Thacher vs East Coast Boarding Schools

ThacherParent
Fri, 05 Feb 2021 14:15:13 +0000

Cate and Thacher offer very different experiences from East Coast schools. For me, at least, a lot of the difference boiled down to, IMO, the sharper elbows, more sarcastic tone, and old school pecking orders of the East where I had boarded “back in the day” versus the more welcoming, friendlier, peaceful and egalitarian atmosphere of Thacher. Our son gravitated to the latter and we were willing to send him across the country for it. Thacher academics are very intense but are offset by an equally intense connection to the outdoors, which has the effect of balancing the student’s life in a really nice way, keeping everything in context.

The other difference we felt was that Thacher walked the walk of its code “Honor, Fairness, Kindness and Truth.” It wasn’t just some idea carved in a stone tablet looking down over the pews in a school’s centuries-old church or something. It felt, to us, way more lived and practical.

Lastly, all schools struggle to do better, Thacher included. What was important to me as the Dad in the mix was the intensity of Thacher’s effort always to self-examine and improve. This made me feel good about the school’s priorities.