Westtown School - Review #5

Quaker school. We had church twice a week where we sat in silence, observing the Quaker ways of worship. As an atheist, I was initially quite unwilling to attend, but ended up loving the hour of meditation and the way I felt accepted by the local community. This feeling of acceptance was felt all throughout my school life. The school has wonderful facilities - sports and theater, dorms, classrooms. A lot of the faculty lives on campus and is extremely helpful in times of personal hardship, even outside of school hours. Small school feels like family. I still cherish the friendships I made there.

I discovered my artistic spark! My grades were good enough that I could spend my afternoons outside the dorm and study out in the open, or go to the theater building and play around on the instruments or draw/paint. I feel like I became an adult with freedoms and responsibilities at Westtown. I would not change that experience for the world.

I would have taken every advantage of the freedom of choice of subjects, so that I could go deeper into the subjects that really interested me. I would probably have taken part in more volunteer opportunities as well.

I liked everything about Westtown. The teachers were intelligent and friendly, the students were generally great, mature kids, the surrounding scenery was inspiring, and the academics were stimulating.

Check out the lake, hopefully the swans still live there. On the way you'll get a good look at the old, shady woods, and you will see half the campus. If you are interested in theater and music, check out the theater building. It's really something.

The freedom to choose my major subjects felt amazing. I chose subjects I was interested in, which boosted my confidence a lot. The class discussions were stimulating. Classes were small and teachers were approachable. We called them by Teacher and first name.

I liked the fact that there were athletic programs for everybody - both beginners and advanced athletes. We all participated in sports every day and there were programs like yoga, swimming, and all kinds of team sports. I did not feel like our school was very competitive, but then again, I was never personally at any level where I could truly compete and win.

Westtown had a wonderful art and theater building with insulated music rooms, great band instruments and practice facilities. There were art rooms and a theater where plays took place a few times a year. Some of those were really good.

There were plenty of extracurricular activities going on at the school. However, coming from a post-communist background, I was felt extracurricular activities to be something one only did under pressure and I never attended any. I realize now how foolish I was. I did participate in one activity where students of our school repaired a woman's home. It was extremely satisfying work.

The rooms were fine, two people per room, and I was lucky to have a great roommate. Boys' and girls' dormitories were separate and the separation was strict. We had to be in bed by a certain hour. Life was peaceful and pleasant.

The cafeteria was nice, with a variety of choices at every meal. Seating was free, not assigned.

The school had a large campus, away from the nearest town. We had use transportation to go to town, but there were often organized trips for various activities. My host family would come get me if I needed to go somewhere. I LOVED the fact that the school had its own land with a lake and corn fields, faculty housing, and a bunch of sports fields around. It felt safe and peaceful.

There was a relaxed atmosphere about Westtown. We all hung out together so friendships formed naturally. Students hung out in hallways and outside under trees, or in trees, we could create together, play music or sports together, help each-other with our studies, it was very hippie-like and cooperative.