Recently in Boarding School News Category

We recently spoke with Mark Godomsky, Gould Academy's On-Snow program director. On-Snow results from Gould's commitment to using and connecting the school to its surroundings. In Bethel, Maine, this means students on and in the snow- in programs ranging from recreational skiing, to ski patrol, to a competition program the trains year round.

Question (Q): Can you tell us about the genesis of the On-Snow program? What are its roots? Did it grow out of an earlier program?

Mark Godomsky (MG): It's not a stretch to say that skiing has been at Gould for nearly as long as it has been in America. I've got a pair of jumping skis that belonged to an alum from the class of 1933. They were presented to me by the former Gould Nordic coach, a man by the name of Dick Taylor who was also captain of the 1964 U.S. Olympic X-C Team. There is a lot of tradition here of outstanding snow sports and outstanding coaches. People like Dick and going back to the 1950's people like Paul Kailey, a Middlebury alum who helped develop the competitive skiing program here and who was also a pioneer in developing Sunday River. Gould's On-Snow Program today is a continuation of a historically strong offering that is steeped in tradition. Along the way we've added "newer" elements like the competitive freestyle and snowboarding programs and Ski Patrol. Like those before use, we continue to look for ways to make the programs better and continue the tradition.


Q: Why On-Snow right now? Anything special about the opportunities or timing?

MG: These high quality programs offer a variety of opportunities for student-athletes in the winter that are tough to find within the traditional boarding school realm.  

A student at Gould can spend six days a week on the mountain snowboarding or freeriding, developing his/her skills and staying fit. Another student might spend six days a week learning life saving skills, working toward certification as a member of the National Ski Patrol. And finally, a student can train hard six days a week with a qualified, full time coaching staff made up of former NCAA Division I racers and coaches. There is something for everyone who enjoys being on the hill or on our 40km on-campus trail system.


Q: Do you envision On-Snow growing into a pillar or major component of the school?

MG: I'd say it is a large component and one of many unique programs that sets Gould apart from other traditional New England private boarding schools. We're only six miles away from Sunday River Ski Resort. The backside of the mountain is the backdrop for our campus. Our relationship with and proximity to arguably the best ski resort in the northeast with some of the most varied terrain is very attractive and difficult to find anywhere else in the East. But, it's not about being a pillar or a major component. As I heard recent alum and current U.S. Ski Team member Bump Heldman '07 say this past fall, "At Gould, I got a great education and could ski with the U.S. Ski Team." He was a standout catcher on the baseball team, a positive member of the community, a great student who was accepted at strong schools, and was the recipient of this year's Eastern Ski Writers Association Award. One of our core values at Gould is to develop the whole person. The On-Snow Program is part of the package.

Q: Can you lay out the pieces of On-Snow and what each might mean to a participating student? Competitive versus non competitive?

MG: Gould's Competition Program provides student-athletes the opportunity to train and compete at the highest level in a number of disciplines: Freestyle, Snowboard, Alpine and Nordic. Skiers and snowboarders compete between 30-50 times a year, travel all over the country and the world, and are on-snow four hours a day six days a week including school vacations. During the off-season, they train in trampoline and water camps and in a variety of summer conditioning programs both on-snow and off. Due to the number of hours required, the Competition Program requires a student-athlete who is truly committed to athletic and academic success.

For students who enjoy competition but are looking for a less rigorous program, Gould offers its Prep Program. This is designed as a traditional prep school team sport, where student-athletes participate in a school race league and compete once a week. The program requires a commitment of three hours a day five days a week when school is in session.

On the non-competitive side, Gould offers some very unique programs. A large number of students take advantage of the Rug Rats Program, teaching local elementary school kids how to ski and snowboard three days a week. Those who participate find the experience to be very rewarding.

Gould's Ski Patrol Program is the only one in the country that helps students become certified members of the National Ski Patrol. The program requires training six days a week including one day of classroom work. Students work with full-time Sunday River patrollers. It typically takes three years of training before a student becomes a certified member and requires a strong commitment.

