<p>Again, thanks for all of this information. Do the pages have any opportunity to get exercise? In the Congressional Page School, do the students have Spanish or French class, or is this also tutored? Are the pages able to travel to weekend family events? Does anyone know the spring break schedule for this year?</p>
<p>Levirm - in the Congressional Page School, Spanish is available. I think the principal of the school is also the Spanish instructor. Because the classes are so small, there is a lot of opportunity for conversation and interaction in the language. </p>
<p>Exercise - DD made it a point to run a couple of times a week. There is a small exercise room as I recall. If you are an athlete, I think it is difficult to work out as much as you would do with a team. </p>
<p>You can ask permission to go home for a weekend, but you “serve at the pleasure” of the Clerk of the House and you cannot count on going home for a wedding, or the prom, etc. On some Saturdays, you are also scheduled to go on trips with your class and you cannot be excused from them. </p>
<p>When you become a Page, it is a little like going into the military. You really do give up certain rights. You must understand this and be willing to accept that for a semester, you and your parents are agreeing to abide by their rules. </p>
<p>Once again, my DD would say it was the best experience for her. She loved working and serving with her fellow pages. On weekends when they were free they used the metro to travel all over DC and had a great time.</p>
<p>Thank you so much, worknprogress and all of the other posters who have been sharing information. How do you suggest requesting the weekends to attend family events? We have three family events that would be nice to attend, but not attending would not be the end of the world, although one of them is right in DC! However, a sibling’s Sunday early morning college graduation in Philadelphia in May would be very important to attend! Should we request this at the outset or wait until closer to these times (March, April, and May)?
We are still waiting for confirmation, but it looks like the Congressman’s recommendation will come through in the next week or two. Then, is it up to the Speaker to actually make the appointment or how does this work? Must the applicant be accepted by the school? The home school has already sent the transcript to the Page School principal.</p>
<p>Levirm - are you hoping for a spring appointment? When your congressman nominates someone, the appointees are chosen by the Speaker and the Minority Leader. In the past, the majority party had twice as many appointees as the minority party, but as with anything, that might have changed. I believe each party as its own system for choosing pages from the nominees, but I think the choice as more to do with the representative making the nomination than the student selected.</p>
<p>As for going home, let me quote from the handbook (which we have from when DD was there):</p>
<p>“While we are fully aware of the importance of family events, home school activities, homecomings, proms, organizations and honors which might be bestowed upon you, it is imperative that before you leave home to come to Washington and become a Page, you understand that Pages are employees of the US House of Representatives, and an important part of the House’s day-to-day legislative business. Therefore, all family activities, such as reunions and sibling graduations as well as home school and community activities which interrupt your Page School and/or work activities must be put on hold until you are no longer a Page.”</p>
<p>You really need to have the right mind set. You will be given a calendar and there will be weekends that appear free, but that can change. In the case of the siblings graduation, you can ask for permission (parents have to write letter, etc.) but even that can change if the House is in session or the school plans an activity. It is best to just assume you won’t be able to attend and think about whether this experience would mean that much to you.</p>
<p>DD would tell you to choose being a Page and I think almost all of her former classmates would say the same.</p>
<p>Thanks, worknprogress!</p>
<p>I really do appreciate your help! Another question: do pages bring computers with them, to use for homework, emailing, etc.?</p>
<p>Levirm - I sure do hope this all works out for you!! I want to be one of the first to know if you are nominated and chosen to serve!</p>
<p>DD bought & brought a computer, but as I recall internet access was not good. I can’t remember the details and maybe it has changed. I seem to remember she couldn’t get access in her room, although there was a computer room.</p>
<p>Thanks, worknprogress. I am a mom, by the way. I just don’t understand what “DD” and all of those acronyms mean, being a relatively rare poster, so I have avoided using those terms. My daughter (would she be DSSD if she has one older sister and two older brothers?)is the one whom the congressman is recommending. She is waiting for the final word before she finds investigates details about what to bring, etc., but I wanted a heads up on some of these details now. For example, if we have to purchase a computer that would be helpful to know asap! Do you know if the computer room is accessible and if there are enough computers there for all of the students to use for homework?</p>
