Going to be doing summer course for math in order to do Astronomy Research later down the line which requires a higher level of math needed than I would reach without skipping a level.
Still not a guarantee I will be able to skip as I have to take a placement test and spots are usually limited.
When does everyone get their kid/s back?! We are so excited to have over three months with our daughter.
S27 comes back Memorial Day weekend after commencement at his school. He’s excited for the break, but he’s also looking forward to going back to his school in the fall.
What a year it was!
It was an amazing year, filled with the best kind of challenges. We are gearing up for a long packed summer as she comes home May 31. I am sure she will be counting the days till she goes back, (but hopefully she will love what we have planned while she waits - lol). It sounds like so many of the kids found places to call home.
S27 had a successful year and was home for about three weeks before he left again for his last year as a camper at his beloved summer camp.
Now gearing up to start the whole BS application process over again with D29 who is currently at a BS summer program to get an idea of what she is looking for in a school. Anyone else have a rising 8th grader applying this fall?
We are just starting the process. DS has found two schools that he is super excited about. They have low acceptance rates. He is happy at his yr 7-12 day school, so will only apply to places that he likes more than current.
We are overseas, will not hire a consultant, and don’t want to overprep for the SSAT. But he would like to see a sample test before taking the real one. Any suggestions for best online resource for this?
This is all starting to feel real. And he is much more excited about it than we are. He is the third child whose older siblings left a few years back. He misses the fun of a bustling home.
Any tips from overseas parents on how you get comfortable with a just-turned-15 yr old being so far away?
@RoonilWazlib99 can speak to being the parent of a kid at BS in another part of the world.
Thanks for the page, @gardenstategal ! Yes, @cheerfulmom , my student left home at just-turned-14 and went to boarding school across the world, so we are quite familiar with that. I have to say, it helped a lot that they were our third kid (the other two did not attend boarding school) and they’re fairly independent. We relied heavily on video calling every week and checking in on things that way. It also helped that this process was led by our kid and they were the ones who wanted to go to a new place. We actually kept telling them they could change their mind at any time (to the point we said this a few times during the past school year!) and they could come home. They were not interested! 
Our kiddo flies back for their second year (just turned 15 at the end of the last school year) and is very excited. This whole thing was hard to navigate from so far away and I feel fortunate we were able to at least visit schools before they applied. We never got a chance to be on campus with other students before they arrived for orientation, but it has worked out. However, some schools that looked great during research were NOT a good fit once we went to campus. I would encourage you to talk with parents and students if possible to get a sense for what life is really like.
After being admitted and then narrowing down the choice to a few schools, our student was able to set up Zoom calls via their admissions rep with students at their top choices and have conversations about what life on campus is like and that really helped them get a sense for which school might be a good fit. In the end, they didn’t pick the most prestigious school they were admitted to (most people have never heard of it), but it was the one that “felt” right and that was the most important thing for us, what with them being so far from home!
Happy to answer any other questions!
Thank you! Not sure how to tag you but hoping you see this. What do you do about fall/spring parents’ weekends?
We can fly them home at Christmas and over summer. Maybe Thxgiving with older brother in Philadelphia. But how does you child feel about all the other times the other students have family time or a weekend at home to reconnect?
Thanks for any insight.
We were more local parents, and many, like us were excited to get to know and host DS’ friends and were delighted at the opportunity to have them join us and stay with us whenever possible – including breaks. The school had a formal system for finding local families for boarders during breaks, but in reality, most went home with friends without the school’s “help”.
Most schools have a decent sized cohort of students from abroad. This is a great question to ask during interviews – it also will give you an idea of how the school supports families in your shoes.
Thank you for that info. My child would love to get included with other families.
@RoonilWazlib99 I read on another thread that (first year only) some parents stay in the US after drop off until parents weekend five weeks later. I would use this time to visit my two adult children on the East Coast. Curious if this is common?
@gardenstategal Do US students ever head back to foreign students home countries over a holiday? We would love to host in June or over New Year. I wonder if their parents let them head that far afield?
Indeed they do! I think one whole boys dorm headed to Mexico one year to stay with a classmate.
Australia would be a delight, especially during the dreary winter. Be careful what you wish for, @cheerfulmom , or you’ll be hosting a giant slumber party for weeks!
Hi our daughter is going into her second year at Lawrenceville. We live close enough to the school and have enjoyed hosting students. My daughter has also been asked to visit friends abroad. The schools and communities are very helpful. As I said we live close to the school, but day student families have helped us when needed as well.
I did stay a little bit, but we couldn’t swing five weeks, so I was not able to attend fall (or spring) family weekend. It was a real bummer for us. I would definitely encourage you to do it if you can. I was able to stay for a few weeks to see some sporting events and take our student for a weekend away after three weeks at school. It was nice to have one last “hurrah” before not seeing them until Christmas!
What did she do at Thanksgiving for 9 days? This is the one break that worries me most.
Many (most?) will arrange stays with local host families, if the student doesn’t do so on their own (eg go home with a roommate).
My student went to their grandparents’ for Thanksgiving and spring break. We went to the US for the winter holidays and they stayed with us during those weeks.
Just seeing this! The longer vacations we set them up with relatives or go to the US ourselves and have a family vacation together. For those times when kids are just leaving for the weekend, our student is often invited to go with them for a weekend at “home”. Once your student finds some connections at school, that will happen more often. But also, there are TONS of activities at most boarding schools on the weekends for just this reason - so kids feel engaged and aren’t getting into trouble or feeling lonely/bored. Our student also has Saturday classes and sports after that, so most kids that go home are doing so Saturday afternoon to Sunday evening, so it’s not an extended period.
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