Miss Porter's School - Review #1

Two defining factors about Miss Porter's is the sense of community and the ability for students to create lasting connections with teachers. The community fostered by the students and faculty at Porter's is unlike any other school. It is so welcoming and supportive, and while it is not perfect, it is very rare for a high school to feel so much like home. The teachers are incredible and truly care about the success of their students. I graduated almost three years ago, and I am still in contact with my teachers from Porter's. Some have even helped me find internships and jobs.

I think Porter's really helped me find my true self and what I love. It was one of the first schools I was actually comfortable at. It was the first school where I didn't care what people thought of me, and I just did my own thing. This has really helped me in college, for I have been able to take the leaps to try new things and find my passions.

I don't think I would have done anything differently. The mistakes I made in my first year were important to my own personal growth and have helped shape me into the type of person I am today.

I think the people and the community. At Porter's the students are all pretty driven and courageous people. This is the type of high school that really helps build your confidence and encourages you to take risks.

Go to Naples!! Great pizza place and also Truffles has really good baked goods.

The academics at Porter's are competitive, diverse, challenging, and inspiring. I think one of the difficult things at Porter's is the competitiveness, for it can be hard sometimes when you are not getting the grades you feel that you should. However, I truly believe that these are the moments where students truly grow. By stepping out of your comfort zone and asking for more help from teachers and by acknowledging weaknesses in classes and facing them head-on. The workload can be hard, and manageable. However, this takes dedication. Letting things slip is not going to help. You really just have to stay on top of it. The classes available to students are so diverse. I was able to take marine biology and an independent study with a teacher called "Advanced Topics in Global Ethics". It was awesome!

Athletics have changed a lot since I left Porter's, which is a good thing! When I was there, I was the co-captain of varsity skiing and varsity lacrosse. We tried so hard but didn't have the best coaches. The students always played their best, yet we lost a lot of the time. Since graduating, Porter's has turned up the athletic program in an awesome way. The coaches are incredible, the recruiting is better, and the teams are beating the founder's league powerhouses in so many sports.

I don't know much about the Visual Arts and Theatre programs, however, I was very involved in the music program. I participated in Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, Junior and Senior Honors Voice, and the Perilhettes (the seniors only a cappella group). I really loved my voice teacher, but thought the choir director was pretty bad. Since my graduation, there is a new choir director and I am not sure if they are any better, but I hope so! I had an amazing time in the Perilhettes, which is completely student-run. It was an amazing experience and really made my senior year incredible.

I was one of the co-heads of Spectrum, the Gender and Sexualities Alliance, and there are a bunch more affinity groups and alliances. I think that these groups are pretty great at Porter's and they do get a lot of backing from the administration. Student voices are really important to them and that was shown through meetings with administrators and creating solutions for issues in the community.

Dorm life was pretty nice. Unlike most boarding schools, the dorms at Porter's are renovated homes. This makes dorm life seem homier rather than industrial because the walls are not concrete and every room is different. There are also kitchens in each dorm and some rooms even have their own bathroom! Times to check-in at night is pretty standard and the dorm parents are amazing. They are real people with kids and pets, and they really do feel like proxy parents. You are able to choose who you live with, or if you want a single, after your first year. Something really special about Porter's is the senior dorms. Senior year, all seniors live together in two dorms that are connected by a common room/kitchen, so its really one building.

The food at Porter's is done by Brock dining services, and it is surprisingly good. I have a lot of dietary needs (gluten and dairy free) and didn't have many issues adhering to that diet. The food itself is pretty good, some meals were for sure better than others, but altogether pretty good. The dining hall is also a really good place to do homework, so most mornings I would get up early, go to breakfast, and do work until I had class. I really liked the sit-down dinners, these were really good opportunities to get to know people I hadn't had the chance to before.

Town life in Farmington is unlike any other boarding school. The fact that there is a pizza place (Naples) and a Starbucks within walking distance is a game changer. Farmington is a cute little town and I really liked having the ability to walk to Starbucks and do homework there on the weekends. It gives you a greater sense of freedom and it feels less like a prison or an island. Also, West Hartford (a much bigger and busier town) is not too far away. Many students take taxi's or ubers there when they are trying to get off campus.

The social life at Porter's can be hard at first. I arrived as a new Junior, so I was older and was able to skip the first two years of drama. I am also someone who tends to have a few very close friends rather than many friends that are not so close. I loved my friends and I still see them today.One thing I really hated was Porter's relationship with Avon Old Farms (AOF), the all-boys school that is close by. AOF is a terrible place, and the students are pretty awful to Porter's students, yet the schools continue their relationship. One big piece of advice is just to stay clear of AOF. If you want to see boys, go to Salisbury.