<p>Long-time lurker here. Our 10-grade daughter was in an excellent but huge public school in the South, but due to various factors, we felt she wasn't getting the greatest experience there: too many kids getting Range Rovers on their 16th birthdays, college counselors with 600 kids in their advisor groups and entitled friends with bad attitudes, to name a few. We switched her to Berkshire mid-year last year and while she picked the school, she wasn't thrilled about leaving her friends, moving East and losing all the mobility a day-school kid has when all her friends have cars. She made the smoothest transition ever (even Berkshire was sort of amazed by it) and is now a 5th former and loves it. The school is a real treasure in many, many ways. The faculty is great, the community of students is diverse and caring and the rural setting is amazing. She is becoming a much different girl because of her experiences there. Teachers are now mentors and she has the most diverse friends in the world, kids she would have never encountered had she not switched to boarding school. She and her advisor have a close relationship and eat lunch together one day a week. My daughter climbed the mountain that sits behind the school almost every day this fall (sometimes alone, sometimes with a group) and would always text us her pictures from there. Her old friends are too busy shopping and ordering What-A-Burger to understand the changes she's going through, but her dad and I couldn't be more joyful about her evolving or more appreciative of the school's efforts to challenge her. I went to BS (St. Mark's) and it was the making of me. My husband is a public school kid, so it took the school visits and interview process for him to understand the richness of the BS experience but he is in complete concurrence with me about Berkshire School. We don't get any tuition assistance, which is painful and definitely put a dent in our retirement funds, but it's absolutely worth it. This school has been life-changing, in my child's own words.</p>
<p>@catlady: Thank you for sharing your story. I am a former Berkshire faculty member, and I think the school does not get the attention it deserves on this forum. I couldn’t agree more – it is an exceptional, stunning place. I loved every minute of my time there! I’m so glad your daughter is having such a great experience. She will be well prepared when she graduates… not just for school, but for life!! : )</p>
<p>Another word of thanks for sharing. Over the years I’ve been on the forum, the focus for most applicants (at least those who come on to post/ask questions) is on the “more famous/prestigious” schools. I think it’s important for people to know that there exist some excellent schools beyond the “top 5” that are household names (and even then, in a very small group of households).</p>
<p>I also like that you speak to one reason some people choose boarding school — because the local public and private schools don’t exactly fit with a family’s values. Not that there aren’t entitled, Range Rover-driving 16 year olds at any given BS, but depending on the school…the values championed can be on less material things.</p>
<p>SevenDad, while there is plenty of big money at Berkshire and probably every BS, the school’s social focus really appears to be on the community and building quality relationships, whether that be students with their peers or students with faculty. I cannot express strongly enough the civility and inclusion within the heart of the school. We had a little bit of angst about not going for the “more famous/prestigious” schools that you refer to, especially because our daughter had the grades to get into at least one of them. But Berkshire really hit the “sweet spot” in so many areas that we went with her gut instinct on the selection. Her old friends and their parents cannot understand why we “sent our only child away”…as adolescents mature into young adults, very few influences come to mind that are as positively transforming as the BS experience. We feel grateful and blessed that she has embraced Berkshire and that they have embraced her back.</p>
Thank you for the positive feedback on Berkshire. When we visited last September, we were blown away by the beauty of the location and facilities. My son has applied and we are waiting for the decision next Tuesday. He is currently at a good public school, doing well, but looking forward to attending a BS with a close sense of community. He is a smart kid but needs a little push to reach his full academic potential. He plays hockey and hopes to play at BS. How have you found the academics at Berkshire? Their college admission statistics have not been stellar but appear to be improving. What are the major differences between Berkshire and Taft, Millbrook, Gunnery and Westminster?