Dean Vachon, Dean of Faculty and Curriculum, emphasizes a diversity of learners when talking about Dunn School’s academic program.

More than just a varied curriculum, Dunn (a coed boarding school in Los Olivos, CA) recognizes and serves a diversity of students with courses that fit different kinds of learners.

The fact that each Dunn student learns differently drives Dunn’s academics. Dunn teachers teach every lesson in different ways.

Dunn alumni graduate knowing how to learn;  how to ask for help and interact with faculty; and with an ability to seek and grow relationships with their teachers.

Katie Isaacson talks about the role that Midland School’s organic garden plays in the school community.

Midland (a coed boarding school in Los Olivos, CA) cultivates 10 acres for both production and education. The school eats seasonally from the farm bounty putting-up by freezing or canning the surplus. A chalk board in the dining hall charts produce seasonal availability. Livestock are also part of the Midland farm production. The farm raises eight pigs and 10 steers annually for school consumption.

Students are involved in the farm daily in activities ranging from food harvesting, to composting, to livestock husbandry. Students interested learning and exploring the farm in-depth can elect farming as their afternoon sport/activity which puts them working on the farm four afternoons weekly.

Stevenson School junior J.J. shares his insights into the strengths of a Stevenson education. The school’s a coed boarding school in Pebble Beach, California.

Academics at Stevenson (www.stevenson.org) are second-to-none with multiple advanced, and Advanced Placement, classes in all subjects. Tennis, golf, swimming, water polo, volleyball, soccer and track are the strong athletic programs. Music features band, jazz band, orchestra, and choir.

Opportunity, freedom, trust and responsibility are the themes that surface again and again throughout the tour. Whether it’s practicing one’s instrument, signing out to go on a trip, taking an off campus class, or, going into Monterey, Stevenson requires a great deal of responsibility and good judgement from its students.

As J.J. relates, Stevenson is a cornucopia of opportunities and it is the Stevenson students job to grab those opportunities and take them as far as they can. J.J. is an athlete, prefect, violinist, and outdoor education leader- in short, a Stevenson student.

The intallments feature students, and teachers, talking about their programs and, often, the benefits of a small interconnected community.

Dixson’s reports show Marvelwood students engaged in experiences ranging from the service oriented caring and training of future service dogs, to the artistic pursuit of jewelry making, to athletic rock climbing.

Each story offers a window into, not only what Marvelwood students experience, but also how Marvelwood faculty work, as well as the things that the greater Marvelwood community holds important and valuable. The high level of connection and individual pursuit is classic small school.

Marvelwood School: Cool for Puppies

Marvelwood School: Cool for Jewelry

Marvelwood School: Cool for Critters

Marvelwood School: Cool for Rock Climbing

To watch the reports go to: http://www.wfsb.com/category/211215/cool-schools

The entire Cool Schools series is kept on a single page. You’ll find the Marvelwood reports individually available in the past reports bar below the main video viewer window.

In the New York Times, “For Some Parents, Leaving Private School Is Harder Than Getting In” Anderson covers the increasing seriousness with which enrollment agreements are taken.

The antes on both the school, and parent sides, is up.

The contracts are worth more and parents want to hold open options and make school changes until the last minute. Not healthy, something’s gotta give.

Anderson writes:

“For most parents, getting their child into a private school is a moment of joy, or at least relief. But uncomfortable conversations take place at this time of year, as some parents reconsider.

Sometimes these conversations lead to an amicable parting. Other times, they lead to a bare-knuckled fight in court.”(NYT)

The shift in definition from the more genteel (and less enforcement oriented) agreement to contract is an important one. Schools appear to be taking a more aggressive approach to defining the enrollment contract and to making it enforceable should a family choose not, or, be unable, to honor it.

Anderson documents the experiences of families who- by choice, or by changed economic circumstances- found themselves in contract enforcement proceedings. The student could not, or would not be attending the school, and, rather than letting the family withdraw forefitting- say, just their deposit- some schools seek full enforcement of the contract.

Enter debt collectors and lawsuits.

Anderson’s article focuses on the heavily/oversubscribed world or highly competitive schools where one student who withdraws is quickly replaced by another from a waiting list.

Pursuing enrollment contract enforcement when the school would incur no damages certainly doesn’t seem a healthy, or diplomatic position to pursue. If no shortfall in revenue occurs/if the space doesn’t go unsold why pursue the family? It would seem to me that pursuing enforcement when no damages occur is just bad karma and poor public relations.

What about lesser subscribed, or tuition driven schools, where the space isn’t as easily sold/where the revenue is counted upon to make ends meet?

This is a sticky wicket. Schools in these situations rely on tuition monies and unpaid enrollment contracts can create holes in their budgets.

Something’s a little odd when the contract law of enrollment contracts is making the news. Could it be that neither side- parents and schools- are behaving and acting as honorably as they might?

