In the U.S. 5.3 million children attend the top private school. Your child really should be one of those attendees.

Public schools are an indisposable part of American freedom and culture, but they’re infamous for only providing the bare minimum of education, which is barely enough anymore with the demands of college and the difficulty of entering the workforce. Private preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school academies help fill in the holes. Just compare private school SAT scores with the national average:

Many believe the key to this difference is the student to teacher ratio. Public schools are often overcrowded and unable to properly attend to individual needs. However, the vast majority of private schools have 300 students or less. The top private schools emphasize student/teacher interaction as a key component of their mission and model.

From the earliest age, the academic benefit is visible. Preschool is not a compulsory level like kindergarten through high school (usually shortened to K-12), but preschool alone boosts a child’s future math and reading scores by 21% while providing a nurturing environment that’s a comfort to the children as much as to the parents.

And the nation is taking notice of this boon. Four and a half million children attended preschool between 2011 and 2013, and that number has continued to grow with the recovering economy and greater access to information about these institutions.

The earlier you start, the easier it is to make it through the thorough screening processes required to enroll in a private middle school or a private high school. The top private schools come with name recognition, so a prestigious preschool can give way to an associated elementary school, middle school, and so on, and this impressive list of schools will instantly communicate to college admissions that your child has had the top quality education.

Why should we only invest in our children’s future at the collegiate level? Any parenting book will tell you to start early when it comes to instilling good values and habits in your child. If you start planning now, you can prepare yourself for the next round of applications, as most deadlines fall in January or February.