<p>There are a lot of them. Trinity Pawling (where S went; I have mixed feelings); Cheshire, Hun, Tilton and Brewster are a few of those that we considered. I would look at the two websites cited in the earlier posts. This is a situation where you have to ask a lot of questions and actually visit the schools. The living conditions and overall atmosphere differ radically.</p>
<p>With S, we actually took the exact opposite approach from goaliedad on the academic side. For a variety of reasons, S had lost his way academically, and we thought he needed to get his confidence back. So we chose a place where there were some smart students and courses that would challenge him, but where he not feel like the dumb kid (as he would have at, for example, Exeter, even if they had let him in).</p>
From a darwinian sense, the ones who use in the dorms are usually caught and sent home within the fall term. I cautioned about the day students as this is a well known strategy for those who are more sophisticated in their strategy.</p>
<p>For the most part, most kids are too busy at most boarding schools to have time to manage a drug or alcohol habit. With classes 6 days a week, afternoon sports/ECs, evening study hours, they usually save Sunday for sleeping and laundry.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider - which dominant culture is most like your son - artsy, athletic, or granola? Or a mix of 2 of them? And even with the “athletic” schools, winter sports or field sports? </p>
<p>These kids will have an afternoon EC at least 4 if not usually 6 days a week. Look at what their offerings are and what he will want to be doing with his peers after class every day?</p>
<p>The title of this thread sounds like a student would be in high school for 13 years… ROTFLMAO At that point, a student would have his PhD in high school.</p>
<p>The kids at Bridgton have a wide range of academic ability and the school does offer several challenging courses for higher level kids (the minority) where they can receive college credit through a few local colleges (USM, UNE, Plymouth). I would not recommend the school to any student who would not be on one of their athletic teams, most students are there trying to improve their recruiting options. Athletics is a main focus and their teams are competitive. The school is located in a very isolated area and other than sports, there are not that many EC offerings. I think it can be hard for a kid not focusing on a sport, to fill their days.</p>
<p>A big positive of the school is the fact that they have solely PG students. All the boys are at the same stage of life and no one feels different for choosing to do a PG year, they all did. They can treat the kids more as the young men they are and not high school students. I don’t think the kids really feel like they are still in HS.</p>
<p>The greatest gains my S made during his PG year were in developing self confidence and time management and self advocacy skills. Perhaps time alone would have brought this development and maturity, I don’t know, but I do believe the PG experience accelerated his growth and prepared him for college. At this age, the kids can change dramatically from the beginning to end of senior year. My suggestion, if you’re uncertain, would be to research PG and gap year options while also submitting college apps. Unless there is a clear cut preference to delay college entrance, you don’t have to decide until the spring when the picture may be much clearer.</p>
<p>^^I didn’t take your post negatively at all. As a matter of fact, in hindsight it was not the right place. Even though my S loves sports, he was not involved in athletics at BA (illness related). Though we feel his PG year was beneficial and provided the growth he needed, if we had it to do over, we may have expanded our search and chosen a different school that offered more non sports related activities and additional academic opportunities. My kid is a “bloom where planted” type so overall, it turned out fine, but BA just isn’t a great fit for a kid who is not involved in one of the sports teams and is pursuing a PG year for maturity and academic time management skills. I has its limitations. If a kid is looking for athletic maturity and skill development in addition to academics, it can be a great place.</p>
<p>We did really like Tilton, but unfortunately S was not offered admission. Many of the PG spots at boarding schools do go to athletes.</p>
<p>Thank you. I have found this thread very useful. My son is a varsity athlete but probably not recruitable. He is also a strong musician (several hours a day). I thought any boarding school would have an array of musical activities.</p>
<p>I’ll throw a school to check out. Northfield Mount Hermon. Fairly large as boarding schools go, but to support robust music programs, generally you need significantly more than 300 kids. I’m not sure it is an academic fit (1640 - 1970 25th - 75th percentile SAT), but it does have a good variety of musical/artistic endeavors. Athletics - not so much, but there are varsity teams to play on who play all the other prep teams.</p>
As a matter of fact, in hindsight it was not the right place. Even though my S loves sports, he was not involved in athletics at BA (illness related). Though we feel his PG year was beneficial and provided the growth he needed, if we had it to do over, we may have expanded our search and chosen a different school that offered more non sports related activities and additional academic opportunities. My kid is a “bloom where planted” type so overall, it turned out fine, but BA just isn’t a great fit for a kid who is not involved in one of the sports teams and is pursuing a PG year for maturity and academic time management skills. I has its limitations. If a kid is looking for athletic maturity and skill development in addition to academics, it can be a great place.</p>