pomfret or day school?

keylyme
Sat, 22 Mar 2008 12:25:00 +0000

My son goes to a bs and is also on a premier soccer team. His school does indeed allow him to travel to games and tournaments. (He is lucky in that his club has allowed him to stay on and attend games/tournies but miss mid-week practices). He was also granted permission for a four day leave from school to attend nationals earlier this year.
His school does have occasional “closed week-ends”. There is always a closed w/e after a break, and there are also closed w/e’s for special events, like Founder’s Day. My son’s school has allowed him to leave on the after-break closed w/e for soccer. His school does believe in supporting a student’s pursuits for high level events and this is indicated in the student handbook. My son hopes to play D1 soccer and the school knows that in order to achieve that goal, he has to maintain a year-round affiliation with a strong club team. I do believe other schools would do this as well. He has a friend at Andover who leaves to play club lacrosse on w/e’s as well as a teammate from his soccer team who is at Exeter and continues with his club team.
He does not come home every w/e, but quite a few. It hasn’t affected his ability to form strong bonds at bs, though. I don’t believe your friend will lose friends at home or at school. My son still spends time with his friends here at home. His older brother also managed to maintain that same balance through 4 years of bs. We live an hour away and he came home most w/e’s as a freshmand and sophomore, but stayed most w/e as a junior and senior as was an RA and student leader which both required his presence on w/e’s.
As momof2sons advised, your friend should check with the Dean of Students at Pomfret that she will be allowed to do this.