Suggestions for PG boarding program for son

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
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I’ve gone back and forth and all around trying to decide what to do with my underperforming son. He is a rising senior at a small public school in the southwest and it’s becoming pretty evident he is not going to be ready for college next year. We would like him to have an extra year of high school to mature, develop some academic discipline, and catch up a bit on academics. He is an outstanding soccer player and musician. He does NOT want to play D1 soccer nor does he want it to be the focus of his PG year, but the school must have a reasonably competitive level of play. The school must also have a strong music program with a good jazz ensemble with private lessons available. He definitely wants to pursue music in some capacity in college.

Beyond that, there aren’t a lot of parameters. We are open to anywhere in the country, and with a 3.35 weighted GPA he is obviously going to have to apply to schools with high acceptance rates. This is an initial list of schools I’ve come up with. Please let me know if you can comment on any of these, if I should remove any, or if there are others I should add.

Gould
Fryeburg
Vermont Academy
Kent’s Hill
Brewster
Kimball Union
Avon Old Farms
Berkshire
Cushing
Frederick Gunn

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This list shows 16 schools–four of the sixteen are military academies. All should offer strong athletics programs & solid academics.

Be sure to inquire about what percentage of students are boarding students at any school under consideration.

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Thanks, there are some on here I had not considered. I should add no schools that are overtly religious or conservative and no military schools.

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Just click on the name of any of the 16 prep schools (USNA athletic & scholarship partner schools) to go directly to that school’s website.

I clicked on the last school listed. While it is only about one third boarding, it (Wyoming Seminary) does offer high level athletics, arts (including Jazz Band), and academics.

Remember, it is important to confirm percentage & number of boarding students as well as number of PGs attending each year for any school under consideration. Also, ask about specific, required PG only courses (typically just two or three including PG English).

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Most PGs do an extra year because of athletics, so that will be hard to get away from, i.e. at most schools the soccer piece will be quite important.

I know prep school soccer well. Berkshire is a powerhouse, and they take several PGs as well as seniors. Not every Berkshire player goes on to play in college, but most do. The level of play is quite high. In the time I’ve been paying attention to prep soccer, they’ve had 2 boys become pro, Jack Harrison (currently at Leeds United) and Jacob Shaffleberg, at Toronto.

You say your son doesn’t want D1, but would he be interested in D3? If yes, then going to a boarding school with an emphasis on soccer, like Berkshire, would make sense.

South Kent is another soccer powerhouse. It definitely is worth investigating. They play high level soccer, for sure. The coach, Owen Finberg, is beloved, and he looks out for his players.

Other boys’ schools with higher admit rates are the Salisbury School and Trinity Pawling. Both have weak soccer teams. Avon’s isn’t all that strong either btw, but is stronger than Salisbury’s and TP’s. That said, you can be a strong player on a weak team and do just fine. Ousseni Bouda played for Millbrook, a very weak team at a small school and he’s at Stanford, having won Gatorade Player of the Year, and also Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. So, just b/c a school as a weak team (which is probably due to the fact that they don’t recruit) doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be in the running.

Depending on how your son wants soccer in his life, other options could be The Northwood School or High Mowing in Vermont. Those are the residential academies of Black Rock FC, and the level of soccer is very high (they play MLS youth teams, eg). If your son is wanting to play in college this might make sense.

I know nothing about the music programs of these schools.

I probably should have started with this: what is your son’s goal for the PG year? Does he want to play soccer in college? (As a rising senior, he should be in the middle of recruiting, if he’s interested in playing in college; also he/you should know what level he is at – is he a D1 level player? Something else? )

ETA: with his grades, Berkshire is probably out, unless he’s a soccer star that they really want. The soccer piece is what’s going to be the difference maker in admissions, fyi, so you probably should make that the driver of the process.

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I know 2 boys who have gone to Salisbury for PG year and had a great experience. Also, check out Loomis for your list.

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Our goals for a PG year are not athletic. We want him to grow up a little before he goes to college, and improve upon his academic and study skills.

Unless something changes, S does not want to go pro or play D1 soccer but is considering D3. At my insistence, he has been in touch with a couple D3 coaches who are interested, but he just isn’t motivated to do much with recruiting or college applications in general (one of the reasons we don’t think he’s ready to go to college). He is fine with playing on a weaker team. It just can’t be a glorified rec team like some of the progressive and arts focused schools have. :grinning:

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Canterbury might be worth a look.

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Maybe look into Cheshire or Westminster. I know they have Jazz Ensembles, but I am not sure how good they are.

They both offer soccer and a PG year.

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I like your list.

I suggest you take a look at:

Dublin School
Hebron Academy
Trinity Pawling
Williston Northampton School

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You can check out Mercersburg if you’re willing to look outside of NE. They have a strong history with PGs, who are welcomed and immersed into the community just like any other student, and they do admit non-athlete PGs as well. The music director is pretty great.

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I can’t comment on their soccer team or music program, but I’d definitely look into Salisbury and see if it would be a good fit. It was one of my son’s top choices.