<p>My daughter entering 8th grade is considering applying to boarding school this year. She is a very smart girl and we live on the East Coast. However, she is interested in attending a boarding school NOT on the East Coast. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations for schools not on the East Coast, specifically in California?</p>
<p>Thank you </p>
<p>Don’t know about California, but there is one called the Baylor School (I think) in Chattanooga TN.</p>
<p>California Schools:</p>
<p>Cate
Thacher
Webb
Stevenson</p>
<p>Non East:</p>
<p>Culver
Lake Forest</p>
<p>And do a search on boardingschoolreview.</p>
<p>Don’t know enough about your daughter’s profile to make a recommendation about which CA school would be a good fit, but I am a big believer in sending an adventurous, independent child to the other coast for the cultural exposure. It’s an amazing benefit. We went from DC to Ojai and think it was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. If your daughter is a natural-born contributor (i.e. socially engaged and positive), loves the outdoors and is very smart, Thacher is worth careful consideration. PM me and I can go into more detail if you’d like.</p>
<p>Oregon Episcopal School and Hockaday (Texas) as well, if she wants all girls.</p>
<p>Cate (CA) is a great school that’s on the mountains with great weather year round. It’s really lowkey, but it offers all the rigor your daughter would need 
</p>
<p>We are an East Coast family with a daughter who will be a freshman at Cate this fall. We did an EXTENSIVE school search, and ended up falling love with both Cate & Thacher. They are incredible schools, and a truly refreshing change from the East Coast. My daughter is leaving a top K-12 independent school to go to Cate, and I couldn’t be more proud of her nor more sure that she made the right decision. I agree with ThacherParent that exposure to another “culture” (in this case the West Coast ;-)) has many many benefits. Please PM me if you’d like more info, or just ask away here. Both schools are certainly worth a look!</p>
<p>I’m currently thinking about Cate. It looks amazing, and it is so close to the beach! The courses seem amazing too</p>
<p>Cool! I did not even realize that Hockaday was a boarding school. I have a superior at work who has 2 daughters going there locally. It is an extremely good school from all I have heard from him. </p>
<p>Yeah I actually could have gone to Hockaday as a boarder, but decided the east coast was better for me personally. But yeah, it’s a great school and I remember their SAT scores being absolutely exceptional. :)</p>
<p>Most of the non-East schools are very small in population. Whether that’s good or bad depends on your personal preference.</p>
<p>They’re also more scarce, as you probably already know. </p>
<p>No one’s mentioned St. Andrew’s in Delaware?</p>
<p>That’s East Coast.</p>
<p>Good point! I always think of east coast as being New England, but I stand corrected. That explains why it never came up!</p>
<p>Haha, yeah, otherwise I would have said Lawrenceville immediately.</p>