Each event will feature representatives from JBSA member schools who will speak about, both, junior boarding, generally, and their schools, specifically.

A panel discussion will present the varying perspectives, and practices, of schools and give families the opportunity to ask questions.

R.S.V.P. for any of the JBSA receptions to Kitty Burns, at kitty_burns@verizon.net.

A JBSA reception is a great opportunity to explore how a student might benefit from a junior boarding environment.

2011-2012 JBSA Information Sessions

Tuesday, September 20th: New York City, 6-8 p.m.
New York Athletic Club, 180 Central Park South, NY, NY, 6:00 – 8 p.m.
http://www.nyac.org/

Tuesday, October 18th, Greenwich, CT, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
The Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich, CT
http://brucemuseum.org/

Wednesday, October 19th, Rye, NY, 6:00 -8:00 p.m.
Rye Center for the Arts, 51 Milton Road, Rye, NY
http://ryeartscenter.org

Monday, November 7, Chicago, 6-8 p.m.
Gleacher Center at University of Chicago (Booth Business School)
450 North Cityfront Plaza Drive
http://www.gleachercenter.com/about/directions-maps.aspx

Tuesday, May 1, Boston, 6-8 p.m.
Old State House, Corner of State and Washington Streets, Boston, MA
http://www.bostonhistory.org/

Visit the Junior Boarding Schools Association to learn more about junior boarding schools and to see which schools will participate in each reception.

Stewart Miller, Head of School, The Greenwood School

Brian Fisher (BF): What’s the impetus behind growing to include a high school? Does Greenwood just work better for some kids to have a consistent Greenwood environment 9-12?

Stewart Miller (SM): For years Greenwood families and Educational Consultants encouraged us to extend our program into the high school grades. With a small nurturing community of 50 boys, a 2:1 student teacher ratio, high level of personalized programming, integrated educational therapies (Occupational Therapy, Social Pragmatics, Speech and Language), and innovative assistive technologies, Greenwood is unique.

For boys who are seeking an alternative to a traditional high school, or who are looking for intensive programming to gain needed skills and confidence to successfully transition to a traditional high school, Greenwood is an excellent option.

BF: Why is the time to establish a high school program ‘right’ now?

SM: The encouragement from Educational Consultants and current families to expand programming has never been more robust.

Now, with the construction of our new cottage dormitory, we have the facilities that provide us the flexibility to effectively program for the developmental range of students that is necessary when considering an expansion into a high school. We have added life-skills programs that foster independence in ways we could only dream of doing before the new dormitory.

For example, our older students learn to wash, dry and fold laundry, learn to cook, are responsible for cleaning their common room, and have opportunities to earn freedoms and responsibilities. We are also exploring different off-campus internship opportunities for our 10th graders.

BF: What will be the ‘Greenwood Advantage’ for boys as they work through their high school years and earn a Greenwood diploma?

SM: We see the advantages being the alternative we offer to more traditional high school experiences. Greenwood high school students are young men who are happy in a smaller environment, who could benefit from a high degree of individual programming including speech and language, social pragmatics, and/or occupational therapy, who want to grow without the typical pressures of high school.

BF: What’s been the most challenging part of making these changes?

SM: The biggest challenge has been to shift our thinking from that of a middle school culture to that of creating and including a high school culture. Fundamentally, this means taking an approach of educating students instead of restricting their access to certain freedoms and responsibilities like allowing student cell phones, access to social media, and increased availability of interaction with the internet. It means seeking new ways to foster independence. We see this as a positive, pedagogically–driven evolution of our programming.

Greenwood (Putney, VT) is adding a full high school with the first graduating class scheduled for spring 2014.

The school will now be able to work the boys from the fourth to twelfth grades, having previously focused their program on the elementary and junior high school grades.

This expansion of Greenwood’s mission will allow the school to serve the needs of high potential boys “who struggle with complex learning challenges, ADHD, and/or executive dysfunction”(TGS) through completion of high school. The program expansion will be supported with capital growth including a new dormitory, woodshop, and continuing capital investment in the school’s innovative Assistive Technologies.

Stay tuned for a follow-up interview with Greenwood headmaster, Stewart Miller.

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. Gratitude and service may begin with a donation, but they only come to fruition when one dedicates time and labor to a cause beyond oneself.

For four years, Bement ninth grade students have traveled to the Dominican Republic to live in a boys orphanage for 7-10 days- as Loughlin explains, giving of themselves in age appropriate ways: playing, learning to write their names, reading books.

The trip creates a transformational experience so lasting and powerful that Bement alumni return to participate.

Greenwood has been a boys junior boarding school up to this expansion.