Parents withdrawing students after payment deadlines on discretionary rather than force majeure terms. Schools seeking unnecessary enforcement. An unnecessarily adversarial relationship seems antithetical to everyone’s best interests.

What happened to healthy collegial relationship built upon the student’s best interests?

In my experiences, we always conducted these withdrawal conversations discreetly and politely. If the student/family needed to leave for an appropriate, or healthy, reason, the schools with which I was associated, released the family without further obligation. When the situation required enforcement, we took that route only when necessary.

Communicating and working out the situation seemed to work best for everyone.

However, as I mentioned above, I can see the predicament of schools who count on and budget based the income from enrollment contracts. I don’t have a good policy for this situation.

I know I’m old fashioned. Intuitively though, it seems a return to respectful collegiality on both the parental and school sides might be the best solution. Work together. Begin with honesty. Respect that plans sometimes change. When no harm is done, there’s no need to fight. And most importantly, commit oneself to building good karma and always leaving the situation and relationship better than you found it.

There will be situations that require enforcement but even in these situations each party can come to a workable agreement.

Even when things don’t work out, try to keep the relationship sound.

Espousing the more defensive position:

“Shamir A. Khan, a clinical psychologist and founder of the N.Y.C. Private Schools Blog, said parents should read their contracts carefully and assume that schools will enforce the terms.

‘Families should create a detailed paper or electronic record documenting when and how their circumstances changed and the school’s response,’ Dr. Khan said. ‘But at the end of the day, a breach is a breach, and parents should be prepared to pay the full amount.’”

The realist in me, says Dr. Khan’s advice for parents is sound.

What sets a pre-professional arts boarding school and a pre-preprofessional arts student apart? Drive, desire, and dedication.

In this short video, Jewel talks about what she learned and expereienced at Interlochen Arts Academy.

“I’d never seen discipline like that…You’d have a cello major that was practicing 6-8 hours on top of all their studies. Every major was just so good and so passionate about what they did that it made me rise and try to be better myself.”

To learn more about pre-professional arts boarding schools, I encourage you to read an article that we published a few years ago (Dedicated Study of the Arts in a Boarding School). It goes into more depth and showcases the three arts boarding schools in the US.

A Gould Academy student share her insights into what it’s like to be a student at Gould. Two programs that she shares will strike viewers as setting Gould apart.

The first is Gould’s On Snow program. Adjacent to Sunday River ski area, Gould encourages and designs its programs so that students make maximum use of their ‘backyard’ outdoor opportunities. On Snow program puts as many students as possible on snow during the winter in capacities that allow students to grow in a variety of directions- as ski racers, as ski instructors for children.

During the winter, Gould ‘flips’ two days a week with students hitting the mountain first thing in the morning, then, returning to campus for classes in the evening.

Viewers will also be struck by Gould’s Farm and Forest Program.

In place of a traditional afternoon athletic requirement, students can gain first hand experience in working on and running the school’s farm. Animals and crops from the farm make into the school’s dining hall and the farm uses school waste in composting.

Gould features strong small class, discussion driven academics shaped by an engaged faculty. A strong arts program that offers another uniquely Gould class- blacksmithing.

Evenings feature traditional study hall and library hours.

Weekend are highlighted by activities ranging from relaxing to intense- shopping to ice climbing.

Thirty years ago, the Globe was the only paper that kept tabs on prep school leagues and standings.

Then, the Globe’s resources went elsewhere and prep school coverage languished for a while punctuated by various fragmented attempts at regular publication, score gathering, and reporting of prep school ahtletics.

Kudos to Scott Barboza and Brendan Hall of ESPN’s Boston High School Blog. These two Mass. natives- sporting solid journalist backgrounds- are doing a great job of following, collecting, and publishing quick coverage on New England prep school sports.

Just yesterday Barboza published a list of New England players on the NHL Central Scouting service final rankings of North American skaters and goaltenders. It includes some solid prep school talent.

For coverage of the NEPSAC winter tournaments (hockey and basketball) and prep school sports news, type NEPSAC into the search bar.

Private school admission is certainly serious and in many ways an art rather than a science. But, sometimes we (parents and admission professionals) believe we can control and plan everything.

Here’s a parody (N.Y. Preschool Starts DNA Testing For Admission) in the vein of Jonathan Swift that made me laugh, and pause.

DNA is no more destiny than finding the perfect school. But, sometimes we believe we can always find the perfect measure, the perfect advantage, the perfect school.

Brentwood College School

There are over 40 boarding schools west of the Mississippi River; on both sides of the US-Canadian boarder. Virtually all of these schools are part of the Western Boarding Schools Association (www.wbsa.net).  These ‘western’ schools offer a wonderful alternative to the more traditional boarding schools found in the eastern part of North America.

My school, Brentwood College School, like many of the western schools, attracts students from all over North America and across the globe.  Diversity, natural beauty, successfully post-educational placement and caring communities are features of our western schools.

So if you are looking for a boarding school, please check out these amazing schools in the west.   You will be amazed at the quality of the choices available.