<p>I am wondering if anyone knows how Porter's is addressing the situation of last week within their community (a week ago, a faculty member was rrested and charged with sexually assualting a student). My d has been accepted there (though we have not decided on her school yet), and it's a great school... the AO folks we met were really wonderful and I imagine right now, dealing with this must be a nightmare for them.</p>
<p>Cameo43 congratulations to your daughter on her acceptance to Miss Porter’s. </p>
<p>To answer your question, parents received an email from the Head of School early on Monday afternoon, before the news broke in the media. It stated that upon receiving information, the school expedited an internal investigation, upon its completion immediately relieved the teacher of his duties, and then referred the matter to the proper authorities. The school has numerous safeguards in place, including background checks, explicit policies, required training on boundaries, ongoing professional development, etc. but unfortunately these did not deter the teacher in question. The letter conveyed a sense of purpose, of support, of coming together as a community and an open door to contact the Head of School. Given the need to balance openness with confidentiality, the letter was timely, appreciated and, I felt, appropriate. A few days later in the regular parent newsletter we were told that the situation was the subject of an all school meeting on Tuesday, and that there were numerous opportunities for frank discussions, but also that the school community was moving forward as normal into the spring semester: Candidates for Student Head of School made their speeches, athletic practices continued, etc. There was a lot of pride, warmth and care in both messages (You’ll forgive that I’m not going to cut and paste any of this here…)</p>
<p>Sadly, Cameo43, these types of incidents happen in all types of settings where there are young people interacting with adults. (Deerfield was in the news last week, and Horace Mann was a subject of a feature story in the New Yorker.) I hope you go to revisit day, ask questions, listen, and make the best choice for your daughter and your family. FWIW, I still think it is a great school.</p>
<p>Thanks, winker. That’s exactly the information I was looking for. I actually work in the field of counseling for assault survivors so I am very much aware that, as you said, this can happen anywhere. My concern was about how the school was addressing it within the community. You can tell a lot about a school’s leadership by the way they respond to a crisis/ serious incident. I appreciate your thoughtful, detailed reply.</p>
<p>I’m going to second that. I don’t think there is any boarding school that has not suffered at least one incident (mostly teachers caught with child porn on their computers). But I can point to a number of public schools and regional (i.e. local) private schools around the country where sexual abuse happens in greater aggregate numbers.</p>
<p>If anything, the close knit environment of a boarding school precludes frequency of those instances because that type of activity is really REALLY hard to hide - if from faculty, certainly not from other students. </p>
<p>I agree - you can tell a lot about a school by how they handle the situation. A recent incident at my daughter’s school regarding a teacher caught (off campus) with porn was met with swift action, including communication with parents and alum, a school wide communication and dialogue with students, and more specific communication with the parents of students in that instructor’s classes (who would be hired as a replacement, how grades would be handled, comments from parents about the process, etc.) I was very pleased. Likewise, when a maintenance worker made a threat to other employees during an argument - there was zero tolerance. He was reported to the authorities, fired, arrested and barred from setting foot on campus. Parents were notified immediately even though neither of the above incidents involved students.</p>
<p>We can’t protect our children from people who hide in the shadows - but what we CAN do is prepare them by talking openly about those issues. I remember, years ago, I watched “To Catch A Predator” on MSNBC with my daughters. It was both enlightening and sad. But it gave us opportunities to talk about what to do if they’re approached - especially if the perpetrator is a trusted member of the community. The show featured clergy, Homeland Security staff, policemen, doctors - you name it - all caught in stings trying to approach a minor child. All with impeccable resumes and no prior criminal history. In one case, the sting caught the Mayor of a city soliciting a meeting with a minor for sex. They’re out there.</p>
<p>So frankly, I find boarding school a safer environment because so much of the student’s life is under a microscope (in a good way) and it’s hard to hide anything for long, and the schools have zero tolerance if anything untoward is detected. And with this recent issue - I’m betting Miss Porters will be on “higher” alert and putting plans in place for many years to come to make sure it doesn’t happen again.</p>