<p>A Separate Peace is set in a school called Devon in the novel, but it actually refers to Exeter.</p>
<p>No, I also meant Seymour St. John too. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the reading materials! I’ll read some of those in place of the 25 encouraged books on Choate’s reading list ;)</p>
<p>Is it there aren’t private schools where these kids live? I mean most of hte ‘pros’ I’ve read about boarding schools apply to good private day schools: lots of opportunities, a place where being smart is cool, small classes, strong academic focus etc. So is that why they go to boarding schools? Or are there qualities above a day school?</p>
<p>i haven’t read the entire thread so i don’t know what people have said. my mom sent me to boarding school (well, maybe sent isn’t the right word, i wanted to go as well). i know it was very hard for her but i think she made the right decision. my local high school was (i have since moved) academically terrible. we had gang problems and the school was beyond overcrowded. i know it is hard for her having me so far away, but she put my education first and i am very grateful for it.</p>
<p>Didn’t read all the posts…we live in a fairly rural area without a lot of public school or private school options. A friend has sent two of her three across the country to boarding school. The two have fairly significant LDs and have done very well at the school which specializes in students with those issues…not behavioral issues but specific learning issues. One has now returned to the West Coast for college. If I were in that situation, as hard as it would be I would look at boarding school.
Thankfully, both of mine did just fine with the local public schools.</p>
<p>My daughter went to boarding school to specialize in her art- vocal performance. She did her last two years of high school at Interlochen, which had strong academics and an incredible arts program.<br>
My son “exhausted the local private school options” and our only choice was boarding school. Had one not so good experience and one (last two years of hs) amazing experience. Boarding school offers a lot more than a regular private school, but there are trade-offs, too, such as not having your kid at home with you and being able to get to know their friends well and be at all their performances/athletic events etc. The pluses include close interaction with some great mentors/faculty, including meals, living room chats and trips.</p>
<p>My son believes that his two years at boarding school saved his life. His words, not mine. He was a mediocre performer in our local public school, with great test scores. Couldn’t get into the local private schools. Sent him off to boarding school, where he managed to attend just enough classes to persuade everyone he was a genius, while competing on the school’s science and math teams. Went to MIT at 16. I also think the boarding school may have saved his life: I might have killed him, with the attitude he had!</p>
<p>I haven’t read most of the posts so bear with me if the arguments have already been made.
- Parents are moving frequently or are posted abroad. The sons of two diplomats I know were sent to boarding schools, one in England, one in the US, for this reason. In Victorian England, most public (i.e. private) schools were filled with the children of Brits who lived n India or Africa.
- A family member is going through major upheaval such as a serious illness that requires a lot of attention. It is felt that sending a child to boarding school provides the child with adult attention and educational continuity while the major upheaval is being dealt with.<br>
- The parents are going through a divorce or their relationship is tense and they want to shield their children from the unpleasantness.
- the local schools, whether private or public, and the extra-curricular opportunities are inadequate, or require transportation that the parents cannot provide.
- The child wants to be in boarding school. Friends of ours sent their D to the local public, then to a local private school. Both were considered mediocre. Their D agitated to go to a prestigious boarding school 45 minutes away. Besides getting a first-class education, she found so much of interest there that she did not come home very often, according to her mom.</p>
<p>I’d have to bet that the majority of parents who send their children to boarding schools are boarding school products themselves.</p>
<p>Which seems to be a big selling point.</p>
<p>I know people who are trying to do things differently than the way they were raised ( myself included) & I see those who are making similar choices as those their parents did, having a different perspective- being happy enough with their experience that they want to share it with their own children.</p>
<p>I’d have to bet that the majority of parents who send their children to boarding schools are boarding school products themselves.</p>
<p>Not in my case. DH & I went to regular high school. Youngest son went to boarding school.
Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.</p>
<p>Out here, on the west coast, sending kids to boarding school is quite rare. I do have friends that sent their kids to boarding school, I don’t know of one who did it because they could not find a local school that was academically challenging enough. Families that sent their kids to boarding school tend to fall into two categories: those who children found a boarding school that catered to their interests, and begged their parents, for years, to go; and children who, despite their parents’ best efforts, found local drug or drinking scenes to be too enticing, and just needed intervention away from the temptation to get back on the right track.</p>
<p>In all cases I’ve seen the boarding school experience seemed to be extremely beneficial to the children, and in the later cases, to their families and their interactions with them.</p>
<p>I guess I’m shocked that someone with 30 years experience working in student counseling would have such extreme views on boarding schools. I would have guessed that a few years working with students would engrain in anyone the obvious, that each child is different, and no educational choice is either right or wrong for all students.</p>
<p>we do have friends who sent their kids to boarding school ( 5).
They attended private local schools and even public locals schools before they attended east coast boarding school.
I imagine it was quite a wrench for the parents, but their kids loved it & did very well, although they did transfer from dads prep school ( Andover) to one that seems to have a different personality.</p>
<p>My younger D I think would have liked to have attended boarding school. She thrives at her summers away at camp & it is a difficult transition when she comes home.</p>
<p>I come from a family where all the boys forever have gone. I was the first girl to be sent. It was difficult at times, but the right thing for me. I correspond daily with my boarding school friends and I’m 52! Would I send mine? If I had to, probably, but there are options here school wise where we don’t think its necessary. Funny thing is, H went, too (8th grade started) and he’s not keen on it for our kids, either. His sibs also all went and not one of them is sending theirs. Different times, different kids, different options.</p>
<p>I went to a large (at the time) suburban public high school and so did H. We never even imagined we would send our kids to boarding school. Fortunately, it worked well for our kids (eventually…).</p>
<p>Sorry, I just saw that my post above made no sense. When I meant to copy and pasted the comment below, Word inadvertently pasted another post, which I had copied earlier. I was referring to this comment:
“I guess I’m shocked that someone with 30 years experience working in student counseling would have such extreme views on boarding schools”</p>
<p>About 100 years ago I was sent to boarding school. It did a great job of preparing me for college and making me an independent person.</p>
<p>When I became a parent I vowed that I would NEVER send my child to BS. If he needed more academically then our town had to offer, I would have moved. So much of a person’s character is formed during those turbulant, joyful, tearful teenage years, there is no substitution as a parent to being there EVERYDAY. </p>
<p>Today is a much different world than the 60’s (with cheap LD phone calls and email), but for me, being 3000 miles away and bi-weekly 5 minute phone calls, my parents no insight or input into the changes in my life. It took decades for us to come to terms with those “missing” years.</p>
<p>Every situation is different and every family is different. For some BS is the absolute right place for a teenager to be - for me it was not.</p>
<p>My wife is a boarding school alumna from another country. I am a just-plain public school alumnus from here in America. We homeschool to get much of the academic independence and challenge she enjoyed and much of the family closeness that I enjoyed (in my high school years). We try to up the rigor with lots of distance learning classes designed for gifted learners. But I STILL look longingly at the extracurriculars and classes offered by, say, Exeter or Andover, so I don’t decry any other families choice to apply. I’m sure my kids will go far away to college when the time comes, and my oldest already does lengthy summer academic programs.</p>