Why Boarding School

I just read another one of those discouraging articles in the New York Times about the low esteem in which America holds its teachers in the 21st century. Author Sam Dillon is referring to public school teachers. This is a difficult time for most public school boards of education as they try to figure out what programs to reduce or eliminate to balance their budgets. Since local school districts are funded principally from taxes on real property, they cannot simply raise the mill rate. Historically, local residents will not pass budgets that have large tax increases. Inevitably, teaching positions are on the table. Teachers face salary and benefit cuts or, even worse, outright job losses. While I most certainly empathize with the teachers' predicament, I also know that private schools stand to reap the benefit of having some of these gifted professionals join their ranks. Besides being able to have a job in their chosen profession, why else would professional teachers want to teach in a boarding school? They would want to do so for many of the same reasons why you and I want our children to attend such residential schools. Let's look at some of the factors which might make an experienced public school teacher consider teaching in the private K-12 sector.

Academic Standards

Teachers want to teach. They love their subject. They know it inside and out at the level at which they have been teaching. They know all the tricks and ways to light

Recruitment fairs are events held in locations all over the world that are meant to help boarding schools with their Recruitment of International Students. For example, Linden Educational Services holds Recruitment Fairs in both the Fall and Spring from locations such as East Asia, Latin America, Central Asia, Africa, and Europe. It's been doing this for 9 years. Aimed at parents and students who live in locations all around the world, these recruitment fairs put admissions staff from dozens of boarding schools on location in various International cities. You can meet school representatives and ask all the questions you have about American, Canadian, UK, and Swiss boarding schools.

Why would students from overseas consider attending boarding school in the States?

There are many reasons. As a rule, the main one is that parents want their children to have a world-class education. An International boarding school education will strengthen your child's language skills. Not just English, though it is pretty much the lingua franca in the business and professional world today, your child will also be able to learn a host of other languages, including French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Chinese, to name a few. International boarding schools generally offer a rich array of courses in many subjects. As you meet with school representatives, have a list of questions handy so that you will remember to ask about matters pertaining to curriculum.

Boarding schools also offer superb preparation for tertiary or college-level studies. While most boarding schools will follow the American

1. There is a boarding school which will fit your requirements.

The United States and Canada have approximately 400-500 hundred boarding schools. The chances are that you will be able to find a school which will suit your requirements. Take time to determine what you are looking for in a boarding school with the person who will be attending the school, namely, your child. She needs to buy into the concept of going away to school. She also needs to understand the many benefits of a boarding school education, both in the short and in the long term. Perhaps her first reactions will be negative because all she will see is that she is going to be losing all her friends and her family. In short, she will assume that going off to boarding school will separate her from everything she knows and loves. That's tough for a teenager to deal with.

If you plan your strategy carefully and discuss the matter with her rather than dictating what will happen, you will quickly build consensus. After all, you only have to point out to her how you wanted her in the first place and that you have nurtured her emotionally and in every other way since birth. Hopefully, then she will trust your judgment and good sense when you put it to her that way.

Once you have her attention, discuss what she needs to build a happy and successful three or four years away at high

Use this guide for international students to cover all the topics pertaining to deciding which school to attend, how to apply, and much more. Broadly defined, an international student is somebody who comes from a foreign country, i.e., not the United States of America, whose first language is generally not English. Why would families send their children far away from home to study at a boarding school in the United States? Because of American boarding schools' reputation for a high standard of academic work and for the network of friends and acquaintances that their graduates can build. And also for the solid preparation for university-level work which American boarding schools provide.

American boarding schools have been proactive in seeking out international students. In the fall, individual schools and consortia of schools regularly visit Asia and Europe to recruit applicants.

The following headers will help you explore the concept of boarding schools and explain the admissions process. Contact the school that interests you for detailed answers to your specific questions.

Admissions to Private School: A-Z

Admissions to Private School: A-Z puts all the information you need to navigate the private school admissions process in one convenient place. Whether you are just beginning or have been through this before, you will find help and advice to guide you. Application Calendar

Keep track of all aspects of choosing a school and the application deadlines. This is especially important for students applying from overseas.

Guidelines for

If you are just beginning to explore boarding schools, this article will give the view from 10,000'. I suggest that you scan the article quickly, and then drill down in anything which interests you. Our site has a wealth of information to guide your search process. And, if you don't find the answers you want, you probably will be able to find them on our sister site, Private School Review. Finally, if you have more questions, tweet me. I will be happy to help.

Size

Boarding schools range in size from rather small (100 students) to rather large (1200 students). Most boarding school populations are somewhere in the middle with 300-400 students. Compare these numbers to most public schools and you will begin to see why size is so important in my opinion. I wanted my daughters to be visible when they went to boarding school. When the school community is a manageable size, teachers and administrative staff get to know their students quickly. More importantly, they will usually know what their young charges are up to. Boarding schools take their role as your substitute very seriously. The legal term is in loco parentis. Your child will not be invisible or able to hide when she attends boarding school.

Chatham Hall is an example of a small school. Everybody knows everybody in a school like this one.