For Parents

One of our parental prerogatives is to worry about our children. That's probably because your child never came with an instruction manual and, as a result, you have had to learn so many things about parenting simply by being a parent. No matter, worry is part of the parental landscape. Now, if you are thinking about sending your child off to boarding school, your worries will be quite specific. Probably along the lines of the following questions.

Many parents find the concept of sending a child to boarding school upsetting; a child's adolescence is such a distinctively affective period that entrusting it to others seems wrong. Yet boarding schools prosper, successors to institutions dating to medieval times.

In 2026, those worries are still understandable. Families are asking not only about academics and college placement, but also about safety, mental health, residential supervision, social adjustment, and cost. The good news is that today’s boarding schools are built around structure, accountability, and close adult guidance.

Will My Child Be Safe?

Boarding schools take your child's safety very seriously. Contractually, a boarding school functions in loco parentis, which is a legal way of stating that the school acts in the place of the parent when it comes to supervision of its students, your child included.

In many respects, your child is a whole lot safer at school, where she cannot drive or go to somebody's house and get into who-knows-what. Drugs, drinking, and smoking are not permitted in a boarding school.

We took our eldest daughter off to boarding school in 10th grade. That was back in the 80s. While the times were certainly different from today, our motivation for making such a major decision would be the same in 2026 as it was back then. Let me tell the story that I hope will give you the courage to send your daughter (or son, for that matter) off to boarding school. It's well worth it.

Families today have access to far more information than we did decades ago, including virtual tours, online student panels, and detailed school profiles. Yet the fundamental reasons for choosing boarding school remain remarkably similar: academic opportunity, personal growth, independence, and preparation for college and life beyond high school.

Our Rationale

We were busy parents with careers and two children. The girls were five years apart. One was in junior high. The other was in elementary school. We lived in a little town in northwestern Connecticut. You had to drive ten miles to get to anything. Literally. While the regional high school was doing a good job, the number of academic courses and extracurricular opportunities it could provide for our daughter was limited. Not only that, she had to be driven everywhere to participate in sports or extracurricular activities.

With those factors looming large, we sat down one day with her and asked: "What do you think about going off to boarding school?" There was a rather enthusiastic acceptance of the idea. Probably because

By Shari Bunks Geller, parent of Blair Academy alumni

I survey my son's room. High school graduation is just two weeks away. College is no longer on the horizon but our next step forward. I am looking to see what he will need to take with him and what he will leave behind. Looking around his room, I am keenly aware of how our world has expanded more than we could have imagined just four years ago when we applied Michael to high school. Boarding school was consciously not on our radar when we began our high school search.

At the start of his eighth-grade year, our son said he would like to apply to boarding school. My husband and I seriously discussed boarding school as an option. We both attended good public schools growing up. We had decided against our public high school as an option for our four children and were committed to sending them to an independent day school. While neither my husband nor I came from families with a boarding school culture, we had many friends whose children attended boarding schools across the country. We have frequently cautioned that once a child visits a boarding school, all-day schools will pale in comparison. The facilities, the campus, and the notion of a different level of independence are alluring to a fourteen-year-old. Although our conversation was serious, we quickly agreed that we would not consider boarding school.

We investigated our local day schools. We toured,

This article has been updated to reflect 2026 data and recent developments

You are thinking about boarding school. But you've heard that the work is tough. Furthermore, they will expel you in a heartbeat if you are caught doing anything seriously wrong. Is this true? Is that the way boarding schools work? Let's look at the facts.

1. The academic work is difficult.

There's no escaping the truth about academics in private schools. Academics are the reason a private school exists in the first place. The academic standards are high. There is a lot of homework. There are a lot of subjects and a lot of ground to cover in every class. Sometimes, the lessons are hard to understand.

Just remember, whenever you feel discouraged, that you were admitted to the school because the school thought you could do the academic work involved. The school based its decision on your academic transcripts, recommendations, interviews, and other admissions requirements. In 2026, admissions requirements vary significantly by school, and standardized admissions tests may be required, recommended, or optional.

MJ The Student Actuary offers some study tips for complex subjects.

The difference between taking on challenging work in a boarding school versus a public school is that nobody in the boarding school wants to let you sink. Why? Well, for one, the classes are generally small. For example, your teacher will know you have problems grasping a math