Suburban schools are those that are located outside a city in a suburban area. The United States (U.S.) Department of Education released its Status of Education in Rural America (NCES), which states there are three different classification systems that allocate what constitutes a suburban locale. This system uses three classes of area: large, midsize, and small. The “large” suburban area is classified as having a population outside a city of 250,000 or more. A “midsize” suburban area constitutes a population less than 250,000 and more than 100,000 that is outside a principal city and inside an urban area. Finally, a “small” suburban area has a population of fewer than 100,000 people outside a principal city. The U.S. census reports that 48% of the U.S. population now lives in suburbs.

The history of suburban locales and schools in the U.S. can be traced back to Ford’s invention of the Model T automobile in 1908. The invention of the car and construction...