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As your child enters middle school, you will probably begin to think more seriously about her high school and college plans. With that in mind, let's look at some of the challenges parents face. The whole subject is daunting, confusing, and even intimidating. However, if you approach the project just like you do any other major project/decision, you will be able to stay out front. Playing catch-up is never fun, so let's start planning early to understand what is involved.

Getting your child to buy into the idea

The first challenge is a basic one: you must get your child to buy into the idea of going away to school. Yes, you are her parent, and you can decide yourself. Unfortunately, this decision will do more harm than good unilaterally. The trick is to get her to think that going away to school is her idea.

How do you accomplish that? By starting early. Begin shaping her decision at least 3 to 4 years beforehand. If a family member currently attends boarding school, schedule a visit to see that relative while he is in school. The more comfortable your child feels with the idea of going off to boarding school, the happier she will be.

As she progresses through grades 7 and 8, she begins to discuss the academic game plan for high school and beyond. Sometimes, special considerations will make your decision process more manageable. For example, if your child displays a natural talent for a sport

It sounds too good to be true, right? But it really is. I found twelve boarding schools when I searched 51³Ô¹ÏÍø School Review using the simple search string "least expensive schools." Our powerful search engine sorted the 315 boarding schools listed on our site by tuition. I then filtered out three schools: two were located in Canada, and the other was a summer boarding school.

Then, a dozen boarding schools charge approximately $20,000 per year or less for tuition, room, and board. I discovered that one school on the list offered 30 Advanced Placement courses, and another offered the prestigious International Baccalaureate program. Explore these schools and determine whether perhaps one or more suits your requirements.

Lustre Christian High School, Lustre, MT

School Type: Co-Ed

Grades offered: 9-12

Number of students: 40

Tuition: $14,000

International students: Yes

Academics: Bible, Math, Science, English, History, Computers, Physical Education, Journalism, Drama

AP courses: None.

In the school's words: "It is a unique educational institution because it serves as both a Christian high school for the community and as a qualified Christian boarding school."

Mercyhurst Preparatory School, Erie, PA

School Type: Co-Ed

Grades offered: 9-12

Number of students: 620

Tuition: $10,850

International students: Yes

Academics: 15 IB courses. International Baccalaureate program.

In the school's words: "We strive for excellence in academic and co-curricular programs, we promote service to our local and global communities, and we foster the dedication and active support of the students, parents, faculty,staff, and alumni of the Mercyhurst

Recently I landed in Jakarta on a recruiting trip. Immediately upon exiting the terminal, as happens in many countries, a small crowd of entrepreneurial ‘taxi drivers’ surrounded me, all trying to grab my suitcase and waving their ‘Official Airport Taxi ID’ badges in my face. Had I not been a seasoned traveler, it would have been very difficult for me to determine which of them, if any, to believe. They all looked authentic and sounded sincere.

Like inexperienced travelers, most prospective families know very little about boarding schools when they first start looking. They need support in determining which school is right for them. They must rely on word of mouth, the research they can do themselves, and their own intuition. But this is easier said than done; if you visit enough schools (which you should), they all can begin to appear quite similar. So it can be a daunting task to determine which school is ‘right’ for your family.

If you read the mission statements, vision statements, school philosophies, tag lines, and Head’s Messages of all the boarding schools on their websites, they all pretty much say the same thing. They offer a well-rounded education, character development, top-level academics, small classroom sizes, modern facilities, great mentoring, and a safe learning environment.

So what makes them different from one another?

This is where doing your homework is important. Each boarding school tends to have at least one differentiator, something that makes them stand out from the crowd. For

How Do Girls Benefit From Single-Sex Education?

As I read research and data in preparation for writing this article, I was struck by how much real progress has been made in girls' education versus boys' education over the last decade. I hope that you will read the resources listed at the end. They are just the tip of the iceberg, but they will get you started on your exploration and evaluation of girls' schools. Since the subject of single-sex education seems to be gaining traction in the public school arena, I suspect that we shall continue to see some serious academic papers being written on the subject in the coming years.

Personally, having raised two daughters, I can speak with some experience on the subject of single-sex education. Both girls went to coeducational boarding schools. However, the benefit of hindsight tells me that going to an all-girls school would have been a better solution for both of them. Here then, are the reasons why I am such a massive fan of girls' schools.

This short clip offers a glimpse inside an AP Biology class.

Girls' schools provide relevant 21st-century role models.

It is a fact that there are more visible, relevant role models for girls these days. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, and Harvard President Dr. Drew Gilpin Faust, to name just three highly successful prominent executives, provide our daughters

Why We Chose 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Rather than Day School

Deciding whether to send your child to boarding school instead of day school is a decision most of us parents make early on in the private school search process. Here is our story. I taught in day schools and was a deputy director of one of them. Nancy and I choose to send both daughters to boarding schools for the reasons I discuss below. I hope that our experience will help to inform you as you make this critical decision about which kind of private school will be best for your child.

At the time, we were considering sending our children to private schools, and we were fortunate to live in an area with good schools. My late wife, Nancy, indeed graduated from the local high school. In fact, she was chair of the local school board when we decided to explore other options for our daughters' schooling. So it wasn't the schools per se which were the issue. Four factors shaped our decision.

The high school curriculum was solid. The teachers were experienced and competent. The school was small as high schools go, with a student population of 400 students in grades 7 through 12. There were football and basketball teams, a highly-acclaimed marching band and a couple of clubs. That, however, was what made us want more for our daughters. We wanted them to read five Shakespeare plays a year. Not just the one play a year