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Should you send your child to a school which prepares its students to take either the SAT or ACT? That's a decision which you will face when you evaluate schools on your shortlist. At that point, you will have to choose schools which teach to the test or progressive schools which do not.

Schools which offer SAT or ACT preparation spend two or three years preparing their students to take those examinations in their senior year. In addition, most of these schools will offer Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Progressive schools prepare their students for college with experiential learning and the development of portfolios demonstrating academic accomplishments. Naturally, each educational approach has its proponents and its opponents.

Some people think that good test scores on standardized admissions tests are the only way to get into a competitive college such as Harvard or Princeton. The reality is that these days, college admissions departments look at much more than test scores when determining which applicants to admit.

Background: History of the SAT and ACT

The SAT, or Scholastic Aptitude Test as it used to be called, has been around since 1926. explains how the SAT evolved from an Army IQ test to a college admissions test. The original idea behind that college admissions test was to level the admissions playing field by evaluating scholarship students seeking admission to Harvard. Back in the early part of the 20th-century, the elite New

Raising money to benefit your private school is something as omnipresent as the four walls of your office. It's always there. It never goes away. Even schools with large endowments seem to be constantly raising money. They can usually afford to hire development directors and can count on a couple of generous alumni to prime the pump for their multi-million-dollar capital campaigns. But what about small schools that desperately need money over and above what they can raise through tuition and fees? This article is for those schools. Hopefully, it will encourage you to see fundraising the way larger schools do.

I have based these tips, suggestions, and strategies on decades of fundraising experience. While fundraising methods have evolved significantly since the 1980s, the core principles remain remarkably consistent in 2026: identify your needs clearly, communicate effectively, and build lasting relationships with your supporters.

Today, schools face additional financial pressures, including rising operating costs, increased demand for financial aid, technology upgrades, campus security improvements, and expanded student mental health services. As a result, strategic fundraising has become more important than ever for independent schools of every size.

The beginnings of modern philanthropy

Modern philanthropy has evolved considerably over the last century, especially with the growth of online giving, donor management platforms, and digital communication. One important lesson remains unchanged: schools must broaden their donor base to sustain long-term fundraising success.

While your current students mostly come from the local area, they don't always remain there after they graduate.

The documentation required by international or non-United States students has always been . As I have pointed out many times, if you are not an American citizen and are living outside the United States of America, and you wish to attend a boarding school in the U.S., you need to start the process at least 18 months in advance of the date of your first class. See the for a detailed timeline. While the article discusses how to apply to American universities, the process is the same for students applying to American private K-12 schools

Additional documentation

What is being adhered to more strictly is a policy which dates back to the Obama administration. This policy requires that applicants for U.S. visas furnish their social media usernames. in the New York Times gives an overview of the changes. An update to the was published on September 18, 2017. Specifically, it adds the following clause: "Social media handles and aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results"

This video discusses how the US Border Patrol now requires all immigrants to provide social media logins and passwords, phone records going back 5 years, and other details.

How does this impact your child's student visa application? It means that your

As a parent and a teacher, I have been on both sides of the parent-teacher conference. Sometimes I have wondered whether we were discussing the same child. Most of the time, parents have listened intently as I pointed out their child's strengths and weaknesses. Occasionally I have had to deal with defensive parents and parents with unreasonable expectations.

Read the excellent article entitled on the National Education Association site. Against this backdrop, here are a few suggestions to help you have a successful parent-teacher conference.

This video offers an example of a parent-teacher conference.

Show up.

You have to show up to have a successful meeting with your child's teacher. That sounds so obvious, doesn't it? I can clearly remember times when the parents with whom I wanted to meet were no shows. Perhaps there was a good reason why they missed their parent-teacher conference. However, in most of those cases, I don't recall receiving a phone call or a note explaining what happened. As soon as you receive your parent-teacher conference appointment, save it in your smartphone's calendar and Google calendar. If you cannot attend for some valid reason, text, or email your child's teacher as soon as possible. Ask to re-schedule the conference.

Arriving for the conference.

Arrive at the school at least 10 minutes early for your conference. If the conference before yours was