View from Brentwood College School

My school, Brentwood College School, is one of the largest boarding schools in Canada.  10% of our student population is from the United States of America.  They come here because they have heard that we are special; different then the choices available in the USA and elsewhere.

This ‘brain drain’ to the northwest is something I am proud of and, to be honest, something every American family associated with our school is immensely proud of.

The Americans at Brentwood tend to be willing to see beyond borders.  They are keen to see their own country from a new perspective and they enjoy interacting with other cultures.  Our American students tend to dream big, explore widely and live boldly.

Ironically, these very core elements of American culture are what drive many of our American students to Brentwood.  They are willing to step out of a comfort zone and proudly pronounce their independence in their own thinking; they are willing to show their courage as individuals.  Because of this, many of our American students go on to do great things in life.

Stereotypes are hard to live down. There are many about Canadians and Canada in general; some of these aren’t too far from the truth.

I myself love hockey, maple syrup and have been known to say ‘eh’ on occasion. However, not many people outside of Canada know about our amazing school and the fundamentally sound and globally recognized education our students receive

This brings me to Idylwild Arts Academy president Brian D. Cohen’s response to two recent articles, “Chinese Students Lose as U.S. Schools Exploit Need” and “The China Conundrum,” each of which skeptically calls attention and raises issues about the number of chinese students in American boarding schools.

As Cohen’s title implies, “The Chinese Are Coming: Another Perspective,” he offers a broader, more positive, view with special emphasis on the contributions that Chinese students bring to their schools and the perspectives and adaptations that schools need to make in order to practice international education well.

Liang Wang, an Idyllwild Arts alum and principal oboe of the New York Philharmonic, suggests that American flexibility and creativity might lay behind Chinese pursuit of American secondary education:

“America has the best system overall for music education. Europe is a bit more rigid, but America is the land of imagination and individualism.”(HP)

Specifically of Idylwild, Liang added:

“The environment I felt was extremely friendly and highly individual. The teachers…lead you on how to think, not what to think.”(HP)

Cohen argues that in the end, the addition of variables and perspectives make a diverse education fundamentally stronger.

“We all have much to gain — the influx of Chinese students enhances the diversity of all viewpoints at schools, producing interculturally aware young people, and enhancing the compatibility and appreciation of difference among all students. Cultural fluency – comfort living and working in a diverse community; an understanding of international perspectives and political and economic interdependence; and acquisition of a second language – is an essential element of a strong secondary education.”(HP)

Additional resources:

Idyllwild Arts Academy – www.idyllwildarts.org

Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen (Silver Medalists)

London 2012 is only a few months away.  Astonishingly, Brentwood College School (a co-educational boarding school in in British Columbia, Canada) already has 4 athletes that have been selected to try out for the 2012 Canadian Olympic rowing team.  Over the last 30 years, Brentwood has consistently developed national and internationally recognized athletes, many of whom have gone on and represented their nation at the Olympics.  In fact, there have been 23 Brentwood graduates who have participated in the Olympics.

There are many reasons why Brentwood College School, a Gr.9-12 school of only 445 students, can compete so effectively on the world stage, particularly in crew.  One main reason is its spectacular oceanfront campus.  Since the temperate climate of British Columbia allows rowing year round, Brentwood’s crews can train throughout the year without having to only do land-based training during the winter months each year.  Brentwood’s facilities, including an indoor rowing tank, two ergometer centers,  a Centre for High Performance, and exceptional coaching and training staff, all combine to offer those interested in crew to get the best possible access to the latest training and hands-on experience.

Success breeds success.  Just being in a culture of success creates an enthusiastic and motivating environment for our athletes, scholars and artists.  While Brentwood is equally recognized for its spectacular academic tradition and its unrivaled fine arts opportunities, there is a certain pride and tradition of success athletically (last year the school sent 7 different sports teams to Provincial championships – the equivalent of a State championships);  this confidence and pride resonates throughout the campus each year.  Brentwood students tend to believe anything can be achieved through effort and commitment.

The following Olympians attended Brentwood College.

1. I will make a habit out of checking in on Admissionsquest and other valuable sites for great insights into  independent schools.
2. I will consider a boarding school (you will be blown away by the value-added options they provide).
3. I will arrange for some campus visits (compare and contrast- highly important).
4. I will consider Canada as well as the USA (again, you will be blown away by the value-added options many Canadian schools can provide).
5. I will ask a lot of questions before, during and after each campus visit.  I will ask to speak with current students and parents.  I will find out the truth and not just listen to the ‘sales pitch’ about the school.

