教师

　　Public schools: All teachers in a public school are usually state certified or, at a minimum, working toward certification. Certification ensures that a teacher has gone through the training required by the state, which includes student teaching and coursework.公立学校老师必须有教师证才能上岗.

　　Private schools: Teachers in private schools may not be required to have certification, and instead often have subject area expertise and an undergraduate or graduate degree in the subject they teach.私立学校老师更多的是某个领域的专家或学者.很多教师拥有美国牛校的博士学位.

　　学生

　　Public schools: The children at most public schools usually reflect the community. Students may be split up based on ability or interests, but in many public schools, there is a diversity of student backgrounds.学生主要来自同一个社区，不论贫富.

　　NOTE: In many states, if you are not satisfied with your assigned school, you may be able to send your child to another public school in the area.

　　Private schools: The student population at a private school is determined through a selection process; all students must apply and be accepted in order to attend. Although students may be from different neighborhoods, they will probably have similar goals and interests. This tends to create a fairly homogenous student body.因为学校对学生有筛选的一个过程，所以学生有比较相似的目标和兴趣.且学生来自五湖四海，多数寄宿中学对来自各个地区＼国家的学生有名额限制，以保证学校做到真正的多元化.