ISM has written a number of times about its tripartite classification system for examining a private-independent school’s marketing platform. In simplest terms, the classification and its descriptors read as follows. Price/value: We offer a transformational (nearly always religious) experience for your child at a cost you can afford. Product: We offer the best academic “product” (graduate) in our market area. Process: We offer “more” for your child (more electives; more levels of electives; more teams; more levels of teams; more individual attention, and/or a unique pedagogy) than others in our market.