<p>I was accepted for Concord Academy and will be most likely attending as a sophomore.</p>
<p>Reviews were scarce online, and I was wondering whether anybody attend the school or know more about it. Reply please~</p>
<p>My D is accepted at Concord Academy. From our tour and visit in the Fall we got the impression that it is a very academic and arts oriented environment. It also seemed like a close knit nurturing environment. The campus is relatively small, it has 50% day scholars and 50% boarders. What really stood out was the hands on learning approach.</p>
<p>I am hoping this thread stays alive - as I had considered Concord as a possible for my D applying next year. My biggest concern: seems like a day school that happens to have boarders, rather than a boarding school. My worry is the campus totally vacates on the weekends. I also don’t love the idea that the boarders cannot go to the dorm during the day. The arts focus of the school is almost too perfect for my D.
Could anyone here discuss these concerns?</p>
<p>I am a CA parent - of a day junior and my daughter couldn’t be happier. It is indeed a closeknit and nurturing environment, but the academics are absolutely superb. My daughter has been stretched in every area and has be allowed to accelerate (in math for example) when appropriate. Arts are fantastic. </p>
<p>I actually think the day/boarding mix works really well. The fact that the boarders cannot get in their rooms during the day means that all the students are the “same” during the day and there is no disappearing, etc by the boarding population. My daughter gets to school early every day so she can have breakfast w/ her boarding friends and often stays for dinner - no signing up or anything needed - always open to any day student. Kids also enjoy being on a campus that is part of a small town - during free blocks they can head out for pizza or whatever. </p>
<p>Campus is not deserted on the weekends - no Saturday classes is a big plus for many kids, but the list of activities is huge every weekend and great mix of day/boarding kids participate - or my kid goes back just to hang with friends. PM me if want more details!</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for all the feedback.</p>
<p>siemom, what kinds of activities happen on the weekends?</p>
<p>Great variety of activities every weekend - always a few off campus offerings such as movies, museum trips, even paintball on occasion. On campus - art shows, plays, various club get togethers. If you go on the CA website and look at the calendar you can get a taste of what is offered - longer lists come out as weekends approach - but my day kiddo is there every Friday night and most Saturdays.</p>
<p>bumpity bump</p>
<p>Another perspective on CA—close relationships develop between students and faculty—it is said that seeing faculty again is a major draw at reunion type events and this seems to be true for recent graduates I know. The atmosphere of the place is genuinely informal—you can pick up on this at a revisit. It’s really a come as you are kind of place but the schoolwork is quite challenging. There is lots of writing and teachers hold high expectations for what high schoolers are capable of.</p>
<p>Hello! I have a questions about Concord too. </p>
<p>I have enjoyed reading over the list of courses, it looks like so many awesome courses but do they really offer all those courses every year? How many classes do you get to choose beyond the required basic math/english/science/lanaguage? </p>
<p>Also, anyone have first hand experience with their string orchestra? How many members? How is the conductor?
THANKS :)</p>
<p>Except for U. S. History and freshman and sophomore English, all the history and English courses at CA are semester long choices, open to all juniors and seniors. About half the history and English choice courses are offered each year and you can tell from the course schedule which those will be. Most CA students take English, history, math, science, a language (five majors) and a performing or visual arts course (a minor) each semester. The performing and visual arts courses are open to everyone, freshmen included, and most of these arts elective courses are offered every year. Some of the most popular arts choices are theatre courses and photography and film which are all really strong at CA. Science and math departments offer a bunch of choices, but most ninth graders take bio and geometry and most tenth graders take chemistry and algebra 2 plus a semester of precalc. For tenth graders there are choices of more or less accerlerated math and lots of options in math and science for juniors and seniors. The course catalogue on the school website tells whether a particular course will be offered in any semester.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great info. I’m particularly interested in visual arts, especially photography. I’m definitely looking forward to it.</p>
<p>How are the dorms like at CA?</p>
<p>My daughter goes there as well. She is very happy there. The school is pretty demanding. Strengths of the school from a teaching standpoint are writing and art. Science and math are fine, but the writing and the art are particularly strong. The kids she’s friends with are very nice, fun kids who are serious students. Mixing with the boarders works. We have had a number at our house for Friday or Saturday night, Halloween, etc. The facilities are excellent, the campus is gorgeous.</p>
<p>Like many private schools, it has a number of very experienced teachers and a number of younger ones. The experienced ones tend to be very good. The younger ones are hit or miss; some are great and some are not.</p>
<p>Would Concord Academy be a good fit for someone who loves writing and is very academic but not necessarily artistic? How strong do you have to be in the arts? D has to choose between Milton and Concord Academy. Any input will be appreciated.</p>
<p>I don’t think you have to be good at the arts to be happy there. Your D will get exposure to the arts from very good teachers but does not have to be artistic. My daughter’s latent artistic talents are being drawn out by the classes. By the way, I should have mentioned the dance program there (which is part of the arts), which is outstanding. The director trained with (danced with?) Twyla Tharp and is inspiring. </p>
<p>I think it mixes the high expectations and the nurturing environment in a way that is typically effective. From a parent’s perspective, the culture of the school is that “we the administration and teachers know how to do things well and your kid is old enough and capable enough to be responsible, so that we implicitly don’t expect or want much parent feedback.” You have to work a bit not to be politely ignored, but once you climb that battle, they are generally responsive.</p>
<p>Does anyone know anything about their study abroad program?</p>
<p>This is for chaidrinker. Concord and Milton have pretty similar strengths in the humanities but have somewhat different kid cultures and overall feels. Concord is smaller scale, more informal, and perhaps more socially cohesive. Milton has the advantages of a bigger school: higher profile sports, more elaborate facilties, etc. I think the revisit days will help your daughter decide where she would be most comfortable. One of my children took full advantage of the arts offerings at Concord and the other didn’t have those interests as much but both have loved the place.</p>
<p>Cammum, Shawbridge, Siemom,
Thanks for all the valuable information. We are excited about revisit day.
The art program sounds great. Are the arts integrated into the curriculum or is the art program separate? For example, if they are learning Shakespeare, would they write papers or would they recreate a model of the Globe theater or perform a play? What I am trying to figure out is if the learning is all hands on. Thanks.</p>
<p>Is it possible to participate fully in the dance program and also take a good number of studio art courses? Is is hard to tell from the CA website if both interests can be fully realized.</p>
<p>chai, no meaningful integration from what I can see. Chemistry is chemistry and English is read books, talk about them, write papers.</p>
<p>liddy, I think so. My daughter is doing dance and studio art courses.</p>
<p>Shawbridge:
How does that work? Are the art classes during the academic day and for credit, and the dance is during what most schools consider the ‘afternoon athletic’ block?
I wonder also: My daughter is a good student, but somewhat easily distracted and does best in a group study situation. To clarify, if everyone is studying, she focuses well. Especially if a teacher is present and immediate questions or problems are addressed. She is young for her grade, and I am a little unsure if she were alone in her room (like my S at his school) as much would get done. Also, at a conservatory like Walnut Hill, the instructors are acutely aware of how much mental intensity and physical time must be spent in a dance or an art studio. It is my understanding that while the academics are not a cakewalk, the homework amounts given are reasonable for exhausted minds and bodies. I have read much about the rigorous academics at CA, and worry that, if that is the case, how do kids even have the time to devote to a 12-20 hour a week (or more) commitment to dance class and company? Plus studio art time? She really does not want to go to a conservatory precisely because she could not do both art and dance. But with crushing homework amounts, she couldn’t do both at CA without giving up eating or sleeping.</p>