Facts about Schools

One of our parental prerogatives is to worry about our children. That's because your child never came with an instruction manual. As a result, you have had to learn so many things about parenting simply by being a parent. No matter, worry is part of the parental landscape. If you are considering sending your child off to a private school, your worries will be pretty specific. Probably along the lines of the following questions.

Many parents find the concept of sending a child to boarding school upsetting; a child's adolescence is such a distinctively affective period that entrusting it to others seems wrong. Yet boarding schools prosper, successors to institutions dating to medieval times. Source: Forbes.com

Will my child be safe?

Private schools take your child's safety very seriously. Contractually a boarding school functions in loco parentis, which is a legal way of stating that the school acts in the place of the parent when it comes to supervision of its students, your child included.

Here is an overview of Westchester Country Day School, High Point, North Carolina.

In many respects, your child is safer at school, where she cannot drive or go to somebody's house and get into who-knows-what after school while you are at work. Private schools do not permit drugs, drinking, and smoking. Zero tolerance is the rule. Does it prevent teens from pushing the limits and experimenting? That's

What are private schools like anyway? Even if you're starting your private school research, there's a good chance you already have an impression of private schools. Perhaps you have read The Catcher in the Rye or A Separate Peace. Or maybe you saw Dead Poets Society or School Ties. These stories, while entertaining, offer a picture of private schools that is quite different from what you will find today.

Just as universities and colleges in the United States have evolved in the past several decades, private schools have also evolved. But unfortunately, while the perception of private schools is changing, there are still some lingering myths that can make you mistakenly think that you wouldn't fit in at boarding school:

Myth 1: You must be very wealthy to go to a private school.

Approximately a third of all private school students receive financial aid. Financial aid grants can represent a significant portion of tuition, depending on the school and your family's situation. Students now increasingly come from public schools and a wider range of family income levels. In general, boarding schools do their best to make their programs accessible to your family through financial aid grants, loan programs, and merit awards/scholarships. In the past ten years, the emergence of K-12 private school loans has also made boarding school education more accessible.

This video offers a look at the German International School

One of the primary reasons parents send their children to private school is for the individual attention students receive. Private schools can provide that sort of attention because their class sizes are small. Small class sizes work. Small class sizes are one of the main reasons you send your child to private school. With that in mind, let's look at why small class sizes are so important.

1. There's nowhere to hide in a small class.

Imagine your child in a large high school class of 30-35 students. She's not good at math. Most of the students in her class don't understand math and could care less about it. So your daughter hangs out in the back of the room, keeps quiet, and tries to pay attention. The distractions and cutting up around her mitigate against any meaningful learning. Consequently, your daughter falls further and further behind in math. Sadly, public school class sizes increase as school districts struggle with budget deficits. As a result, class sizes of 30-35 students are common.

Contrast that learning environment with 12-14 students seated around a Harkness Table in a boarding school. A Harkness Table is an oval table. The teacher sits at the table with his students. This arrangement places students in a situation where they have no choice but to engage and interact with each other and with their teacher. A Harkness table creates a climate for learning.

This video discusses teaching in large versus small classes.

Implicit in the

It's exciting to discover a veritable treasure trove of books set in private schools published recently. The United States, United Kingdom, and Peru. You can find most books at your favorite bookseller or library in both traditional paperback and electronic format. In addition, I have given you links to the authors' websites wherever possible. Happy reading!

The Truly Devious Series by Maureen Johnson

Truly Devious

ASIN: B07252X6ZH

The Vanishing Stair

ASIN: B078LXZ8CS

The Hand On The Wall

ASIN: B07QVL5SLT

The Box In The Woods

ASIN: B08CRBSN2R

"The Agatha Christie-like ecosystem pairs with lacerating contemporary wit, and alternating past and present scenes makes for a multilayered, modern detective story." -- New York Times Book Review

From the pen of Maureen Johnson comes a series of murder mysteries set in famous Ellingham Academy in Vermont. Stevie Bell solves the murders with great aplomb.

This video offers a recap of Truly Devious.

Dark Rooms: A Novel by Lili Anolik

ASIN: B00KVI9DH2

Lili Anolik's first novel tackles a murder disguised as a suicide. The murder victim's sister signs on to teach at the prestigious Connecticut boarding school where the murder took place. We suspect that this will not be the only murder Grace solves.

Atlas of Men by David Sklar

ASIN: B07HGFSNC7

"…a haunting, mesmerizing story about coming-of-age, of innocence lost and the search for redemption."

— Hedy S. Wald,

Since the year 1913, American citizens have voted to elect state senators, but that has not always been the case. Up until the mid-1850s, senators were appointed by the legislatures of the state they represented in a system that worked quite well. The idea behind this method of selection was that allowing state legislatures to elect their senators would strengthen their ties to the national government and allow them to conduct business without the distraction of pressure from the general population.

Upon the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, however, things changed. Senators are now elected by popular vote with each senator representing a single state, and each state is represented by two senators. Senators play an important role in the U.S. government by writing and voting on bills, and legislation that affects the people in their representative state.

Because U.S. senators have the power to approve or deny legislation that directly affects their constituents, it is important that each senator be a fair representation of the people and the politics of each state. Problems arise when there is a disconnect between politics and the people – when a senator votes based on his own agenda rather than the will of the people. Each senator’s educational background and upbringing bear significant weight in the decisions he makes for his state.

We recently conducted a survey of all U.S. senators to collect some information about their educational background. After collecting this information, we analyzed it and were able