<p>We visited 5 of the schools you mentioned when we toured last year and there are definitely big differences among them in their overall tone and approach. I think it’s hard to categorize them as clearly more or less nurturing since each of them does individual things that might be considered one way or the other, adding up to an overall picture that’s hard to categorize. Plus, I think “nurturing” is a somewhat subjective term.</p>
<p>Here’s an example: my daughter will be attending St. Paul’s this fall. This was the only school we visited that didn’t have separate living arrangements by age -students in all 4 grades live together. This could be considered a “less” nurturing situation. On the other hand, the advisories are dorm based -every student has an advisor affiliated with their dorm and spends time with that sub-group of dorm mates. I would consider that a “nurturing” arrangement in that it closely connects a student’s academic life with their residential life. </p>
<p>I really think it’s these particulars and the overall feel of the school that matter. At any school you’re going to have more and less engaged advisors. I would figure out schools to visit and then decide which ones have the right “feeling” about them for your family. You don’t have to apply every place you visit - we visited 8 schools and my daughter ended up applying to 3. They were very different schools from one another and the only common thread was that she felt very comfortable at all of them.</p>