2nd tier NE Boarding Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm from England where boarding was once very common and is increasingly less so - many of the famous boarding schools are now filled with foreign students (which is obviously fine but just different to the previous student body) and some have shut down.
For older kids I can see how it could be great, for the right personality. I have often thought that American summer camps, where kids go away for 2 months, aren't that dissimilar - that is equivalent to a boarding school term in England.
For younger kids, assuming they have a happy home life, it just seems a bit sad. I once read an article by a writer who had boarded since around 7 years old and he said that he was well-looked after and teachers were kind, but still, he lived for most of the year in a place where nobody loved him. That is what I now mainly think of when I think of boarding school - that however nice the school, it means your child spends every day without the people who love him/her.

Well, but we don't have boarding schools here for kids under 14. Totally different scenario.

(There are maybe a handful in the country, usually populated by kids whose parents live somewhere without good educational choices.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess it's a cultural thing in some subsets of the population. Frankly, I think it s un-American. Public education is a foundation of American society. To me the popularity of boarding and private schools shows a divestment of public education on behalf of the upper class.

Hahahaha. Yes, it's much better to send your kid to Whitman where there are less than 5% of ESOL and FARMS kids and is overwhelmingly white and affluent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm with you OP. One of the things that shocked me the most when we moved to the Langley district was that people went to lower tier boarding schools. Langley is one of the best public schools in America. Why do you feel the need to go to
Mercersburg or Suffield Academy?

Perhaps to look more competitive than they would look coming from top competition at Langley.

That's a good point. I think Langley has become much more competitive in recent years than it had previously been. You probably have a better shot at UVA or W&M coming from Mercersburg or Suffield than Langley where not as many kids apply rather than your whole graduating class.

[Anonymous]

Mercersburg is a very good school, FYI.

Different strokes for different folks.

[Anonymous]

PP from above. Mercersburg takes in many students from the regional small towns in Pennsylvania plus from further afield. The student body is probably more diverse and laid back than at Langley, which is wholly affluent suburbia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids need to get away from home. I know one kid who really turned around at boarding school.

+1 me, too. I have a friend who begged to go. Went to St. Andrew's in Delaware.

St Andrews in DE is definitely not 2nd tier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids need to get away from home. I know one kid who really turned around at boarding school.

+1 me, too. I have a friend who begged to go. Went to St. Andrew's in Delaware.

St Andrews in DE is definitely not 2nd tier.

+1, but let's keep that quiet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP from above. Mercersburg takes in many students from the regional small towns in Pennsylvania plus from further afield. The student body is probably more diverse and laid back than at Langley, which is wholly affluent suburbia.

OK but are you getting a better education.Langley is private school level and its free. It can accommodate many different kinds of learners. Also there is plenty of diversity at Langley. There are students from different backgrounds instead of one token black kid. Affluenza is present in boarding schools probably more so.

[Anonymous]

^ This school flies under the radar and I'd just as soon keep it that way. Those in the know, know.

[Anonymous]

There's more to schools than just the education. No one disputes that Langley offers a very good academic program, largely as a consequence of the affluent and educated zone that feeds into it. But there are many other factors that people also look into when considering private schools, whether day or boarding.

I'm not going to try to convince you that Mercersburg is worth the tuition as it comes down to variables that are important to you and those variables vary from family to family.

But on its own Mercersburg is an excellent school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP from above. Mercersburg takes in many students from the regional small towns in Pennsylvania plus from further afield. The student body is probably more diverse and laid back than at Langley, which is wholly affluent suburbia.

OK but are you getting a better education.Langley is private school level and its free. It can accommodate many different kinds of learners. Also there is plenty of diversity at Langley. There are students from different backgrounds instead of one token black kid. Affluenza is present in boarding schools probably more so.

[Anonymous]

For example - why boarding school besides academics? Some (Mercersburg being an example) have a no drugs and alcohol policy - so drinking and smoking pot are very unlikely to happen. As is drinking and driving (or even late night teen driving). Mercersburg also has a fabulous arts program and participation in arts classes is required. Participation in sports is required, and with a smaller group of students, it is much more likely that each student has a role on a team versus being on the bench. There are many opportunities for travel and study abroad that are underwritten by the school. They put serious resources in allowing teachers to explore latest studies on how to teach adolescents -- I am sure FCPS does too, but simply does not have the resources to send every teacher to any conference they would like to go to. You would really have to go visit in person to understand what this means as far as the curriculum options and the way the students and faculty approach learning .... but it is refreshing and very different from sitting in a lecture-style class of 25-35 students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Some (Mercersburg being an example) have a no drugs and alcohol policy - so drinking and smoking pot are very unlikely to happen.

What boarding school does not have a "no drugs and alcohol" policy? They have to for liability and marketing reasons.

The only question is whether despite those policies there is nonetheless rampant use of alcohol and drugs or just modest use of those substances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For example - why boarding school besides academics? Some (Mercersburg being an example) have a no drugs and alcohol policy - so drinking and smoking pot are very unlikely to happen. As is drinking and driving (or even late night teen driving).[i] Mercersburg also has a fabulous arts program and participation in arts classes is required. Participation in sports is required, and with a smaller group of students, it is much more likely that each student has a role on a team versus being on the bench. There are many opportunities for travel and study abroad that are underwritten by the school. They put serious resources in allowing teachers to explore latest studies on how to teach adolescents -- I am sure FCPS does too, but simply does not have the resources to send every teacher to any conference they would like to go to. You would really have to go visit in person to understand what this means as far as the curriculum options and the way the students and faculty approach learning .... but it is refreshing and very different from sitting in a lecture-style class of 25-35 students.

The bolded and italicized are simply not true. Kids at BS do drink as do their day school counterparts. It is part of teenage life as is sexual encounters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1) Boarding school is a unique experience that cannot be replicated by a day school.
2) The "second tier" schools, as you call them, are still excellent. It's not unlike college. The NMHs of the world are akin to Kenyon, Wesleyan etc. Still fantastic places to get a great education.
3) Like colleges, each school has a unique profile and you want to find the school that is the right "fit." Exeter and Andover are huge. Groton is very small. Deerfield is very isolated geographically. Tabor is where you go if you want to sail competitively. Choate's theater program is incredible. etc. Miss Porter's is the most competitive girls' school. You get the drift.

Spot on. I went to a top day school, but my sibs went to a "2nd-tier" boarding school. I loved my day school and they loved their school. BTW, one of the sibs who went to boarding school boarding school went to the same Ivy that I attended, so college outcomes for "2nd-tier" boarding might be comparable to those for "top tier" day schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:. BTW, one of the sibs who went to boarding school boarding school went to the same Ivy that I attended, so college outcomes for "2nd-tier" boarding might be comparable to those for "top tier" day schools.

Hard to draw that conclusion without knowing things like grades and other matters.

There are boarding schools and day schools that both are regarded quite highly by colleges and others that aren't quite so high.