Why choose an independent school? The reasons cited over and over again by the 400,000 families who send their children to independent private schools include individual attention, small classes, teacher excellence, and high academic standards. But the main motive for families looking into independent private schools can be summarized by one word: QUALITY. These families want their children to be part of an educational community with high expectations of every student. They want, quite simply, the best for their sons and daughters.
 

National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), established in 1962, is the national voice for independent pre-collegiate education with over 1,000 nonprofit, independent schools in its membership. NAIS represents over 404,000 students and families; 41,000 teachers; and 7,500 administrators in the United States. Erie Day School is a member in good standing of NAIS. Also, Erie Day School is a fully accredited member of the Pennsylvania Association of Private Academic Schools (PAPAS)

The National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS), conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, confirms what independent school families have known for years: larger percentages of students in independent schools are enrolled in advanced courses than in public, parochial, and other private schools. In addition, independent private school students do twice as much homework as their counterparts, watch only two-thirds as much television, are significantly more likely to participate in varsity or intramural sports, and are more likely to agree that students and teachers get along well, discipline is fair, and teaching is good. With results like these, it is not surprising that the National Association of Independent Schools reports enrollment at member schools are increasing at double the rate of all other schools in this country. We hope that you, too, will join our community in the near future.

Erie Day School has a long-standing history of preparing our students for future success with the foundation of a solid educational experience. The school's current enrollment—at its highest level in 20 years—signifies that Erie's only private, independent, non-sectarian, fully-accredited school is uniquely positioned within the community to provide the vision and change that are necessary to forging new educational pathways.

Our alumni have gone on to attend a wide range of public and private Secondary Schools: