There is nothing like boarding school. You are coming from one of the top schools in the country that has prepared you so well. I hope you love your college experience (after orientation).
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How was move-in day yesterday for your DS? I thought the school did a lovely job of making them feel welcome and excited. My DS seems super happy so far!
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@twinkletoes1, move in went very smoothly for us and I’m so pleased that your DS had a great experience as well! Craig Bradley said that special thought had been given to minimizing new families’ stress and this really did appear to be the case. The organization was impeccable. The enthusiastic greeting at the gates took down a few butterflies and the orientation crew was incredibly welcoming and helpful. The kid who wore the bearcat costume in that heat deserves a ton of extra credit! Leaving wasn’t easy, but we felt fortunate to be leaving DS in a warm community with much to look forward to, and he was happy and excited! Wishing your DS a fabulous year!
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Drop off tomorrow!
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Wow, it’s here!! So exciting. And hard. Ah, life…
Let us know how it went!
I hope she loves it!
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Drop off was hectic due to unforeseen events on our part, but it went well. She settled in right away and sent us a big update last night. Today they’re off on the big backpacking trip, so we won’t hear from her until next week at academic orientation. So far so good!
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Sharing an update that I love so many things about the school our daughter chose. They are so communicative and there are so many adults that know these kids so well already. We just got an email with a link to a video that highlights our daughter’s weeklong orientation backpacking trip - video clips and photos of her and her new friends, but that very clearly highlight our daughter. They must have made one of these videos for every incoming student and I just love the detail that went into it and the care.
I stopped by campus this past week to watch a sporting event my daughter was in and in the mailroom/school store, a student needed cash and the mailroom person just said to go ahead and have the student’s grandparent Venmo the amount to the school store account and she gave him cash out of the till, without having received the Venmo transfer. As she said, “I know where to find you if I need to.” 
Then, I was walking out of the building with the school store in it and the director of enrollment management was biking by. He stopped to say hello and asked how my daughter was feeling after the first few weeks. No complaints from her - she is super busy, classes are chugging along, and she has friends/a great roommate/etc.
At the sporting event, I saw her dorm parent had come by to cheer her on. He stayed for the whole thing and it was super thoughtful of him to show up to give support.
All-in-all, so glad she is happy, her school seems to be a great fit, and I truly feel like they are taking care of her so well. How is everyone else’s kid adjusting to life away from home?
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Umm a bit rougher than your experience! She is finally getting the hang of it though. Too early for me to assess the school’s performance. It is what I would consider a larger BS so it doesn’t quite feel intimate but that relationship may develop over time. I am glad to hear that your daughter is having such a positive experience!
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I’m so glad to hear it! You did a great job of finding the right school!
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Hopefully now that she’s settling in it will be a smoother path forward. We are definitely anticipating the homesickness to kick in soon (probably during midterms when there will be a bunch of tests and projects).
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Is it typical for families to gift teachers/dorm parents/advisors anything for the holidays/new year time? When our boys were in public school, we had them pick 1-2 teachers that had an impact on them or made an impression and then they would pick out a gift that felt meaningful to them and write a note telling the teacher what their impact was. Is this appropriate for boarding school? Would it be weird to not gift each teacher? Any help appreciated!
No, not typical. What is typical is to give a gift to the student’s advisor on graduation.
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Gifts aren’t typical. When my DS22 graduated, we gave gifts to the 2-3 teachers who had been a very important part of his 4 years. But we didn’t give any holiday or end-of-year gifts.
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Holiday treats or baking sent from a nearby shop are always well received.
We have never gifted our child’s teachers at boarding school, or their advisor. One year our child did buy some chocolates for her favorite coach. But that was all her.
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Looking towards summer, wondering what other people have planned for their child during the summer? Since she’s gone from us all year, would like to keep her local, but also doing something useful for the summer. She’s only 14 so limited options for summer jobs. She did mention she’d like to do one or two summer courses to try to get a headstart on math for the fall (not to skip a year, but to have one pass at the material before next year‘s class) at school. Any online courses people have used and would recommend?
My daughter has applied for a summer program and scholarship in an area of academic interest. She should hear back about that in the next couple of weeks. Other than that, just Scout camp and other regular summer stuff. Probably working on her Eagle Scout project proposal as well.
Have also been trying to sort out summer plans over here… Kid seems to think summer is so far away that they don’t want to consider it yet:)
We had assumed they’d be a CIT at a STEM camp they used to attend, but camp is closing 
Not amused…
Yay! Daughter was just accepted with a merit scholarship to her preferred summer academic program! Woot! Super excited for her.
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