<p>Public Schools ? - Private Day Schools ? - Boarding Schools ?</p>
<p>If you have not seen it, the following student survey of these three types of schools is worth a quick look: The</a> Truth About Boarding Schools </p>
<p>Actually, their main page ([url=<a href="http://www.schools.com/%5D">http://www.schools.com/]</a>) is also interesting if you want to find info about a school.</p>
<p>As potential boarding school parents (our son has since graduated) we were consistently advised by other families to avoid boarding schools with easy access to major cities, schools without Saturday classes & schools with a significant day school population in order to minimize the risk of exposing students to alcohol or drugs. Over the past decade, this advice has been proven to be wise. Following this three pronged advice certainly is not a guarantee, but it does reduce the liklihood of exposure to unwanted influences; as does the fear of being denied admission to prestigious colleges/universities due to a disciplinary action on the student's record.</p>
<p>Yaa but still..if a kid wants drugs he can find drugs. I don't beleive St. Pauls is that close to any major city. I know Andover and Exeter you can catch a taxi to boston and hotchkiss New York I believe.</p>
<p>Hotchkiss is TWO hours by car to NYC, but there is a train station about 15 minutes away from the school. Andover is about a half-hour by car or commuter train to Boston. Exeter to Boston is 60 miles by car.</p>
<p>Folks, PLEASE try not to give out incorrect information. Opinions are one thing, but I recommend:</p>
<p>Google</a> Maps</p>
<p>for these basic questions.</p>
<p>There was no question in ColdWind's post...Cold was just stating some advice he/she had heard. The fact of the matter is those are the major cities that are accessible from those schools.
When I said "hotchkiss new york" I was stating New york was the closest major city, not that you can take a taxi there.</p>
<p>Drugs are present at ALL schools - public or private, day or boarding. But I do agree that the points Coldwind mentioned can make them slightly less accessible.</p>
<p>The "other" Westminster Coldwind referred to is in Connecticut not Massachusetts.</p>
<p>My link on public, private day or boarding schools was about academic challenge, motivated peers, average homework etc. </p>
<p>Not sure how we got on drugs. I mostly agree with Cold Wind but Creative1 has made the important point. They are everywhere. Since St Paul's has no day students and students cannot have cars, it is logistically more difficult. Add to that a heavy academic load, motivated students and classes 6 days a week and it is still tougher. However, there have already been minor incidents this fall at SPS. So let's not fool ourselves, some kids will find access wherever they are, IF they want them. BUT I have not seen peer pressure at SPS, or heard of drugs and liquor frequently at parties as you see in the schools in our town (public and day schools). Boarding school is like a house where the parents are always home. But, these factors make in difficult not impossible. </p>
<p>The recent Andover incident underlines the incredible downside for their entire lives for kids that make a mistake. Our teens should hear stories like that and hopefully learn from them or at least get scared. Let's hope for nothing similar at SPS.</p>
<p>Heinz Scholarship Offers Full Tuition to Qualified Students from Pennsylvania
11/20/2008</p>
<p>From the SPS websitee:</p>
<p>Christopher Heinz '91 refers to his own experience at St. Paul's as one impetus for establishing a scholarship that offers others a chance to take advantage of the same opportunities.</p>
<p>"More than anything, I built strong and lasting relationships with students and adults while at St Paul's," he says. "While we all have friends, St Paul's, because it is fully residential, builds special bonds between people."</p>
<p>In honor of those fond memories, St. Paul's School is pleased to announce the establishment of the Heinz Scholarship Fund, which awards need-based, three- or four-year tuition and fees to its scholars. </p>
<p>The Fund was established in 2008 by Christopher Heinz and his wife, Sasha Lewis Heinz '97, to provide opportunities for students from Pennsylvania to attend St. Paul's.</p>
<p>Established with a grant from the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Endowments and by personal contributions from Christopher and Sasha Heinz, the Heinz Scholarship will be awarded to selected students who live in one of seven counties in western Pennsylvania (Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, Westmoreland, and Greene). If no student from one of those counties is enrolled at St. Paul’s School in a given year, the scholarship may be awarded to a student from the state of Pennsylvania. </p>
<p>St. Paul's School expects to welcome its first Heinz Scholar in the fall of 2009.</p>
<p>The Heinz family's decision to sponsor the scholarship for students from Pennsylvania was, in part, based on the success of similar SPS programs – the Cook Scholarship for students from Montana, the Greene Scholarship for students from Alabama, and the Ross Scholarship for students from Northern New Jersey.</p>
<p>"In establishing the Heinz Scholarship, our goal was to do two things: Make sure we are able to attract and accommodate the very best students Pennsylvania has to offer, and make sure St. Paul's is properly incented to look for candidates from the area," says Christopher Heinz, a current Trustee of St. Paul's School. "I hope the scholarship will increase the School’s visibility in Pennsylvania and make it a top choice for high school students throughout the state."</p>
<p>The Heinz Scholarship is part of a larger effort by St. Paul's to make the boarding school experience available to a wider range of prospective families. Last spring, the School announced a financial aid policy that provides free tuition to certain lower- and middle-income families of admitted students. This initiative provides an education – through aid entirely in the form of grants, not loans – at no cost for admitted students whose families earn $80,000 or less annually, making the St. Paul's experience more affordable for families across the economic spectrum</p>
<p>You wouldn't believe how many people use drugs at SPS, not to mention to drinking. Multiple have already been DC'ed for using weed and if the school dug deeper into it they would have found out that most of the dorm was also doing drugs. </p>
<p>And, I would say 60% of the male population does dip (chewing tobacco).</p>
<p>what drugs do you find most prevalent?</p>
<p>definitely pot. really the only drug is pot.</p>
<p>60% is an absolutely ridiculous observation. Maybe 5-10% of the kids dip, and probably less then that. </p>
<p>There is pot at St. Paul's but what school doesn't have pot. The amount of kids who do drugs at SPS are few are far in between. I think that if people see 2 people get dced they figure everybody is doing it, however this is just not true.</p>
<p>it may not be 60% constantly, but I would say that 60% have done it at any given time.</p>
<p>I agree with hockeykid's numbers who has attended the school longer than hickton. Perhaps hickton's opinion is influenced by the crowd he is hanging around with. Many guys I know there think dipping is downright nasty.</p>
<p>hickton, I suggest you broaden your circle and meet some new kids.</p>
<p>i don't hang out with potheads, at all. My numbers may be a little inflated because of who I hang out with, but they're not completely false. We're only a 1/3 of the way done with the year, and multiple people have been caught with pot.</p>
<p>Let's not shoot the messenger.</p>
<p>What happens at St. Paul's when kids are caught with drugs for the first time?</p>
<p>Yes, there is drug use at SPS. There is drug use everywhere and like everywhere it varies by crowd. If you are caught, you are DC'd, generally suspended I believe, not kicked out for first offense and maybe not second either. A school disciplining kids is not a problem, the problem is when they don't. SPS recognizes kids make mistakes. DC's are shared with the entire school, everybody knows, but kids continue to be respected members of the community, not given scarlet letter. But, if students were caught in what seems to be coke/drug dealing, like those few from Andover, I think the school's reaction would be harsher, and the school's involvement with police would be more than a courtesy call.</p>
<p>There is a link to the student handbook on the SPS website which offers details:
<a href="http://www.sps.edu/ftpimages/36/download/download_group4243_id338293.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.sps.edu/ftpimages/36/download/download_group4243_id338293.pdf</a></p>