Pretty soon a group of kids will likely get disciplined for something or other and the freshmen will have a front row seat. Seeing friends expelled or otherwise curtailed is very motivating! And not uncommon. As they say during NMH orientation every year “Don’t be THAT kid” - a phrase we have embraced at home for all sorts of scenarios
^^ @chemmchimney is correct. The daughter of a good friend of mine was just suspended from her prep school for 3 weeks due to a lapse of judgement on campus the night before classes started (violating what is known as a major school rule). This was a popular student leader who has now been removed from that position. The school has let the family know that they will be reporting the incident to colleges ( she is a senior, with very selective schools on her list). You can just imagine how angry and disappointed her parents are. Very unfortunate, but hopefully it sends a wake up call to her schoolmates.
Adding to chemmchinmney’s comment, kids also experience perceived injustice, one getting seemingly unfairly harsh discipline and another (with history and resources, who may have caused the incident) getting away with stuff.
Life is not fair and is not supposed to be fair.
It is better to be a distance witness than a casualty.
“Bending the rules” turned out to be things like acceptable limit of informality of clothing, and using phone’s wireless hotspot function to watch a netflix movie on your laptop with your own cell data because school network blocked it.
BTW, daughter plans to lower her Spanish to II Honors. We are surprised that III Honors is so advanced that no English was allowed either spoken or written. She learned Spanish for years and can do some basic conversation, but feels it’s not enough for academic conversation that is required by the class.
Glad to hear that “bending the rules” is minor stuff. 
And also that the school is providing rigor in the classroom. Smart of your daughter to recognize when she is in over her head. Modern language instruction was much faster paced than anything at our local schools. Much more emphasis on conversation and the school utilizes native speakers only for teachers.
My DD dropped back to Spanish I from Spanish Ii after two days of class! Also dropped chorus. She is finding the homework to be a lot more than she expected, even on the first 3 days of school!
DD also had to drop Pottery while changing her Spanish level because of a schedule conflict. She decided to have a study hall period instead of filling it with another class because homework is rapidly piling up and she could really use a study hall time. Grier recommends 7 courses, but taking 6 courses is still acceptable.
She must do what she must to keep things under the control, and to have some extra time to enjoy non-academics.
I will never forget dropping off my son at school many moons ago. A senior was assigned to each freshman to get them settled in successfully. My son happened to get the school president. On his way out, he said to my son, “Remember to use your free time during the day to do homework, don’t try to do it all at night.” You’d think that would be obvious, but it isn’t. Way too many boarding school kids are shocked by the volume and pace of the work. Time management is the holy grail.
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Working on time management here too!
DS placed into French 1 even though he had competed two years of middle school French. He is happy with his placement!
A friend’s freshman son told her “I wish my school had admitted more stupid kids so that my friends and I could seem smarter.” It’s hard for a lot of the kids who have always been at the top of the academic heap. But his comment made me laugh!
My son took the Biology Honors last year.
Even though he received A’s in both semesters, he put in tons of hard work.
He’s heard so many horror stories that he decided to take regular Chemistry this year.
But this is the beauty of prep school – grads understand what “hard” means, not just in the class where you’re chasing the accelerating train, but for all the other classes that don’t get time as a result. DS took a placement exam for language when he got to college. They told him he was right on the cusp between two levels and that he’d “probably” be fine with the higher one, especially because he’d been away from the language for a while and it’d get easier as it came back. Having learned what it is to be chasing to keep up, he chose the lower level. I was delighted to see that he’d learned that lesson!
Exactly!
And all the non-academic activities.
@SculptorDad Nice to hear the school is helping your daughter adjust her courses as needed. This is a good reminder to anyone reading this thread, that prep schools are very rigorous academically – even the so-called “next tier”. Do not underestimate the level of work required. When coupled with experiencing what may be the first time on their own away from home, it is a lot for kids to acclimate to in the beginning.
No kidding. DD says both she and her roommate wrote English essay until 2 am last night. Luckily I bought her a printer so they didn’t have to rush to the library in the morning to print. I thought the first week was supposed to be an adjusting period.
That’s exactly what is happening, @SculptorDad – and it is a major adjustment! Don’t worry, she will settle in and be just fine. She is not alone… My kid is a senior and she and most of her friends are having a difficult first couple of weeks getting back into the groove after a 12 week summer away from academic work.
Understanding that free periods are for doing work (when needed) is key.
SculptorDad: Is there no “lights out” at Grier…especially for first years? I would not want my kid pulling 2 AM nights on a regular basis.
Good. The teacher is doing her job. 
It is not uncommon, even in the LPS, for a teacher of level 3 to speak only in the target language and to expect students to do the same.
Man, I remember placing into a higher level French my first year at Penn and being like “what, what? this class is 100% in French? I’m in big trouble.”
@SevenDad, I am assuming that this was against rule. I guess she compared consequence of staying late and not having her essay ready, then choice to stay late. Don’t know any detail. I am sure this won’t be on a regular basis. I sent her to Grier so she can have a healthy normal schedule instead of pulling 2 am nights as she used to last year.