<p>has anyone on this board visited/attended concord academy?</p>
<p>If you look in the thread "Boarding Schools with Arts Focus" you will find a response from another parent whose daughter just started attending. You might be able to pm her with questions if no one responds to this thread.</p>
<p>I visited Concord Academy 2 years ago with my daughter. The school has a large number of day students. We did not like some of their policies to encourage a sense of community across both the day and boarding students.
Boarding students are not allowed in their dorms at all during the day.<br>
The school had a very warm, supportive feel. Their art and humanities programs were very strong. I was less sure about the science program. Ultimately my daughter did not apply there because she wanted a strong science and math program.</p>
<p>having a child at a different school but same town, I have seen the place many times. Our concern was similar to shelley14. However, that being said, if the large day population is of no concern, I believe it's a very good school. drnancie, you kill two birds with one stone while in Concord Mass. Middlesex, and CA</p>
<p>thanks all of you.</p>
<p>i think it isn't great to visit more than one school a day - too overwhelming. so we are making separate trips to andover, concord and middlesex. </p>
<p>it is very hard to tell about a school until you actually see it, so I appreciate all of your responses.</p>
<p>Drnancie...your inbox is full, so I can't reply to your pm.</p>
<p>I think Concord Academy suffers from being stereotyped as an 'artsy' school. Certainly they have an amazing arts program, but their academics across the board are up there with the best. My D. is not in the least bit 'artsy' - she's a math kid and is enjoying accelerated math as a freshman boarder. We loved the community they have developed among day/boarding students. They have a host family program for boarders - and day students are welcome to stay for dinner or overnight. The students work hard but seem happy. Being located in downtown Concord, the students have, in effect, an 'extended' campus to explore, as well as take advantage of the T to Boston. What stood out for us, above other prep schools we visited in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, was the value placed on each student's uniqueness and interests, and the quality of the faculty. I'm sure other prep schools also have this feature, but it just didn't come across as strongly as at CA. </p>
<p>As always, its what is the right fit for your child. We also visited Middlesex...another really excellent school, but CA just happened to be a better 'fit' for our D.</p>
<p>Sheffield, we have a d at Middlesex. We really love the Concord Mass area; it's always a pleasure to visit Concord, and to have Boston so close. It's such an ideal place for a boarding school.</p>
<p>well these postings make me happy because we have visits scheduled for both of these schools. any other suggestions of similar schools to middlesex and concord?</p>
<p>I feel like a broken record for suggesting these two again, but groton and lawrence (both in groton, mass.) are very similar to the aformentioned--groton more like middlesex, lawrence more 'artsy,' like concord. brooks, in n. andover is somewhere between these two in terms of personality.
All close to Boston, set on idyllic country campuses.</p>
<p>Hi we are going to look at andover. We are not comfortable with schools with a religious affliation, so that rules out a number of good schools. I don't know anything about lawrence so I will check into it.</p>