School Life

For boarding school students, and many teachers, the campus is home. Explore dormitory living, get expert advice on learning and living away from home and learn more about what can be done to help your child transition to and succeed in boarding school. Find resources for parents, teachers and students. We’ll cover sustainability, boarding school jargon, and corporal punishment. Read first-hand accounts from parents of boarding school students, find graduation gift ideas, and learn why small classes are effective.

View the most popular articles in School Life:

5 Tips For Teen Travel

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5 Tips For Teen Travel
Discover essential safety tips for teen travelers, including staying alert, avoiding accepting items from strangers, carrying a credit card, sitting near gates, and using TSA PreCheck®. This comprehensive guide helps parents prepare their teenagers for safe and successful solo travel experiences.

5 Tips For Teen Travel

Whether you are sending your child off to visit her grandparents or sending her back to school, you know how important it is for her to travel safely. After all, you have experienced almost every travel situation and glitch.

  • But remember that you were traveling as an adult. You had the financial resources to book a hotel room at the minute when faced with a canceled flight, and your flight out was early the following morning.
  • You knew what to do to satisfy the TSA staff as you made your way through airport security.
  • Most importantly, you were street-smart and aware of your surroundings and had an exit path ready in case of some crisis.
  • These are just a few things you need to teach your children before they travel alone.

Stay alert.

Given the frequency of terrorist and other attacks both in the U.S. and abroad, you must teach your child to monitor her surroundings constantly.

You would think that would be a given, but teenagers can and do lose themselves in their world on their smartphones.

  • They put their earbuds on and tune everything else out.
  • Teach her to know what's happening by looking around every few minutes.
  • Once she has boarded her plane, she can listen to her music uninterrupted, except for the safety announcements.
  • Staying alert also means not napping or falling asleep while sitting at the gate.
  • Gate
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What's It Like At Boarding School?

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What's It Like At Boarding School?
Get answers to common questions about boarding school life, including rules on technology use, pets, cars, and off-campus activities. This comprehensive guide provides insights into daily routines, social life, and academic expectations at boarding schools.

What's It Like At Boarding School?

At some point in your boarding school search process, your daughter will ask questions about life at her new school. After all, she has her routine at home and in her current school. But when she goes to her new boarding school, that familiar routine will disappear and be replaced by a new one. Naturally, she will have concerns and questions. Here are some general answers to many of the questions which she will have. Always ask the admissions office at her new school for authoritative answers to your and her specific questions.

This video tells you what one student brought to her boarding school.

Can I use my smartphone?

May I use my smartphone at school? McCallie gives a typical answer in its handbook: "Students are encouraged to use both common courtesy and common sense in the use of technology. " And, by the way, the school handbook is your guide for 95% of your daughter's questions. The rules and regulations contained in the school handbook will be explained thoroughly during orientation. Mailing or receiving calls, texting, and sending emails are generally prohibited in classrooms, dining rooms, and other public places.

Can I use my laptop and tablet?

Boarding schools have Acceptable Use Policies that govern the use of computers at school. These policies will be explained during orientation. Discuss them with your child so that he knows

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A Guide To Using Social Media In Boarding Schools

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A Guide To Using Social Media In Boarding Schools
Social media is an essential part of a boarding school's marketing strategy

Why is social media critical to any boarding school's marketing program? The simple answer is that you must expose your fine school to as many potential new clients as possible. You know what your school offers and are very proud of it. Unfortunately, families with boarding school-age children living a few hours away downstate or in another part of the country will never even hear about your school unless you make sure it is obvious. Not just visible. Very visible.

While the following video is entitled 13 Proven Social Media Marketing Tips for Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs, Brian's information is relevant to administrators of boarding schools. After all, your boarding school is a business. Even if you have non-profit status, your school is still a business.

Thirty or forty years ago all a boarding school had to do to get the word out about its programs and desirability was to procure a listing in a boarding school directory and correspond with a group of educational consultants you knew could send potential clients your way. The boarding school directories are now all online. This site is a good example of the sort of online resources that 21st-century parents have. And those educational consultants? Well, bless them. They operate at warp speed with text and Skype communications.

So, what more does a boarding school need to get the word out? Social media. Well-organized and beautifully

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5 Challenges Facing Boarding Schools

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5 Challenges Facing Boarding Schools
American boarding schools face many challenges in the 21st century. We look at five of these and offer advice.

