I could be interesting to see how the athletic opportunities compare (and differ). Does the different climate effect the length of sports seasons? Is there an interesting angle on differences in which sports get the most support and have highest level of competition?

I, of course, love the idea of highlighting southern boarding schools as geography tends to be a negative issue for us because, as you say in your “call”, when most people think of boarding schools they think of New England, East Coast and, to a lesser extent, West Coast. Those of us in the heartland and south have been, for the most part, a local phenomena.
I think, the climate, lifestyle, friendliness, natural/outdoors types of activity and safety that comes being away from the risks of a more urban environment as well as being low on the potential “terrorism target” list are all strong selling points. Plus, I think the lower cost factor, if it is generally true in the south, is another attractive feature/benefit.
In that vein of thought, I think that an aspect that will probably have an impact nationally/globally on boarding schools is the economic situation that has emerged in the U.S. and around the world and is likely to continue for sometime. The question is; “How will it affect the south?” I am not terribly familiar with boarding schools in the south, or in general, or the history of boarding schools and how they fair in tough economic times, but my guess is that the boarding schools in the economic middle will be the hardest hit.
The really high end schools may be sheltered by the fact, if it is true, that their student/families market are so financially healthy that they can ride out the economic storm without feeling the ‘pinch’ or by cutting back on some truly needless luxuries and still send their children to these high end schools.
Medium cost schools, which are more likely to serve middle to high-middle class families, will likely feel the ‘pinch’ the most. Their student/families will probably have to make more severe adjustments because the boarding school tuition is a much more substantial part of the family budget; either deciding to eliminate the tuition cost or significantly downscale it.
Lower cost schools (I am really trying to say “More affordable” these days ), such as our Academy, may be in a position to experience an increase in demand and enrollment as those families that are down-scaling their boarding school budgets are looking for lower cost options while trying to maintain a high standard of education.

The south has a distinctive history of idealizing values like honor, integrity, tradition, duty, responsibility, service. In the southern way of thinking, these values, often associated with the military and soldiers, should be the qualities expected of any solid citizen in our democracy.
It was this emphasis on what might be called the “soldierly virtues” that led to the creation of many “military schools” throughout the south in the 19th and early 20th century. These schools did not grow out of a militaristic goal of creating soldiers, but, rather, to accomplish the goal of building honorable and worthy citizens.
A number of schools built in this tradition still carry on today.
At the middle and high school level, there remain a handful of boarding schools like Fork Union Military Academy, Hargrave Military Academy, Fishburne Military School, and others throughout the south, that continue this education of citizens based on these military values and southern traditions.
At the college level, Virginia Military Institute and The Citadel are representative of this model.
The traditional southern military school for boys remains a distinctive style of education and still offers a valuable resource for families today.

Tim,
Thanks so much for the comment/introduction to Brenau; I’ve added Brenau to my research.
Best,