Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of governance and managerial characteristics of schools. More specifically, the aim is to individuate the factors that are associated to higher schools' performances, as measured through student achievement. Design/methodology/approach: The research is conducted by means of a survey in the private junior-secondary schools in one Italian region (Lombardy). Findings: The results show that some features characterize the group of "high-performing" schools: the presence of structured tests to measure student' achievement; specific services for disabled and foreign students; a high level of principal's autonomy in strategic decision making; the use of assessment for defining strategies; and a high collaborative attitude among teachers. Research limitations/implications: The present paper focused only on the private sector, because non-public schools benefit from a substantial autonomy in their organizational and managerial profile. Some of the indicators collected in this study could be included in the Italian standardized tests' protocol, by creating an "ad hoc" school's questionnaire. Originality/value: This paper answers to the call by educational research, applied economic research and present institutional assessment activities for a renewed desire to build reliable indicators about schools' performance in Italy. In this paper an analytical framework is developed to collect relevant information about schools' characteristics. (Contains 10 tables, 1 figure and 1 note.)