Post-Decisions: Groton School Questions

@dogsmama1997 Colored jeans, corduroys, leggings with any shirt that doesn’t have writing… whatever floats your boat ;). I lived in plain women’s cut t-shirts from Target, but I was on the casual end of the spectrum.

And as far as shoes, it’s really whatever. I wore running shoes 90% of the time. Bean boots, riding-style boots, and Converse are all popular.

@wilsonmago I’m less optimistic than @skieurope. There could be snow, but probably not. But maybe. There used to be a ski club, but I’m talking 10-20 years ago. If it’s something your kid is really into, they could look into starting it up again.

Also, @pepperonipizza, I don’t mean to hijack your thread. We can both share valuable opinions, given that you’re there now and I was there for three years. Hope you’re enjoying spring break! :slight_smile:

@wilsonmago The roads will be fine. We have excellent plowing and they pretreat and sand or salt the roads. You should certainly check the weather or ask here because there can definitely be snow or slush in walking areas at the end of March. Although it’s supposed to be warm for a while.

@stargirl3 You didn’t. Single-user " Ask me anything" threads are not allowed. There are a few "I’m on Spring break, so I’ll answer questions"and then the user disappears after classes resume. For that reason, all are welcome to answer questions.

@skieurope I was surprised you didn’t start this thread off with that “all are welcome to answer questions” spiel of yours :wink:

I updated it now. Senior thesis leaves little time for some of the nuances that some have come to take for granted from me.:slight_smile: @stargirl3

  1. Are kids competitive with each other or just striving to be their best? Will they help classmates with assignments? Will they get handouts for people who are absent or make sure to let them know what the homework is?

  2. How much drugs, sex, and vaping?

This is great because my daughter would die if I tried to ask kids this on revisit day. And I am the type of mom to do that.

I’ll let the Groton experts answer for Groton, but since you asked on multiple forums, I’ll make my standard answer that the kids going to boarding school are still teenagers doing things that teenagers at all schools do, There should be no expectation that junior will suddenly enter a plastic bubble upon setting foot on campus.

@skieurope I totally expect kids to have sex and drink, that’s not the biggest deal to me. What I want to know about is if the only way to be “cool” is to do drugs and hook up randomly. I think there’s a difference between a culture where drugs and sex are the focus of student life and what makes someone cool and a culture where teenagers act like teenagers and sometimes smoke up and couples sneak off to have sex. Make sense?

And what my own kid chooses to do is immaterial to this question. I trust her not to be stupid in this regard but she will not be happy at a school where drugs and getting wasted are the it thing to do.

Yup.

I think a standard answer still applies - the kid will find her peeps and her group will do what’s right for them and not concern themselves with what others are doing. Whatever you’ve instilled in her will not suddenly disappear.

@dogsmama1997 I know that some kids did drugs and smoked, but I never saw it. My friends and I weren’t into it. I wouldn’t know how to get drugs on campus if I wanted to. (I wouldn’t know how to get drugs at home, either, so there’s that.) I don’t think drugs and sex are the center of the social scene, though they are present.

Kids definitely help their friends. Most would help any classmate. That said, I did witness some questionable “helping” that, in my book, would be cheating: telling friends in other sections which questions were on the reading quiz, copying problem sets without really understanding the work. I doubt this is unique to Groton, and I did my best to stay away from it.

@stargirl3 always accepting help from fellow Grotonians :wink:

Here’s my input on these new questions:

Dress Code @dogsmama1997:
For boys, the dress code is much stricter- you’ll see a good number of them with khakis and polos. For girls, the code is much looser. I wear leggings on an almost daily basis, and you can easily get away with less noticeable denim and athleisure. There isn’t any restriction on shoes that I know of. The code is very loose- I was wearing button shirts and dress shoes at the start of the year, but I’m plopping on hoodies and leggings every other day.

Roads @wilsonmago:
When I left for spring break, we had a VERY snowy circle. In fact, snow was still falling on that day. I’m guessing it may be a bit icy in late March, but I’m no weatherman.

Drugs, Vaping, Alcohol, Sex @dogsmama1997:
At a boarding school (and especially at a smaller one), the policies for alcohol/vaping/drugs are very strict, and considering that you live at school, you really don’t see people attempting these things. However, hookups and sex are more frequent. The general opinion is “if it happens, it happens” - I don’t think kids see hookups/sex as a"cool", but it can make for some gossip, like in all high schools. People find much more interest in other topics such as surprise holiday predictions.

Student Competition @dogsmama1997:
From my experience, people are always willing to help. As @stargirl3 said, maybe a bit too much at times. It is common for students to study and do homework together - it is a very supportive environment. For absences, you would mainly contact your teacher for missed work, but your classmates are nearly always happy to fill in any information. Bottom line: students would rather help each other than surpass each other.

I visited Groton yesterday to catch up with my favorite teachers, and I was reminded of how lucky I am to have gone there. All the dining hall employees recognized me by name and offered me a leftover vegan dessert, and at every turn I found more people I wanted to talk to. The place is so full of love. I left with a full heart.