Thoughts on the New Academic Year: Part 1
These next two posts address two sides of the same coin- the opening of private school for fall and what it means for adults (parents and faculty) and students. For each group the beginning of the school year comes freighted with expectations and responsibilities. Faculty must work with students to take them as far as [...]
Read MoreState of Private School Enrollment: Connecticut Schools Fall 2010
The opening of school brings a spate of what I call state of the community articles in generally smaller local papers. When you’re in New England, or any other area with a boarding school and/or private day schools, these articles often mix a little boarding school angle with their mostly day school slant. We highlighted [...]
Read MoreIdyllwild Arts Academy Katrina Students Reflect on Finding Steady Ground After the Storm
Back in the fall of 2005 as families fled New Orleans, one of the pressing questions was ‘where will the students of displaced families go to school?’ A little piece of the Katrina diaspora story are the students who found post-storm grounding in boarding schools. Idyllwild Arts Academy opened its arms and wrapped them around [...]
Read MoreHow N.C. Wyeth’s ‘The Giant’ Came to Hang In Westtown School’s Dining Hall
Art Historian indulgence on this one- this is an interesting story of relationships and patronage. ‘The Giant’ arrived at Westtown School through a series of very human connections. Writing for Main Line Today, Mark Dixon paints a richly detailed, warm account of the relationships, the historical context of Quakers in, and around Philadelphia, N.C. Wyeth‘s [...]
Read MoreConnecticut Private Schools Find Tuition a Family Priority in Tight Times
In “Paying for Private,” over at Connecticut Business News Journal, Connecticut boarding school and private day school administrators talk about the ways that they, and their constituent families are weathering the economic downturn. No secrets and nothing earth shattering in the piece- mostly it’s an interesting read to hear administrators’ words and voices. Schools find [...]
Read MoreEnglish In Real Life: Fessenden Alumnus Christopher Lloyd Takes on Willie Loman
Fortuitous timing- this is too good an opportunity to pass-up- a chance to plug one of my favorite plays and an opportunity for anyone familiar with (or interested in learning) to think and reflect on one of America’s great plays, Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman.” I stumbled across “A Surprise of a Salesman: Christopher [...]
Read MoreNew Western Style Schools in South Korea: Competition for American & British Boarding Schools?
If you’ve been sending your children abroad because a particular educational system teaches and instills traits you seek, why not create that kind of education home? With its educational, cultural, and economic, dimensions, South Korea is addressing precisely this question. This kind of question can keep a political economist and cultural anthropologist busy for years. [...]
Read MoreSaint Andrew’s School (Boca Raton, FL) Gains IB Accreditation
Saint Andrew’s School began school this week as a fully accredited International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) World School. Head of School, Dr. Ann Marie Krejcarek sees the IB’s rigor as a key to graduate’s future successes: “Answering our students’ and parents’ calls for the very best college preparatory education has led to addition of the [...]
Read MoreMom & Dad Have a Role to Play at Boarding School Drop-off: Hint, It Doesn’t Include a Vacation in the Area for the First Few Days of School
The New York Times ran a piece on Sunday; The title says it all, “Students, Welcome to College; Parents, Go Home.” Colleges are now in the business of planning and scripting parent departures after dropping off their (usually) first year students. Closure periods and departure times are now de rigueur for parents. Hovering, mindful, involved [...]
Read MoreFork Union’s NFL Alumni: A Long and Deep Roster
Many college athletics fans know some of the military boading schools for their prowess in preparing athletes for collegiate athletics and academics. Radio and television announcers enjoy tossing in a player’s background after the play. I know from my own boarding school experience that strong athletes have been a part of the boarding school equation [...]
Read MoreWhat College Grew Out of A Boarding School?
Great story, and now answer to a boarding school trivia question, Earlham College‘s rise out of the Friends Boarding School is told in a recent article in the Palladium-Item (Boarding School Becomes Global College). Friends Boarding School opened in 1847 with 23 boys and 22 girls. Quaker families had moved to area as “an escape [...]
Read MoreFork Union Alum Anthony Castonzo Distinguishes Himself On and Off the Field
Anthony Costonzo gave up one sack last year- a play during the Boston College Eagles 31-13 loss to North Carolina. A consumate left tackle, Castonzo can beak down his technique and tell you exactly what he did wrong on the play: “I can run it over and over…I know exactly what I did. I stopped [...]
Read MoreEducation is to be Experienced: A Video Tour with The Athenian School Head Eric Niles
Eric Niles, Head of School, at The Athenian School (Danville, CA in the East Bay) takes viewers on a summer campus tour. Campus is quiet and Niles nicely captures what an Athenian education means. Emphasizing a safe and accepting community, Athenian is an upper and lower day school with a boarding program for 9-12 grade [...]
Read MoreThe Varsity Ice Hockey Goalie From Longview, Texas
This is the kind of athletic dream- based on head shaking perseverance- that becomes legend. A kid from east Texas dreams of playing ice hockey. (There are no rinks in east Texas.) He learns to skate and play hockey on in-line skates. He and his family find ice and settle into the hockey family grind [...]
Read MoreInternational Baccalaureate: Widening Appeal
Ten posts over the past two years, tell me (at least anecdotally) that the International Baccalaureate (IB) is making schools and their academic officers think. It’s easy to understand the IB philosophy and curriculum appealing to and meshing with boarding and private schools- with their commitments to worldliness, broad thinking and connections, diversity, and tolerance. [...]
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