<p>DD bought a laptop which was great for doing papers. I think there were a limited number of computers in the computer room. Keep in mind, that the staff of the Page School and the staff of the Residence Hall are in constant communication, so I don’t think the students did as much computer based research as they did at home. I know they would go to the Georgetown Library to do research, which was ironic because school was on the 4th floor of the Library of Congress. I would advise buying a laptop, she can do papers and she will have it for college. </p>
<p>I don’t know why I thought you were the student - sorry!!</p>
<p>If you have any questions, PM me. I cannot begin to tell you how much that semester meant to my DD (darling daughter)!</p>
<p>Levirm - another thought. The security there was tight and supervision was strict. The pages are expected to keep their rooms clean and there are regular inspections. I loved the supervisor of the Pages for the Republican Party, her name was Miss Sampson, and the kids referred to her as the Mama of the House. The pages are allowed to travel all over on the metro, but they must always go in groups of at least two. </p>
<p>The only drawback to the program, as I mentioned before, is returning to high school the following fall. Your child will have been working fulltime in an adult situation while going to school. She will have lived with two other girls and will have learned to be pretty self-reliant. She will have bonded in a way that you only can when you are living, working, eating, and socializing with a small group of people. I have remained in contact with a couple of the other page parents, and we all say that they became more like siblings than friends. It does make for a long senior year.</p>
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<p>That would make her DD2 or just D2 ;)</p>
<p>Thank you, worknprogress, and thanks, hj0519. Worknprogress or anyone else who has been the parent in this situation, do you have any hints about how to make the “reverse culture shock” of returning to senior year any easier? I was actually thinking of hosting an exchange student so as to make it more interesting (we have hosted before, but we have not done it for five years). They are also facing college apps at that point. Did anything make it easier for you and your DD?</p>
<p>I don’t think I would do the hosting an exchange student. There will be enough going on trying to do college apps, visits, etc. </p>
<p>I think telling your DD that it may be difficult, that they may feel they have outgrown high school is not unusual. I don’t think you can fix it, but just knowing it could be tough would help. What was the best therapy, was making arrangements for visits during senior year with pages. I think DD got together with friends at least four times during the school year. There was also a reunion in February and at the end of the year a group got together in lieu of going to the beach with high school friends.</p>
<p>What a great idea to avoid the senior “beach week”!</p>
<p>Amen!!!</p>
<p>Still waiting to hear…the applications are due to the Speaker by 11/13, so our congressman should be turning it in to her and then I suppose she makes the decision. In the meantime, just to plan ahead should this come to fruition, what did you do about a bank account? Is there a bank or ATM that is easily accessible to the pages? Does your daughter happen to know if PNC or Citizens is accessible?
Thanks again for all of your help!</p>
<p>We just got her a debit card from our bank. I figured she would be going to college in two years, so it just seemed easier to have an occasional atm fee. It worked out well. You do need to supply a routing number so payroll can deposit checks.</p>
<p>As soon as you hear, I have some specific suggestions. First, buy her at least 7 no-iron shirts. I bought good ones from Lands End and she was able to wash/dry without ironing. She also had enough that she didn’t have to worry about running out during the week. I also bought her white towels and sheets so she could throw them in a big load of whites. </p>
<p>Make sure she has really good walking shoes. We bought a pair of mary jane earth shoes that served her well.</p>
<p>I am getting so excited for her!!</p>
<p>Still waiting to hear, and again appreciate all of your help! Now, we have been told that we should hear in December, so I have avoided calling the school with any questions (I really want to know when spring break is and how they determine where the kids are for second semester in math, Spanish, and science, as these subjects are more sequential than the others, to see if there is anything that our daughter should be studying over winter break.) That was a good tip about the number of blouses…where did you buy the uniform clothes?</p>
<p>Lands End. They were the non-wrinkle kind and cost about $45 each. DD never ironed them - she just put them in the dryer, smoothed them a bit, and put them on hangers. </p>
<p>You must be going crazy waiting to hear. Like I said before, I expect to be one of the first to hear!</p>
<p>Thank, worknprogress! I’ll let you know as soon as we hear! Did you also get the pants and jackets at Lands End?</p>