<p>My son was a B student (private school), strong athlete with above average SSAT and interviewed well. We looked a Taft, Westminster, Berkshire, Deerfield and some others not on your list last year. He wanted a small to medium school with a great hockey program. Last fall, we decided to add an all boys school to our list of tours just to show him what was out there. He ended up choosing it over a coed school and is very happy; especially with hockey season starting.</p>
<p>Our impressions on the schools you are interested in:
Taft - We know several students there now, and they seem very happy. It is a good school. The āone buildingā campus turned my son off. What I liked about Taft was it seemed easy to get extra help if one needed it. They have a learning center open during study hall each night. I didnāt like they way our interview was set up. The interview was 1st and the tour was second. It left us with a lot of unanswered questions. I have heard they put a lot of emphasis on SSAT scores.
Westminster - We also know several students here. They love it, and their parents have wonderful things to say. It seems to be a nuturing environment. The number of day students is high which turned us off a bit. It is a small school and almost half of the 9th grade class is made up of day students so it appears it might be harder to get into 9th grade vs. 10th grade as a boarder. They only have maybe 20 slots for 9th grade boarding boys. I think they had overall around 900-1000 applications last year.
Berkshire - We do not know anyone currently attending. The campus is beautiful and hockey facility amazing. It seems it would be a good match for your son given his grades and interests. We had a great tour and left with a good overall feeling about the school.
Deerfield - amazing. My son loved it, but didnāt have a chance at getting in with Bās. </p>
<p>As I look back on the whole process I could not be happier with the outcome. Another school my son really liked was Kent. Good luck!</p>
<p>t31, Chel and IB - thanks for the informative posts. Chel, Iāll assume your son is at AOF (rather than Salisbury), given the hockey reference, correct? Any scoop on his new school and why you chose it over others?</p>
<p>The decision to go to an all boys school did not happen overnight for us. As I said earlier, we added an all boys school to our school tours/interviews so our son could see a variety of schools. After our visit, we all surprising agreed that we liked it and decided to keep it on our list. The decision to attend took a lot of thought and a revisit to convince us it was the right fit. I am so glad we didnāt rule it out last fall because we are so happy with our decision. </p>
<p>We chose our sons school over others for several reasons. Leadership is important to us, and we were very impressed with the Headmaster and the direction he is taking the school. He is one of New Englandās great young Headmasters who is very dedicated to his faculty and student body. They know how to teach boys, and they put a strong emphasis on boys becoming gentlemen. We want our son to have a great education and at the same time become a better person. Academically, our son has the chance to be at the top of his class and have leadership opportunities. Athletically, the school is very strong. They won the New England Champion title in hockey and were Co-Champions in lacrosse last year. Sports are important to our son, and I think the athletic programs helped him make his decision. He was, and still is, very impressed with the level of play. The new athletic facility, which just opened this fall, is trully amazing, and he canāt wait to get on the ice next week! Our son is very social, and we have no concerns with him maintaining relationships with girls outside of school. Being in an all boys environment takes away some of these social distractions, and hopefully he can really focus on being a good student. We also liked that the school has maintained traditions over the years. The boys still wear coat and ties to class and attend sit down meals. For these reasons, and I am sure there are others I am not thinking of right now, we chose it over a coed school. I hope that helps in answering your question. By the way, he is at Salisbury not AOF.</p>
<p>Chel - GREAT post (and apologies about assuming AOF vs S). Sounds like a well thought-out decision for Sarum, and definitely one worth considering.</p>
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