Curriculums similar to Mercersburg

Prep School Admissions
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Hello! We have an 8th-grade daughter, and very late to the game (or so it feels) she has expressed an interest in exploring boarding schools (previously we were assuming a day school in our area).

We live in Western PA, and she attends a well-regarded private K-8, where she is doing well academically and also is highly involved in a wide range of activities. One of the boarding schools that our K-8 has a long-standing relationship with is Mercersburg. It looks great and will almost surely be on her short list.

One of the things she particularly likes about Mercersburg is the way they describe their curriculum:

She has broad interests, and likes to follow those interests where they lead, and so responds positively to a lot of elective choices, or opportunities to do self-designed projects. So what they said about 11th and 12th grade, for example, really resonated with her:

11th- and 12th-Grade Focus

In the 11th and 12th grades, students do more independent, in-depth, project-based, and experiential work. With most graduation requirements finished by the end of the 11th-grade year, students can explore their interests and passions during their senior year; and all students must successfully complete one of Mercersburg’s capstone experiences for upper-class students: MAPS, Springboard, or Research Science.

Which leads me to my question. We would be interested in leads for schools that might have at least a broadly similar curriculum approach. Closer to Western PA is better, but that does not rule out the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic coast, or New England for a school that might be a really good fit. We are interested in well-resourced schools with good academic reputations, but don’t have any other sort of ranking-type criteria. Fostering kindness and other interpersonal values is very important to us.

Finally, she is a lacrosse goalie, doing both school and club. So a girl’s lacrosse team is important.

Thank you in advance for any leads! I am happy to answer questions, and consider any sort of advice, including reframing the entire question. We are really very open-minded about how this may play out from here.

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My S22 is a Mercersburg grad, and he had a great experience there, even in the midst of Covid. I’m not familiar with any schools West of M’burg, but I have a few mid Atlantic schools to consider. Meeting your requirements of well resourced, strong academics and friendly student body, I would take a look at George, Hill, Peddie and St.Andrews DE. I don’t spend much time on this forum anymore since my S22 and S24 are now in college. But I know there are several current parents on this board from M’burg as well as a couple of the other schools I mentioned. Wishing you the best of luck!

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So lawrenceville in NJ is worth looking at but very different from Mercersburg. The harkness learning, research opportunities (though very competitive) and independent studies might be of interest, not to mention it is a top lacrosse school.

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I was going to suggest the same as @dramakid2. Additional ones to consider are Episcopal and Blair. The nice thing about your geography-constrained list is that there are several schools known for their “kinder” cultures, yet they all are different from each other. Your D will have ample fodder for coming up with a good idea of what she wants her high school experience to be and then to make it so.

Btw, having watched your recent college search, it’s clear you are a researcher and a planner. Don’t worry about feeling late to the BS game – you’re not! There’s plenty of time still to go through the process thoughtfully.

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I’m not sure if she’d be open to a girls’ school, but I just wanted to put a quick plug in for taking a look at The Madeira School, in McLean, VA.

I think it hits all of your must-haves, and has a unique offering in their Wednesday co-ops, which might be close enough to the Mercersburg experience to warrant mentioning. Essentially, every Wednesday at Madeira is dedicated to outside-the-class learning, service, and development. Freshman year is high ropes / wilderness education. Sophomore year is focused on service. Junior year they’re Congressional Interns on Capitol Hill in DC. Senior year they intern in a professional setting that they’re interested in exploring more deeply. (When my younger sister was there, I believe her senior year Wednesdays were spent directly shadowing doctors at either Walter Reed or NIH.)

The campus is absolutely gorgeous, and they just received an anonymous $60 million gift — I believe the largest gift ever given to a girls’ school — earlier this year. The girls there have a reputation for being curious, friendly, accepting, and terrifically kind.

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The title of the thread asks for schools like Mercersburg. If Lawrenceville is very different from Mercersburg, why would they look at it? They’re looking for a vibe. It’s a different vibe at Lawrenceville.

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Thank you everyone so far! We’ll check all these out, and she is in fact willing to consider all girls.

I’m also fine with hearing about schools like Lawrenceville if they are a particularly good fit in terms of curriculum. I’ll admit I do have a bit of a vibe/culture concern, but this is a process and I would like her to see options like that and we can discuss.

That said, I know there are so many great boarding schools that I also appreciate people trying to get as close as possible to what we described in multiple ways.

Basically, it is all good as long as you think it has something to consider.

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I was also going to chime in and recommend Madeira if she is open to a girls’ school. My daughter and I both loved everything about it when we toured, and the only reason she ended up somewhere different was that Covid had us recalibrate.

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Thank you! And this is a good opportunity for me to note that even if someone else has mentioned a school already, it is definitely not wasted effort for someone else to add their thoughts, or just cast another vote. All this is going to help me have better discussions with her, which of course is the goal.

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Another recommendation for St. Andrews in Delaware

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Seconding (or thirding??) Peddie and Blair. Peddie has a well developed “Signature Experience” which allows students to deeply explore an interest of their choosing in their junior and senior years - similar to the Capstone experience at Mercersburg. It started with sciences but now includes any/every discipline. Blair has something similar that is being developed and unless things have changed significantly from 2 years ago, more limited in scope… but I could be wrong so worth exploring. Both are known for kind and supportive cultures. Both have lacrosse (not sure how competitive).

Good Luck!

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12

Reflexively, when anyone mentions Madeira, I tell them to look at Foxcroft as well.

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I would highly recommend Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. My son went there and had a wonderful experience. Also likely within a 2-3 hour drive of western PA.

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Funny, after assuming that my youngest would go to boarding school like her older siblings, I am now leaning the opposite way though she may throw in some applications just to have the choice. Mostly though I feel like the years have gone too fast, and why not savor having the last one at home a little longer before facing the full empty nest! That said, if I had to do it over again, I would definitely take a closer look than I did at both Madeira and Mercersberg as well as the Master’s School, Concord, and George Schoo and maybe Northfield Mt. Hermon. For my artistic kid, I would look at Putney, but it would not work for your lacrosse player. In any case, I would be looking at the schools that are quaker, progressive or the coed schools that grew out of girls’ schools. I’d also look at single sex for my daughters but probably not for my son.

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I was also going to suggest Madeira as an option. Adding Holderness School for their capstone experience – Capstone at Holderness - 9-12 Boarding School in NH Capstone at Holderness - 9-12 Boarding School in NH – and strong Lacrosse

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Adding to my previous post bc I don’t think I answered your question about capstone experiences. While Western Reserve doesn’t exactly have a capstone experience, they offer some very cool academic opportunities that set it apart: a 2-year opportunity to do cancer immunology research with a major Cleveland medical institution, guided independent studies in whatever a student is interested in, as well as the interesting service and global opportunities in the link. Service, Travel & Educational Opportunities | Western Reserve Academy

The school really emphasizes the joy in learning and the overall experience. I can’t speak more highly of WRA.

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Bc of the the harkness, capstones, etc that she might like- the schools themselves are very different.

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WRA definitely has the sort of flexible curriculum my daughter is looking for, and the joy theme really resonated with her. Thank you for the suggestion!

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Take a look at Williston-Northampton. It’s a very friendly school with great academics. They have the Williston Scholars program, which allows students to do an independent study in 11th or 12th grade. Their girls’ athletics, including lacrosse, are very strong.

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I think this may be outside OP’s geographical preference.