<p>How well does the advisory/dorm parent/prefect system at each of the top boarding schools manage it's younger students? Realizing that even talented and motivated students may find personal consistency to be an occasional issue?</p>
<p>Re-posting what I stated in the other thread and want to add, that my d loves the vertical housing at SPS. She has great relationships with older girl’s who have given her a lot of encouragement and occassional academic help. </p>
<p>I have been very happy with the advising system at SPS. Most of the student’s are assigned an advisor who lives in or has some responsibility in their dorm. The advisor monitor’s the student’s academic progress and social integration. Since the advisor typically lives in the dorm there is a lot of interaction with the student. My daughter’s advisor has been very responsive and proactive in addressing issues before they turned into problems. She is aware of who my d’s friends are and the type of activities she is involved in.</p>
<p>When d was applying I was most concerned about SPS because of the “freedom with responsibility” (and conversely she was most attracted to the school because of “freedom with responsibility”). My initial interpretation was that student’s were left to do whatever they want. In reality the dorm advisers have been quick to recognize potential behavior and academic issues and have been aggressive in addressing potential problems. This can include requiring mandatory study hours and requiring early check. If a student skips (bags) a class their advisor is informed and they are placed on restrictions. For students with academic problems, I believe they are given an academic plan and help to get them on the right track. In the evenings the student’s have to “touch base” with the dorm advisor on duty at a specified time and let them know what they are doing that night. I think it would be hard for a student at SPS to fall through the cracks, the adults seem to closely monitor what is going on.</p>
<p>Thanks for the vertical housing feedback. Honestly, I’ve not formed an opinion on vertical versus horizontal despite lots of school visits. My applying D is my eldest, and I think there is no substitute for personal experience in areas like this. </p>
<p>One concern I have is that with all the extracurricular opportunities/requirements, a child could allow priorities to drift a bit. Preventing that is my chief parental concern.</p>
<p>I love my advisor! She is like a therapist and a counselor and gives help if I’m having trouble in a class! She also always has food in her room… very helpful at school :)</p>
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Having gone through a top tier boarding school, this is my opinion: you need to let your child determine his or her priorities, if possible. It’s not the end of the world if their academics slip a bit because they’re spending a lot of time practicing music, doing service, playing sports, and/or being very involved in leadership/extracurricular roles. Those are all valid uses of the opportunities they’re granted. Children going to these schools are all gifted, but they’re also still children. They need to find what moves them. 80% of these students won’t graduate in the top 20%. At least 60% (and that’s a conservative number) will not be attending Ivy League schools (and some by choice, too). It’s better for them to explore and maybe slip up now than in college, and many people don’t focus as much on academics as they’re capable of but still do amazing things (such as in community service) and go to wonderful colleges. So don’t be too worried about priorities drifting a bit unless they’re completely ignoring academics, especially just to socialize.</p>
<p>With that said, certainly the advising system can help make sure priorities don’t get too out of line; I went to Andover, and my advisor was very helpful; she didn’t just talk about what courses I should take, but also asked about my social life, my extracurricular activities, and so on. Because she was a teacher (and at Andover, they almost all are, though some may be admissions officers), she ate with and talked with my teachers, so she’d hear about me from them, too. She was hardly overbearing (independence is important at boarding schools, and it seems that those being exposed to it for the first time, whether from private or public schools, seem to have trouble adjusting to college), but she knew what was going on in my life and did her best to make sure I was informed about the decisions I was making.</p>
<p>Very helpful, Uroogla. Honestly, I’d been apprehensive about my D’s interest in PA, but felt much better after talking to parents of current students and also to the interviewer.</p>