Boarding schools or residential schools are independent schools where the majority of students live on campus. Most boarding schools also enroll day students who do not live in the school’s dormitories. While most boarding schools educate high school age adolescents, some accept younger students.
It is no longer true that boarding schools are enclaves of New England Brahmin children destined for Ivy League universities. While a significant number of American boarding schools are in New England, individual schools’ demographics have changed—most markedly in the last thirty years. Almost all are now coeducational and attract a diverse student body from across the country and the world. Key to diversifying the student body are multiple internal and external scholarship programs designed to attract underprivileged, promising students who otherwise would not be able to afford the hefty tuition. Boarding school tuition, room and board fees often approach thirty thousand dollars that compares to the cost at a private university.
The reasons an adolescent attends boarding school are numerous and varied. Boarding schools are widely regarded for their individualized attention to the intellectual and social development of the teenage student. Classes are generally smaller, and there is usually substantial emphasis on individual development in the context of a close-knit school community. Students frequently form relationships with teachers, who often live on campus, and other students that continue well past graduation.
Many students and families chose to attend boarding school because local public high schools or private day schools do not provide the desired educational environment. Some choose to go to a certain boarding school because a relative had previously attended the school, and thus the family is familiar with the school. Others attend because their parents are moving among cities or jobs. For these students, boarding school provides a stable and constant locus to attend high school. Some students chose to attend boarding school for a single final postgraduate (PG) year, after completing high school elsewhere. Not all boarding schools accept students for such a program.
As boarding schools are independent schools, one must follow through with an application to gain admission. This application often includes writing an essay, taking a standardized admissions test, obtaining recommendations, and having an interview on campus or off campus with an alumnus/a. The acceptance rates differ among schools; when applying, one should include schools that are both so-called “safety” schools in addition to those that are “reaches.”
Differences in Boarding Schools
When examining boarding schools, there are multiple factors to take into account. Considerations include the location of the campus, the size of the student body, the teaching philosophy, the course offerings, the role of athletics and other extracurricular activities, the dress code, tuition, faculty, proximity to home, level of structure, college matriculation statistics, and religious or military affiliation. Some boarding schools are more conservative and traditional while others are more progressive. All of these factors contribute to the distinct feel or culture of a boarding school. Families should consider the relative importance of each factor when deciding where to apply.
Health and Boarding Schools
Attending boarding school presents numerous challenges to the developing adolescent—challenges that are often not faced to the same degree when a student is still living at home. While the parents’ continued involvement in the child’s life at boarding school is individually determined, teachers and administrators at the school function in loco parentis. They are the ones who interact with and consequently discipline adolescents on a daily basis.
Numerous health concerns present themselves to the boarding school student. Some clinicians recommend that boarding school students receive annual influenza vaccinations and others feel that one dose of the meningococcal vaccine are necessary preventative measures. In addition, since athletics often play an important part of daily activities, it is important to be aware of the potential for and prevention of injuries. Other health issues that are often of concern in boarding school include underage drinking and smoking, drug use, and eating disorders. Although such issues persist in most high school environments, they often manifest differently in the boarding school environment. One must also consider how stress is perpetuated within the boarding school environment. Academic, athletic and social pressures may be more substantial than those encountered at a local high school. And students of all socioeconomic classes attend boarding schools. At certain boarding schools, these class differences may be magnified and this could cause undue stress on the adolescent.
The degree to which such issues are conspicuously or inconspicuously present in boarding schools varies. And the manner that the administration addresses such issues also differs. The quality of school counseling and health services should be considered when examining different boarding schools. Of significant importance is the assurance that the particular boarding school environment is one that encourages healthy living as well as learning. As the teenage years are ones that are crucial to the development of the self-assured and capable adult, these safety networks should be in place in the boarding school’s structure.
Choosing A Boarding School
If one is considering attending boarding school, it is important to evaluate how a school meshes with a particular child. Families should be candid in assessing a child’s level of maturity and capacity to take care of himself or herself in the boarding school environment. In addition, it is important to understand what a child is hoping to gain from attending a boarding school. Visiting a school several times and talking with students and parents helps a child and his or her family assess if such a school is the correct fit. In this way, a family is able to assure that the decision to go away for school is the best choice for both the student and the family.
Samantha A. Goldstein M.D.Department of Pediatrics
University of California, San Francisco
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