Schools for my daughter

Prep School Admissions
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Just as my DS gets sorted out for boarding school in the fall, I realize that we need to get school visits in for my DD (7th grade, late birthday) so we get a good list for her to really look at in the fall for eventual application.

We are in the Mid-Atlantic area, and our DS will be starting at a well regarded school in this area – and while we think this same school would be a good fit for DD, we want to give her options.

She is at a private K-8 with exceptionally strong academics, community, theater, and a decent sports program. Her current class is <30 students, and they run in two groups less than 15 each, core classes run three sections based on ability, so she is very much used to small classes with student led discussions starting in 6th grade.

She is an occasional honor roll student, stronger in language arts than math, but still on track to finish Alg I by the end of 8th grade. She loves theater, field hockey, and outdoor adventures.

She has some ADHD and gets frustrated by homework some evenings.

We are looking for schools that have a strong academic base without being a boiler room, an accepting student body, a strong theater program, and good options for her sports and other interests.

The school must offer some form of learning support program (paid or included is fine).

Prefer a school that is Mid-Atlantic, maybe North East with easy airport options. We prefer a school with at least 60% boarders, a strong alumni base. Co-Ed is preferred, but we will consider all-girls.

I am pretty familiar with the various school search sites, but I have found that a community like this usually has good ideas that don’t always show up in the search engine.

Once, our DS is settled at his new school, I hope to offer perspective on that at the appropriate time.

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The Millbrook School. One of my sons, with pretty bad adhd, attended and it is 100% the reason he is who he is today. He got executive function tutoring; three times a week in 9th grade, twice in 10th, once a week junior year, and none senior year. In other words, they had scaffolding, but gradually removed it, so he could be independent in college. (And he got into an excellent college).

Another good thing: it is smaller (approx 300 students) so each student is known, needed, and appreciated. At a larger school a teacher might just assume the kid is lazy when they fail to turn in homework (or whatever).

Finally, it is the only high school in the nation, and probably the world, with an accredited zoo dedicated to conservation. It is an integral part of the school. Every student rotates through as part of their community service, and for those for whom it resonates there are many opportunities to get more involved. It is life changing for some kids.

The closest airport is probably White Plains (HPN), though depending on what you mean by mid Atlantic it is potentially not a terrible drive.

Anyway, this is a start! Ask me questions etc I would be happy to share what I know.

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Definitely check out Mercersburg Academy if not already on your radar!

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Although we didn’t end up visiting, Christchurch was on our list for academic support. It might be closer to you than the North England schools.

If she loves outdoor activities, Proctor has a great experiential program and good support.

We loved New Hampton’s academic support program. (We looked for S23, so things could always change, but I assume it’s still just as good).

Both are an hour from the Manchester airport and 1 1/2 from Logan, but I’m sure they run a shuttle for breaks.

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Schools on our list so far (in no order)

Christchurch (this school was on our radar for our DS, but we never made it there)
Mercersburg
Pomfret
Grier
Millbrook – might have to go see this one in person to cut thru the noise on the reviews
The schools suggested in NH are VERY interesting – need to sort out how travel logistics would work.

Still open to more ideas

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You might want to look at George. Strong theater, very welcoming, and the schedule works well for students with executive functioning challenges and offers a lot of flexibility to tailor. You’d have to look at the learning support to see if it’s what you need.

Pennington and Hun both have good learning support but fewer boarders.

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We only looked at mid-Atlantic schools for our DD and a strong theatre program was one of her top priorities.

Of the three schools that we focused on (Mburg, Peddie and Blair), I agree that Mburg might be the best fit for her. The theatre program had some very cool classes (stage combat!) and chose productions that were quirky and a little outside the box. It also has an outdoor education program with a variety of activities from rock climbing to kayaking and hiking.

I’ll put in a cautious plug for both Blair and Peddie, at least to look into. Peddie has great theatre (I’ve talked about some details in other posts) and an academic support center which my DD has taken advantage of for extra math and writing help but I can’t speak to any specific ADHD support. I’m not aware of significant outdoor activity options other than the annual sophomore bike trip.

I was very impressed with Blair’s curriculum for 9th graders which they call “Habits of Mind” and teaches research based strategies for time management, learning retention, and study skills as well as general health and wellness. They also had the most robust approach (IMO) to “scaffolding” for the students as they progress each year towards graduation. I don’t know about any specific outdoor program at Blair. The theatre program seemed strong (but not as strong as at Peddie).

