We are huge Abbey fans. It was an outstanding experience for my daughter. Don’t let the Catholic part be your main concern. Obviously, it’s an actual abbey so it’s part and parcel of attending school, but it’s not the only factor.
The kids are a tight knit group and, in general, all look out for one another. Sports are co-curricular so a big part of the school day. The teams bond and there are opportunities to learn a new sport, if that’s a goal. My kid joined a sport with zero experience and ended up on Varsity in college.
There is a great art program and a brand new science building. The campus setting is gorgeous!
I recommend attending Closer Look. It’s a good way to get a feel for the place when you actually have an offer vs when you are trying to get accepted. The faculty often wear several hats (teacher, advisor, coach etc) so they really get to know each of the kids.
Happy to answer any questions you might have. Congratulations!
Have a friend whose 2 kids went to Portsmouth Abbey. Was very happy for both. My impression is that it is pretty traditional but that is not based on personal experience, but her comments, so please check it out yourself. Btw, the family was not Catholic.
Yes we already signed up for Closer Look, can’t wait but of course the second day is my daughter’s college admitted school day so my husband and I will have to “divide and conquer”. But we are also close enough (less than 2 hours) to do a road trip there this or next weekend to take a look around! Thank you for the info on the kids, programs etc. D26 will be playing lacrosse and has spoken with the coach (great guy!) and has been following the team but that is just a part of it all especially since he would be boarding so lots to learn and take in and I will be reaching out to you once I can wrap my head around all this! (we are also in the middle of selling our current house and have an open house this weekend…!)
Thank you - little bits of info like this are just what I am looking for ! We are ok with traditional as long as experience was wonderful and kids and faculty support each other.
Wowza! You have loads going on. Isn’t that always the way. Regarding lacrosse: the coach has an excellent history of his players going on to play in college (D1 and D3 that I know of personally).
Boarding is hard for parents but most kids love it. It truly becomes a second home and they make lifelong friends. One positive for parents is that all kids have the same rule book… unlike going to school at home where every family has a different set!
Enjoy Closer Look - maybe you should be the person to go (vs husband) so you can feel the place out for yourself!
Thank you again!! We have come around to boarding, we were against it now for it but D26 also heard from Saint Marks in Southboro that he was admitted as a day student so we have some big decisions (along with Kimball Union in NH which would be boarding). Glad to hear you have experienced the same with the lax coach there. All this is good info!
We toured St. Mark’s and thought it would be an absolutely amazing school for day students. It didn’t fit with what our daughter was looking for as a boarder, but what an amazing school to be able to go to locally!
Honestly, I’d pick the Abbey, although St. Marks as day school would be a solid choice. If it makes you feel better, we have just the one child and STILL let her go away. It was a decision we do not regret.
One major component is this: the kid needs to WANT to go away (ours did)… it’s way too hard if they don’t like being away from home. I’m not talking homesickness- most experience that to a degree.
I will say that my kid told us to “write the deposit check” the night we drove away from Closer Look. Haha. We were living in an area where not many go away to school as she still chose it. We live halfway thru high school so, in hindsight, it was a great choice as it never interrupted her schooling.
Thanks! D26 is our youngest and we always thought we would have some time “alone” with him but this application process over the last 6 months has brought us all around to the idea of boarding. I think he is all good with it and if he is we are as well. He is a 10th grader so he already has a year of high school under his belt which helps I think! He does have one other boarding school that actively recruited him for lacrosse and they gave him a great FA package so that will be thrown in the mix as well but I really appreciate the continued info.
Happy to help. If you have specific questions later, please let me know. If I can’t answer, I bet I have contacts that will know. The good news is: you all have great options!
Hi thank you - I need to get my head around all this - with the house on the market I am getting calls about what we pay for oil, water, gas etc - I am glad for the interest but really want to have some quiet time to get my head together to think of some questions because I KNOW I am going to have lots! Thanks
My son is at a hidden gem of a boarding school! The Winchendon School in MA. I had never heard of it! We were looking for a co-ed, smaller, no suit/tie school with great sports and academic support and Winchendon was the perfect fit! There is literally every kind of kid at Winch… sporty, artsy, fratty, high academic, entrepreneurial, average academic, quirky. And it’s small…285 kids. 25% international and they come from all over Asia, Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. Many D-1 commits in hockey (women’s and men), basketball and baseball. If you’re not sporty, there are great arts opportunities or ways to support sports by managing social media, photography etc.
Winch offers a 2 week Collab (experiential project learning) with off campus opportunities including service in the Dominican Republic or language immersion in Quebec. And lots of on-campus or local projects including things like the physics of rollercoasters.
There is a year long leadership course, many APs and opportunities for independent study or DE if desired. Kids can hold a job on campus and there are many leadership opportunities available.
The academic support is incredible with options on 1-1, small group support, supported study halls and of course 24/7 access to faculty with conference hours every weekday.
We love it. Our son is thriving.
Faculty is so relational! My son walks his English teachers dog. Had a Super Bowl party at the headmasters house.
And, because they’re not one of the usually applied to suspects, they do offer rolling admissions if space is still available.
Loved Winchendon—unique approach, great sports and nice campus. Didn’t work athletically for our child that looked there since his position was full but we all liked it and the coaches and admissions staff we met.
I’d like to add Buxton as a hidden gem. It’s the first school listed in The Preppy Handbook under their “Bohemian” list. I think they have a reputation for slightly quirky/counter-culture kids, but there’s actually a really nice variety of kids, from all over the US. They don’t have a lot of international presence, but they’re not adverse to it: I think that COVID kinda killed their international recruitment and they haven’t really bumped it up yet.
The teachers seem great, my child is learning a ton, but the location is really what sets it apart. It’s literally across the street (walking distance) from Williams College, and the Buxton students can take classes there, with permission. My 9th grader takes art classes at Williams. How cool is that? He’s hoping to take some math classes there in a few years too, because he’s a bit ahead in math, and after calculus at Buxton they can take their math classes at Williams.
The school is so close to the Clark and to Mass MoCA that they do a lot of things with both organizations, too. I’m really impressed with how much they get out into the local community, doing a lot of community service and also just participating in local life.
It’s definitely on the progressive (“bohemian,” as the Preppy Handbook put it) side… dorm rooms are coed, there’s an oft-updated list of everyone’s pronouns hanging in the dining hall. And it’s family-like in some respects, but I think there are also solid boundaries and rules for the kids… I went to a prep school where student/teacher boundaries could be fuzzy, and in retrospect it was kind of messed up. But I’ve been very happy with the community, as well as the academics.
I’d like to add the Commonwealth School in Boston as a hidden gem! Super small and quirky school; extremely difficult academics, has the highest average SAT score in the country but extremely poor with sports and clubs. Overall, very academic! So many amazing teachers from all the ivies; teacher to student ratio is around 1:5.
