Kent School - Review #23

I found that Kent was a great blend of academics, athletics, arts, and fun social life. It was truly possible to do it all - be in the honors classes, play varsity athletics, go to music competitions, and have fun with your friends at the Saturday night dances. Everyone wants to be there - so classes are fun and motivated. But, it's not a stressful environment and everyone truly wants to have a fun time!

I gained a lot of independence and confidence through going to Kent. I am able to stand my own ground, talk to all sorts of people, and feel comfortable going off and doing my own thing.Going to Kent made going off to college pretty easy. I already had gone away from home once!

Definitely be open and outgoing when you first get on campus. Don't try to find your best friend the first day but get to know a lot of people. If you just be yourself, everything will fall into place! I was a bit homesick and nervous when I started out, and didn't reach out to make friends right away. It's alright to be homesick, but the cure is to get involved and jump into things at school. Once I felt comfortable on campus, I had a great time!

The people - both students and faculty. It's really what makes Kent Kent.

It's a great school.

I felt challenged academically. My teachers urged me to do my best. I really got to know my teachers and they had a huge impact on my life at Kent. The academic course load is definitely rigorous, but I enjoyed every class I took. I got to try new subjects like Still Photography, African American History, and Genetics that I probably wouldn't have taken at my public high school. I also got to take a lot of AP courses that gave me college credit down the line.One thing that I did enjoy was the fact that Kent doesn't post class ranking. So no one is struggling to be the valedictorian. Rather, everyone is trying to do the best to their ability. I enjoyed that, so there wasn't much pressure to be cutthroat competitive within your class.

I think Kent has a strong athletics program. I found the varsity program to be quite competitive and challenging and the JV program to be more fun and relaxed.I really enjoyed playing on the varsity soccer and lacrosse teams. Our teams were very competitive within the Founder's league. I found my coaches to be excellent.One of the coolest things regarding Kent Athletics was that I got to try out ice hockey. I played JV girls ice hockey for two years, which is an experience unavailable to most. I had an awesome time learning a new sport!

I found the music program to be quite strong at Kent. I played in the concert band, jazz band, woodwind ensemble, and did solo performances as well. The band director really strived to make Kent Music a strong program. He would go out of his way to support Kent Musicians in their music efforts.While I didn't participate in theater or art, I believe that those program were equally excellent.With the upcoming Arts Facility construction project, I believe that Kent shows its strong commitment to the arts.

The amount of extracurricular activities are growing at Kent. I didn't participate in many, but the REACH club (community service) was very active on campus.I was a member of the senior council (as an underformer representative and as a prefect), which was a great experience. I think the senior council is a great organization which allows students to "own" their school. We made disciplinary decisions, planned our own prom, ran all-student meetings, etc.

Dorm life is great at Kent. You really get to know your friends well. I lived in Dining Hall dorm as a 3rd former, which is where most freshman girls go. I lived in a double all four years, but triples and one quad is available at Kent. Staying up late chatting with my roommate and friends are really some of my top memories from high school.

The dining hall offers decent food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There were definitely some good meal options and some 'eh' options. The snack bar was a great late-night food option. Going off-campus for food on the weekends was great- Kent Market, Strobels, Pizza Garden, etc.

I loved being able to walk into town. It's really only a walk across the bridge to make it into town where there were shops and restaurants. Kent's a pretty quiet, small town, but there were definitely fun things to do there. Also, a train station to the City was only 15 minutes away (Ten Mile) and the mall in Danbury was about 30 - 45 minutes away.

To be honest, Kent is a rather small school situated in a rather small town - there isn't a ton of nightlife in Kent. But, that was fine by me. I had a lot of fun just hanging out with my friends in the dorm, at the student center, or out about on campus or in town. There are weekly school dances, fun "Headmaster's Holidays" (unplanned days off announced by the Headmaster), and weekend social events that you can do.