 students
CatholicCo-edAffordableTuition$12.1K/yrTypeCatholicStudents~2,500 - 5City and Country School
New York·New York County·Grades PK-8·~200 students
Director-verified
Verified by directorCo-edTuition$60.5K/yrTypePrivateStudents~200 - 6Archbishop Molloy High School
Briarwood·Queens County·Grades 9-12·~1,560 students
CatholicCo-edAffordableTuition$12.6K/yrTypeCatholicStudents~1,560 - 7Indian Rocks Christian School
Largo·Pinellas County·Grades PK-12·~1,280 students
Accepts scholarshipsChristianCo-edAffordableTuition$18.5K/yrTypeChristianStudents~1,280 - 8Seffner Christian Academy
Seffner·Hillsborough County·Grades PK-12·~1,230 students
Accepts scholarshipsChristianCo-edAffordableTuition$14.5K/yrTypeChristianStudents~1,230 - 9American Youth Academy
Tampa·Hillsborough County·Grades PK-12·~1,223 students
Accepts scholarshipsIslamicCo-edAffordableTuition$12.2K/yrTypeIslamicStudents~1,223 - 10American Heritage School - Plantation
Plantation·Broward County·Grades PK-12·~2,800 students
Accepts scholarshipsNone (nonsectarian)Tuition$32.5K/yrTypeNone (nonsectarian)Students~2,800
How we rank these schools
Built relationships, not scrapers. AdmitCompass ranks schools using a composite score that blends four signals: enrollment size (a proxy for stability and program breadth), tuition reasonableness within the local market, freshness of our most recent verification, and a small bonus for schools with full admissions detail published on their profile.
Public data comes from the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE), the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and each school's own admissions pages. The information that actually matters to most families — acceptance rates, deadlines, what a director cares about — comes from direct interviews with school directors and admissions coaches across our active markets.
We do not publish scoring weights or per-axis thresholds. That keeps the moat intact: the rankings reflect actual conversations with people inside schools, not a formula anyone with a crawler could clone. Every profile is re-verified on a 180-day cadence, and the "last updated" date is timestamped on every school page.
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Frequently asked questions
What's the average tuition for elementary schools?
Across the 638 schools on this list, annual tuition ranges from $1.5K/yr to $145K/yr, with a median of $12.5K/yr. Many schools offer financial aid, sibling discounts, or accept Florida Step Up / FES scholarships — check each school's detail page for current aid policy.
How competitive is admission to private schools?
Selective private schools review transcripts, teacher recommendations, an admissions test (ISEE or SSAT for grades 5-12), and an in-person visit. Acceptance rates vary widely — some schools accept nearly every qualified applicant, while top-tier programs admit fewer than 25%. Apply 9-12 months ahead of the start date.
Do these schools accept Step Up / FES scholarships?
358 of the 638 schools on this page accept Florida's Step Up For Students / FES-EO / FES-UA scholarships. That covers most or all of tuition for income-eligible families. Each school's detail page lists the specific scholarship programs accepted.
What's the smallest and largest school on this list?
Faith Christian Academy - Falcon Academy is the smallest with 1 students; American Heritage School - Plantation is the largest at 2800. Smaller schools tend to offer more direct teacher contact and tighter community; larger schools usually have more elective and extracurricular breadth.
Is this list updated?
Yes. We re-verify school data on a 180-day cadence through direct contact with admissions teams, plus cross-checks against FLDOE, NCES, and published school sources. Each school profile shows the date of its most recent verification.
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