Hi I recently got accepted into four schools these schools are williston Northampton,Avon old farms, Cushing academy and mercersburg academy I’m having a really hard time deciding which one so can anyone help ?
I’d start by listing the pros and cons TO YOU of each.
Those are really nice choices but also pretty different places.
out of those, id go to mburg.
Depends upon your interests & affordability.
Without more information, Mercersburg Academy should receive strong consideration.
Mercersburg.
Another vote for Mercersburg, but would be happy to answer any questions you have about the school. I’m a grad and have children attending.
Have you been joining Williston’s Zoom revisit panels? Those panels have our family SUPER impressed by the place (if you missed some, they have been recorded - your AO can get you access to them if they didn’t already send a link). I’ve been pm’ing for many months with a Williston mom, so I can say for sure beyond the good PR all schools are putting out, the opportunities at Williston really are as great as they look. Check out their Williston Scholars program in particular. Find online their magazine (I think it’s the one that goes out to alumni); the profiles of students there are really impressive. Their Head of School is very energetic with amazing leadership, and their teachers seem really strong.
I think Williston has a really excellent program to get entering 9th graders very well integrated into their school, with their camping trip as part of their orientation. The 9th grade programming is very intentional to build new friendships and help you find way (I know all of the schools have orientations, theirs just seem super strong and flows into a really good 9th grade personal development program). They have all freshmen dorms, again to help you adjust. One of this Zoom panels talked a lot about it, and it was obvious they’ve put a lot of intentionality and care into the experience of new kids on their campus.
We thought the Williston students when we visited for our Fall tour & interview were really nice, cool, sincere, smart, and also really motivated. Williston kids seemed like the kind of kids my son would want as friends. The adjacent town is charming and fun and the students make good use of it.
Obviously, M’burg is highly regarded on these boards. For us, it wouldn’t have been a fit due to more assigned-seat lunches with rotating assigned faculty at kids’ tables, and more chapel time than my casual kid would like (if we understood that correctly), but M’burg does have good opportunities too. I just want to put in my two cents to show a positive side to Williston.
My fingers are crossed that some Williston parents or students might PM you here for more info.
Also, the students and staff are really willing to talk to you in those emails you’ve been getting (just reply). Good luck in your decision!
Mercersburg is an awesome school!
Just FYI, LeeLeeB was not entirely accurate. Mercersburg has no required chapel. School meetings are held in the building (a beautiful place) once or twice a month but there is absolutely zero requirement to participate in religious services (of any nature/religion). Meetings in the chapel are completely secular.
@james677861 have you participated in any of Mercersburg’s Virtual Revisit programming? Live webinars continue tonight and tomorrow… https://www.mercersburg.edu/virtual-revisit
@hellomaisy Thank you for correcting my misinformation. I’m so sorry everyone!
When I was typing that, I felt maybe I was remembering wrong - to everyone, I am so sorry for the misinformation. I think I thought that because when we were going to visit, they AO office told us we could come for lunch, and they told us that the lunch would be assigned seats with kids and faculty assigned to each table, and that there would be a prayer before the meal. We personally do not say a blessing before meals, so M’burg struck me as more religious than I was expecting.
Are you an athlete? Avon Old Farms has really strong sports teams if that’s something you care about.
I love Mberg, but it depends on what you want. Agree that AOF has great athletics, especially ice hockey.
Do you happen to know which of these schools are more diverse
I just asked my daughter, a freshman at Mercersburg, if they pray before seated meals and she said, “I honestly don’t know”. Then she thought about it and said that they sometimes stand politely before lunch while someone says, “Bless this meal.” We are not religious, so she clearly didn’t pay enough attention to it to know what was really happening. Sounds like the kids that are religious are at least given a moment to acknowledge that.
Well, the thing that sticks out the most is that AOF is an all boys school. How do you feel about that?
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