<p>Hi everyone - We are getting ready to embark on the BS search for my son who will be in 9th grade the fall of 2013. We live in California and a number of people have suggested that we narrow down our search of schools by choosing schools that he will only need to take one plane to get to - so basically schools near major airports, i.e. Logan, JFK, Newark - he can fly direct from San Francisco into those airports. </p>
<p>That seemed like a good idea at first because there are lots of schools near major metropolitan areas and that helped narrow down our list, but it eliminates schools like Deerfield, Hotchkiss, NMH and other great schools, and now I'm wondering if the fact that he'd have to change planes to fly into Hartford is such a big deal. No direct flights to Hartford from SF so every break he would have a layover in Detroit or Houston or some place. </p>
<p>So my question is to students who have to change planes to get to school - is it a hassle you wish you didn't have to deal with? A friend whose sister went to Choate said it was always a big deal for her getting to and from school from SF but that was 20 years ago. Parents, if your kids always have to change planes to get to school does it matter a lot? Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?</p>
<p>I think that is a great question and I look forward to reading the responses. </p>
<p>IMHO there are so many terrific schools to choose from. And each one you choose to seriously consider takes a ton of work – research, visit, application, and staying in touch with the school through the process. I think that putting a limiting factor on your search can actually be very helpful. My son is in a competitive sport and travels extensively and missing even a game is highly frowned on. I actually had him visit/interview schools that were near his tournaments, and even from that we found enough excellent options to choose from. In the end we chose the school that was the greatest convenience to us (which happens to be a great school)</p>
<p>My daughter is headed to boarding school this fall and we live in the SF Bay Area. I wasn’t concerned about the direct flight issue as much as I was concerned about what it took to travel between schools and airports, both for her and for us. </p>
<p>I think if there is a school that looks particularly interesting to you that’s not accessible by direct flight then you should check it out and see if the benefits outweigh the travel issue. </p>
<p>We picked 8 schools to visit and pulled our daughter out of school for a week to do it. She ended up applying to 3 schools (plus some day schools near home). It’s worth checking out a broad range of schools because you don’t know what’s going to strike a chord until you see them.</p>
<p>sfbaymom, there are many SF kids who go to those schools. At break times, many schools offer organized shuttle bus service to take kids to BDL, BOS, downtown Boston & downtown NY.</p>
<p>I would not limit your school search before calling a particular school and asking about their logistics support.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses so far, this is really helpful. And thanks for the link to the unaccompanied minor flying thread GMTplus7 - that is super informative. I’ve been doing some research for the last few months already and have called schools and asked about transportation so I’ve gotten good info. Can’t remember which school told me that if he flew into JFK he could take a 2 hr Amtrak ride to the school and then a cab to the campus. No mention of shuttles for the kids and they didn’t make it sound easy to get to.</p>
<p>I think my hesitation is for the times when he has to come home for winter break and there are snow storms and delayed flights which lead to missed connections and I envision him sleeping in the Minneapolis airport or some such place. But hearing that it’s do-able and maybe not as big a deal as I was led to believe is helpful. And I’m also realizing I’m thinking of my son as he is now, a 13 year old who just finished 7th grade instead of how he’ll be starting his freshman year as a just turned 15 year old who has always been pretty independent. I’m sure there’s a thread here somewhere about how to deal with the fact that your kid is growing up?! :)</p>
<p>We are planning to take a week out in early November to head back east to visit schools and I had a tentative travel plan/itinerary but adding some western MA schools to the mix will have me re-figuring out our driving route. Fun stuff!</p>
<p>kelsey11 - so far my son’s favorite is Lawrence Academy but I limited the list of schools he looked at so after this whole thought process I’ll let him widen the search a bit. He was on Deerfield’s website tonight and asked to add it to the list so we’ll see what he thinks after he’s actually seen all of the campuses in action.</p>
<p>I like direct xc flights + a shuttle or car the last mile. It’s already a really long day when you add up the commute to the airport, the two hour wait, the inevitable delays, the time change etc. Throw in layovers and periodic missed connections and, well, you have a long, crummy day even for an adult, much less a teenager who is trying to maximize vacation time.</p>
<p>From where we live, a direct flight is next to impossible, even in to Boston. Our kid has never taken one. I was SO worried about this the first few trips. Then my son had his connecting flight home cancelled over Thanksgiving. After a quick panicked call home, he found a flight attendant who put him on a different flight to a different airport, actually closer to our home. The bigger issue was that his father didn’t have a cell phone with him and mine was accidentally on vibrate, so Dad made the trip to the original airport for nothing while I drove to airport 2. From this we learned that (a) our son can rise to an emergency and (b) airlines do NOT want minors hanging out overnight in an airport and will go out of their way to accommodate them, and (c) his parents are technological idiots. Anyway, in an emergency situation, the words, “I’m fifteen and travelling by myself and my flight was cancelled” work wonders.</p>
