<p>Our son is applying to St. George's, Westminster and Kent...could current parents, students, alum comment and compare/contrast these schools...Our son had very good visits and interviews at all 3 schools and likes all three...</p>
<p>My son is attending St. George’s this year as a III Form. I cannot speak to the other schools, since he did not apply to them. So far, St. George’s was the absolute right choice for my son. The teachers have been unbelievable. They meet with him when he has a question, have helped him get quickly up to speed and each one has a great handle on who he is as a person and as a student. The food service was really lacking last year when we visited - but the new company is great. My son was really relieved about that. He is happier than we ever imagined he could be. The only issue we have faced so far are dorm issues. Our son is working through them with his advisor - the dorm parent, not so great. But, he is handling the situation maturely and if this is the only issue, I can honestly say we are very pleased.</p>
<p>I am a student at Kent. If you ahve any questions, a private message would be nice so i can get your tour info and give you my email(I rarely check the forums).</p>
<p>Many thanks for that great feedback on SG!</p>
<p>Luvscuba’smom, your input on SG is very helpful – quick question, not sure what “dorm issues” means…we understand that now all III Formers are in the same dorm complex (Buell/Wheeler) which seemed like great facilities…assume you mean people/roommate issues when you say “dorm issues” as the quality of SG dorms seemed high…</p>
<p>@RedwoodCT
sent you a pm.</p>
<p>I guess I should clarify dorm issues. Yes, all of the freshman are housed in Buell/Wheeler. The benefits are that the freshman get to really bond together as a class and there is some insulation from “hazing”. Although, my son who played his fall sport with mostly upperclassmen had no issue with “hazing” and sometimes finds the minor isolation a slight annoyance - but no biggie. The downside is that quite a few of the students in the dorm are dealing with issues living at the school on their own and there are no “older” students to show them the ropes. Also, the dorm parents do not seem to have a great handle on the shenanigans of some less mature students who do not really want to buckle down and study. My son has found that keeping your room locked at all times is necessary so that pranks are not played - like hiding books and class notes, filling your bed with potato chips, stealing food and drinks in your room, etc. This stuff just irritates my son because it is stupid. About half the kids think this is great fun, about half find it inappropriate. My son chose to ask for a meeting with one of the dorm parents with a couple of his friends who also find this frustrating. The dorm parent was frustrated at the complaints and seemed to take the students’ concerns personally. For our purposes, we simply installed additional locks on his drawers and plastic bins and he spends as little time in his dorm room as possible. He spends free time studying in the library or working out in the gym or (his favorite) surfing at the beach. The remaining problem was a roommate that wouldn’t help keep the door locked. But, after the roommate had some damage done and could not complete a school assignment due to “mischief” he is now a believer in removing himself from the crazier behavior in the dorm and working together to keep the room locked. Now my son and his roommate are on the same page and things are running a little smoother.</p>
<p>I think we have just been surprised by the lack of activism and involvement by the dorm parents given the phenomenal support, professionalism and caring of every other adult that has interacted with my son at the school. It just seems that the boy’s freshman dorm management is the weak link in the chain. The rest of the experience has been everything we wanted and more. So, I guess putting up with this one issue is not the worst thing.</p>
<p>The good news is that my son is dedicated to superior behavior and grades to ensure he can pick his own room next year. St. George’s has a system where the students with the fewest green cards/room restrictions (disciplinary actions) gets first choice for the next year. He says he wants a single, but then decides he wants a roommate - but he wants to pick his roommate. So, for us, in the big picture, I am glad that he has a motivator do what he knows is right. So, we’ll chalk up the freshman dorm as a learning experience. I just wish he could enjoy his dorm room and feel his stuff is safe without living with locks and a minor level of distrust. Oh well, that’s life - truth is it is probably harder on me when he was calling frustrated with the situation and I couldn’t “fix it” for him. However, at this point, he has found a way to cope, he and his roommate are now on the same page, and he loves it there. </p>
<p>Please, seriously consider St. George’s it is a great school - academically very challenging, great support staff, and great student body.</p>
<p>Many thanks for the pm…I will check it out…</p>
<p>As a Westminster (Simsbury, Ct) boarding parent, I am elated to share the good news and bad news of Westy…</p>
<p>Pros / Good News:
Great location, easy access to Hartford and town of Simsbury
Friendly atmosphere overall of students
Facilities- are nice- clean dorms, fabulous new academic center
The school schedule is being revised to allow a later start time…with goal of modified time demands at night
New headmaster may address the deep / negative communication issues.
My student generally likes the school and teachers. </p>
<p>Cons / Bad News
Poor school spirit…few students attend each others games.