I call attention to a story on Cate School that I wrote this morning on the WBSA’s blog (Cate School To Study Adolescent and Young Adult Hearts).

It’s just too interesting and important to miss.

Briefly, Cate students will participate in a long term study designed to provide data and insight into “a cost-effective protocol for detecting heart abnormalities among young people.” CS

Wade Ransom, Cate athletic director is co-investigator of The Cate Study and Dr. Joseph Ilvento, will serve as the principal investigator.

That is what is so interesting about boarding schools like ours; powerful, lifelong friendships are forged quickly and within a short period of time, young people find themselves surrounded by positive peers with similar aspirations.  The bonds that tie them are already strong and it is only December!

As the students look forward to the end of term and to getting back to some quality time with their families, it is often with some reservation, as they will also miss the day-to-day contact with their new boarding school friends.

At Brentwood College School, the boarding houses will end their term with special house Christmas dinners and the exchanging of ‘Secret Santa’ presents.  They will then return to their families filled with stories of new relationships, new experiences and new opportunities.  It is at these times when parents fully realize the richness of the boarding school experience and the very special gift that they have given their children.

Photo credit: Falling Sky via Creative Commons

Boarding school college placement offices, and the students they support, benefit from a bounty of resources and experiences.

A boarding school college placement office works full-time; works with a very healthy (read low) officer to student ratio; and, features a seasoned faculty that brings broad perspectives and insights to students.

That last thought brings me to a piece that arrived in my ‘in box’ late last week- “Take My Own Advice” by Hector Martinez, college guidance director at The Webb Schools (CA). Martinez publishes periodically and he’s always worth reading if you’re in the kid business.

In “Take My Own Advice,” Martinez reflects on his own actions as his son applied to Webb, offering some advice for the hovering, overly conscientious parent seeking the perfect school application.

“..while I am quick to offer words of comfort and assurance that everything will work out just fine to all of you and your children, I can’t seem to do the same for myself. Worse, I seem to show signs of the ‘difficult parent’ I warn Webb parents not to become, you know the one that gets overly involved in the process and wants to take over it as if they are actually applying for admissions to school instead of the child.”(WS)

Martinez found himself standing over his son’s shoulders thinking about answers that he, as the adult professional, believed should be better- better meaning in the words, voice, and thoughts of someone more experienced than his eighth grader.

“…I wanted to make sure the admission office understood before they were tempted to label him a “slacker!” Instead of trusting my son would explain himself, and also trusting that the admission office at Webb would understand what he meant by his answer, all I wanted to do was change his answer.

So, I vowed to listen carefully, offer my advice, but ultimately trust my son to do his best as he presented his profile for admissions, even if it meant having to sit on my hands to stop myself from taking over.”(WS)

To aid parents of applicants, Martinez offers his personal top ten rules.

Of course, they apply to all of us challenged to maintain distance as our kids seek to own their experiences and they really boil down to two principles. Guide, but let your student do the work and trust the faculty.

“Top Ten Rules to Follow for Myself

1. It’s about my son, not me!
2. It’s my son’s responsibility to fill out the application and make sure it all gets done (on time), not mine.
3. He needs to write his own essay and answer all the questions with his own ideas and words, not mine.
4. I’m to support, encourage, and be a friendly reminder to him with such things as deadlines as he progresses through this admissions process but will stop myself from taking over it no matter how tempting it may be for me.
5. I’m to trust his teachers and school administrators that will help him with recommendation letters, especially since the school he currently attends does an excellent job with all of this and has been doing it forever!
6. I will not pretend that my child is someone other than who he really is- even if the other son I’m confusing him with has better grades, scores, and organizational skills!
7. I will trust that the admission office will also see the many fine qualities of my imperfect son and appreciate him almost as much as I do.
8. I will offer to proof and check his application, but will not be offended if he chooses to ask someone else to do this for him instead.
9. I will be the first to congratulate him if he gets in, and the first to tell him that he can still have a great life should he get bad news, while making sure he knows how much I love him and how proud I am of him for doing his best.
10. I will be so much better at all of this with my second son!” (WS)

Without divulging the details of what will certainly be a glorious new exhibit hall, I will say that I saw something that caught my eye just inside the entrance.   There on the wall is a quote that Ray Alf was famous for: “What will you do with your moment in time?” – an exhortation of sorts, a call to seize the moment, “Carpe Diem!”

