@one1ofeach I literally kept saying to my husband: I cannot believe this is for 440 kids. And @Publisher you hit the nail on the head when you said the intensity isn’t necessary but the nurturing and caring is. That may not ring true for everyone. I honor that for some folks more is just more. But your words ring in my heart very deeply. Exactly THIS.
And I’ll add: I think it’s easy to confuse intensity for rigor, and while sometimes there is overlap, they are not the same. (And as my DD2 pointed out, she feels like class discussions at MB are richer because kids aren’t as concerned with making sure they “sound smart” so there is more participation.)
@gardenstategal
You know that I am a HUGE George School fan too! And it was a joy finally to visit GS last week!!! It is a different culture from MB. Maybe I would describe MB as a little more “classic NE boarding school vibes, without some of the intensity and New England tight preppy culture.” George I would say is a little more: international (in a deep, meaningful, diverse way), a little more quirky (e.g. dyed hair, fun outfits, not preppy), less scaffolded (so no seated meals, come and go). What George and MB had in common: deep humanity throughout our experience, across kids, admissions members, faculty, everywhere. GS felt a little too independent for my DD3 who I think will do better with some more structure, and seeing the same people in class as she sees in her dorm. (meaning higher boarding population.). She is an explorer, and wants to do new things and explore her love of engineering – for that, a solid safety net felt right for her. (Also: TBH – the AMAZING snowboarding/skiing program at MB might have been the kicker that sealed the deal.)
To be clear: we made some wonderful friendships and met people at PA we loved too. But there wasn’t scaffolding by design, nor the deep empathy and human connection across the board for us there. (And they were honest about being for “independent kids” up front, so no bad feelings about that on my end. The miscalculation was ours; not theirs.)
We are connectors over here in our house. Like, I really did tear up when I sent the farewell emails yesterday. And when a school writes back “well good luck, see ya” (or not at all sometimes), it hurts my feelings that after 7 months of getting to know us, it’s ends so abruptly. And when some schools write back lovely, wonderful emails, even after we turn them down, it fills my heart with so much love and joy. (one school director of admissions actually said: “if DD3 ever gets stuck at XYZ airport in her travels to MB, you know where to reach me!” I mean can you imagine?)
There are some wonderful people out there in the boarding school world for sure.