Definition
A boarding school is defined as a school where a child resides. Many public schools in the Commonwealth of Nations (called private schools or independent schools in the US) are boarding schools. The amount of time one spends in boarding school varies considerably from one year to twelve or more years. Boarding school pupils may spend the majority of their childhood and adolescent life away from their parents, although pupils return home during the holidays and, often, the summer break. In the United States, boarding schools generally comprise grades seven through twelve, with most covering the High School years. Many New England boarding schools traditionally offer a post-graduate year, which is unknown in many parts of the US. Most boarding schools also have day students who are residents of the community or children of faculty.
Articles
- Boarding School: The Right Choice for Me
- Suggested Questions for Parents to Ask When Doing a Boarding School Search
- Boarding School for Students with Special Needs
- Boarding Schools: Making the Choice
- The Boarding School Option
- Considering a Private Residential Treatment Program for a Troubled Teen? Questions for Parents and Guardians to Ask
- Talking with Boarding School Personnel
- How Boarding Schools Can Assist Foreign Service Students
Article Summaries
Boarding School: The Right Choice for MePeople are often curious when I tell them that I attend boarding school. Some ask, “What did you do to deserve that?” It puzzles me how boarding school is sometimes regarded in a negative way; for me, it is one of the best choices I ever made! People often imagine boarding school as a bunch of snotty kids in uniforms who are unhappy. Overall, the students at my school are very nice, and (except during final exams!) we’re generally very happy. Boarding school is designed to make life comfortable for both students and faculty. There are several individual buildings on my campus—some are dormitories, classrooms, and some buildings double as both. Everything is nearby…just a five-minute walk and I’m in my science class; my math class is just three minutes away. Our new black-box theatre for performing arts is near the dining hall; the school’s ‘Red Frog Cafe’ is a popular gathering place in my dormitory, where students can shoot pool, watch a DVD, make brownies, pop popcorn or just chill.
Suggested Questions for Parents to Ask When Doing a Boarding School Search
What are my child’s strengths? What are my child’s weaknesses? What is my child’s personality type? What are my child’s extra-curricular interests? What motivates them? What do they most like to do, are good at, or are proud of? What type of environment do they need? What are our goals for our child’s education and beyond? Where should my child be? Does geography matter over all other considerations?
Boarding School for Students with Special Needs
There is a school for every student. FLO maintains information on Boarding School Options. For students with learning differences, identifying the right boarding school that offers the appropriate academic support program is key to academic success. The good news is that there are many to which your child can apply. The FLO Education and Youth Officer is available to help families identify boarding schools. Each year, FLO visits boarding schools around the United States to learn about their programs and experience first-hand a day on campus. FLO talks with boarding school administrators and is familiar with the services offered at individual schools. Parents in search of the right boarding school for their child often do not have the time to visit a wide variety of schools. FLO helps point parents in the right direction and can generate a list of options. Contact FLO’s Education and Youth Officer for more information.
Boarding Schools: Making the Choice
The Boarding School page on the Family Liaison Office Web Site – with links to boarding school web sites and The Boarding School Option, a paper reviewing Department of State resources, making the boarding school decision, factors to consider when choosing a school, the application process, and an explanation (FAQs) of the “away from post” education allowance. Most Foreign Service parents still expect their children to live at home until college. This is not always possible, because a number of posts lack adequate high schools and sometimes even junior high or elementary school facilities. In a typical year, approximately 450 Foreign Service children attend 150 boarding schools in the United States and abroad. Because the boarding school option means early separation from parents, it is very important that the child be actively included in the decision-making process. Parents considering assignment to a post with inadequate schooling should consider the following advantages and disadvantages of a boarding school.
Choosing whether to send your child to a boarding school may be even more difficult than you anticipated. Most Americans did not grow up with the tradition of attending boarding school and did not plan this as the way to educate their children. Sometimes, however, choosing the boarding school option may be the best choice for your child. Depending on your post of assignment you may have most or none of the expenses paid through the education allowance. The added expense, however, may be necessary for you to provide the best education for your child. Lack of available appropriate schooling at your post of assignment. The best assignment for the employee may lack a school that can meet the needs of your child. The reasons can be anything from no school available, to one that only teaches in a language your child does not speak, or one that does not have the range of offerings your gifted or special needs child requires. It may be such a small school that there will not be enough social interaction. An academically gifted student may be ready for more advanced courses than a school can offer.
Private residential treatment programs for young people offer a range of services, including drug and alcohol treatment, confidence building, military-style discipline, and psychological counseling for a variety of addiction, behavioral, and emotional problems. Many of these programs are intended to provide a less-restrictive alternative to incarceration or hospitalization, or an intervention for a troubled young person. If you are a parent or guardian and think you have exhausted intervention alternatives for a troubled teen, you may be considering a private residential treatment program. These programs go by a variety of names, including “therapeutic boarding schools,” “emotional growth academies,” “teen boot camps,” “behavior modification facilities,” and “wilderness therapy programs.”
Talking with Boarding School Personnel
Below is a summary of the United States Diplomatic Service, their children and their education options, attributes of a Foreign Service child, and why some families choose the boarding school option. Parents should also view FLO’s How Boarding Schools Can Assist Foreign Service Students .
How Boarding Schools Can Assist Foreign Service Students
For the Foreign Service child, the move back to the United States after a life overseas can be difficult. Boarding schools that are sensitive to the unique needs of the Foreign Service child are able to make the difference between a successful or difficult reintegration into American life. The Family Liaison Office (FLO) has compiled this list of issues Foreign Service children may face upon return to the United States, accompanied by suggestions for dealing with these issues.