About Boarding Schools

If you have begun to think about sending your son or daughter to boarding school, I offer the following suggestions and guidance from one parent to another. Transferring from a public high school to a boarding school is a big deal for us grownups. But it is an even bigger deal for your child. Why? Because you literally are uprooting her from those familiar surroundings and routines, she has known ever since birth. While I understand that every young person views change differently, the reality is that going off to boarding school is a very big change. With that in mind, let's you and I look at some of the things we can do to facilitate this change.

Familiarize your child with what's involved.

You can familiarize your child with boarding school by involving her in the process from the beginning. In other words, don't present the idea as though the deal is done. If your child thinks that going off to boarding school is her idea, then you are off to a great start. The important thing to understand is that your child's viewpoint will be different from yours. She will focus on the immediate change to her familiar routine. She will have strong feelings about leaving home and her family and friends. She won't be thinking long-term or about the benefits which a boarding school education can provide her. I advise you to engage an experienced educational consultant right from the beginning of your boarding school

Editor's note: I asked Whitney Retzer, the Senior Associate Director of Admissions at St. Timothy's School, Stevenson, Maryland, to answer some questions which I know most parents have about boarding school. Here are her answers. ~Rob Kennedy

RK: 1. Can't my child get just as good an education in my local public school? Why should I go to all the expense and trouble of sending her to a boarding school?

WR: There are benefits to a private boarding school that cannot be matched. Students are given more support, encouragement, and differentiated instruction that is only possible in small classes and with greater access to teachers. St. Timothy’s school has a teacher-to-student ratio of 8:1 which means students can be in classrooms as small as six students and as large as twelve per teacher.

Also, the majority of St. Timothy’s faculty hold advanced degrees, and many live on campus and are therefore accessible and available to students outside the classroom. In this environment, students truly get the time and attention to flourish as 21st-century learners that are critical-thinking, curious, and caring global ambassadors.

RK: 2. What advantages can a boarding school offer parents looking to send their son or daughter to a private school?

WR: Boarding schools offer students once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to study and collaborate with friends from all over the nation and world. St. Timothy’s has students from 20 different countries and 15 different states who are all living and studying together. Students change roommates twice a year

From time to time publications ask us why parents would consider sending their children to boarding school as opposed to leaving them in public school. What follows are my answers to some questions which were recently posed to me. I hope that you find my answers helpful as you weigh the pros and cons of sending your child to boarding school.

1. Why should you consider sending your child to a boarding school, instead of to one of the many private day schools and charter schools in the area?

In a perfect world, most of us parents would decide to send our children to schools that meet all or most of our requirements and needs. When you are fortunate enough to live in an area that has good public schools, then it makes sense to comparison shop carefully. Tune out any prejudices you may have about any kind of school, and try as much as possible to compare apples to apples.

For example, if your child has special needs, you need to look carefully at the quality of instruction that she will receive in order to continue enjoying learning. Boarding schools that offer programs for students with special needs tend to do a good job simply because they offer plenty of individual instruction from experienced credentialled teachers. The other advantage they have is that most, if not all of their students have some special need of one kind or another. Boarding schools that specialize in

I have targeted the first three questions at parents just starting to think about private school for their children. I can remember what it was like when we looked into sending our eldest daughter to preschool. We had two primary concerns: paying for her schooling and understanding what the school would teach her. I know that parents today essentially have the same concerns. Possibly, the last two questions might stump people familiar with private schools. I intend to offer some facts and figures as I compare private schools with public schools.

1. How many private schools offer financial aid?

The short answer is that just about every private school offers some form of financial aid. They do that because they are well aware that many families cannot afford to pay the full tuition and fees that they charge. Also, they don't want to admit only children from families who can afford to send them to private schools. Most private schools want to have as diverse a student body as possible. Consequently, there are over a dozen schools that now offer total financial aid to families with incomes below a certain income. These thresholds vary from school to school but typically are in the $75,000 range.

This video offers an overview of Brewster Academy.

I am saving the best for last. The United States has a handful of free private schools. A dozen

As you begin to think about sending your child off to boarding school, you will find yourself asking precisely why you wish to do so. Invariably you will circle back to the main reason why you feel that your child deserves to go to private school. The main reason has everything to do with your wanting her to go to the best school she can get into. You feel that she deserves the best possible education which you can find for her.

What makes some schools really better than others? What makes them the best schools? Let's examine traits of the best schools.

Great teachers

This trait is at the top of my list. The best schools have amazing teachers. Their credentials are awesome. They are passionate about the subjects which they teach. They are highly qualified to teach their subjects. Explore the faculty lists on school websites. See for yourself where your child's future teachers went to college. Note how many of them have masters and doctoral degrees.

Todd Orminston, the Director of Admissions of Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine answers the question "Why should I go to boarding school?"

These great teachers know how to open new worlds for their students. Dialogue and positive reinforcement are givens with these teachers. They don't lecture and pour knowledge into your child's mind. They teach. And they teach brilliantly. Not only that but they