<p>You’ll also probably find that your child has a friend in Chicago and Minneapolis and _____ who could pick him up in an emergency. In the winter, when we’re worried about whether WE can make the 4 hour trip to the airport, we always have our kid make an emergency back-up plan with a friend. </p>
<p>Challenges like this are what make boarding school both incredibly challenging and incredibly confidence building.</p>
<p>@sfbaymom, I hear you. There are no direct flights on any airline from our city to Hartford, the closest airport to Choate, and we had the same concerns (DS was a 14-year-old freshman last year). That this winter was supernaturally mild was a blessing for all, and no connections were missed. But, you should rest assured that the schools understand this game very well and, from their end, will make sure your child will be at the starting airport without problems, even if that means your child has to stay an additional night on campus to catch an early flight the day after campus is officially closed. As for missed connections, check with your perferred airline as to their policy, and I totally agree with @classicalmama that a 14- or 15-year old in distress will command preferred attention. </p>
<p>We tried to plan DS layovers in cities where we had family/friend connections in case of emergencies but, should the worst happen, DS has a credit card and knows that dad and I will help him make hotel arrangements if an overnight ever becomes a necessity. Also, this next year, we plan to have him fly direct to Newark and then take Amtrak from the airport up to Wallingford were he can walk from the station to campus (it’s not super close, but the exercise won’t hurt him).</p>
<p>Anyway, your concern is valid, but I don’t think it should seriously limit your child’s choice of schools as every school has students who face this challenge, and they all do it and survive.</p>
<p>It probably wouldn’t hurt to ask the school which kids are also from same home town, to give you the opportunity to book the same flights. Yes, the kids could still get stuck in a connecting airport, but at least they will not be traveling alone.</p>
<p>The airline gate agent may be sympathetic, but keep in mind that if you do not spring for the “Unaccompanied Minor” fee (it’s not mandatory above a certain age), then the airline is not obligated to do anything special for your kid above what they are obligated to do for an adult in the same situation, i.e. if your kid gets stranded overnight at a connecting airport and the airline hands out hotel vouchers, it is problematic for a minor to check into a hotel. </p>
<p>If you buy the Unaccompanied Minor service, then an adult has to sign them in and do a handover at the departing & arriving airport, and your teenage kid will probably want to die from embarassment over all overt fuss, especially if he/she is the only one from the school whose parents signed up for the hand-holding.</p>
<p>This is all good advice, thanks everyone. And thanks for the reminder that schools know how to deal with this. I’m sure my son wouldn’t be the first one from SF at any of the schools we’re going to look at so we’ll widen our search and see what happens.</p>
<p>And thanks for the link to the school visit planning thread. I’d already planned for us to fly into JFK to visit Lawrenceville and fly out of Logan after visiting Boston-area and NH schools. Looks like we’ll be doing a bit more driving on the trip but that’s okay! We might as well keep all of our options open.</p>
<p>When you call a school to inquire about their logistics support, make sure to ask for the person/department that specifically handles this issue, i.e. a travel coordinator. </p>
<p>I found that the folks in the admissions office generally do not handle this issue, since kids who visit the school to interview come with their parents in a car.</p>
<p>Agree w/ ClassicalMama… My two boys, age 12 and 14, are currently en route to New Hampshire for summer camp from Indy. I didn’t spring for the unaccompanied minor fee. Their connecting flight from Cleveland was oversold, and my son just texted me with a “Huge Troubles” message, saying their assigned seats were in row 19, and the plane only has 18 rows. He said the airline was giving vouchers for people to forfeit their seats. I just reassured him, told him to stand his ground and identify themselves to the gate agent for seat re-assignment. I knew they wouldn’t bump my two guys and have them drifting about the Cleveland airport. </p>
<p>My son will be attending St. Paul’s, and will fly out of Boston and Manchester, NH airports. The school will get him to either one of these and back, and I’m sure there will be a few touchy moments but if the school gets them to the airport early, and if you plan your connections strategically, I think it will all be fine (and confidence building, yes).</p>
<p>As for strategic scheduling… I try to fly them through less busy airports, and make sure they have a good window of time for connection. For example, I didn’t book them through LaGuardia or Newark w/ a 40 minute layover… I gave them almost 2 hours in Cleveland, to account for a late flight, gate confusion, time for bathroom/food break, and time for baggage handlers to get the suitcase on to the next flight. I also always try to make sure the connecting flight isn’t the last flight out to the destination of the day. If they do miss a connection, it’s nice to know there’s a later flight out and they are unlikely to have to spend the night in an airport hotel. </p>
<p>Hope this helps… You will get a good feel for how remote/accessible the schools are when you go for interviews, re-visits, etc. Remember, lots of these schools have kids from all over the world, so they will help you. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Yes, everything that Indymom said…also, don’t forget that your child probably will make friends who live locally. You will be surprised at how generous other families will be about putting your child up in case of bad weather, making sure they get to the airport etc.</p>