We also offer a Ski & Ride Program which gives students the opportunity to spend four days a week on the mountain with one day of conditioning. This is a popular program that gives students a way to stay fit and enjoy Sunday River. There are no weekend commitments and the groups are small averaging eight students to one teacher.

Q: How large is the program? What percentage of the student body participates in On-Snow?

MG: It is a large program. This past year approximately 80 percent of our student body (roughly 250 students) were involved.

Q: Is On-Snow designed to work and serve as the focal point of winter sports? Either way does this mean anything for other winter sports such as basketball and hockey?

MG: It is certainly a very popular and robust program, and we have a different class day schedule in the winter to maximize day light hours on the mountain and Nordic trails. The program has little to no impact on our basketball program. Our varsity boys' team won the western Maine Championship two years ago and were in the post season again this year as was the girls' team. Overall, our competitive athletic programs are strong.

Q: On-Snow seems outdoor oriented, does Gould have any notions of expanding On-Snow into the fall or spring programs- giving them any more of an outdoor flavor?

MG: We offer a lot of opportunity for dry land training and conditioning in the fall and spring. This summer we are offering an on-snow training camp at Mt. Hood in Oregon. Going back to our whole person core value, along with academics, athletics, arts and community life, we believe that intensive experiences in the natural world is an important part of developing the whole person. Our location in western Maine on the edge of the White Mountains is a terrific asset and plays a role in our identity. Gould also offers rock climbing, fall student orientation trips, an eight day winter camping trip for the junior class, and each fall the entire school takes a day off to climb a mountain together.

Kudos to Westtown School's recent launch of www.westtownschool.tv. They've built an on-line video environment designed to host and categorize school videos for their audiences.

Westtown currently offers 13 channels or topics in their library covering everything from current events and happenings to admission material. Users can create libraries and favorites lists for future visits and user groups and friends can share videos. Think Youtube for the Westtown community.

Anyone can upload; but of course, Westtown reserves the right to not accept video.

Video channels provide a great opportunity to build and foster a community of users interested and dedicated to a school. Everyone from parents, to students, to alumni can stay current with school happenings and witness firsthand the students' creative talents.

With planning a $43 million campus expansion, ground breaking on the project and his successor in place, Fay School's headmaster Stephen White has decided to call it a career. He leaves Fay at the end of this month with Robert Gustavson from the Fenn School taking the Fay reigns.

Fay acquired the former Kidder estate which had bisected its campus and is embarking on its largest campus wide update and expansion in 25-30 years. Along with the physical improvements comes greater student capacity and the addition of the school's first pre-kindergarten and kindergarten.

Congratulations to Mr. White and the school on this outstanding accomplishment and, of course, a warm welcome to Mr. Gustavson.

Read a full article by the Boston Globe about the preservation, modernization, and Fay's new head of school.

Toronto's Upper Canada College announced last October that they would close their boarding student program. Alumni uproar and UCC's rethinking of their position spurred plans to keep the school's boarding component complete with renovations and upgrades.

Try convincing alumni that the place where they grew-up is no longer viable.

As is often the case though, boarding schools are expensive and complex to support and money lies at the root of the operation. The school has to be able to afford and finance it's existence. It's great to see alumni step to the fore and the school adjust it's position.

The Philadelphia Phillies chose Anthony Hewitt with their first pick in the recent baseball amateur draft.

Selecting a player directly out of high school is part and parcel of the baseball draft. What's noteworthy here is that he was chosen out of a boarding school. In Hewitt's case, he's grown-up in junior and upper boarding schools- 8th and 9th grade at Cardigan Mountain School and 10-12th grades at Salisbury School.

He's follows in a long line of boarding school players destined for the major leagues- Mo Vaughn (Trinity-Pawling), Kirk McCaskill (Trinity-Pawling), Sean DePaula (Cushing) and Darren Bragg (Taft) come off the top of my head. All of this group followed the boarding school-college- professional baseball route. Juan Nieves (Avon) took the Avon-minor league route (no college) to the Majors.

Still, most (from my unscientific observation) found their way to the show through their college teams. Hewitt may forego school and try to work up through the minors.