It’s all Ray Alf and I so wish I could have met him.

But as an admission director, I began to think about our young parents, those with children in pre-school and elementary school, the ones that have put so much pressure on themselves to be certain their child gets that “edge”, that elusive magic bullet that will assure their child a success they often can’t define. I know they must be struggling.

I think: what kind of training do we really get before becoming parents? Frankly, I think we often were just winging it; learning as we go; or trying to emulate our parents’ child-rearing model. And in our yearning for answers we spend a lot of time listening to our neighbors or hanging out in the school parking lot after dropping little Sally off at the pre-school door.

That advice comes fast and furious:

“Be sure she’s reading books by age 3”; “ Get a tutor for math…now!  You don’t want her to get behind!”   “Check out Webb now and get on their mailing list.  Yes, I know he’s only four but you want to learn all about what Webb is expecting so you can prepare him.”  “Soccer (or fill in your favorite sport) is the best sport to someday get him a college scholarship.”

I am not kidding when I say I’ve actually heard this nonsense.

Childhood is not just our child’s moment in time; it is right now their only moment in time. Are we to waste these pressure days or hours asking our child to go to school; go home; and essentially go to school again the same day?

Is there any empirical evidence that reading an entire book by age five has made any difference at all in the child’s life?  I am hearing that there is such a demand for some of the fine private schools in New York, that parents actually have their children working with test preparation tutors. For pre-school? What can they possibly be reviewing? Lego design?

Do we want our child so engaged that they don’t know what it means to be a child? What time is being set aside for those quiet moments when mom and dad participate in the fantasy play of their children?  Is there anything better than walking through the woods with your daughter pointing out the antics of the local squirrel family?  Isn’t spending time on the beach to find that perfectly shaped shell just the best? Isn’t spontaneous, belly laughter something to be shared with your son? When did we decide that appropriate developmental learning includes preparing for the SSAT at age 10?

We only have so much time with our children before they become teenagers – a whole new world of parenting, by the way. There’s not a moment in time to lose –  your child’s moment in time.

ASI has two interesting concurrent stories- its founding and its students.

ASI is a young organization with young leaders in grad school and, obviously, for our audience, they understand and use the boarding school experience as an opportunity and medium.

Qiamuddin Amiry one of ASI’s founders expresses the value of education having won a scholarship to attend school in Hong Kong and being recruited by Colby College. Amiry explains in the ASI Documentary:

“I could see the stark difference and contrast between how my life could be and how my life was…Two years of education in Hong Kong taught me how you can change somebody; how you can create dreams for someone. How you can build leadership in someone who has the passion but doesn’t have the opportunity.”

This value of education underpins ASI’s work and students.

One of ASI’s first students, Meetra Ameni spoke to The Boston Globe of her ASI, Gould Academy, and Smith College experiences:

“If I didn’t have this chance, I might have had a typical Afghan girl’s life…At first, it was really hard for me to make the transition. But after a while, I am used to it. It makes more sense for me now.’’(TBG)

ASI’s program is rigorous and selective in working toward preparing “Afghanistan’s future civic leaders.”(ASI)

Students “are selected based on their writing skills, reasoning skills, and demonstrated intelligence e.g. organizing thoughts, and school grades” and rigorously prepared for their boarding school experience.(ASI)

ASI continues supporting the educational and social experiences of their students throughout their boarding school years.

Mark Siegel, Delphian School

Delphian School Assistant Headmaster Mark Siegel keeps an interesting blog (Thinking About Education) where he shares articles, comments, and musings on the changing state of education.

It’s a light policy manifesto for eduction reform.

Siegel finds interesting articles, and angles, covering any, and all, topics on education- from parental control, to testing, to student/childhood development, to school choice. He’s big on experiential learning, mastery, and individualized development.

I haven’t read a post that’s left me without a follow-up question or sitting on the fence about the topic.

Alas, Siegel isn’t a regular, or, prolific poster- few can be living the daily life of a boarding school faculty member.

What’s interesting- and the reason to give him some copy- is that, even with his daily demands as assistant headmaster, Siegel stays interested on research, data, and policy that can affect and improve the experience and achievement of his students. He’s a big picture observer and thinker in a world that succeeds (and can sometimes be hamstrung by) an intense focus on the daily life of the school and its students.

It’s interesting to see an assistant head looking outward and broadly and thinking about the ways broad issues can affect his school and students.