Well, it’s not “leading kids off to picket with a local antifa group”, but about 300 students did take part in the national gun safety walkout this past Spring as part of a student-led initiative.
I’m not trying to unsell you on George, btw. I just want to make sure you know that this is not some mini Liberty University. My daughter was a voluntary (meaning not for academic or discipline reasons) Junior transfer and we have zero regrets about sending her to George.
Now, going back to your question about weekends…I think my daughter’s experience is fairly unique in that she was often off campus on weekends (at least part of one of the days) due to non-scholastic sports training and competition. That said, I do think that GS does try to program enough things to do for boarders on the weekends. I know Live Music Weekend is a highlight of the year.
I personally think George enjoys a very enviable location…the charming downtown area of historic Newtown, PA is very walkable, and a local supermarket and some restaurants are an even shorter walk away (across a street). Philadelphia is very close by train or car and NYC is not too far either. There is usually (always?) a local trip available …like going to the Oxford Valley mall or even just to the Chick-Fil-A on the other side of Newtown (also walkable, but on the far side of things).
One thing that can’t be discounted is the campus itself. It is really quite beautiful and has great facilities (including an Athletics Center on par with or superior to those of many of the “bigger name” schools)…and I’ve been to a number of BS on visits over the years. So it’s no hardship to stay on campus itself. And it’s not unheard of for day students to go to campus to visit with friends and/or work on projects on weekends.
Do some kids get up to shenanigans occasionally? Yes. They are, after all, teenagers. But I think GS is no worse and probably a little better than most BS in this regard. It’s definitely better than the school my daughter transferred from.
If you haven’t seen this thread I created after my older daughter went through the process, it’s probably worth reviewing. 7D1 was and still is a very serious student who will graduate with a Chemical Engineering degree in the Spring and is currently applying to PhD programs…so I think we had similar goals for her as you do for your son, at least from an academic POV.
Best of luck with the process and let us know if you have any other questions.