Boarding Schools in the Community
Vermont Academy Featured for its Green Initiatives
The blog, Green Is Sexy, highlights Vermont Academy environmental initiatives and policies as part of their CFL Spotlight series. Of course it took me a second to get the CFL reference.
VA is on top of their eco-concious practices and policies with a Bottled Water Initiative, composting, recycling, organic and local source movements.
Most interesting about [...]
Ohio State’s Jim Tressel Would Make a Great Boarding School Teacher
In a quiet, but very public first (unconfirmed), Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel addresses- in a thoughtful, human, and understanding way- what is, essentially, the ‘third rail’ in college athletics- gay athletes.
I’ve seen Tressel’s interview with Outlook Columbus noted at Yahoo Sports and at ESPN.com.
Writing for Yahoo Sports, Dan Wetzel captures this issue [...]
National Association Director Marks onBoarding School’s 500th Post
Editor’s Note: For our 500th blog post, we invited friend and Independent Educational Consultants Association, Executive Director, Mark Sklarow to comment and reflect on onBoarding Schools’ contributions to families and the larger boarding school community.
Many thanks, Mark, for the kind words.
For those who live, eat and breathe boarding schools on a regular basis, [...]
St. Andrew’s-Sewanee Announces Scholarships for Leadership, Academics & Service
St. Andrews-Sewanee School (Sewanee, TN) offers a great opportunity for highly qualified students considering a boarding school education.
Under the Claiborne Scholars program, St. Andrews-Sewanee has available merit scholarships (1/2-1/4 tuition) available to new boarding 9th & 10th grade students.
Qualifying students are chosen on the basis of “a strong academic record and exhibit leadership qualities that [...]
Haitian Earthquake Aid: How is your school helping?
As we watch Haiti and its people in need of love, compassion, support, food, water, and health care, one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s rhetorical questions comes to mind.
“Life’s most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”
Most of us are not in a position to help physically, but we can contribute the commodity [...]
Insight Into the Current State of Boarding and Private School Finances
Concord Monitor writer Karen Langley published a piece in last Sunday’s paper (Private Schools Weather Downturn: Many approaches taken to cut costs) covering the state of enrollment and finances of New Hampshire private schools.
She touches on the obvious- financial aid requests are up for all schools, endowment growth and income are down.
Of note, she adds [...]
Worcester Academy Strengthens Its Mission & Commitment to Its Neighborhood
As an urban boarding school, Worcester Academy recently completed a deal adding that rarest of urban commodities- 4 acres of land to the school’s campus.
Combined with an earlier purchase, Worcester now holds 10 acres of space for future use.
The combined land acquisitions represent a 75% size increase beyond Worcester’s main campus. The new space will [...]
Northfield Mount Hermon School Sells Northfield Campus
After consolidating campuses two campuses into one in 2005, Northfield Mount Hermon School announced the sale of its dormant Northfied campus to Hobby Lobby. The deal closed this past Monday.
“…Our transaction with Hobby Lobby, an Oklahoma City-based corporation with a commitment to supporting Christian missions, closed on December 14, 2009.
Hobby Lobby intends to facilitate [...]
Colorado Rocky Mountain School Student Columnist Featured
The Aspen Daily News ran a column (Beetles: The Big Picture) written by Colorado Rocky Mountain School freshman Lea Linse.
Linse nicely sets-up the conundrum faced by mountain residents as the pine beetle wreaks havoc eating its way through evergreen forests.
Residents want to do something in the face of damage never seen before. But, untested, [...]
Mrs. Richardson, do I get points for trying Marmite?
I have been thinking a lot, lately, about the value of trying new things. In my capacity as Director of the International and ESL programs at Kents Hill, I am constantly amazed at the myriad encounters that my ESL and international students have with new things, each and every day. They are bombarded [...]
Read MoreAn Educational Consultant Visits Eagle Hill School
Eagle Hill School (Hardwick, MA) educates eighth through twelfth grade students with learning (dis)abilities, including Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Faculty are committed to providing an intimate and individualized course of study for each student within a traditional boarding school setting. I found the community to be both encouraging and supportive, honoring the individual, valuing learning [...]
Read MoreGetting to Know Dana Hall School
Wendy Secor, Director of Admission & Financial Aid, Dana Hall School (an all-girls, boarding/day school, Wellesley, MA) joined me for a Getting to Know conversation that touched on a number of points ranging from:
1. Dana Hall’s competitive academic program.
2. the leadership possibilities available at a single gender school.
3. Dana Hall’s new STEM program (Science, Technology, [...]
An Educational Consultant Visits Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a place where students come to learn about learning. I got a real sense of community in a large college-like setting. Students hustling to classes on their bikes; students running to sports; students in classes were fully engaged around Harkness tables. Each student is expected to play an important [...]
Read MoreFamily Sacrifice Helps Connecticut Private Schools Weather Recession
The Hartford Courant ran a piece last Thursday (Connecticut’s Private Schools Have Suffered Only A Glancing Blow From Recession) covering the relief that Connecticut schools are finding in many a family’s commitment to their best education options. Yes, enrollment is down a bit. Yes, financial aid requests are up. But, in the [...]
Read More“Was this in the job description?”
When Peter Baron asked me to write a few words about my first few months as Head of School here at Vermont Academy, I found myself wondering where to begin. I can say that no words of advice from friends who are sitting heads, nor sessions with the great faculty at the Institute for [...]
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