Love the idea of Proctor (the off campus experiences look phenomenal, I wish I could go back in time and do them all!) and Millbrook too. I suspect your DD will need to prioritize what is most important for her (theatre? outdoor experiences? location?) and match it to the schools that offer her the learning support she needs.

Good Luck!

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I might be able to answer questions about Proctor. @ridleyroo - my student is doing two of those programs this upcoming year. They are incredible and one of the reasons my student went with Proctor over their other choices.

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You might also want to look at Brewster Academy. I’m not real familiar with it, but it has strong academics with good support for ADD and LD (according to a friend who teaches there and speaks highly of it). The other thing I know is that it has an amazing campus, on a hill overlooking a beautiful lake.

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What we liked about Brewster was that it felt like it would be impossible to fall through the cracks. Each team does regular meetings where each kid is discussed (academics, social, sports, etc) so no one gets overlooked. Since Brewster was the first school we visited, we used their process as the gold standard when comparing to other schools. Brewster was the only one that had us sit through a (mock) meeting to see how it was conducted, the others just assured us that kids don’t fall through the cracks. Also, Brewster differentiates instruction within each class.

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I would look at Proctor and Brewster

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We’ve gotten our DS moved into his school (and he seems to be really enjoying)… we visited a few schools in the spring with our DD, two are on our short list…. but we really would like 3-4 to choose from. Brewster has come up a few times on this board, but some of the reviews are all over the place @vwlizard any more info that you have would be fantastic, we are trying to pull a NE trip together in October (Pomfret is on our list) we think we could swing Proctor, Brewster, and maybe one or two more if we plan well. Thoughts?

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If Proctor and Brewster are on your list, I’d swing by New Hampton. I think they had the strongest academic support and had more for an “artsy” student than Brewster.

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Congrats on a successful move-in and glad that your son is enjoying his school!

Seconding Proctor as a school to check out. I would look into Holderness as well if you are making a NH swing - it’s only 30 minutes from New Hampton, if that. Strong community, ample outdoor opportunities, and great sports. Slightly more “traditional” vibe than Proctor, if that makes sense. I have found their academic support to be solid (both the paid extra and the engagement and enthusiasm of teachers to offer it outside of class). We utilized the fee-based tutoring for our kid, and like most things at these schools, YMMV based on how well your student utilizes the resource. There are multiple tiers of support offered and they were very communicative and worked to address our concerns. And as for travel, they do offer shuttles to Manchester and Logan airports at breaks.

ETA - I have not seen one of their theater productions, but I have heard they are great, attended by the whole community, and that there is a real effort to include kids who might not have otherwise considered doing theater. They will also work with athletic schedules to make sure kids have the opportunity to participate in both.

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Take a look at the Putney School in southern VT.

Very artsy, outdoorsy, with solid academics.

The closest airport is Bradley Int’l (near Loomis Chaffee in CT), which is about a 1 hr 15 min straight shot on a highway with zero traffic.

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I highly recommend you take a look at Kimball Union. We absolutely loved it and it was on our daughter’s short list.

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We loved the student presentations from the Global Scholars Program.

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Hi there,

If you’re open to NH schools, I’d also second the recommendation of Holderness (esp if your kid might like to ski) and also Kimball Union. DS really liked Brewster and Holderness; both schools offered good academic support, though I think the support at Brewster was much more involved, which could be a good thing (mentorship) or bad (kind of helicopter parenting). The one thing that gave him (and us) a little pause about Brewster was that the kids in the honors classes were not in their own separate class. Honors-level students got more homework, as well as harder questions on the test, but they didn’t receive separate instruction. However, both schools seemed to have a strong sense of community, friendly kids, and a good amount of extracurriculars (though I can’t speak to theater offerings, as it wasn’t a focus for my son).

He also really liked Kimball Union, which was also highly recommended by our middle school’s counselor – they seem to offer good academic support (both tutoring and EF coaching), and like the other two schools, a really beautiful spot if you like the outdoors. We never got a chance to visit it, so he ultimately passed on applying.

Another two schools you might want to consider (if you end up looking in MA) are Williston and NMH. They had the same warm environment as Holderness and Brewster, and seemed to be a place where there was good academic support for the kids. When we toured and revisited, I got the impression that these were places where the kids were really known by the faculty/dorm parents and wouldn’t fall through the cracks. They seemed very conscientious about the kids.

Good luck with your search!

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Emma Willard in NY might be a good option to check out.

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100% agree with cypripedium that Williston is a welcoming school that does not allow kids to fall through the cracks. My son is there now and I am happy to DM with you about our experiences! He is a theater kid with ADHD and the school has been really amazing to work with.

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