For kiddo1’s school, most theater performances are not live streamed due to copyright issues. I’m not sure if this is an issue with all schools, or if its due to the school’s proximity to NYC. Either way, if we want to see a performance, we have to fly there.
ETA: And I agree with @G07b10 on trying to watch a swim meet that is being live streamed. The only time we were able to spot kiddo2 was during NEPSAC finals, because they had graphics on the feed, showing each swimmer/school. To add to that, only 2 or 3 of his meets this season were live streamed.
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Good points about sports events - I also wonder if the amount of Saturdays with no classes also has to do with the school’s desire to support student mental health, which seems to be something that are making a concerted effort to do this year. It looks like the “Saturdays off” are dispersed pretty evenly throughout the year, it may be purposeful to give students a little break (and an extra day to sleep in!)
We are 90 minutes from DS in his second year at Mercersburg and we LOVE being able to go to his games and meet other parents in a casual environment. Often away games are even more convenient so we attend those as well. It’s wonderful to be able to take my son and his friends out for dinner or run a forgotten item up to him. We also have an incredible network of local DMV families who have become like family to us and we share carpooling, etc. The closer you are to campus, the easier it is to form “your village”.
I’ll add that short of one time when DS was sick this fall, he has never come home during a non break. He’s very happy with his people doing his thing on weekends and they are kept very busy at MB. We love when he agrees to pencil us in for a dinner every so often!
Agree with the sentiments above… don’t choose a school for its location at the expense of all other things. If it so happens that you’re choosing between two equals, geographic convenience is a definite plus!
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We are 2.5 hrs away and the other options were 4-5 hrs away (and more unpredictable traffic). Distance was a small consideration but son went with the best overall fit, which happened to be the closest school. We generally are able to make his Saturday games which works out great. We stick around to say hi and occasionally will take him out for dinner, but he likes to do whatever school activity is going on that night. And then we are back home at a reasonable hour. It also seems that there are frequent long weekend breaks that makes it easy to come home and take him back or send him via the bus the school runs. So in hindsight being closer is a bigger deal than we initially expected
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