Interested to hear any thoughts or recent experiences with the Webb School in Claremont. Would like to learn more about the culture there. How do students from each of the 2 schools interact? Is the community tight-knit or more separate?
The community, in terms of interaction between the boys’ and girls’ schools, is very integrated. Most classes in 9th and 10th grade are single gender, and then they mix in 11th and 12th. At meals, and outside of academic hours for 9th and 10th, it would be hard to tell there is any distinction between WSC (boys) and VWS (girls). Seems like an optimal and interesting approach for addressing age-appropriate developmental needs.
Also, I was going to suggest you look at Webb in your other post regarding baseball and track - looks like you found it already! The close-to-LA location allows for more varied competition in sports than some of the other CA boarding schools.
Thanks @westcoastmom987. Sounds like the gender separation the first 2 years and then the integration during the last 2 years is an interesting approach… Likely helps to cut down on some distractions for the lower classmen.
Don’t know whether you are a full pay family or would require financial aid, but Cate, Webb, and Stevenson have a reputation for offering less financial aid compared to others.
@CaliMex - really? Quick search on Boardingschoolreview:
Webb: 35% of students on financial aid (doesn’t say average amount)
Stevenson: 35% of students on financial aid (doesn’t say average amount)
Cate: 28% of students on financial aid (average amount $52,644)
Thacher: 29% of students on financial aid (average amount $44,620).
But back to the point of the thread - I have always thought Webb sounded pretty cool. Very thoughtful in their approach and an interesting way to get the best of both worlds of co-ed and single sex schools. It may not be for everyone, but I admire what they do.
It’s good to see that these schools offer about a third or so of their students with some type of financial aid. I would think that helps with attracting a broader range of students from various backgrounds, and in my humble opinion, that’s a good thing for the school and student body. Thanks for the info.
My kiddo has a friend who attends Webb and loves it. I don’t have enough information to explain why, but I know she has been happy there.
Percentage of students receiving aid can be a misleading stat since there is no way to know how many awards are full rides vs slight discounts.
If a student needs financial aid, it is important to apply to many schools so you can compare aid packages. The best endowed school or the school with the most kids receiving FA may or may not be the school that offers the most generous package to your particular family. We found a LOT of variability (by tens of thousands) between schools, even though all aid was need based (not merit).
Yup, the “cast a wide net” advice often given here applies in spades when FA is in play. The combo of percentages and average amount does give a sense of how many full rides or partial packages are given out, though. Endowment doesn’t. It is a shame Webb and Stevenson don’t publish their average awards, so you can’t do apples to apples with them. But people can compare Cate and Thacher to other schools- they are middle of the pack.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what the average award is - it is what your kid is offered. My response was based on the comment about “reputations” for financial aid. Reputations are even less reliable/relevant than endowment size.
We know families who have been admitted to several of the CA boarding schools and who were therefore able to compare FA packages. They reported less generous packages from Webb and Stevenson than from Cate and Thacher… and even smaller awards from Midland and Dunn. Your own mileage may vary… and I would argue that your particular mileage or FA package is the only one that matters anyway!
We were offered very different amounts from Cate than from Thacher, but I’d prefer not to share details in a public forum.
If you need FA, apply broadly …
I hate to be hijacking the OP’s thread to talk FA, but from your other posts it does sound like Thacher did great by your family on the FA front and that your daughter is thriving there. As a parent that feels like a home run, right? Kudos to your daughter for earning it. My son didn’t apply to Thacher – the horse program was not his cup of tea – but Cate is our home run. 
To each their own.
As happy as you are with Thacher, I can’t imagine that any other school would be better for your daughter.
^^And schools often offer FA based not just on how they calculate need, which is very different from school to school, but on how much they want the kid.
Also worth noting that Webb’s location is distinctive in relation to most of the other CA boarding options, located in the suburbs of Los Angeles. The school leverages its location in many of the activities it offers, so for kids who are drawn to big cities, it is appealing.
How much does Webb leverage its proximity to the Claremont schools?
Getting up at the crack of dawn every day to do hard manual labor is not for everyone!
Lots of varied and interesting perspectives here. Thanks to everyone for chiming in with helpful insights about Webb, Stevenson, Thacher and Cate. From what I gather, all of these schools have unique qualities and finding the right fit is key to this boarding school search. The schools mentioned on this thread are now on our family’s list of spots to do more research on and what our DS finds appealing.
Not sure if I should start a new thread, but back to my original question about culture, but I’d like to frame it a bit more broadly this time. I see that many schools have an ethos/honor code/motto. From your personal experience, do you find the schools live up to their code or is it window dressing? Just trying to figure out what is reality and what is marketing.
Decided to open a new thread instead since it might be easier to search later on:
Moderator, please move or close as you see fit.
There are other boarding schools in CA, too. You might want to check out Dunn, Midland, Villanova, Besant/Happy Valley, Ojai Valley School, Santa Catalina (Girls), Athenian, and some of the others,