There are many kinds of partnerships that are used to enhance public education. The public private partnerships described here are those which involve the public school district partnering with private for-profit or non-profit developers for mutual benefit.

The case studies described here involve private entities entering into agreements with the school district to use public land to build private developments.

In the case of Oyster Elementary School, the private development is a market rate apartment building. The ongoing benefit the District of Columbia Public School System receives from this development is the repayment of the bond which paid to construct the new Oyster School on a portion of the original school site.

In the case of John A. Johnson Elementary School, the YMCA added a pool and community center onto the old John A. Johnson School, as part of its modernization. The ongoing benefit the St. Paul, Minnesota Public Schools receives is shared use of the community center.