Boarding Schools in New England

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
1

<p>Can anyone share their experiences with boarding schools in New England. We are just beginning the process of evaluating several schools for my son who will be an incoming Sophomore in 2012. </p>

<p>Things to note.. primary reason we are making this decision... He is a hockey player from Florida who dreams of attending a top college and play Div I college hockey. We have come to the realization that he will need to leave the state in order to have a chance at acomplishing this. That being said, the academic opportunities that we believe he will have, certainly outweigh the anxiety we feel by having him 1200 miles away from home. We would like some feedback on which school would best fit his personality and abilities. He is currently what I would consider an average student (3.0 GPA) with not the best study habits. We would like a school that along with an excellent hockey program, is also willing to work with his strengths and grow his academic potential. We do not want to put him in a situation where the academics are so rigorous and demanding that we would set him up to fail. The current schools we are looking at are.. Cushing, NMH, Avon, Lawrence, Westminster, Tabor... Any thoughts on what the best options are given our circumstances... chances of him being accepted?</p>

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<p>I hear Salisbury has a pretty good hockey program. I’ve also heard that South Kent’s ice rink is one of the best in the state. As far as I know, the academics at both schools are really good, but you should look into it more if you’re interested.</p>

3

<p>Avon has championship hockey, challenging academics with close monitoring of progress, mandatory quiet in-room study period each evening, enrichment hour (walk-in tutoring with teacher in classroom) each evening between dinner and study.</p>

<p>Avon campus includes recently built science building, athletic center, student center, performing arts building, athletic fields, NFL quality indoor hockey rink, overall, the facilities are topnotch.</p>

4

<p>Is he ok with the all boy school? Another school to consider is Berkshire in Ma. I was on a AAA team last yr. and a teammate went to Cushings and really liked it.</p>

5

<p>IMO all these schools ride a roller coaster with sports. One year undefeated, followed by a dismal season. I’ll agree that the all boys schools such as Salisbury do have strong teams for the obvious reasons but that does not necessarily translate into winning seasons. It’s hard to tell with a 3.0 GPA which could be a 2.0 or 4.0 some where else with respect to academics. CC does not know your son’s personality and abilities. It is not easy to find a fit for your son by looking at the websites but I do think it can help in narrowing down the list. Personally I’m fond of Brooks School in North Andover, MA… I’ll admit I never attended, my father did and have visited the school on numerous occasions. The school has a wonderful and perceptive DOA. I can only suggest adding it to your list. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Is your son a true sophomore, or will he be repeating? 80% to 90% of varsity rostered players have repeated at least a year. Varsity rosters dominated by seniors and PG’s. Very very common to play PG or one to two years of juniors/USHL after BS before making Div I hockeys rosters in addition to repeating years. Is your son prepared to play a year or two (or three) on a JV/3rd’s roster. Avon for example has some very strong hockey. They have 5 hockey teams shown on their website. Not easy to make the top varsity team seen by the Div I scouts even as a senior. Long list of players on NHL Draft scouting list. Suggest you get really comfortable with your son’s prospects of playing before sending him 1200 miles away to play BS hockey.</p>

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<p>Exeter123, thank you for your response. No, my son would actually be repeating his Sophomore year in order to provide him with the best opportunity to eventually play at the Varsity level. He is ok with putting in a year at the JR V level if that is what it takes. We understand the odds and are familiar with the prospect of even after BS having to put in a couple of years of JR before being able to play Div I. It’s a long process and we won’t know what the options are until we start becoming familiar with some of these programs. Thanks again for the dose of reality…</p>

8

<p>Ok, I’m just a little out of my league (goaliegirl is playing women’s D3 this year after 4 years in a NE boarding school after leaving the south), but I can identify with your son’s situation and would like to ask you a few questions to consider…</p>

<p>1) You say his dreams are to play D1 college hockey (as opposed to D3 or Minors/NHL). Is this because A) He realizes NHL isn’t going to happen and wants to play the best non-professional hockey he can before his “career” ends. B) Sees D1 hockey as a route to the pros with a fallback plan of a degree and a non-hockey career. C) Enjoys the BMOC status that you get with D1 that D3 and Junior hockey might not have.</p>

