Private Schools Near Lowell

Families moving to Lowell have a real set of private school options in the city and within a reasonable drive of it, covering preschool through high school, including Catholic schools, independent day schools, and Montessori programs. Because these schools set their own admissions, tuition, and calendars, the research works differently than it does for the public district.

I was born in Lowell, and a good share of the families I help are weighing Lowell Public Schools against a private option. I do not rank schools for anyone. Here is the factual lay of the land so you can build your list.

Private Options in and Close to Lowell

Inside Lowell, Lowell Catholic is the city's Catholic school serving students through high school, and the city also has smaller parochial and independent elementary options, including Montessori programs for young children. Just over the line in Tyngsborough, the Academy of Notre Dame is an independent Catholic school for girls with elementary and high school divisions.

Widening the radius a bit opens the list. Andover, roughly twenty minutes from Lowell, is home to well known independent schools including Phillips Academy, a boarding and day high school, and The Pike School for younger students. Nashua, New Hampshire, roughly twenty five minutes north, has Bishop Guertin High School, a Catholic high school that draws students from both sides of the state line. Other families look at Montessori schools in Chelmsford and the surrounding towns for the early years. Distances are approximate and depend on your part of Lowell, so time the drive from any specific home during a real school morning before you commit.

How Private Admissions Differ From Public

There are no address zones. Private schools admit students by application, on their own timelines, which often means applications in the fall and winter for the following school year, and popular grades fill. Tuition varies widely by school and grade, and many schools offer financial aid or sibling discounts, so the published tuition is a starting point for a conversation, not always the final number. Transportation also works differently. Some schools run bus routes or parent carpools across Greater Lowell, while others leave the commute to families entirely.

Each school publishes its own information: curriculum, class sizes, accreditation, and outcomes claims come from the school itself, so read them the way you would read any provider's material, and visit in person. Most schools hold open houses in the fall and winter and will arrange tours and student shadow days for older children.

Weighing Private Against Lowell Public Schools

The families I work with usually start by listing what they actually need: a particular faith based environment, smaller classes at a specific level, a program the district does not offer, or a school community they already know. Then they compare total cost honestly. Private tuition is an annual expense on top of your mortgage, while Lowell Public Schools is included in the taxes you already pay on the home. Plenty of Lowell families use both systems at different stages, public for elementary and private for high school, or the reverse.

One practical point: if a private school is central to your move, run the school application and the home search in parallel. Admissions deadlines will not wait for your closing date, and homes near a specific school trade in the same market as everything else in the city.

Where to Verify Everything

Go to each school's own admissions office for tuition, deadlines, and openings, and confirm accreditation through the associations the schools belong to, such as the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. For the public comparison, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education publishes official profiles and report cards for Lowell Public Schools, and I explain how to read those in my posts on what the schools are like in Lowell and on Lowell school ratings.

My role in all of this is the housing side: neighborhoods, commute times to the schools on your list, taxes, and what your budget buys in each part of the city.

Thinking about a move to Lowell? Call me at (978) 746-0124 and we will time the drives and target the areas that fit your school plan.

Chris Doherty is the #1 selling agent in Lowell, ranked #1 in the city again and again, including in 2024 and 2025, and he is one of Greater Lowell's top-producing agents. He personally sells 100+ homes a year, with 3,000+ career transactions, and Doherty Properties, the company he leads, has handled over $1 billion in real estate transactions.

Doherty Properties LLC, 14 Jackson Street, Lowell, MA 01852 | 160 Main Street, Unit 7, Haverhill, MA 01830 | 4 Courthouse Lane, Suite 2, Chelmsford, MA 01824 | (978) 746-0124 | [email protected]