Want To Teach In A Boarding School?

At some point in your evaluation of boarding schools, you will examine the academics. That bucket covers a lot of ground. Academics broadly include teaching style and philosophy, the number and depth of subjects offered, and curriculum. In another article, we'll look at the first two items in our academic bucket. But, first, let's discuss curriculum and specifically one of the most commonly used, the Advanced Placement or AP as it is known colloquially.

What is AP?

AP or Advanced Placement Program is a three-year sequence of high school coursework offered by the College Board in over 34 subject areas. AP courses provide college-bound high school seniors with a level academic playing field. It doesn't matter whether you are a high school student in Dubuque, Iowa, or Darien, Connecticut, because AP courses and their end-of-course examinations are the same regardless of where they are offered. The course content is the same. The teaching objectives are the same. The preparation for the final examinations is the same. College admissions professionals can compare student academic achievements with confidence because the standard is the same everywhere, and the final examinations are proctored and graded by the College Board. They know precisely what AP means when they see it on your transcript. They know exactly what your AP scores represent.

That is the intrinsic value of AP Courses and their examinations from a college admissions point of view. Admissions professionals want to know that an applicant's math courses at

The pandemic has forced many students to reconsider their plans for going off to college. That's because of concerns about safety and COVID protocols on college campuses. The other factor is whether learning will be in person or online. After all, a college education is costly. So, spending a fortune on online classes does not sit well with most parents who usually pay those hefty college fees.

But I am already at a residential school. Isn't it the same as being at college? Since you are attending a boarding school, you understand the need for strict safety protocols. Vaccinations, temperature taking, hand washing, masking, and social distancing are norms you have become accustomed to while at school. Furthermore, everybody in the school community abides by those protocols or risks being asked to leave. However, your school is tiny compared with most colleges. Now, that's only one factor that makes attending college riskier than being at your small boarding school.

The other consideration is that most college campuses tend to be open and insecure. Anybody can gain access whether or not they are authorized. Contrast that with your school's campus with limited entry points secured by gated access and security officers.

The final consideration is the teaching. What will happen if there is a COVID outbreak on the college campus? Will all classes be taught online? Will the college close? Will the dormitories close?

Against this backdrop of uncertainties, if you are in your last year of

American boarding schools have been popular with families from countries outside the United States for many years. The International Education Specialists website lays out five reasons why this is so. Why Study In The USA? 5 Reasons and Benefits Make USA The Best discusses international students in American universities. But the same reasons apply to residential high schools here in the United States.

Canada, the United Kingdom, and several European countries also have residential high schools. They certainly offer families options. So, why then are American boarding schools so popular?

Learning the English Language

There's nothing like a language immersion program to develop a young person's fluency in English. And that's precisely what boarding schools in the United States offer. All classes except foreign language classes such as Spanish and French are taught in English. In addition, English is the language used in most extracurricular activities and sports programs that schools offer. As a result, students for whom English is their second language must speak, read, and understand English, both oral and written, during classes, on stage, and the playing field.

Being immersed in an American boarding school's academic and community life also means that students quickly learn how to speak and think in conversational English. In their daily routines, they pick up the common, everyday casual expressions that you and I take for granted. However, they also learn to switch to more formal phrases when the occasion warrants it.

With all this in mind,

You applied to several boarding schools. But your first choice didn't accept you. Instead, it waitlisted you. What exactly does this mean? And why do schools waitlist applicants? What do you do now?

I can tell you from my first-hand experience that you wonder what you did wrong. Did you make a poor impression at the interview? Were your scores not good enough? The questions are never-ending. As a father whose two daughters both went to boarding schools, I remember well all the second-guessing. So, I am writing this essay from the candidate's point of view and yours. Please share it with your child who has been waitlisted by one or more of the boarding schools she applied to.

What does waitlisting mean?

Most schools typically offer more applicants places than they have for the theory and experience that they will receive enough acceptances to fill all their seats. Calculating the actual yield from the acceptances they have sent out is something experienced admissions officers know how to do almost instinctively. For example, let's say the school has places for 100 students. It could send acceptance letters to 100 applicants. But what happens if only 75 of those families accept the places offered? Having 25 empty seats will wreak havoc with any private school's finances.

That's where the waitlisting comes in. The admissions officers know that if they offer a certain number of applicants over the actual number of places they have available, they will receive the necessary