preparatory school

noun

Definition of preparatory school

1 : a usually private school preparing students primarily for college

2 British : a private elementary school preparing students primarily for British public schools

See preparatory school defined for English-language learners

See preparatory school defined for kids

Recent Examples of preparatory school from the Web

Five black cadet candidates at the academy’s preparatory school in Colorado Springs had found racial slurs written on the message boards on their doors.

— herman wong, Washington Post, "Meet the Air Force general who delivered a powerful lesson in leadership," 29 Sep. 2017
Located in Bloomfield Hills, Cranbrook Schools is consistently ranked as one of the leading college preparatory schools in the country.

— jay grossman, Detroit Free Press, "Two Cranbrook students allege they were sexually assaulted at house party," 3 Nov. 2017
The preparatory school has a 10-month program for potential cadets who applied for the four-year academic and military program at the academy but were not accepted.

— CBS News, "Air Force Academy leader delivers powerful speech on race after slurs found in dorms," 29 Sep. 2017
Police said the victim, a fellow student at Harvard-Westlake School, one of the nation’s most prestigious college-preparatory schools, was left with a broken leg and a broken nose.

— anthony man, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Party leader's violent criminal past engulfs Broward Republicans in turmoil," 22 Sep. 2017
Seven students at the Gilman School, a private all-boys preparatory school, made the list.

— talia richman, baltimoresun.com, "More than 300 Maryland students named National Merit semifinalists," 18 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'preparatory school.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.