By Dupè Aleru, Beverly Hills Courier

Beverly Hills Presbyterian Preschool presented Elementary School Information Night on Oct. 20 at 6 p.m.

Guest speakers included former BHPP families as well as Christina Simon and Porcha Dodson, authors of Beyond the Brochure: An Insider’s Guide to Private Elementary Schools in Los Angeles.

Simon, a parent of two children at The Willows Community School, and Dodson, a former teacher at Curtis School, partnered together to co-author Beyond the Brochure, to help alleviate the stressful process for parents as they begin their search in the competitive world of Los Angeles’s top private elementary schools.

The idea came about after Simon experienced the challenging application process for her daughter in 2005-2006.

Beyond the Brochure features step-by-step information on how to apply to private elementary schools, strategies for effective parent interviews, example letters of recommendations and much more.

Most parents are aware of the standard enrollment process such as touring the schools, submitting the applications, scheduling parent interviews, scheduling a test day for their child and waiting to hear from the schools.

Becoming knowledgeable about what goes on behind the scenes that nobody talks about is the objective of Beyond the Brochure.

“It’s definitely the insider’s game,” Simon said. “There’s no question about that. It’s highly competitive to get into the top schools. Very, very competitive, but we think that anyone can play the game if you understand the rules of the game.”

For more information, visit www.beyondthebrochure.blogspot.com.