The Governors Academy? - Page 2

Rad-in-Plaid96 · 11-04-2010, 08:11 PM

So, how bout some information about that ol' Gocernor's Academy, huh?

I'll start off:
Governor's Academy, formerly known as Governor Dummer after whom it was named, was and is the first boarding school in America in 1763. The school has many traditions such as:

Jumping the Wall
Special Olympics
The Guild
The Morse Flag Ceremony
Founders Day
Open House at Mansion House
Holiday Candlelight Service and Feast
( The Governor's Academy: Traditions ).

It is a small school of around 390 kids of whom many come from around the area and around the world.

Now its you turn!

redbluegoldgreen · 11-05-2010, 09:00 AM

Sam Phillips who started Phillips Academy went there.

Madaket · 11-05-2010, 10:49 AM

abecedarian - you are not in trouble with me. Thats why I am on this board -to hear and consider differing points of view. I think some who hold particularly strong opinions, forget that others are just as entitiled to express a point of view.

ifax108 · 11-05-2010, 10:55 PM

@abecdearian,
Just read post #13. You make a good point. "Wanting to go to an ivy league school does not signify a desire for prestige, but a desire to be around equally smart, driven people, the people who are going to be changing the world and yearning to take advantage of everything a top college can offer" Thank you for saying that. Just b/c I want to go to a top BS doesn't mean I'm obsessed with "prestige", I want to get the best education I can get and have the best opportunities presented to me.

ExieMITAlum · 11-08-2010, 04:11 PM

Abe,

I don't disagree with this statement:

Quote:

It signals a desire to be surrounded by equally smart, driven people, the people who are going to be changing the world, and a yearning to take advantage of the opportunities that only a top college can offer.

It's why I went to MIT and why my D wanted to leave public school and go to BS. We were looking for a critical mass of like minded students. A place where there was a common language and talking about outcomes weren't villified or treated as foreign.

However, where we differ is that some students take this idea to a whole new distorted level of pathology. They consider that if they - themselves - are "among" those elite - that it will open doors for them, forgetting that there are also negative stereotypes about BS that are also well earned. Which is why I'm very careful to caution:

1. If the myth were true, then matriculation would be much much higher to IVY's than it is.

2. It DOES NOT always matter what high school you go to (unless you're coming from an underperforming school with few or no resources). It matters who YOU are and what you do with what you've got. You can put a sows ear in a good school and it's still not going to matriculate as a silk purse.

3. You run in to some of the same issues at BS that you run into at any school (adolescents running wild, promiscuity, drugs, immaturity).

So we are back to where we started - the right school is different for each person. There is no good or bad school. Some of the best "named" HADES have been rocked with suicides, faculty caught with child pornography, feuding alumni, drugs, expulsions, mayhem etc. Only, unlike public schools it's not reported in the media and not easily traceable outside of the "network."

No one here is dismissive of those who have aspirations - only when they think that going to BS is a magic bean that will sprout all sorts of magical, mystical possibilities that wouldn't be there if they had stayed home.

The real answer is - it depends. And some of the best minds in the country didn't go to an elite BS or college. In fact - MOST of the best minds did not.

So go for the education and the experience. Go to meet amazing people, avail yourself of the network, and give back as much as you take. Don't go if the only reason for doing so is in the hopes of winning the elusive toy prize hidden inside the box.

ExieMITAlum · 11-08-2010, 04:17 PM

Having said that - I still think Governor's is a good school or I would have asked my daughter not to apply. Sometimes it's the underdogs that are the most nurturing - because while everyone is aiming at my alma mater, they miss the other campuses that might be right for them.

Tribbles · 10-21-2012, 11:08 PM

Because my father graduated from Governor Dummer Academy, I also attended what is now The Governor's Academy. I can say, with all honesty, that it was the worst experience of my life. Set in the Newbury, Massachusetts countryside, it has the appearance of being a wonderful, traditional New England private school. But don't let appearances fool you. It is a catch-all for students who couldn't get into the best private schools. In other words, rich rejects. After two years of being bullied by adolescent apes in Brooks Brothers garb, while being talked down to and even mocked by less than stellar faculty members, I transferred to Phillips Exeter Academy. It may be Snob Central (and it is), but at least it imparts a first-rate education, value for money. From there I went to Yale. But when I think back on my youth, it is with tremendous bitterness about the two years I wasted -- and I mean wasted -- at that wannabe institution outside Newburyport. Don't judge a prep school by a glossy brochure, or by the vaporous opinions of those who do. Send your children to top-tier schools like Groton, St. Paul's, Exeter, Andover, Deerfield or Choate. Otherwise, save money and just send them to the local high school. Don't make them suffer what I endured.

Tribbles · 10-22-2012, 09:24 AM

Perhaps I should explain what I mean by calling Phillips Exeter Academy "Snob Central." I refer to the school's operating mode of intellectual superiority. In the isolated, rarified atmosphere of Exeter, New Hampshire, students and faculty bustle about under the tacit assumption that they are smarter than everyone else. It's a given, an unspoken but pervasive hubris. The students are unquestionably bright and work hard; but smarter than everyone else? When they graduate and go to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford or the like, they discover that there are others as smart or even smarter. It can be a rude awakening. Life inexorably knocks one down to size as part of the maturity process. It is unfortunate when a secondary school's college preparation doesn't also prepare for life by somehow including humility in the curriculum.

cloudy15 · 10-28-2012, 01:36 PM

Hi all

This thread is very interesting to me, as the mom of a potential Governor's applicant. Our family is returning to the US after a two year expat assignment, and my DS needs a new high school. My son picked Governor's to research as they're one of the few BS that offer German language instruction. From Tribbles remarks - it would seem better to find a really excellent public high school with German instruction, than to attend GA. We are not a wealthy family - it would be a major sacrifice to have our child attend BS. But if GA is a lesser caliber education, and the student body is composed off too many "rich rejects" that's a big red flag. Anyone else care to comment?

AndoverMan · 01-02-2013, 08:44 PM

Tribbles' characterization of The Governor's Academy is unfair and off the mark, Having considered all of the elite NE schools as well as GA, my children chose GA because it offered the best/right fit for them. They earn excellent grades in honors and AP courses; they compete on championship teams; they are involved in the life of the school, including an impressive arts program. Their teachers know them very well. Their friends are caring. My peers (other parents) are unpretentious and wonderfully involved. GA is vastly underrated. You should visit and discover for yourself whether it is the right place for you/your children.

ExieMITAlum · 01-02-2013, 10:33 PM

I'm going to agree with AndoverMan. You can always find someone who hated their boarding school and recommends other people shouldn't go. I was laughing when Tribbles tore down Governor's then transferred to Exeter and referred to it as "Snob Central." This seems like someone who wouldn't be happy anywhere. Frankly, every school has their share of slackers (yes - even at Exeter). Also, Exeter was aware my daughter was looking at GA as an option and if it were a concern, they would have told me privately. As it is, I met teachers at GA whose kids when to Exeter and staff members at Exeter whose kids when to GA.

Exeter has 3,000+ applications for only a few hundred spots. Clearly not EVERYONE who wants to go to Exeter can gain admissions due to space. And many who apply only to Exeter, Andover, SPS, etc. often find themselves without a spot because all of their competitors are applying to the same schools. Cumulative those three schools alone only have about 900 spots (or less). That leaves a lot of students without options. Leaving out other viable choices doesn't seem like a good idea, IMHO.