A day school is not an easy enterprise to run because, for one thing, it is dependent on the local economy and demographics. The closing of a major employer or the departure of young families from the area can challenge the existence of even the best-run private day school. In addition to those local conditions, a boarding or residential school is subject to national and global economic trends. Many American boarding schools have 10-20% of their students drawn from outside the United States. An economic downturn or civil strife can choke off the number of applicants coming from abroad. A weak national economy here at home can make it more difficult for parents to afford a boarding school education for their children.

With these considerations in mind, let's look at five challenges facing American boarding schools and some common-sense solutions to those challenges.

1. The natural parental resistance to sending children off to a residential school.

It is hard enough for most American parents to send their children away to college, much less to boarding school. The idea of sending a fifteen-year-old away to a residential high school meets with serious resistance from most parents. There are many reasons for this reluctance, but the primary ones are the high cost of boarding school and the feeling that the local public high school or private schools can do just as good a job of preparing their children for college. There's also a nagging concern that perhaps their son or

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A Year At A Swiss Boarding School

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A Year At A Swiss Boarding School
This article provides an insightful glimpse into the unique experience of attending a boarding school in Switzerland. It explores the enriching academic and cultural environment offered by these institutions, highlighting the benefits of international exposure, rigorous education, and diverse extracurricular activities. The author shares personal anecdotes and testimonials from students, shedding light on the holistic development and lifelong friendships fostered in Swiss boarding schools. Whether considering a boarding school experience or simply curious about this educational pathway, this article offers valuable insights into the world of Swiss boarding schools

Editor's note: In 1957-58 my cousin Peter Denis attended a boarding school in Switzerland. He very kindly answered my questions about his time abroad at school. ~Rob

What prompted your parents to send you to boarding school overseas? Which school did they send you to? How did you get there?

My parents wanted me to improve my French. So they sent me for one year after high school and before university to Ecole Nouvelle de la Suisse Romande, Chailly sur Lausanne, Switzerland. I was the third in a series of five people who had followed such a plan. The idea was to live in the boarding school together with the students doing regular studies. I was enrolled to learn French, which I had already been exposed to over eight years growing up in my hometown of Montreal, Quebec. This Swiss school had a French second language program with dedicated teachers to accommodate students from around the world. The 18 students in my class came from the US, Norway, Sweden, Iran, and Germany, to name just a couple of the countries.

There was no penalty for speaking English, but if you were going to survive, you had to learn French. Once your French was at an acceptable level, you were placed in the regular classes.

I traveled to Le Havre, France, via a Cunard steamship from Montreal. Then I spent five days in Paris

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Recent Articles

A Glimpse into Boarding School Life at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy
A Glimpse into Boarding School Life at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy
One of the most common questions families ask when exploring boarding school options is: What does a typical day look like for a student? Beyond academics, they want to understand how students live, learn, and grow within the community—how daily routines shape not only their education but also their independence, friendships, and character.
Corporal Punishment is Still Legal in Many States
Corporal Punishment is Still Legal in Many States
As amazing as it sounds, corporal punishment is still legal in over 20 states. Fortunately private schools banned the practice many decades ago.
5 Tips for Applying for a Boarding School Job
5 Tips for Applying for a Boarding School Job
Whether you're a seasoned educator or just starting your teaching career, these tips will help you navigate the competitive landscape of boarding school job applications. Discover the strategies that can make your application stand out and increase your chances of landing a job at a boarding school.

Featured Schools

Featured Schools

School Life

FOR PARENTS
This section covers issues and concerns for parents of boarding school students. Explore corporal punishment, get expert advice on preventing hazing, and read first-hand accounts from parents. Learn what to do if things go wrong, see what boarding school students do in the summer, and get words of wisdom from a reluctant parent.
FOR STUDENTS
Here you’ll gain knowledge about student life at boarding school. User our glossary of terms to learn boarding school jargon, discover the importance of a partnership between school, parent and child, and find great gift ideas for the boarding school graduate.
FOR TEACHERS
The articles in this section are related to teaching at a boarding school. Learn more about what is being taught, why small class sizes work, and the impact of sustainability on boarding schools. You’ll find a list of eBooks about boarding schools, be able to view pictures of boarding school life, and explore course offerings.