Checklist for Comparing Schools - Curriculum and Instruction

When you begin comparing schools on your shortlist, it is important to at least be aware of certain important aspects of the school and its operation. While you can certainly tell whether a school is well-run just by visiting it and observing the condition of the grounds and facilities, it is worth asking a few detailed questions. The answers to these questions can be found online, as a rule, so explore the school's website thoroughly before asking the admissions staff.

How long has the head of school/principal been in office?

This question speaks to the stability of the school. If the headmaster or headmistress (also called head and occasionally director) has been there for a couple of years, that's a good sign. Private school heads will stay forever if they are doing a good job and the trustees are satisfied with his job performance. Nowadays a private school head is the de facto CEO of the school. But his major responsibility is going to be in the area of fundraising. Public relations is another part of his brief.

If the door to the headmaster's office has become a revolving one with several heads coming and going over a period of a few years, you might want to find out why they didn't stay. Most private schools conduct national searches for a head of school and involve the school community in the process. So it would be unusual for a school to get the fit wrong.

Is there a

If you live in New York City and are thinking about sending your child to pre-school, you know how competitive the situation is. At least with the desirable schools. There are simply dozens more applicants than there are available places. As a result there is a huge temptation for well-to-do parents who tend to be hyper-competitive anyway to take what they feel are necessary measures to prepare their three and four year olds for admissions testing. A cottage industry of consultants and tutors has sprung up in most cities to provide the support which these eager parents demand and are willing to pay for.

Admissions testing is simply one part of the admissions process.

Most New York independent schools use the ERB as one part of their admissions testing. The Early Childhood Admissions Assessment (ECAA) is important insofar as a low score will most likely preclude your child from further consideration. So, the question is whether or not to prep or not to prep your child for the test. Most schools take a dim view of that practice. Yet some parents feel that they have no other choice. As a result, Jenny Anderson reports in Private School Screening Test Loses Some Clout that several Manhattan schools are dropping or thinking about dropping the test altogether. The Independent Schools Admissions Association of Greater New York gives parents this advice about ERB testing: "The ERB

Several private schools have received major gifts over the past several years. For purposes of this article, we shall define a major gift as one hundred thousand dollars or more. In addition to highlighting the generosity of the donors, we also want to illustrate how the gifts are being used. But before we begin looking at some examples of donors and their gifts, you are probably wondering why people would want to give large sums of money to their schools in the first place.

The main reason your wealthy graduates can and should give major gifts to your school is the simple fact that they know your school. They understand its mission. They appreciate the foundations which their school gave them for success in college and in their careers and adult lives.

The other reason why your graduates will be more sympathetic to your asking for a major gift is that you have kept in touch. Besides your Annual Appeal and the regular alumni events which you hold, you have sent out e-newsletters at least once a semester. Your potential major donors know that the hockey rink needs replacing. They understand the need for endowing teaching positions. They are sympathetic with your determination to develop a strong financial aid pool so that you can diversify your student body. They know that one of your fondest hopes is for the building of an arts center with practice studios and a theater. Well, you get the idea. Your wishlist

Bullying has been part of our human existence since time began. While bullying goes by different names and takes several different forms, whether you call it intimidation or threatening, whether you do it verbally or with your body language, bullying is upsetting and unnerving behavior. Fortunately for us parents, it is completely unacceptable in most private schools, as it should be everywhere else. Most private school discipline codes have strict policies concerning bullying. Be aware that these policies are enforced quickly because students are governed by contract law. In other words, the contract which you signed with the school spells out very clearly the consequences of any infractions of the school's discipline code. Those consequences, such as suspension or expulsion, will happen swiftly.

Naturally, like just about anything else you can think of, bullying has gone electronic. If you thought that bullying was hard to detect in its analog forms, you could imagine how much more difficult electronic or cyberbullying, as it is now called, is to detect. So, where does cyberbullying fit in? As I noted, cyberbullying or bullying done electronically is extremely difficult for us adults to detect. The reason why is that cyberbullying lurks in the virtual shadows created by social media and smartphones. Unless you are following somebody and can monitor their various social media accounts or have access to their mobile device, you cannot definitively prove that cyberbullying is actually occurring. I used the term social media, which used