It is hard to know what proportion of the population would be LGBTQ if it weren’t for societal pressures. Given how our culture has evolved, i would expect a minuscule proportion of Americans over 55 to admit they are gay, queer or trans compared to the proportion of those under 30. Here’s a source that is far less scientific, but indicates younger people are more comfortable identifying as LGBTQ. This poll would indicate that 20 percent of millenials identify as LGBTQ. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna740791
This thread has taken a weird turn. Are the cultures very different? I think SPS with its Episcopal roots places more emphasis on Chapel Talk like the other schools with similar origins like St. George’s. I don’t think Chapel meetings are as prominent at Choate as it may have been in the past when JFK was a student.
Still incorrect; Caitlyn Jenner is transgender (or trans), not transgendered. One would not say that Ellen is lesbianed or that Ricky Martin is gayed.
Oh, and BTW, this is getting way off topic, so can we please circle back to the original question?
SPS’ Chapel, although they’ll sing hymns and such, is more of an all school meeting than anything else. There are religious components but they draw upon all religions. One day there may be a Buddhist reading, the next something Christian, or from the Koran. The school does embrace it’s Episcopalian connection, though it is accepting of all faiths or no faith. My kids always felt comfortable there despite not practicing any religion. In fact, it was their favorite part of the school day. Chapel can be quite entertaining. You can find info on the website: https://www.sps.edu/page/school-life/chapel
OP here…which one of these 6 schools (its been a few posts since my original question so will list them again
Ok - my post got cut off - Choate, Hotchkiss, Andover, Exeter, SPS and Deerfield - have a dress code?
They all have a dress code in the sense that you can’t not wear clothes. Hotchkiss and Deerfield are more formal than the others. Andover is probably the most relaxed. Most have the specific info on the website.
I meant to say formal dress code. Ok - thanks.
We just we just came from Hotchkiss and were surprised to see how relaxed the dress code is now - this is apparently a new (this year) policy. Lots of polo shirts and shorts.
Choate is not formal.
At this point, you can wear pretty much anything that’s not blatant public indecency at Choate. If you ever get to witness a SAC dance, you’ll see a range of some seriously questionable outfit choices. But is it a real high school if there aren’t questionable outfit choices? No, it isn’t.
Also note that some schools will have different guidelines for what is appropriate for the classroom vs. chapel vs. dances and other outside activities.
My daughter told me that Choate allows jeans this year. In the past as of 2016, you could only wear black jeans.
Apparently this year a Choate tour guide said that you could wear pajamas to class and nobody would say anything, so that’s something. Also their is a cadre of Choate boys this year rocking the shirt and tie every day. Not sure what that’s about or how long it will last.
I saw a few ties and blazers at Exeter as well even though they aren’t required. SwimKid bounces back and forth between dressing up (although no tie and blazer) and as far as he can push the dress code in terms of being casual. No pajama pants on campus though. But there are lots of PEA sweatshirts as they are allowed when other sweatshirts are not.
Just about anything goes at Andover within the limits of the law i.e. clothing is not optional. My understanding is that members of the boys’ sports teams will wear ties, sometimes with blazers, on the day of or the day before an athletic contest.
Thanks for the dress code info!
IMHO, there are pretty big philosophical/cultural differences between the schools. You can definitely get a sense of this if you read the Student Handbooks. Some schools have very specific rules for everything. For example, at Hotchkiss they define the physical borders of the campus and are very specific as to where/when students can leave. Getting caught walking home from a nearby restaurant after dark can be a disciplinary infraction. Middlesex seems to have similar strict rules about leaving campus. SPS is much less controlling and students can leave campus without prior permission simply by signing in/out on an app.
Student/Adult interaction also varies substantially between the schools. For example, at Hotchkiss there are dorm faculty and floor faculty that regularly check in with the students in addition to their advisor. At SPS, the advisor lives in the student’s dorm but may not have regular contact with them unless there is an issue. SPS also has dorm faculty but, again, the contact is less formal.
“At SPS, the advisor lives in the student’s dorm but may not have regular contact with them unless there is an issue. SPS also has dorm faculty but, again, the contact is less formal.”
Not really true. SPS advisers may or may not live in a dorm but they are all attached to a specific dorm. Each faculty member attached to a particular dorm has at least one night of dorm duty per week. Students must check in with the adviser on duty every night. In addition, advisers have advisee dinners and such with their charges as a group occasionally. This is on top of regular meetings between the advisor and advisee. There are plenty of opportunities, both formal and informal, for contact. The informal contacts are often the best IMO as they are more natural. The other benefit to this system of having advisors connected to houses (dorms) is that students get to know all advisors and vice versa. There are a lot of eyes watching your kiddo, even if some rules may be less informal than some other stricter schools. Your student will have lots of faculty they come into contact with, some they may even click with better than their assigned advisor. Added benefit is resources for academic and non-academic issues. In one of my kids’ house for a few years there were science, math, humanities faculty as well as a chaplain and a campus mental health counselor. Help for all kinds of questions was just steps away on a given night.
My son’s experience differs from what you’ve described @doschicos Yes, he has to check in with the adviser on duty every night and yes, they have advisee dinners. However, a check in can be a 30 second “Hi, I’m here” which isn’t what I would deem real contact. My son’s advisor schedules advisee dinners from 5:45-6:15. By the time my son finishes football, showers and gets to the dining hall, the dinner is generally over. Again, not meaningful contact. At my advisor meeting during Parent’s Weekend, the advisor said that the night before our meeting was the first time he really spoke to my son at length (and that was only because there was chocolate cake and my son was the only one to show).
I’m not complaining - my son is fine with this level of contact and is thriving at SPS. I was just pointing out the differences that we’ve experienced at different schools.