Marylou Marcus
An Educational Consultant’s Impressions of Middlesex School
A truly beautiful campus in Concord, Massachusetts, Middlesex School centers around an open quad with beautiful brick buildings. I was fortunate to visit on an inviting, snow covered day (not the pleasant summer shot to the right).
It’s exam week and I saw countless student groups studying together.
The library seemed full to capacity. Informal [...]
An 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 MoreAn 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 MoreAn Educational Consultant Visits Berkshire School
A picture perfect day in the Berkshires. What else could you want?
Absolutely beautiful setting, Berkshire School’s facilities are outstanding. Students look great in dress code; everyone’s happy. The campus is busy; you could hear the purposeful din in every classroom, common room, dining hall, playing field, and hockey rink (beautiful and newly built).
Every classroom [...]
A Consultant Visits High Mowing School
High Mowing School sits atop Abbot Hill, (Wilton, NH) with open meadows, deep woods and an outstanding view of Southern New Hampshire. In one word, beautiful.
It is also the only Waldorf boarding school in North America with all the great Waldforf characteristics and traits in place- small, exciting, comfortable, a flexible boarding community. [...]
A Consultant Visits Marianapolis Preparatory School
LEARN – LIVE – EXCEL is what Marianapolis Preparatory School is all about besides being a warm, diverse and open Catholic boarding school. The school offers traditional academic subjects, advanced placement courses and a strong ESL program in which their goal is to mainstream 100% of their ESL students from twenty different countries.
I found [...]
onBoarding Schools Celebrates First Birthday & 150th Post
An epiphany struck us today; onBoarding Schools, our boarding school blog, launched one year ago today. Via serendipity, or just plain old “dumb luck,” this first birthday coincides with this 150th post.
We’ve averaged almost 3 entries a week since starting with Brian doing lots of the heavy lifting. He has done a fantastic job [...]
A Consultant Tours Three Maryland Girls’ Boarding Schools
During the recent IECA conference I was able to find some time outside of the conference hotel to visit three Maryland girls’ boarding schools: St. Timothy’s School, Garrison Forest School and Oldfields School.
Visiting schools is the bread and butter of the consultant trade. Visits allow me to check-in and see how my students are doing [...]
An Insiders View of Dublin School
As the past admission director at Dublin School, a co-ed small boarding school in Dublin, NH, I’m now forced to look differently at the school- with consultant’s eye. I now have to think about Dublin using a consultant’s critique:
“Does the school do what it says it does; what kind of students will do well here; and are [...]
A Consultant Visits Two Western MA Boarding Schools
I had the pleasure of participating on a tour of two Western MA boarding schools & an ‘early college’ program (more on that below). As I did with my Ojai Valley boarding school trip, I typed up my visit notes to provide you with my impressions of each school. I hope you find them helpful. [...]
Read MoreA Consultant’s Impressions of The Winchendon School
My notes from a recent visit to The Winchendon School…
I didn’t expect to be so taken by the beautiful campus; beyond beauty, the campus boasts a golf course, new academic building and new ice hockey rink. The student body appears very diverse and multicultural.
Winchendon is working to expand the strength of [...]
A Consultant’s Tour of Boarding Schools in California’s Ojai Valley
As an educational consultant it’s important for me to visit and revisit schools to keep a pulse on the community, administration changes and on current & past students. Not to mention curriculum modifications and new courses being offered (for instance more boarding schools this year and next are offering Mandarin Chinese). With this in mind, [...]
Read MoreKimball Union Academy
Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, NH
At lunch I was able to meet with my student (freshman) and sit down with his advisor, dorm parent, and Admission Director. On this particular visit I was made aware of the F.O.A.L.S- the Freshman Orientation and Learning Strategies program which is a required course for all freshmen during the first [...]
Read MoreA Consultant’s Impressions of Cushing Academy
If Cushing Academy (Ashburnham, MA) is not on your radar screen it should be!
In a recent visit to Cushing I encountered a warm and friendly campus with a vast array of opportunities and encouragement for both students and faculty.
Dr. James Tracy, the new Cushing head has brought to campus an emphasis on being global citizens with [...]
