Westtown School - Review #2

Small Quaker school, tight group, not so much focused on strong academics as much as creating good individuals in society.

By the end of my time at Westtown, I wanted to leave. And I think this is actually one of the greatest gifts Westtown gave me; it got me matured quickly to the point that I did not fear college and actually embraced the transition. I was ready to go and prepared to go. In college now, I am more mature than most freshmen and have applied a lot of the social information I learned at Westtown.

My advice for kids in boarding school is to have fun and try not to worry so much about the boundaries applied. There are plenty of opportunities to have a good time if you can make them for yourself. Think outside the box. Also, though, remember that getting into a good college IS important, and to never be steered away from that.

I liked how it was able to create such a close group of friends for me, people I know I will stay in touch with for a long time.

B2 and G3 are the strictest dorms by far, so avoid them at all costs. Go to the river way behind the lake and have a great time.

The academics of Westtown are very creative. The main focus is creating more open-minded individuals. I would say that it prepared me for college but was not focused toward college in that there was not significant effort toward getting students into top tier colleges but rather into places they would be "comfortable." That being said, I never had a bad experience in terms of professors, the diversity was fantastic, and the workload was perfect. The one drawback is the lack of a competitive environment one would expect at a boarding school.

Since basketball had such a strong team, athletics have become a huge focus at Westtown. There is lots of money and effort thrown toward recruitment, training, and facilities. Many kids in my class ended up getting into college through athletics, even if they were not primarily athletic individuals. Competitive sports are mandatory, and because the school is so small, there is little choice in terms of competitive sports, but for times when you can be in a noncompetitive, there are tons of choices.

I know very little about the visual arts and theater department at Westtown, except that the groups (particularly theater) become very tight knit. The teaching, diversity, and quality all seem above average, though we were certainly nothing extraordinary on a national level.

There are a wide swathe of clubs and opportunities at Westtown. Since the school is more socially oriented than it is academic, there are tons of advocacy groups that could fit with any social justice initiative. Other than that, there are groups for different identities and interests. Most of my fun, however, was less structured, as time on dorm leads to many other interests developing.

Dorm life at Westtown was fantastic. Though the rules by my senior year became very strict, it was still a lot of fun. The study hall hours are a great time to get work done, but only if you need to work alone or have a more relaxed dorm parent. If they follow the technical rules strictly then it becomes impossible to do group projects (difficult in such a collaborative academic environment). While the strict rules hold people back from their full potential, they also bring students together against them, creating a much closer group of individuals willing to have a fun time. Rooms have lofted beds to conserve space, meaning that they feel larger than they are. Late night food access is not present, though it is very doable to sneakily retrieve a delivery food order, though this is technically against the rules and could even result in a suspension.

Dining at Westtown is amazing. The food is high quality and made in-house. Students also have the ability to work in the kitchen with the staff, allowing for a more hands-on experience. There is one dining hall for high schoolers that has many great options for all meals. Breakfast, though sparsely attended, has crepes on Thursdays and always something else very tasty. Meals are included in tuition.

There is no town accessible by foot outside Westtown, and lots of restrictions on leaving campus, including a ban on cars for anything fun.

Social life, as stated before, often stems as a counterculture to the strict rules. There is another group of students, however, who are risk averse, and thus form a culture around social activism. During a students time at Westtown, he or she will probably learn at least a bit about every student in each high school grade because of the small class sizes. This was a very cool experience as it allowed for students to work with people they may have not normally in a larger environment.