<p>Hi everyone, I'm currently a freshman at Concord Academy. I know CA isn't the most popular school on this HADES-centric board, but I urge you all to give it a chance! It's an amazing school with an outstanding community, and I love it even after just 1 month here. If any of you have any questions about the school or the application process, feel free to ask!</p>
<p>I’m thinking of applying to concord as a boarding student but the boarding percent is 42% and im kinda scared that that takes away from the “community” feel that more boarding centered schools have so I guess what I’m asking is how is the boarding situation? thanks :)</p>
<p>I’m a day student, but from what I’ve seen, the boarding community is amazing. The campus is always filled with people, and I’m personally at school all the time on weekends. Boarders and day students definitely mix well, and sometimes I don’t even know who is a boarder and who is a day student. I definitely wouldn’t worry about the higher percentage of day students if you are considering applying.</p>
<p>buuummpp .</p>
<p>Hi –
Thanks for offering to answer questions and provide your perspectives! We’re just starting to look at high schools for our daughter, and from what we’ve heard so far, CA is at the top of our list. Couple of questions, if you wouldn’t mind:
- could you please describe the learning environment a bit? Specifically, are most of the students motivated academically? How competitive is it? (One of the reasons our daughter is looking at new schools is that too many of the kids at her current school are more interested in being “cool” than in the academics, so she feels she has to choose between participating and being a loser/nerd or not participating. At the same time, we’re not looking to put her in a competitive, pressure cooker kind of place.)
- how would you describe the social dynamics? Are there a lot of cliques? Our daughter is on the quiet side, really into creative writing, not at all into fashion/makeup/shopping/dating/facebook (yet) – how do you think somebody like that would fare socially at CA?
- How would you compare the workload to where you were before – and as a point of reference, where was that? Is there support to help the students learn how to manage their time to adjust to the higher expectations? </p>
<p>Thanks so much in advance!</p>
<p>Sure!
- could you please describe the learning environment a bit? Specifically, are most of the students motivated academically? How competitive is it? (One of the reasons our daughter is looking at new schools is that too many of the kids at her current school are more interested in being “cool” than in the academics, so she feels she has to choose between participating and being a loser/nerd or not participating. At the same time, we’re not looking to put her in a competitive, pressure cooker kind of place.)</p>
<p>I would say that the learning environment is challenging, but very discussion-based. Nearly everyone is very academically motivated, and in no way will you be considered a “loser” if you participate, in fact class-participation can do nothing but help your social life. AS far as competiion goes, students are obviously very driven but most focus on their own academic progress rather than comparing themselves to others. </p>
<ul>
<li>how would you describe the social dynamics? Are there a lot of cliques? Our daughter is on the quiet side, really into creative writing, not at all into fashion/makeup/shopping/dating/facebook (yet) – how do you think somebody like that would fare socially at CA? </li>
</ul>
<p>At CA, everyone is very friendly and welcoming, and it seems like its easy for everyone to find a niche. We do tend to have groups of friends, but these groups are in no way exclusive, and groups frequently change and overlap. Of course, there are the people more interested in “fashion/makeup/shopping/dating/facebook”, but I would say that compared to any other school I have seen, these people are much more hard to find. I’m sure your daughter would be fine socially here- just as long as she tries to be friendly. Orientation was also a great help for me with making friends. As an aside, if she’s into creative writing, CA has a really amazing English department, as well as a Creative Writing club, Poetry Club, school newspaper, and literary magazine.</p>
<ul>
<li>How would you compare the workload to where you were before – and as a point of reference, where was that? Is there support to help the students learn how to manage their time to adjust to the higher expectations? </li>
</ul>
<p>Before CA I was at a public middle school in a town close to Concord. I would definitely say the workload is much bigger, however it is not unmanageable. I haven’t had too much trouble adjusting, and students are always welcome to get help from teachers or the Academic Support Center</p>
<p>Thanks so much!! Really helpful and greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>BUMP! I’m on spring break so I have plenty of time to reply now :)</p>
<ul>
<li>could you please describe the learning environment a bit? Specifically, are most of the students motivated academically? How competitive is it? (One of the reasons our daughter is looking at new schools is that too many of the kids at her current school are more interested in being “cool” than in the academics, so she feels she has to choose between participating and being a loser/nerd or not participating. At the same time, we’re not looking to put her in a competitive, pressure cooker kind of place.)
~The academics are challenging but the teachers do a good job of doing interesting things, not just busywork that you don’t want to complete so it really feels like all of the time spent on work is interesting and truly rewarding. The students are very motivated, and one of my favorite aspects of the school is the intelectual level of the conversations in and out of class. On a day to day basis i love having conversations about anything from current events to poetry to what we talked about in class. It is great to get to learn from the teachers and my friends both in and out of the classroom. </li>
<li>how would you describe the social dynamics? Are there a lot of cliques? Our daughter is on the quiet side, really into creative writing, not at all into fashion/makeup/shopping/dating/facebook (yet) – how do you think somebody like that would fare socially at CA?
~I think that she would fare very well at CA. It really is a school for all types of people. I am a lot like that myself and I found a place here pretty easily, in the drama department and arts in general and poetry club and such. </li>
<li>How would you compare the workload to where you were before – and as a point of reference, where was that? Is there support to help the students learn how to manage their time to adjust to the higher expectations?
~ The workload is significantly more intense then I had in middle school, but I went to a public middle school where I was by far the strongest student academically and the homework and stuff was minimal. They do a pretty good job of easing freshman into the workload and the Academic Support Center is great for that as well. I also found it was really helpful to talk directly to my teachers about this, and they were happy to help.</li>
</ul>