Free downloadable guides we wrote for the families we work with — and now for anyone who needs them.
A four-page guide that maps the school placement process season by season. Spring is for understanding — assessment, defining best fit, research, and tours. Summer and fall are for execution — applications, essays, testing, and interview prep. Winter is for showing up ready. Know the rhythm in advance, and the season stays manageable.
The college application has five parts: transcript, extracurriculars, testing, essays, and recommendations. This guide explains what colleges look for in each one, how to strengthen it, and what to focus on each year from freshman through senior. Start early, and the whole process gets easier.
Most families ask where their child can get in. That’s only half the question. This 12-page guide covers how admissions decisions actually get made, the six dimensions of fit that determine whether a student thrives once they arrive, and the five pillars of building a balanced list — likely, target, and reach schools your student would genuinely be excited to attend.
A smoother school year starts with the right routines. Our Back-to-School Guide gives families practical, age-specific strategies for reducing overwhelm, building independence, and creating predictable routines—from Nursery and Pre-K through the first semester of college. Whether your child is learning to pack a backpack, manage multiple classes, plan long-term assignments, or navigate college independently, this guide will help your family begin the year with greater confidence, clarity, and calm.
Executive functioning skills aren’t fixed traits, they’re built through use, and much of that use happens at home. This 13-page parent guide covers the four skills (focus, working memory, flexibility, planning), what the latest research says about sleep, exercise, and screens, and a starter set of strategies and household routines you can put in place this week. Written for families of students in grade four and up.
Executive functioning skills aren’t fixed traits, they’re built through use, and much of that use happens at home. This 13-page parent guide covers the four skills (focus, working memory, flexibility, planning), what the latest research says about sleep, exercise, and screens, and a starter set of strategies and household routines you can put in place this week. Written for families of students in grade four and up.
This guide is written mostly for parents of elementary and middle school students. In these years you’re still coordinating much of what happens between home and school, and a conference is one of the few chances you get to hear how your child is actually doing day to day: how they handle a hard assignment, whether they ask for help, how they move from one part of the day to the next. If your child is in preschool, the reflection questions and the plan still apply, just with simpler language when you bring the feedback home. If you have a high schooler, use the questions to prepare, then hand more of the follow-through to your teen.