<p>2) He understands that a large number of (for males) D1 players actually come in through Junior hockey where they have a couple extra years to physically mature (and thus become more competitive) and are typically the ones from Juniors who aren’t NHL bound (Chris Chelios and a few others being notable exceptions). Does he (and you for that matter) understand the relationships between the various paths within hockey (Juniors/Preps/D1/D3) and that there isn’t one specific best path?</p>

<p>3) Does he have the life experience to understand the best hockey for him isn’t necessarily the best team he can warm the bench for?</p>

<p>4) Given his age, does he understand that boarding school and college are more about preparing him for life (academically and maturity) than preparing him for better hockey? If he has been playing travel hockey in Florida, he will be very disappointed in the lenght of the prep hockey season. If anything he will get more ice time and development playing on Junior Minor team, better preparing him for D1 college hockey.</p>

<p>Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of kids who progress from boarding school hockey to D1 hockey, but it isn’t the boarding school hockey that made the D1 quality players. Boarding school will prepare him to be a more successful student/athlete from the student perspective than other paths.</p>

<p>And life has a way of changing a child’s dreams. Goaliegirl grew up thinking D1 and along the way, then thought of “what’s after that” occurred and the idea that she wanted to serve her country started becoming more important. So the goals changed to ROTC and D3 hockey (something for now, something for later). Did she need boarding school to go D3 women’s hockey? Probably not. Club/boys would have been as good if not better (more ice) for the hockey operation. However, the boarding school experience definitely made her a more mature, better prepared student to be more successful in her current pursuit (ROTC and hockey).</p>

<p>Now if a boarding school experience is just viewed as a great experience regardless of the hockey development, by all means he should be talking to BS coaches and hopefully have a tournament or 2 where he can be scouted. Then he can get an honest evaluation of what prep hockey may hold for him.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

9

<p>There is a sports school in Lake Placid NY. I think it<code>s called International sports school, not sure. I know some guys who went there and made it to the NHL. It starts in 9th grade but you could do a PG yr. The program caters to a JR league program and they travel as such. Very high level of play. They have academic requirements that work around their sports program. So it</code>s a high school w/strong sports for olympic levels. You may want to look into it. Good luck</p>

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<p>Actually, it`s called The National Sports Academy, in Lake Placid NY.</p>

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<p>Read Goaliedad’s post again. Then read it again. Then read it one more time. If this is something you want to pursue, get the Prep School Hockey Guide and start deciding what (other than hockey) is important. Find schools with a good match with SSAT score, size, campus location, coed vs all boys, endowment and financial aid (if that is a concern). Visit the ones that fit. Meet the coaches. Be realistic about the role your son would play. Good luck!</p>

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<p>goaliedad: great post. I might also add that BS’s by some sort of agreement cannot lay down their ice until a specific date. Is it November 15? In any event, greatly impacts ice time for college or pro aspirations. At our child’s school, some of the hockey players go off campus to play several times a week. But, that’s entirely independent of the school.</p>

<p>Regarding NSA: the mens hockey program isn’t as strong as their women’s hockey. For the first time in their history, women outnumber men in their student body. The mens hockey woulnd’t beat most upper level BS teams. It’s been a long time since an NSA alum reached the NHL. Majority end up in D2/D3 schools. The womens program is at a higher level. Not much of a place for academics.</p>

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<p>Goaliedad: thank you for your very insightful post. I must admit that both my husband and I have read your post again and again (thank you Kaileigh). All of your questions are exactly the kind of things that we are considering and currently struggling with. Like I mentioned in my post, we would have never explored the possibilities at a BS without hockey being the main driver. However, from what we have read, heard and seen, it’s becoming more apparent that he might benefit not so much from the best hockey experience, but from the best life experience. Not sure if going the Junior route while still in high school will be the best choice for him knowing the kind of student he is. As a parent our main priority is to provide him with the best opportunities to enable him to find his path and maybe along the way his dreams might change or perhaps they might come true. That remains to be seen…but for now we will continue to educate ourselves and educate him in what the realistic expectations are and what prep school might offer him.</p>