Boarding Schools in the Community
Be Mindful and Thankful for the People and the Food That You Receive Every Day
For 2011 Blog Action Day, I’ve got license to muse on food in boarding schools. Food is a funny thing in a boarding school; like other parts of the boarding school experience- academics, athletics, study hall, it’s part of the routine. And, in many ways, the regular schedule, balancing demands, finding time, fitting something in- [...]
Read MoreAfghan Scholars Initiative Brings Students to Boarding School
With Afghan Scholars Initiative‘s first two students having graduated from Gould Academy and now attending Smith and Williams colleges, the program currently has students attending the Woodstock School in India, Oregon Episcopal School, and the Hotchkiss School. ASI has two interesting concurrent stories- its founding and its students. ASI is a young organization with young [...]
Read MoreElementary & Middle School Students Learn the Value of Community Service
Kim Loughlin, Bement School admission director, shares the importance that Bement places on the teaching of gratitude and service. Bement’s a co-ed, junior boarding school located in Deerfield, MA. Bement teaches students that giving back requires doing through the dedication of one’s time and effort. It is a perspective that emphasizes the practice of service. [...]
Read MoreWorcester Academy Green Cup Challenge Video LOL
Worcester Academy‘s video entry into the Green Cup 2011 Challenge found my inbox. It’s high camp- but effective high camp- featuring a supernatural, omniscient enforcer of environmental conciousness. It left me remembering the Japanese Ultraman series and thinking “I want to wear the green suit.”
Read MoreWorcester Academy Builds Sister-School Bonds with Abaarso Tech
As part of the Worcester Academy‘s “Open Gates” program, the school has formed a sister school relationship with Abaarso Tech, Somliland, Africa. The new program pairs: “10th Grade Worcester Academy students with 10th Grade Abaarso Tech students in a sort of 21st century pen pal program. They are not only learning about different cultures, but [...]
Read MoreThe Forman School’s Winterim: Making the Time Between Thanksgiving and Christmas Vacations Productive
The Forman School‘s Winterim program enjoyed coverage by NBC Connecticut (Making the Grade- Forman School). Every school brings a different philosophy to the two-and-a-half weeks between the Thanksgiving and end of the year break. At some schools, it’s exam time making it a very focused and intense period. At others, it’s the end of the [...]
Read MoreBlair Academy’s Society of Skeptics: The Places Education Can Take You
We learned about Blair Academy‘s Society of Skeptics while visiting campus on our video tour (see video segment below). We just saw the Spring 2011 schedule and two thoughts come to mind. First, what a list of speakers and, secondly, what a history. The Society of Skeptics has been around since 1962 and under the leadership [...]
Read MoreComing Together, Understanding, and Looking Outward
We live in a bubble. Here, up on a beautiful hill in Maine, we at Kents Hill School live in a warm, open community that welcomes students and faculty from all over the world. In classes, on the fields and in the residence halls, we teach our students to embrace differences, to appreciate diversity and [...]
Read MoreProctor Academy’s Chuck Will Tells the Story
The Concord Monitor ran a story Saturday “Proctor Life Under the Microscope” chronicling the evolution and longevity of Proctor Academy‘s Chuck Will’s blog, “Chuck’s Corner.” Chuck is a consummate boarding school story teller and Proctor has given him license to cover the minutae of boarding school daily life. As we’ve all come to understand campus [...]
Read MoreLooking Outward at a Boarding School & Why it Matters
Two Head of School pieces in the last few days share a topic that I’ve talked about with administrators over the past few months at a couple of conferences and in conversations- making sure that someone in school leadership bears the responsibility for observing and communicating with the outside world. First, congratulations to Alex Curtis, [...]
Read MoreSEED Brings Boarding School Advantages to Underserved Communiites
The SEED Foundation’s charter boarding school in Baltimore was the topic of a brief story (Students Thriving At Md.’s First Public Boarding School) on Baltimore’s WBAL TV. The two year old school serving an under-resourced population has grown from 80 to 250 students in two years. SEED uses the benefits and opportunities of a boarding [...]
Read MoreThe Webb Schools Use Parent Webinar To Address Teen Risks
Parent-School meetings gone modern- The Webb Schools in Claremont, CA and Campus Outreach Services are in their third year of using webinars to address teen challenges and issues with parents. The webinar format works well for boarding schools with their dispersed parent bodies. Campus Outreach Services brings expertise in teen issues; parents bring their questions [...]
Read MoreKents Hill School: To China and Back
I was lucky enough to go to China this summer, a country I have long wanted to visit. As the Director of the International Program and Chair of the ESL Department at Kents Hill School, I was excited to travel to one of the countries that I had heard so much about from my students. [...]
Read MoreWorcester Academy’s A Good Neighbor
WBZ radio’s Rob Fritz recently interviewed Worcester Academy’s Neil Isakson, (Director of External Communications) about the school’s outreach to support and improve the school’s neighborhood. As one of America’s only urban boarding schools, Worcester Academy (MA) is involved in urban relationships and responsibilities like few other schools. When the school finds its 141 year home- [...]
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 More