"teachers"
Connections and Relationships: Boarding Schools Have Them, Colleges Want to Return to Them
Three stories came together this morning to remind me and drive home the point that- in so many situations- working, living and learning- it’s about people and relationships. And, boarding schools ‘do’ people and relationships better in an educational setting than just about any other form of school. Let me lay out the three. I’ll [...]
Read MoreAn Educational Consultant’s Notes on The Hotchkiss School
The Hotchkiss School students are instilled with a strong sense of self and a desire to make a difference in the world. Every individual defines it in his or her own way. Hotchkiss features academic power and the teachers challenge you to vigorously explore new ideas and reach out to others. The faculty bring out [...]
Read MoreThe Williston Northampton School Through the Eyes of a Faculty Member
Mark Conroy, The Williston Northampton School athletic director, shares the ‘faculty perspective’ tour of Williston. We’ve never differentiated a particular perspective in a tour, but we’ve also never run across an admission office that provides two tours to each family. Using a faculty tour and a student tour, Williston Northampton presents the school from two [...]
Read MoreA Pendulum Too Far: Is it time to pay attention to boys education?
Lisa Wolfe published a thoughtful musing on the current state of boys education over at The Daily Beast, “Boys’ Self Esteem Problems.” She begins, interestingly, with a question posited by a colleague of mine about 20 years ago. We had been sitting through faculty meetings, over a few years, with topic-after-topic, idea-after-idea, and speaker-after-speaker covering [...]
Read MoreAn Educational Consultant’s Notes on Landmark School
A co-educational boarding and day school with grades 9 -12, Landmark School is located on Boston’s beautiful North Shore. The school overlooks the ocean with historic sites and recreational sites nearby. 54% of Landmark’s 303 students are boarding students. Landmark’s very successful model designs an individualized program for each high school student. Students meet and [...]
Read MoreAn Educational Consultant’s Notes on Linden Hill School
A junior boarding school for boys, ages 9-16 with learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, and executive functioning challenges, Linden Hill School (Northfield, MA) helps middle school age boys, of average to above average intelligence, with language learning differences, ADD and/or executive function issues to become increasingly successful, and independent in academic, social, and athletic environments. Orton-Gillingham methodology [...]
Read MoreAn Educational Consultant’s Notes on The Greenwood School
The Greenwood School, a junior boarding school, enrolls boys ages 9–14; they have 42 boarding and 5 day students. Students have been diagnosed with: dyslexia, specific language-based learning disabilities/learning differences (LD); receptive language and/or expressive language deficits; executive functioning deficits; attention difficulties (ADD or ADHD); disorders of written expression; dysgraphia; or, speech and language needs. [...]
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 MoreBeyond the Quarterly Alumni News
In his post this week, Institutional Memory, Chuck Will at Proctor Academy touches on the uses and value of electronic media in connecting and binding school constituencies. Back in the day, schools published the alumni news, usually quarterly or semi-annually. The full color mailing usually went to alumni, current families and friends of the school. [...]
Read MoreA Boarding School that Offers Students a Fresh Start
George Swope, Fenster School, Head, talks with Peter about Fenster’s work and the kinds of students the school serves. A coed boarding and day school for 9-12 and PG students, Fenster focuses on college bound students who find success in a small, personalized, school environment. Fenster builds a foundation for each student on their social [...]
Read MoreWhy Class Size is Important at Boarding Schools
No one wants to get lost in the shuffle. This is especially true for high school students who are in need individual attention. Many public schools have class sizes that range from 20-30 students. At boarding schools, the typical class size is 10-15. The difference in having 10-20 more students in a classroom can be [...]
Read MoreEngaged Faculty: The Not So Secret Formula of Boarding School Success
I remember those very large classes in high school where anonymity was more common than notoriety. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my high school – it was large, noisy, and just plain fun. But it was so easy to cruise by being in the middle where most of us lived. No, I am not [...]
Read MoreA Guided Tour of Miss Hall’s School
Tour the Miss Hall’s School campus with Allison Smith, assistant director of admission. As you watch, keep an eye out for the sense of community that weaves its way into every stop. Ms. Smith introduces viewers to Miss Hall’s palces, spaces, rhythms, and routines. The tour opens in the ‘Living Room.’ Restored and decorated to [...]
Read MoreAn Educational Consultant’s Notes on Lawrence Academy
Each time I visit a school, I sketch notes that captures what I saw & my impressions. I’m sharing my notes from my recent time on Lawrence Academy‘s campus. One quick item before you dive in: to give some context to the school’s Winterim Program, I grabbed a descriptive paragraph from LA’s website. Notes: Lawrence [...]
Read MoreInside Solebury School: Insights From a Recent Grad
Will, Solebury School alumnus (’10), shares his Solebury life and insights on this summer campus tour. Will reflects on his relationships with faculty and the Solebury environment that helped him discover what he does best. Along the way he’s learned how to share his thinking and work through his ideas with faculty and classmates. The [...]
Read More