This page sets out how Boarding School Guide sources information, handles costs and statistics, discloses funding, treats therapeutic programs, and corrects mistakes. It exists so you can judge how much weight to give what you read here.
Independence and funding
No school, school association, admissions consultancy, or residential program pays for coverage on this site. Schools cannot buy inclusion, position, or favorable wording, and there is no sponsored content or paid review.
This site does not operate lead-generation forms that pass parent contact details to schools, consultants, or placement services. That practice is widespread on boarding school directory sites and is often disclosed only in fine print; it is not used here.
Sourcing standards
- School-specific facts — tuition, grades served, enrollment, programs — come from the school’s own published materials.
- Sector statistics come from named organizations, principally NAIS, TABS, and ISC, and are attributed on the page where they appear rather than in a general disclaimer.
- Accreditation and licensing claims are pointed back to the accreditor or licensing agency, because a program’s own claim of accreditation is not evidence of it.
- No unattributed statistics. A figure without a named source does not belong on the page.
How costs and statistics are presented
Tuition is given as a range tied to a stated academic year. Ranges are used because most schools charge different amounts by grade level, by program, and by domestic versus international status, and a single number implies a precision that does not exist.
Acceptance rates are treated with more caution than most sources apply. Many schools do not publish them, reported figures are often estimates circulated by third parties, and small applicant pools make rates volatile year to year. Where a rate is approximate, the page says so.
All figures age. Tuition rises annually, aid budgets shift, and programs are added and cut. Treat any number here as a starting point for a conversation with the school, never as a final answer.
Why this site avoids rankings
Published boarding school rankings are usually constructed from selectivity, test scores, and matriculation lists. Those measure the students a school admits more than the education it provides — a school that admits only high scorers will report high scores regardless of its teaching.
This guide therefore reports verifiable characteristics and explains how to evaluate fit, rather than issuing a numbered national order. Where “best” appears in a page title, it reflects how parents search; the page itself explains the basis for any selection and its limits.
Therapeutic and troubled-teen programs
Residential programs for struggling teenagers are covered as a distinct category with explicit safety guidance, and are never presented as interchangeable with academic boarding schools. The distinction matters: academic schools need academic accreditation, while residential clinical programs require state licensure, Joint Commission or CARF accreditation, and licensed clinical staff.
No individual therapeutic program is recommended here. Program quality depends on current ownership, licensing status, and staffing, all of which change, and endorsing a specific facility at a distance would be irresponsible. Instead, the guide provides verification steps and documented red flags in therapeutic boarding schools and boarding schools for troubled teens.
Updates, closures, and corrections
Each page shows an updated date reflecting its last substantive review. Schools that have closed are removed, and where a closed school still circulates in directories it is named explicitly so readers do not pursue it.
Corrections are made promptly once verified against a primary source. Substantive factual corrections are noted on the page rather than changed silently. To report an error, send the page URL, the specific statement at issue, and a link to the authoritative source via the contact page.
Limits of this guide
This is general editorial information, not individualized educational, financial, legal, or clinical advice. Decisions about a specific child should involve the schools themselves and, where relevant, licensed professionals who know your situation.
See also: about this guide.
Editorial policy FAQ
Can a school pay to be featured on this site?
No. Schools cannot pay for inclusion, placement, ranking, or favorable description. There is no sponsored content, no paid review, and no arrangement under which a school or program influences what is written about it.
Where do the tuition figures come from?
Tuition figures come from schools' own published admission and tuition pages for the stated academic year, expressed as ranges because most schools charge different amounts by grade, program, and domestic or international status. Verify current figures with the school before making decisions.
How are corrections handled?
Corrections are made promptly once verified against a primary source. Substantive factual corrections are noted on the page rather than changed silently, and the page's updated date is revised. Send the URL, the disputed statement, and a source link.
How does this site treat therapeutic and troubled-teen programs?
They are covered as a separate category with explicit safety guidance, never presented as interchangeable with academic boarding schools. No specific therapeutic program is recommended, because program quality changes with ownership and staffing and cannot be responsibly endorsed at a distance.
Standards referenced
- NAIS, TABS, and ISC: sector statistics used across the site.
- The Joint Commission and CARF International: accreditation standards for residential programs.
- American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: levels-of-care guidance referenced in therapeutic coverage.