Boarding schools with strong sports and academic support

We are starting the process of identifying schools for our 7th grade daughter, and have found lots of information on these threads. As we try and hone in on a targeted list, want to see if there are specific recommendations. Our DD is very bright, A-/B+ student but with mild ADHD and dysgraphia. She will likely not score amazingly on the SSAT. Having learning support is really important to us. She is also a very strong athlete (lacrosse and basketball) but we live in the Midwest so won’t be on any of the coaches radars. Any suggestions on how to target our search to find this right combination? She’s laid back, warm and inclusive, but doesn’t do well in navigating cliquey social dynamics. We are not interested in single sex schools and like the more medium to large student sized schools. Thanks.

A friend’s athletic daughter with ADHD did really well at Emma Willard.

You can start at boardingschoolreview.com and look for coed schools in your size with learning support as your filters. This will give you a prelim list…then from that list, come back and search threads re the schools you may be considering.

I know kids with your daughter’s profile who have done well at Lawrence Academy.

Lawrence academy. Yup.

Strong girls basketball team, strong sports culture in general. Good support for learning issues. Warm and welcoming.

Take videos, from your phone is fine. Learn to use iMovie- so many YouTube tutorials!! Send coaches some clips before you come to tour/interview.

Cushing Academy (which is hardly ever mentioned here on CC but is an amazing school)…of the 12 schools that we toured this was the only school who mentioned and took us on a tour of the student support center. DD did not need it but it was impressive. She will be graduating from there this year.

OP, how much do you care about the basketball and lacrosse teams being good?

Proctor’s another school with strong academic support you might want to look into.

I cannot respond specifically to your daughter’s needs, but for a great school, academically & athletically, consider the Culver Academies in Indiana.

Good question @one1ofeach Her current school is very small (all girls, class of 50) which is part of her desire to look further afield for HS. I know there’s a balance of having the top team but not getting playing time (or ever making varsity) vs being the standout on a team that’s not quite as good. She hopes to play lacrosse in college so I think we are looking for a pretty competitive team.

This is all really helpful. Thanks everyone for their responses.

If she wants to play lacrosse in college doesn’t she need to be playing on a club team? Lacrosse is a highly recruited sport and it’s my impression that most of the girls are playing club and that’s the main pathway. If that’s what she wants you may need to consider what clubs are near which schools and how she’ll get to practices and games if attending BS in another state.

She does play club and has tournaments on the east coast during the summer. Kids from her club get recruited to great colleges all over but totally not on the BS coaches radars. We will make a video of her and reach out to coaches for sure - Have already talked with one coach. Just trying to find the right target schools.

Just echoing what @one1ofeach said. I don’t know much about girls lacrosse but am in the midst of the recruiting process with my son (for D3). Playing on a club team in the fall has been an important part of his process, and his club team includes kids from a number of BSs who live all over but are able to play with the club due to proximity of their schools. I don’t know how prevalent or important fall club lacrosse is for girls and recruiting, but I’d say it’s worth taking into consideration. Good luck to your daughter!

OP: I would be interested in reading your thoughts about The Culver Academies in Indiana. Very beautiful campus, wealthy well-established prep boarding school which offers outstanding athletic & academic options.

Your thoughts are important so as to further refine your concerns for readers so as to generate more appropriate, tailored responses.

The lacrosse recruiting part of the picture might strengthen the argument for a New England or Mid-Atlantic school, as those areas are lacrosse central.

Culver Academy lacrosse is among the best in the US.

In 2017, for example, USA Today named the boys varsity lacrosse team at Culver Academy “Team of the Year”.

https://usatodyhss.com/2017/boys-lacrosse-team-of-the-year-culver-academy-culver-ind

Unfortunately, the link doesn’t work.

Culver Academy has both varsity & jv girls lacrosse.

P.S. On November 16, 2019 the Culver Academy boys varsity lacrosse team beat Tem USA U19 at Ohio State University by a score of 9 to 7.

Even though this is the boys team, being around the best lacrosse program in the nation should lead to positive development for all lacrosse players at Culver Academy.

If lacrosse is a primary concern, then try to review each boarding school’s current schedule for lacrosse matches.

How a boys team has done has little bearing a girls team. I have posted before that I think there is a still a disparity in the quality and expectations of boys vs girls coaches. I could list plenty of schools with great boys soccer and terrible girls soccer. OP needs to target schools and see how the girls coaches are at those schools.

I am sure Culver is an option if it’s a sporty school and I think OP probably gets that you think Culver is a strong option for her daughter.

@Parkview25, have you played around with the tools at Boarding School Review? Here’s a search for New England coed schools with lacrosse and learning support. There are some great schools on the list. Hit "advanced search to change the parameters. The Independent School League is known for strong sports as well as academics. There are 3 ISL schools on this search list-Lawrence, St. George’s and Tabor. We have a kid like yours, and while many schools have academic support I found that at some schools it was a more seamless experience than at others.

When you visit schools, in addition to asking what supports are available, ask who uses them, how those kids are identified, and who supplies the support. Visiting schools with my first child we asked those questions and the results helped us hone in on the schools that would be best for our child.

For instance, two school used almost identical language to talk about the support offered but when we drilled down a bit one school said, “we can help your child find a tutor”; the other said “we have weekly team meetings during which any faculty member can bring up kids we think may be struggling and we continue to follow them to make sure they don’t fall through the cracks. We can set up extra help on campus, either with before or after school meetings with faculty members or with a space for someone to come onto campus to work with your child.”

https://www.boardingschoolreview.com/search-boarding-schools/0010/00000010000/00/2000/020

@one1ofeach : You may want to research girls lacrosse at Culver Academy. I think that they do well & the girls sports teams are probably among the best funded & coached in the nation.

no need. my kids are already in school and do not play lacrosse. my point was simply that quality of boys teams and quality of girls teams are not the same and need to be looked at based on the gender of OP’s child.

As I said, I am sure OP has realized that you strongly recommend Culver!