Strong Relationships

In a boarding school environment students develop close friendships with faculty from dorm parents to coaches, teachers, and advisors. They will learn how to live with a roommate, make good choices, be responsible and strike a balance between work and play, be a contributor, become inspired by other students who want to go to college and learn to persevere. All of this is great preparation for life after high school!

Support and Resources

Because of the rich experience that can be had in a boarding school, admissions can be competitive. At the same time, these schools work hard to attract a diverse student body so that students from various cultures and life styles learn to respect and honor individual differences. Today, more and more schools have added centers for teaching and learning to offer academic support to students and professional development opportunities to faculty.

These schools offer small class sizes to allow each student to become known. Boarding schools are resource-rich environments with wide ranging curricula, extracurricular offerings, athletics and often deeply meaningful off-campus opportunities in the United States and abroad. While learning from experts in their respective fields, students work side by side with other motivated and hard-working students to set goals, learn to problem solve and mature into productive young adults.

Unique Opportunities

Boarding school can be a lot of fun! Schools will often offer a host of interesting and exciting opportunities to learn both inside and outside of the classroom. Some unique examples include:

• International internships

• Taking a boat building class during the school day

• Signing up for Aviation Science and earning a pilot’s license

• Mountain biking or other outdoor sports

• Spending a semester learning and sailing on the school’s sailboat

• Taking a blacksmithing class

• Skiing on the campus mountain on a winter afternoon

• Studying composition with professional musicians

• Exploring technology by designing an app

Your Best Self

As Faith visits campuses she will often ask, “What are five words/phrases to describe a great applicant for your school?” Common answers from admissions teams reveal that they are looking for students that are curious, motivated learners, honest, kind, and searching for their passion in life.

Additionally, most schools have uplifting missions that seek to create a life changing educational experience for students by encouraging them to become better versions of themselves, to be of service to the world, and to learn how to work hard and play hard.

Research

Boarding schools today are much different than they used to be, and are worlds apart from stereotypical Hollywood images as havens for children of privilege or refuges for troubled teens.

New research proves that contemporary boarding schools serve a diverse body of motivated and well-rounded students who study and live in supportive, inclusive academic communities where they learn about independence and responsibility—traditional values that help them achieve success at higher rates than private day and public school students— in the classroom and beyond.