Greenwood’s specialized program is geared to work with “bright and talented boys with learning differences and learning disabilities (LD) such as dyslexia, attentional difficulties (ADD / ADHD), or executive functioning deficits and empowering them with the skills and strategies necessary to bridge the gap between their outstanding promise and present abilities.”(GS)

Adding 9th and 10th grade programs allows more boys the opportunity to learn and grow under the aegis of Greenwood’s three year comprehensive “program for 4th through 10th grade students — including science, history, art, literature, music, and athletics” ensuring that Greenwood boys “are intellectually challenged, creatively inspired, and factually informed.”(GS)

Greenwood headmaster, Stewart Miller explains in his announcement:

“…a 9th or 10th grade year at Greenwood offers intensive and comprehensive intervention for students who need higher skills to meet entrance criteria and/or to take advantage of opportunities in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade at a more traditional LD or non-LD school. Additionally, due to our capital investment in innovative Assistive Technologies, Greenwood graduates transition to high school with the ability to independently and fluently utilize assistive tools as bypass strategies to decode, organize, process, and produce information.

Greenwood’s strong social pragmatics program and small, nurturing community offer opportunities for students to mature before making the leap to a high school culture, allowing them to grow up in an environment that is consistent with their social/developmental level, and adjust to boarding school without pressures that are typical of a high school environment.”

Many people may not know that Fox River has a boarding school history, and operated a small junior boarding program (20 students, grades 5-8) through this year.

The school began in 1913 as Chicago Junior School- a boarding school for orphaned boys in Chicago. (DH)

It seems crazy that there’s not enough demand for a 98 year old school that was named a 2011 Illinois State School of Character (one of only two in the state).

The school worked to find a balance, and role, in tight times as families trimmed their education spending. Declining enrollment, shrinking tuition income, and increasing financial aid requests combined to squeeze the school’s viability.

“For almost a century the school had been able to balance tuition and development money in order to meet all the expenses of the school…Our expenses really didn’t go down and our donations certainly have gone up, but they haven’t gone up fast enough to keep up with the decline of students,” Dennis Marunde, former board chairman and finance committee member told Daily Herald reporter Jameel Naqvi.

Fun with leaves at The Fessenden School

Yesterday, a mom called the office asking about junior boarding schools in the south- a quick straightforward question that quickly grew from the practical to philosophical.

The family was new to the notion of boarding school and, within that, working to come to terms with an eighth grade daughter who might be best served in a middle school boarding setting.

We talked about some of the concepts of junior boarding schools- why, who goes…concluding with my offer to put together some references that that would give her a place from which to begin reading and learning.

The proverbial “Ah, ha.” moment from a customer- why haven’t we written this before?

Here are some thoughts and references that can help a family begin researching of junior boarding schools:

Generally junior boarding schools serve grades 6-9. Some upper schools, have junior boarding programs that begin in about the 7th grade. Junior boarding schools can be coed or single gender.

If the student is an eighth or ninth grader, there are two ways you can go. You can consider schools that with a 7th through 12th grade program; or, you can consider schools with lower school programs where 8th and 9th graders are the oldest students. In this latter setting the student will be in a older leadership postion. The decision here lies mostly with the student/family goals and student’s maturity.

• A video interview with Kim Laughlin, Bement School admission director: “Why a Junior Boarding School?“
• Our directory of Junior Boarding Schools. Also, you can inquire directly to any AdmissionsQuest member schools directly from their profiles with us.
• All of our blog posts connected to junior boarding schools
• The Junior Boarding Schools Association web site
• You might also consider using an educational consultant to direct and support your school search. We offer services through AdmissionsQuest Educational Consulting and you can find a nationwide directory of educational consultants on the web site of the Independent Educational Consultants Association.

Photo credit: The Fessenden School

IMS feels like home away from home for its students. Facilities, views and setting were all beautiful.

The arts are woven throughout the curriculum and visual and performing arts offer great windows of opportunity.

IMS academics feature learning support in place for all students. Every segment of the IMS program features built in flexibility for kids to be successful.

Great sportsmanship is a hallmark of IMS athletics.

The IMS community felt and came across as a “team” throughout the campus. It was like seeing the pied piper with 80 guitarists. Outstanding!

Kim Loughlin, Bement School admission director, explores the reasons that a family might consider a junior boarding school for their child. She touches on the opportunities that students and families will find in elementary & middle school boarding students.

No matter the reasons behind a family’s consideration of a junior boarding school, these schools offer younger students consistent environments with nurturing, loving faculties committed to health and well-being of their middle school aged students.

Students who attend a junior boarding school are well prepared and ready to take on the challenges of secondary boarding high school.

Orton-Gillingham methodology serves as the cornerstone of the individualized, multi sensory approach for all students. The school features a diverse population with 16 states and 8 countries represented.

The school’s five core values- respect, responsibility, integrity, loyalty and community shape student life work as a common threads throughout the curriculum and school mission. Students wear coat and tie to class.

We celebrated a student’s birthday while at lunch with cake, lit candles and song for the birthday boy. As you can imagine, I saw energy, smiles and happy faces in this beautiful dining hall setting. Food was exceptional with a very healthy menu and many fabulous choices for all. The beautiful campus setting and personal experiences ensure that Linden Hill boys learn far more than just reading, writing and math.

Students learn respect, determination, and success through hard work and perseverance and find everything is possible with the support of faculty and staff at Linden Hill. Another great find for a specific learning difference for a middle school age boy!