Communication to Parents is VERY BAD. Truly horrible.
The “W” book (of policies) is received by parents only a few weeks prior to school start.
Received the first newsletter and communication for form / class dean this weekend- almost 3 months after schools started.
Never met, heard from most teachers so far this year.
Emails take weeks for a reply…including from admissions
Website contained inaccurate, dated information. Few sports updates- or lag way behind.
No student newspaper (that I know of)
Small school, but the benefits of that are not maximized
Limited access to news or current events…few working TVs on campus. On in our dorm doesn’t work well. Stays on one channel
Students RARELY leave campus for any reason…movie, mall, change of scenery. Be nice of dorm advisor would get everyone out.</p>
<p>Students have NO DOWN time or privacy. For that reason, can be a “pressure cooker” All phone calls are made in presence of roomate.</p>
<p>Super strict rules…if you aren’t a senior, you can’t even have a drink of water after 10pm. Not supposed to go to the bathroom after 10pm. </p>
<p>With all of that said, if you live within driving distance, it’s a great school. Further than that, you may have a challenge getting to school - to find out what’s going on.</p>
<p>As a Westminster (Simsbury, Ct) boarding parent, I am elated to share the good news and bad news of Westy…</p>
<p>Pros / Good News:
Great location, easy access to Hartford and town of Simsbury
Friendly atmosphere overall of students
Facilities- are nice- clean dorms, fabulous new academic center
The school schedule is being revised to allow a later start time…with goal of modified time demands at night
New headmaster may address the deep / negative communication issues.
My student generally likes the school and teachers. </p>
<p>Cons / Bad News
Poor school spirit…few students attend each others sports games.
Communication to Parents is VERY BAD. Truly horrible.
The “W” book (of policies) is received by parents only a few weeks prior to school start.
Received the first newsletter and communication for form / class dean this weekend- almost 3 months after schools started.
Never met, heard from most teachers so far this year.
Emails take weeks for a reply…including from admissions
Website contained inaccurate, dated information. Few sports updates- or lag way behind.
No student newspaper (that I know of)
Small school, but the benefits of that are not maximized
Limited access to news or current events…few working TVs on campus. On in our dorm doesn’t work well. Stays on one channel
Students RARELY leave campus for any reason…movie, mall, change of scenery. Be nice of dorm advisor would get everyone out.</p>
<p>Students have NO DOWN time or privacy. For that reason, can be a “pressure cooker” All phone calls are made in presence of roomate.</p>
<p>Super strict rules…if you aren’t a senior, you can’t even have a drink of water after 10pm. Not supposed to go to the bathroom after 10pm. </p>
<p>With all of that said, if you live within driving distance, it’s a great school. Further than that, you may have a challenge getting to school - to find out what’s going on.</p>
<p>Hazing? Have to lock doors and personal containers? Lack of feedback from advisers etc. Poor School spirit. Yikes. Is this just your interpretation or is it shared by others? If true, I would be a very unhappy, tuition-paying parent. Sounds like the School has given up on quality control and that the leadership has abdicated their management responsibilities and role modeling. Scary stuff you’re reporting.</p>
<p>Your thoughts are understandable…prep school is not a decision to be made lightly.
A great opportunity, however. There are few perfect solutions, however, these are questions that should be asked.</p>
<p>As stated above our student is enjoying the Westminster experience.</p>
<p>Comment from the St. Georges parent post: a dorm for each form is good thing- you are lucky. There are definitely more issues that benefits from the “multi form” living arrangement.</p>
<p>My daughter is a sophomore (her second year) at Kent. Kent has been a great fit for our daughter. Please feel free to pm with any specific questions.</p>
<p>No water after 10pm? That is absurd.</p>
<p>It’s also not true. As a Westy P I am a little confused by the tone of Mrs. Hattrick’s posts. While some of her points on communication issues are well founded (and btw are being addressed by the school), most of the other ‘Cons’, such as lack of school spirit, etc… do not match my observations. Maybe a hat trick by S/D (with mom in attendance) will display the school spirit you seek.</p>
<p>LOL!! hahaha…I hope that I am wrong on all “cons.” We like Westy overall. </p>
<p>That’s funny Elmo33…my student is an artist and doesn’t play a “hat trick” sport, so that’s not what I seek- but I do have 3 kids. Anyway, While attending various events/ games on campus, I saw few students there. Is there a booster club or cheering club of any type? I may have missed it…</p>
<p>I admit that the information I have may or may not be accurate- due to the lack communication from the school. Glad to hear that it’s being addressed.</p>
<p>Sharing my observations…</p>