I'd never advocate skipping a bonus pay day if the money is on the table. A bird in hand beats the possibility of two in the bush. But, Hewitt might do well to look to Vanderbilt's Pedro Alvarez who developed at Vandy in the SEC and became the first round pick of the Pirates. Alvarez went from a 14th round pick out of high school to a first rounder out of Vandy.

Of note- Alvarez also attended private school at Horace Mann in New York.

NBC News recently produced a brief portrait of the Davis World Scholars Program. We've written before about the Davis World Scholars Program, but the new NBC piece deserves mention because you get to hear Mr. Davis speak about the program in his own words.  

"One of our goals is not just to educate bright international students, but it's also to educate Americans about the world through these students."

His financial and personal commitment to the program and his belief in cross cultural understanding support the notion that if we understand each other, we can work together to create and solve, not just for ourselves, but each other- making a difference "...one relationship at a time..." as Trudy Hall, Emma Willard school head remarks in a guest blog post for MSNBC's The Daily Nightly.

I'll leave you with this week's selection of stories to enjoy as we head into the Memorial Day weekend. Look forward to catching up with everyone next week.

Stevenson School (Pebble Beach, CA) highlights sophomore wilderness program. [Stevenson School]

Stoneleigh-Burnham School (Greenfield, MA) welcomes a new head of school. [Stoneleigh-Burnham School]

Lee Academy (Lee, ME) aims to be the first U.S. institution to open an American high school in mainland China. [Bangor News]

Grammy award winner visits The Webb School (Bell Buckle, TN). [The Webb School]

Apologies in advance for this abbreviated edition of the BSN. I was at the Independent Educational Consultants Association's conference and got back late last night. It was a great show, but it left me with little time to pull together news links.

A Culture of Peace-- Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury visited St. Mark's School.  [St. Mark's School]

The Boston Globe features Scoop08.com-- the first national student run political website founded in part by an Phillips Andover student.  [Boston Globe]

Our friends at the Dunn School celebrated their 50th Anniversary. Congratulations! [Santa Ynez Valley News]

Most people are not aware of the fact that there are a number of boarding schools that serves the needs of boys and girls of middle school age (10-15). Some of these schools are for high achieving, highly motivated students; others are for children who struggle with some aspect of the learning process and for whom academics can be a challenge. This range is one of the great things about junior boarding schools; there is a place for anyone. The job of the Educational Consultant is to help the family find the right fit and to guide the family through the admission process. For more information about this unique group of schools and specific info about each school, check out their website at www.jbsa.org.

I recently visited 2 junior boarding schools devoted to working with students with learning differences--The Greenwood School in Putney, Vermont and the Linden Hill School in Northfield, Massachusetts. Both are for boys only and enroll a small number of students-- Linden Hill has 32 students, Greenwood 44. Remediation of a language based learning disability (dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, etc.) is the focus of each school although they will also enroll boys with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). I was impressed by the level of personal care at each school. Teachers and Administrators know each student and their specific needs. Faculty training is extensive and constant. Students often enter the school with low self confidence and a lack of academic success and leave with a new set of academic skills and a belief they can be accomplished students. The programs are highly structured, success oriented and offer an array of competitive and recreational sports and extensive arts and other extracurricular activities. The boys who graduate from these two schools will usually enter a secondary boarding school that can continue to provide academic support and, in some cases, language remediation. Each school has a Director of Placement who will help the family select the right high school and will assist with the application process.

It's the end of the week and time for another Boarding School News post. Today's highlights a wide range of news items-- from students working to raise funds for Darfur relief to the greening of school campuses to a boarding school grad being honored for his athletic and academic accomplishments. Enjoy.

For Darfur: Saint Andrew's School (FL) students work with Kanye West to raise funds for Sudan. [The Miami Herald]

Cardigan Mountain School became a bit greener. [Cardigan Mountain School]

The Webb Schools build with the environment in mind. [The Webb Schools]

Westover School turned 99! Happy Birthday to my friends at WS. [Westover School]

Florida Air Academy grad named as Kansas University senior scholar athlete of the year. [KUsports.com]