Mercersburg Academics

Calliemomofgirls
Tue, 18 Mar 2025 19:35:35 +0000

Thanks for the page @cinnamon1212!
@anonDad74 – I am indeed the perfect person to talk to about this! I have 3 daughters at MB (two are seniors now and one graduated last May). And one of them started at a NE pressure cooker school (Andover) and transferred, so she knows both well.
May I suggest – let’s hop on the phone or zoom? And let’s connect our kids? My daughter who transferred would be HAPPY to talk to your child very openly and frankly.
MB is definitely rigorous and will offer all the rigor a super academic kid could want. But there is also: SPACE. Truly. Space to explore new interests. Space to take a moment to breathe. Space to go hang out with friends at the student center. Space to take the weekend (mostly) off and just enjoy. Space to have a full 4 day weekend each term (3 terms a year) of just downtime, or a fun school trip sometimes. (or going home…we are from California so they rarely came home for long weekends).
And oh gosh…the activities available to them were such a gift because they had space to enjoy them, not resent them. My daughter did snowboarding, and went 6 times a week. love love love. and did several 4 day ski trips, heavily subsidized by the school. Two of my daughters did multiple theatre shows over their time there. All of my daughters tried sports teams that were brand new to them, just to explore (diving, soccer, track, squash, wrestling, for example). They also were able to lean into what they loved before even going off to high school. They have all done short study abroad programs. One of them did both a short program in Costa Rica (just got back last night in fact) and spent her entire junior year abroad in Rennes France. All thanks to MB. One daughter had an interest in cemeteries and grave restoration (super empath who loves history), and MB helped her create a service project around that, and it has morphed into a major interest. Things like this are super possible at MB.
Anyway – yes there is rigor, but it’s the level of rigor that leaves space to explore and become an engage human being. That space was frankly what was missing for my daughter at Andover – for her, she had 4 hours of homework a night, even on regular non-exam weeks, and it meant she had no interest in trying new things anymore. (And I’ll say: Andover is PERFECT for a very specific kind of student – we are still friends with our Andover people – so no bad feelings about that particular model of education – just not ideal for my explore-y super social girls.).
I will not cry when we leave Mercersburg at graduation this May; I will SOB. I will be so incredibly sad it is over. Mercersburg has been one of the most formative, wonderful decisions my daughters have made. (and note that they all decided independently to go to Mercersburg for different reasons…second daughter applied and interviewed while first daughter was still at Andover so we had no reason to think they might end up together as second daughter didn’t apply to any pressure cooker schools by choice).
Finally, I’ll say – no school is perfect. No school is right for all kids.
There are downsides. For example, my girls were volleyball players and honestly we didn’t love the volleyball program. Also, MB can be a little stricter than some schools. For example, there are nightly room checks and your room must be tidy. Lunches are required to attend, and Monday dinners too, with assigned seating and speaker programming. MB is a one strike school, so any drugs or alcohol means expulsion. Andover was much more lax on all those fronts. But honestly, my 14 year old kid did better when someone noticed whether she showed up to meals or not.
Anyway – please DM me and we can connect, or connect our kids. Also I’m happy to have my two kids there be available to connect with you at revisit day. (I’m out of town so will not be there.)
As I mentioned, we visited a LOT of schools and the girls considered over 20 offers, so I have lots of good things to say about a number of boarding schools!
anyway, reach out and let me know how I can be helpful!