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What do Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Alec Baldwin, Greer Garson, Rodney Dangerfield, Sean Connery, Kevin Kline, Timothy Hutton and George C. Scott all have in common? They have made movies set in private schools.

There are several classic movies which are set in private schools. Aside from lovely shots of manicured campuses and grand buildings, most of these films don't represent private schools accurately. But then, that was not their intent.

For example, the Harry Potter series gives a romanticized view of life in an English boarding school. The dining hall and faculty gowns still exist in many English schools. Everything else is delightful fantasy. Goodbye Mr. Chips! is a two tissue tear jerker. Dead Poets Society always leaves a lump in your throat. School Ties shows the kind of nasty prejudice which was the norm way back when.

Hollywood tends to view private schools the way media does in general. It plays private schools as bastions of privilege and wealth. Military schools are an easy backdrop for shoot 'em ups. In any case there is much more to private schools than those themes. Here are a few titles to add to your collection.

The List

• Angel (1984) with Cliff Gorman, Susan Tyrrell, Dick Shawn
• Anne of Avonlea (1987) with Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Marilyn Lightstone
• Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987) with Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejtö, Francine Racette
• Charlie Bartlett (2007) with Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis
• Chasing Holden (2003) with DJ

Most Canadians are crazy about their national sport. They begin playing at a very young age. Hockey rinks can be found in just about every hamlet. The Canadian climate fosters the sport with long, rather cold winters. Most private schools in Canada offer hockey at the intramural and varsity level. The coaching tends to be of a pretty high standard.

But what about south of the border? The expansion of the National Hockey League into southern and western states has created a whole new following. Thousands of young people suddenly want to be professional hockey players. They love the fast pace and excitement of Canada's national sport. So, if your son or daughter (yes, many coed and girls schools mount girls' hockey teams) is clamoring to go to a 'hockey' school, you can't do much better than some of the schools on the list below. These fine American private schools enjoy a great reputation for excellent hockey teams and superb academics. Who knows! Maybe your kid will end up on an NHL team.

The Albany Academies

From Head Coach Brett Riley:

A sound attitude and advanced level of skill are pre requisites for a position on the varsity team, as is the realization that a varsity sport may require a six day a week commitment. This commitment may extend into vacation periods for sports seasons. The dedication and commitment needed to conduct a successful

Religion is important to you. You want your children to be educated in a school where your religion matters. You want them to grow up practising their religion on a daily basis, not just once a week in a church or schule. Of course, exactly how intense that religious education is going to be is entirely up to you. That is the genius of America. Religious freedom is real and alive. As a result there are religious schools to suit just about every inclination.

The Various Denominations

The Roman Catholic Church has made religious education the centerpiece of its evangelistic efforts for centuries. As a result, you have over 7,500 schools to choose from in that church alone. There are just as many Jewish schools for you to choose from. Both religions have numerous varieties and subsets of schools available. Most schools in the Roman Catholic church are run by the local dioceses and parishes. But several religious orders such as the Jesuits and Franciscans operate networks of schools across the country. There are also schools run by several sects of the Orthodox Church. Most of the Roman Catholic and Jewish schools will demand observance of their religious customs and teachings. In other words, religion is not optional in these schools.

The Protestant schools include the Christian schools, the Lutherans, Baptists, Presbyterians and Episcopalians and more. These branches of the church offer thousands of schools.

The

Do you prefer to peruse a book rather than going online to find private schools? If so, there are some excellent guides to private schools available. While most of the information contained in these guides can be found online, the truth is that most of us do not have the time nor the expertise to do all that research involved. If you are beginning a serious search for private schools for your children, then buy one of these guidebooks. Use it as a reference tool.

Besides the cost factor, the only real disadvantage to this method of researching schools is that the information is frequently out of date.

• Applying to Private Schools in NYC
• The Manhattan Directory of Private Nursery Schools, 6th Ed.
• The Manhattan Family Guide to Private Schools and Selective Public Schools, 5th Ed.
• Private Independent Schools 2007
• The Kindergarten Wars
• The Parent's Guide to Private Schools in Hawaii: Oahu
• The Whitney Guide To Los Angeles Private Schools
• Private K-8 Schools of San Francisco & Marin
• Private High Schools of the San Francisco Bay Area
• Georgia Irvin's Guide to Schools, 2nd Edition: Metropolitan Washington

Sooner or later you ought to consider a single sex school as opposed to a traditional coeducational school. Why? For several reasons. First of all, coeducational schools have only become 'traditional' or commonly accepted in the last several decades. Private education has its roots in single sex education, both in this country and in England.

Indeed, if you look at the history of most of the legendary prep schools in America, you are likely to find that they began as a single sex institutions. For example, Phillips Academy Exeter began as a boys' school. It only began admitting girls in its summer sessions in 1961 which was fifteen years after it dropped the two year Latin requirement - horrible dictu! It would be another nine years before Exeter admitted girls in its regular sessions.

So, what's really happening here? American private schools like Exeter have always pretty much mirrored the society which they seek to serve. Back in the late 1700's and early 1800's when many of these schools got their start, educating girls was not considered as important as educating boys. Those views changed over the centuries as the young republic grew and matured. So did views about education. In the 1960's and '70's single sex schools gradually fell out of fashion. In order to survive, some boys' and girls' schools merged to form coeducational schools. Others, like Exeter, saw the handwriting on the wall and moved with the times by admitting girls.

In the 21st century