"top" boarding schools with cheerleading?

Prep School Admissions
1

hello, i’m a current grade 8 student (class of '26), looking to apply to a few boarding schools for the upcoming school year. i’m participating in competitive cheerleading, and i have some noticeable/significant awards. because of this, as i’m beginning to think about my applications, i’m looking for some selective boarding schools with a cheerleading program. i know that deerfield has one, but i haven’t, so far, found other selective schools with “competitive” cheerleading.

  • are there any schools you know of that have a good cheerleading program (not dance, not gymnastics, just cheerleading, for the sake of clarification)?

thank you so much :>

2

If you mean like pom poms, High School Musical, Glee cheerleading, such a concept is basically an anathema in boarding schools - at least in the northeast. Perhaps it’s more common in southern schools.

3 Likes
3

i’m looking to more of the “competitive all star cheer” programs, with more selective and advanced routines. are there any good southern schools you know of with good cheer programs?

4

Apparently there are 5 boarding schools in the United States that offer cheerleading:

Of those only one would be widely considered to be “top”.

1 Like
5

Bolles, Baylor, and Webb come to mind.

6

Are you sure you’re not in the class of 2027 because the class of 2026 will be going into 9th grade this year?
As said before only 5 Boarding Schools offer chearleading as an extracurricular.

7

Just because BSR only lists 5 does not mean there are only 5; I mentioned 3 up thread that are not included in BSR.

1 Like
8

thank you for the information! i’ll take a look at those schools.

9

yes, i am in the class of 26. i am fully aware that '26 is going into 9th grade this year. applications for repeating/going into 10th grade is also available, and that’s why i’m considering boarding school as an option at the moment.

and, i have seen the list of the five boarding schools previously, but because i know of 1~2 other schools that offer cheer (like thornton academy), i was wondering about the “other schools” with cheer that i may have missed.

thank you

10

Here’s a very old CC thread on the same topic that lists boarding schools with cheer programs, but is not limited to just the “top” boarding schools.

Not sure if these schools still have programs or if any are competitive, but it’s a starting point. :woman_shrugging:

2 Likes
11

When did you take up cheerleading?

It wasn’t listed as an extracurricular on your previous “chance me” thread.

Nor was any activity remotely similar/useful listed.

12

OP lists cheerleading and badminton as her primary athletic extracurriculars in her first CC Chance Me post (but not in her most recent):

“I have been part of the school plays for 2 years. I have been participating in athletic teams, mainly cheerleading and badminton. I can also play tennis.“

1 Like
13

Thanks for pointing this out.

But how long have they been doing competitive cheer? And if they are really at such a level, why wasn’t this focused on more in their applications?

1 Like
14

just to clarify: i’ve been doing this since grade 6, but because most of the well-known competitions were close then (due to covid 19 government regulations) (and by “well-known,” i mean national), regardless of my skill level/experience, i felt that it wasn’t something strong enough in my application for me to list. with weaker gov regulations and therefore more competitions/components i can add to my application (alongside much greater interest in the sport), i feel that it is something important to me to consider while looking for a school.

2 Likes
15

Thank you for clarifying.

This differentiates you (favorably). Some people think it’s enough to love the idea of an activity, without putting in the years of work.

1 Like
16

As mentioned in that old snippet above, George has cheer. I don’t think know if they compete though. But worth looking into.

1 Like
17

My daughter cheered at one of the top all star gyms, based in Texas, from the ages of 7 to 14. She was not able to continue all star cheer while at boarding school in New England, but found that her tumbling/jumps skills were in high demand on the dance team, at school wide/grade level spirit competitions (Winter Carnival and the like) and on many sports teams where her agility, speed and overall conditioning put her among the top athletes. As you know side-line cheer and all star/competitive cheer have some significant differences, so even the few schools with cheer programs will be a very different experience from what you train in now.

2 Likes