@Charger78 That is nice advice to follow social media as well as find an authoritative voice.
@Temperantia It’s important for me to get the ‘ethos’ of the place. In particular, it’s important to me that the marketing materials (who we say we are) matches the experience (how we do things).
I understand that whatever list we make will have some schools that are quite different. When the time comes, we will do a one week trip to the East Coast. We obviously can’t visit all of the schools. We can realistically do 5-7. I hope to help them come up with a great list of 5-7 schools that seem like realistic options. I want to have enough variety on the list, so my kids can find out what resonates with them. They do need to see some different stuff. I know there will be some schools that we love the marketing materials, but when we show up it will be a clear no. I also know that the reverse will be true. That is important, because it helps them figure out what they want. My main worry is that we do the trip, she discovers the combination of things she likes about boarding school, but we don’t visit a place that has that right combination. That’s why I do want to do as much pondering as possible before the time comes.