While we're on Spring Break, we're recycling a few past Corners. This one, which first appeared in November, 2003 was well received.

No industry in the United States is as free from government regulation as ours. No other business enjoys the freedom with which independent schools define their missions, design curricula, hire and fire, admit and dismiss. When one considers the global market in which boarding schools compete, the benefits of this laissez-faire environment are even more obvious...more pronounced.

Forces exist, however, that frustrate independent schools from capitalizing on our freedom to innovate and to differentiate. Too common, it seems, hierarchical management systems repress institutional creativity. Examples include all of the linear thinking that leads to notions of "first tier/second tier" schools, or assumptions that strong admissions processes should seek more academically high achieving students.

Try this: drop your judgements of schools for a moment, recognizing that all reputations are obsolete right now. Consider that schools do not compete with one another for students, but rather offer distinct sets of programs, services and methods that make each wholly appropriate for different kids.

At a recent sporting event, I overheard a visiting athlete's mother speak of Proctor's informality (truly an innovative quality as manifested here!) by saying, "I don't condone it." She was making the same mistake as those who say, "I think it's right for students to....(sit down for dinner....wear coats & ties....have lights out....YOU complete the sentence). It's not a matter of condoning; it's not a question of what's right for adolescents today. To think thus is to deny the rich complexity of the species. It IS about providing something that is different and absolutely appropriate for some. The clearer we are on this, the healthier the institution becomes. Institutional clarity enables prescreening, and the right students find you. Better matches between students and schools enable greater incidence of success. Happy families continue the cycle by describing the school with accuracy and enthusiasm.