George School - Review #3

My favorite part of George School is the vast service learning opportunities across the globe. There are service learning projects in Nepal, Vietnam, Cuba, and even ones closer to home, like Washington D.C..Another unique aspect of the school environment is being part of a Quaker community. Although many students are not quakers, there is a common appreciation throughout the student body for a meeting for worship and quaker values.

Every student that I've talked to who has graduated from George School are all in agreement that GS is an incredibly special place. People make their closest friendships here and that is reinforced by the boarding community as well as the loving family that grows over the years. I think that because of George School I became a much more humbled person and have learned to recognize what really is important in life: relationships with friends and family and sharing unique experiences with the people who mean the most.

Nothing! Be open-minded and take part in every activity.

I loved being on a beautiful campus and being connected to every person in the community. Once we were in the first few weeks of the school year, there was never a face I didn't recognize.

Take advantage of the beautiful campus and if you are new to the quaker religion, meeting for worship may be really weird at first, but you have a greater appreciation for it once you get used to it.

The George School academics always pushed you to your furthest potential. The great thing about being at George School was that if you were having trouble with a class, you could easily (and it was well encouraged) to meet with your teacher after school, maybe on a weekend before exams, or during lunch. There were always times available for them to work with students outside of class.Another amazing aspect of George School was the ability to take AP classes and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes. There aren't that many schools in the US that have IB classes and it speaks to the large international community that is present. It makes it easy for students who may want to go to college in another country or push themselves academically. If you do really well in your IB classes, you may be able to go into college with enough credits to skip a year!

There are amazing athletic facilities at George School. There is a fairly new fitness and athletic center with two gyms, a workout room, yoga rooms, and a pool, horse stables for horseback riding, multiple soccer fields, baseball/softball fields, a football field, and an older gym that can be used for a variety of events if need be. Although sports have been much more competitive with basketball since I've left, we never were really known to be a sports school (our soccer team was undefeated maybe for a few years) but everyone enjoyed playing anyway because it was a fun activity and many of our favorite teachers coached the teams as well. Students always took their health seriously, working out on their own and going to the trainers before games.

The great thing about all the arts programs is that there is a wide range of flexibility. Every student got to be part of something they enjoyed and could really take their personal interests into these fields. There were many students-choreographed dance assemblies, students were heavily involved in the theatre program, and there was such a range in art programs that there was always something fun to do. What I liked most about it was that we had access to the art studio facilities outside of class so we could always do extra work.

Many students were heavily involved in the student council and leadership opportunities ranged from being a tour guide to being a prefect in a dorm. The student body was given a lot of freedom and a platform to really shape the experiences of the year. Groups planned weekend activities and clubs could petition to have their own themed weekend to plan activities. Almost every student participated in at least one sport.GS is well known for the many service opportunities that students took part in. Everyone was required to participate in a set number of hours of service learning by graduation, which could conveniently be filled by a service learning trip.

I was a day student, but most of my friends were boarding students. What was great was that the school was so inclusive of the day students in all activities? Day students could have sleepovers and could come to campus on the weekends. All meals were available for day students to eat as well! There was no difference between day students and boarding students.There is also the opportunity to live with 5 friends in a smaller dorm housing building which I always thought was pretty unique.

You could have breakfast, lunch, and dinner no matter if you were a boarding student or a day student. As long as the dining hall was open, you were free to eat as much or as little as you'd like! Sometimes if I had a late lunch period one day, I would run into the dining hall before my class and grab fruit or a small cup of something as a snack. We would always have chicken fingers and french fries on the last day of exams and before everyone goes home for breaks. That would be my favorite tradition!

There is Newtown, a town nearby school that is easily accessible to walk to. There is also a walkway to go into the shopping center across the street from George School that housed a pizzeria, a supermarket, a pharmacy, a bagel store, and even sushi. What I liked most about the surrounding town is that there was so many options for restaurants. Every Friday my friends and I would choose a different place to walk to. On weekends you could always find students studying at the local coffee shop or Starbucks. There were always George School community members around, so there was always a familiar face.

My favorite part about the social life at George School was how everyone was treated as family. With so many of the teachers on campus, everyone was involved with the greater GS community, such as teachers children, pets, significant others. Everyone was really friendly, and there was very little drama. People were cognizant of how lucky they were to be part of such an amazing community that people were on their best behaviors.