<p>There is a laundry service at Thacher. It is used primarily by a small percentage of the wealthier students. Most everyone, including my son, did their own. It’s one of those small habits that it’s good to see your kid develop. The typical excuse of the laundry service set is that the child is too busy with their work and shouldn’t have to waste time with the chore. Since 85% of the kids manage to handle their laundry just fine, that excuse really doesn’t pass the red face test. But you hear it all the time. (Dry cleaning is different - most kids send out their occasional suit, dress etc to be dry cleaned.)</p>
<p>I write this long response because I’m a HUGE believer that boarding school is also a great opportunity for bright, often privileged children to work on their personal independent living skills: cleaning up after themselves, doing their laundry, keeping their rooms neat, caring for their property (and the property of others) etc. I do not think these sorts of lessons/habits/skills should be ignored and/or subcontracted out.</p>