Looking for our boarding school unicorn?

[Anonymous]

OP, look at Deerfield. Son graduated from there. Great school with very good rowing program (so I heard). My son was a hockey and soccer player, so don't know rowing that well.

Other thing to look for is a school that doesn't have a huge contingent of day students and not too many boarders that live close to the school--it can make the kids feel more lonely when all of their classmates have their families around a lot. Deerfield and NMH fit this pretty well as the locations aren't very close to...much.

Kids are nice for the most part (nowhere has ALL great kids), and the education is excellent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taft is located right on a river do you can row right there, without traveling to a boathouse.

No school is going to be all nice kids. Because boarding is a relatively rare choice in the US, and extremely expensive, the families tend to be atypical in some way (affluence usually). Or unusual family situation/structure. But of course those kids can still be nice.

This isn't really true at all. Did your kids go to boarding school? This might be the perception but not the reality.

the vast majority of even very affluent families in the US don’t use boarding schools. it’s by definition atypical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taft is located right on a river do you can row right there, without traveling to a boathouse.

No school is going to be all nice kids. Because boarding is a relatively rare choice in the US, and extremely expensive, the families tend to be atypical in some way (affluence usually). Or unusual family situation/structure. But of course those kids can still be nice.

This isn't really true at all. Did your kids go to boarding school? This might be the perception but not the reality.

My spouse went, my relatives went, young relatives attend now. My spouse’s boarding school friends are nice people (mostly) but down to a one they are from extremely rich families and/or have unusual backgrounds (parents overseas or dead, things like that). My spouse included. I’m sure there are families who do not meet that description but many do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would agree with PP and many others that have posted. If possible, try St. Joe's Prep in Philadelphia and/or any other boys school on the rankings on East Coast. I don't know anything about boarding school rowing so only chiming in to suggest you look at college crew teams to get a sense of where they are recruiting from. Go to websites for Cornell, Yale, Harvard, etc and you will get a sense of the best boarding school programs.

I knew alot of Aussie rowers out in San Francisco. Definitely check out Marin if West Coast is an option.

The Prep is a rowing powerhouse but no boarding as far as I know.

[Anonymous]

Taft is pretty culturally New England.

West Coast may fit Aussie Culture better. Care, Thatcher. A little bit less uptight and hierarchical.

[Anonymous]

*Cate

[Anonymous]

Peddie has rowing and nice kids.

[Anonymous]

Look at Tabor Academy - grew up nearby and it's gorgeous (right on the water in MA)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dying that the person who wrote this: "billionaire alpha spawn who let you know the minute you walk in the door that the fix is in: They have it all sewn up, and you are there as window dressing to fill out the high school so they can hoover up all the awards and college placements."
about children wants to make sure no one is mean to their most kindest precious baby.

The same American who shared that gem also warned me that some Americans can be humorless and that the very thing that would inspire a person to buy you a drink (we prize an ability to laugh at oneself and situations in a lighthearted way) and have a laugh at the pub will leave people oddly riled up in the States.

As for “nice kids”, what we are looking for is the sort of people who are kind, fun to be with, enjoy life and don’t take everything so seriously. As I said, I’m keeping an open mind. Another trait we value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also avoid Prep and St Albans

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. Paul’s.

Agree.

St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. (Concord is the capitol of the state of New Hampshire.)

Outstanding rowing program. Incredible academics. But, there will be a lot of students from wealthy, but not showy,families.

St.Paul's School is 100% boarding and evenly divided between male and female students.

[Anonymous]

Good point. Wealth in and of itself is not a problem. It is the overt projection of it that we’d love to avoid. It’s a values issue at heart.

Will add St Paul’s to the list. There have been several good suggestions here already. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at Tabor Academy - grew up nearby and it's gorgeous (right on the water in MA)

Look carefully… gorgeous isn’t everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dying that the person who wrote this: "billionaire alpha spawn who let you know the minute you walk in the door that the fix is in: They have it all sewn up, and you are there as window dressing to fill out the high school so they can hoover up all the awards and college placements."
about children wants to make sure no one is mean to their most kindest precious baby.

The same American who shared that gem also warned me that some Americans can be humorless and that the very thing that would inspire a person to buy you a drink (we prize an ability to laugh at oneself and situations in a lighthearted way) and have a laugh at the pub will leave people oddly riled up in the States.

As for “nice kids”, what we are looking for is the sort of people who are kind, fun to be with, enjoy life and don’t take everything so seriously. As I said, I’m keeping an open mind. Another trait we value.

If you think nice kids are unicorn-level rare, perhaps you need to look at yourself and consider why you feel that way.

[Anonymous]

You want stability during possible future transfers, decent academics, friendly enough kids and rowing. Do you think your child’s university destination is US, UK or Australia? It might matter and it might not. A higher stress school academically may not have the same impact on a student who is not gunning for the top ten US college destinations. If your kid is t pulled into that frenzy, he may be able to just enjoy the offerings of more schools. A place that is isnt too small offered the possibility of having more friend groups.