I agree with adding concord academy to your list.
I’d say it’s probably better at most New England prep schools because homophobia is “officially” frowned on but there are definitely still groups of kids who think it’s funny. Then there are kids who think those kids are total idiots.
Any school varies by class and that’s not something you can predict.
Agreed. The goal should be to apply to schools where the “typical” students think the jerks are idiots.
Our family and the members of my kiddo’s team were very upset by the homophobic slurs being yelled out from boys at a certain boarding school last year - this boarding school tends to be mentioned as the “darling” of all things warm & fuzzy, affirming, and accepting. The boys yelled out vile homophobic, sexist, and body shaming comments. It was reported and the HOS’ response was pathetic. No apology to the team or school - just a type of “Boys will be boys” response. I will not mention where this took place publicly until after June 1….but you can DM me. If your child is LGBTQ identifying, I would not want you to be deceived by their “accepting” false marketing.
That part is sad.
But it does warrant a comment for applicants. Regardless of how affirming the school is (and is there a school that claims otherwise?), you will likely not find a school where you will never hear a slur directed towards you or someone you know. If the school is in a “town-and-gown” area, expect to hear it from the local kids.
My daugher identifies as queer and a lesbian. She is applying to primarily historic women’s colleges. My df’s child is trans and had an amazing experience at Haverford which is in a consortium with Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr and Penn. Smith and Mount Holyoke are in a consortium with UM-Amherst, Amherst College and Hampshire College. My research has shown that all of these schools have a strong LGBQT+ community. I hope this helps. Most schools claim inclusivity and diversity but I definitely checked out student media, reviews to get more information on the reality. Good luck!
They’re asking about high schools, not colleges
Ha, I clearly am very focused on college right now with a prep school senior. Apologies.
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Don’t they all market themselves this way now? If you specifically said the word “nice”, I would get it, but with this description I feel like it could be any school of our stack of catalogs.
There are definitely schools that are typically thought of as more warm and fuzzy than others. George school, St Andrew’s. Both come to mind. Andover, Exeter, Groton never get mentioned as warm and fuzzy.
I was thinking of Andover, the “big, blue nice”. At least that’s what our brochure says! I guess I don’t know who is warm and fuzzy. Concord seems nice, but I haven’t come across any schools who, in reality, feel “fuzzy”.
Emma Willard is warm, accepting, and supportive if you are interested in an all girls school
Never ever have I thought of Andover as nice. They might write it somewhere but that’s about it.
the book they send prospective students is titled “big blue nice!”
Yes. But having spent time on campus that’s just not the vibe 
. Others are free to disagree.
Were you able to get that “vibe” from a revisit day or tour, or from actually attending? I’m hoping if we are lucky enough to get admittance somewhere that revisit day would give some clues to the actual atmosphere. It’s hard when everyone is on their best behavior for those days.
Dear @maybeboardingmom : Yes, everyone will be on their best performance, or will try to. So, it can be difficult to get the vibe. One piece of advice is to stay after school and check out the kids during sports or activities.
I will be happy to resurrect my post this April (hopefully) for the…(drumroll)…
2022 Revisit Days Academy Awards 
This year’s categories (feel free to add):
When my kid was in the application and decision process, Andover tried so hard with that “nice” stuff that I figured they had to be overcompensating for having a student body that was actually on the mean side.
Everyone’s experience is different so I would take opinions on this forum (including my own) with a grain of salt. Some of the opinions I have read here from a couple of the same posters on multiple threads have no resemblance to our own experience thus far.
I have a child at Andover. Her teachers, coaches, teammates, and dorm mates have, so far, been incredibly kind and easy to work with. No, it’s not saccharine/phony and it’s not a summer camp, but this vibe that the student body is mean or there’s nothing nice about the school couldn’t be further from our reality. Not trying to discount anyone else’s experience, but that has been ours.
There’s a big spectrum between nice and mean!