The Webb Schools - Review #22

The on-campus museum is a huge asset. I cannot begin to emphasize the wonderful experiences offered by the museum, which include 1. summer excavation trips, 2. student research projects (and the opportunity to have one's paper published) and 3. trips to scientific conventions.

Although Webb was by no means the perfect school, it was most definitely life changing. I met amazing teachers and students during my time at Webb. I also "discovered" myself (cliche as it sounds). That is, I was given the opportunity to try so many new things--paleontology, student government, service, and more--that I might never have tried elsewhere.

I would have spent more time bonding with teachers and less time studying (though I suspect the studying did eventually pay off). My advice is that they take full advantage of the boarding school setup--get to know teachers and get to know your fellow classmates. If there are organizations that you think your school lacks, go and start them yourself! The boarding school environment allows you to do just that.

I met many amazing teachers during my time at Webb. Moreover, hard work was always acknowledged at Webb (though conversely, bad behavior too is chastised ).

Check out the museum on campus.

There are some truly remarkable teachers at Webb. In particular, Webb has some very good humanities teachers who care deeply about their students and demonstrate profound understanding of their subject. Often, there is the opportunity to bond with teachers who teach multiple levels of the same subject (for instance, I took Spanish with the same amazing teacher for three years). On the flip side, I sometimes found Webb's science department to be lacking (specifically in Chemistry and some of the lower level math classes). There is a lack of certain science/math classes, such as Computer Science. Overall, however, teachers offer a good amount of support to students and one will succeed if one tries.

The athletics program is all right. I was not particularly impressed by it--but that may be because I am not much of an athlete. There is a decent number of sports available, but Webb has never been known for its excellence in sports. I do not know if this is due to our dearth of natural athletic talent or simply to a lack of good instructors; again, I am not much of an athlete.

As a student who did only one year of art, it's hard for me to evaluate the Visual Arts/Music/Theater program. From what I've seen, the Theater program is very good, filled with students and faculty who care much about it. Similarly, the Visual Arts program has been improving in past years, with newly improved Art Festivals. The Music program lost a wonderful faculty member last year, but I have been seeing much more student involvement in past years (with the student-led Jubilee). Overall, I would say that Webb has become more committed to the arts in the last few years/

Student government at Webb is fantastic. It has a great director and members of student government (those fully committed, at least) will learn much during their time as student government members. Besides student government, there are other extracurricular opportunities available; but unfortunately, many of these are small and localized. There is no nationally competing Science Olympiad team, for instance, nor is there a Mock Trial team. One positive of this situation is that students can very easily start their own organizations; the downside is that these organizations will remain very Webb-based.

It was nice living in such close proximity to friends. The rooms were very spacious and very nice (much nicer, in fact, than my college dorm). The room selection process is also very fair. Overall, I did not see any problems with dorm life.

Students may complain about Webb food--but that is because they have not yet eaten college food. Webb food is actually great; there is always food available in the dining hall (whether it is buffet-style meals of just PB&J snacks). There is also a wonderful variety--vegetarian options, salad bar, panini machine, rice, and then the main meal. I have no complaints.

Claremont is a pleasant area. I don't know much about it because I did not often venture off campus. However, the few times I did, I found nice Thai restaurants and a number of small shops to visit.

There are many opportunities to bond with one's class due to the intimacy and small size of Webb's student populace.