My daughter has campus visit and interview this month at Lawrence Academy. Please share any advice.
What information can you share about Kimball Union Academy?
Hi I can’t believe I found you on these boards. To funny, I saw the post and realized who it was. I did a search here for you and found the thread below. Looks likes some good info. I hope the link works.
@SigmaJaRay, I have a students at LA. What would you like to know?
Do you feel the curriculum is rigorous? How are the clubs and sports? My daughter runs track. What can you share about the admission process? What can you share about the student culture and support of the teachers and staff. We live in the midwest, so we are not familiar with New England. Does Lawrence compete against Groton?
Thank you.
Do you feel the rigor of the curriculum compares with Groton? Did you consider Groton? What can you share about sports, clubs and the student culture? How are students supported if they struggle academically or socially? We are from the midwest, so how convenient is it for students to get to Logan International? My daughter is visiting Lawrence at the end of this month.
Thank you.
This is long, but hopefully helpful…
My child, a senior, has been very happy at Lawrence. We considered a number of other area schools but LA was always her first choice.
I would say that Groton is more academically rigorous than LA. If you’re looking for intense academics Groton may be more your school. If you’re looking for strong academics but with the ability to access support LA may be more your place. If your goal is to get your child into Harvard look elsewhere. If it’s a happy, healthy child who feels good about working hard LA’s a great choice.
My child was interested in being a day student. We know a lot of kids at Groton and have heard from many that it’s a bit tough to be a day student at Groton. We also knew that because the school starts in 8th grade there are not a ton of spots for 9th grade. A few kids from her middle school class ended up at Groton. They happened to be faculty kids or siblings but they were all top students who deserved their spots.
At the same time we’ve found LA to be plenty academic. LA draws from communities that value education and take academics seriously. The school doesn’t offer APs because it prefers the flexibility and creativity of its own honors curriculum.
We have seen a “mean girl” culture at a couple of peer schools, although not LA or Groton. We really wanted to avoid that. I’m a big fan of LA’s Head of School, Dan Scheibe. He’s someone who not only preaches kindness but walks the walk. As an aside, his kids, who are not currently at LA, are some of the nicest I’ve known.
Students get to know their advisors well. The advisor groups meet multiple times a week and provide a check-in for students. They’re also a de facto multi-year support group. The older kids give advice to the younger on how to navigate the school. The advisor functions as an advocate for the student and keeps the parents informed about what’s going on with their child. My child has had two advisors and has been close to both. There are periodic teacher comments which the advisor goes over with the student first, then forwards to the parents. If there are any rough spots the advisor and student strategize on ways to improve. The same goes for any social or disciplinary issues.
Lawrence is in the Independent School League, which also includes Groton. https://www.islsports.org
My child is on the track team and enjoys it a great deal. I wouldn’t say it’s a particularly talented group although many years there’s a standout or two. My child’s been happy with the coaching. The school’s record last spring put it somewhere in the middle of the league, a few spots ahead of Groton.
One of the things I love about LA and the schools like it (including most ISL schools) is that the kids are allowed to shine in more than one area. They can be artists, athletes, actors, musicians, and serious students without conflict. My kid’s work was just in the school’s art show but she’s also been a team captain in more than one sport. There’s no “nerds vs. jocks” culture. Kids can easily be both.
Clubs meet during the school day so they don’t conflict with sports or the play. Most kids get involved in a club or two, some more heavily than others.
My kid had one year when she fumbled a bit and the faculty were wonderful, going above and beyond to meet with her outside class and to help her get back on track. There’s a learning coach program which my kid used for a while but outgrew, as the program was designed to have the kids do. It’s not tutoring; it’s designed to help kids learn strategies they can take with them. I particularly like the math curriculum, which uses a flipped classroom model.
I’ve had kids at 3 Boston area prep schools, 2 of them boarding schools. I would describe one as artsier and more urban, one as preppier and perhaps with a bit more privilege. I would place LA in the middle with perhaps a slight bent toward the athletic.
The admissions process for LA and its peer schools are all pretty much the same. There are a few older CC threads on what to expect. I would advise your kid to not worry to much about the interview. It’s designed as a friendly chat to get to know your child. They’ll talk about what your child likes to do, how she spends her time, perhaps what she thinks about boarding. There are no “gotcha” questions. At the same time, I’d advise her to dress neatly (not necessarily formally, but nice pants or a neat but casual dress) and to be prepared to talk about herself. I wouldn’t advise doing a lot of prep but do some brainstorming about the top 2-3 things she wants the admissions committee to know about her. All interviewers ask at the end if the student has any questions, so I’d give her a couple of pre-programmed questions to ask to prevent awkwardness if no questions arise organically in her interview. The two my kid always had in her back pocket were “Can you tell me a bit about your advising system?” and “What’s the relationship between boarding and day students like?” The interviewer will invite you in after her interview to chat with you, give you feedback and answer any questions you have about the school.
Very thorough and helpful. Thank you.
Thank you
My daughter interviewed at LA. She fell in love with the school.
Anyone know what type of emphasis LA places on SSAT scores? Do grades, essay, and interview weigh more heavily? Any thoughts are appreciated
Hi @mass223 - we went there to visit/tour a couple of years ago. We were told they look at the whole picture - our sense was that they did not place a lot of weight on numbers. They encouraged kiddo to emphasize artistic talent, performing arts experience, and athletics (can you contribute to a team). It doesn’t get a lot of mention on CC so if you know more information or more relevant information from this year’s application cycle, please share with us!
We have friends applying with very low scores and they were told the school does not emphasize scores.
I was supposed to have a Lawrence interview Sunday but my interviewer never called… :-??
@CavsFan2003 Did you email or call them the day after?
@YoungThriver Haven’t called yet cause yesterday was MLK Day but I do plan on calling after school
@CavsFan2003, did you hear from your interviewer? There was a huge snow/ice storm Sunday in New England; I heard there was 18” of snow north of Boston. In other places there was a lot of ice as well as power outages. Even here in CT there were school delays today. Hopefully any oversight was due to the all around terrible conditions.
@CTMom21 That could be it! We had to reschedule from Friday to Sunday per his wishes but he never called again on Sunday.
The storm wasn’t that bad north of Boston. I live within 45 minutes of Groton and we only got about 6 inches. I would expect that LA got no more than 10. Let’s hope that it was just an innocent mistake and the interviewer forgot!
Have you heard anything yet?
If the interviewer lives east of Groton he may have been stuck on Sunday. I have a child at LA and couldn’t have gotten to school until late on Sunday. We got less than a foot of snow but then sleet and freezing rain on top of that. In any case, I’m sure if you call they’d be happy to reschedule.