Public Schools in Bristol, RI

The term public school is commonly used in a school that relies on private funding sources. They are public in the sense of an initial public offering , anyone who can afford the tuition and meets the institutional requirements may attend, rather than the normal sense of being public, that is state run, institutions in Bristol.Schools which were subsequently reformed by the Public Schools Acts is termed commonly as private schools in general.

Often successful businessmen in earlier days would send their sons to a public school as a mark of participation in the elite and much of the discipline was in the hands of senior pupils,usually known as prefects, which was not just a means to reduce staffing costs, but was also seen as vital preparation for those pupils' later roles in public or military service in Bristol. More recently heads of public schools have been emphasizing that senior pupils now play a much reduced role in disciplining.