<p>In the event that anyone's interested, I thought I'd post my impressions of the school after our revisit there yesterday (disclaimer, I am also an alum, but I am trying to comment on what I see in the school today, not a gazillion years ago). I'll probably end up sounding like a huge cheerleader for the school, but everyone can take my opinions for whatever they're worth.
I was very impressed with the school's focus on globalism and multi-culturalism. This goes well beyond having diverse students and sending kids on a few language study trips abroad. One of the assistant heads of school (a very impressive, dynamic Indian woman) is the director of global initiatives, which includes finding a multitude of ways that global issues and other countries' histories/cultures/current issues can be brought into the academic curriculum, and the widest array of study abroad and service abroad programs that I've seen at any school. The school is also one of the only U.S. schools to have a full-time coordinator for kids interested in pursuing a gap year before college, which the school encourages all kids to at least consider. The way these issues are woven into the curriculum seems to be a hallmark of the Hotchkiss teaching style, which is big on interdisciplinary connections. For instance, all 9th and 10th graders take a 3 credit interdisciplinary Humanities course, which covers history, literature, philosophy, and religion in a connected way, rather than having separate History and English courses.</p>
<p>Much of the emphasis on globalism can be attributed to the current head of school, Malcolm McKenzie, who is leaving at the end of the year to move to Beijing and start an American school there. We were introduced to the head-elect, Kevin Hicks, who will take over this summer. He is a very different personality than Malcolm McKenzie (for Hicks, think Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society), but does not plan to make any major changes. Hicks's focus is probably more on the nitty gritty of the classroom than McKenzie's was, as Hicks's interest is in what it means to be a truly great teacher and how to teach people to teach and inspire.</p>
<p>The school also has an impressive commitment to environmentalism, which they really live on a daily basis with the school's own farm a mile down the road (and kids increasingly involved in projects at the farm) and a new biomass facility that provides all of the school's heating needs. Personally, this isn't a big interest for me, but I could see it really resonating with some families. Also not particularly relevant to me, because my kids are as un-musical as you can possibly get, but the music facilities are truly out of this world. Elfers Hall must be one of the prettiest small performance venues anywhere in the world, between the gorgeous design of it and the sweeping views down to the lake with the mountains in the background.</p>
<p>Speaking of the lake and the mountains, yes, Hotchkiss is pretty isolated. Some people might see this as a drawback, I do not. First, my kid is a city kid, and I think kids learn a lot from change. More importantly, the relative isolation of the school clearly results in a unusually strong sense of community. The kids mostly stay on campus on the weekends, with classes on Saturday mornings, sports on Saturday afternoons, and social events (movies, dances, etc) on Saturday nights. Sundays they all seem to take as downtime, sleeping late, hanging out, swimming or fishing in the lake or sunning themselves on the golf course. Most parents I talked to reported that their kids came home for the weekend less often than they thought they would because the kids wanted to stay at school and hang out with their friends, and missed being at school when they were home over Christmas and spring break. Beyond just the kids, the relative isolation causes the school to be viewed as a real community for the adults too -- the teachers and their families live on campus or very near by, and the focus of their lives really is around the school. As there aren't a lot of great facilities in that neck of the woods, the school is an important part of the larger area community as well, making its music hall available for outside performances, hosting art exhibits, or allowing local residents to use some of the athletic facilities.</p>
<p>I liked the fact that almost all of the classes take place in one main building (other than science classes, which are in a separate building, but only a few yards away from the main building). The dining hall, the library, the student lounge, the music facility and auditorium, and the chapel are also all in or connected to the main building, which means that the kids are around each other (and their teachers) all day long, and hang out there in the evening (other than the younger kids, who have a mandatory study period in their rooms), instead of being off in separate locations on campus. Some of the parents talked about how they really liked this, particularly for the younger kids, because it means no one can fall through the cracks -- the kids are always running into their teachers, advisors, dorm heads, coaches, etc., in the hallways and around the building, so the adult community really knows what's going on with all of the kids.</p>
<p>As for the kids -- beyond just being the group of smart, talented, impressive teenagers that you'll find in any top BS -- they seemed to genuinely support each other in their accomplishments. It does not seem to be a competitive place: the kids are competing, of course, but more with each other (and with themselves) than against each other. The kids also seemed very supportive of trying new things, whether it be sports they'd never tried before or extracurriculars. The sense was more that the kids all thought it was cool if the kid who's a big hockey star also tries out for the musical, as opposed to the other hockey players making fun of him. They were also pretty self-deprecating, talking easily about things they'd tried and not been good at, and founds ways around that problem or learned other strengths. </p>
<p>The school has a zero tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol -- if you're caught with alcohol or drugs, you will be expelled. Some parents report that they think this gives kids some ammunition in resisting peer pressure if the situation does arise, and certainly causes them all to think twice, as they know the very clear consequence if they got caught.</p>
<p>I leave you as a parting thought with some words from the current Head of school. In talking about how all the kids at revisit day were so privileged to have such great choices (whether it be other boarding schools, days schools, or strong local public schools), he cautioned against being overly impressed by the amazing facilities that many of these schools have (often facilities that small colleges would be thrilled to have). As he said, while Hotchkiss is also proud of the facilities and resources it has to offer its students, what really matters is what's happening IN those facilities. Having taught at schools all over the world, he's seen great facilities without much learning happening in them, and coversely he's seen great teaching and learning happening under a tree in Botswana. No matter what schools you are looking at, you need to find a way to see past the physical plant (though this is of course important too), and really find out what's happening at the school -- what's the feel, how do people treat each other, how do teachers teach and students learn, what is the school passionate about, etc.</p>