Kent School - Review #12
Read more details about Kent School on their 2023 profile page.
Reflections and Advice:
1.) What do you think makes your school unique relative to other boarding schools?
Two things that I thought made Kent unique were the Harkness teaching style and the jobs program. Kent had harkness tables in a lot of rooms and if there wasn't a harkness table in the room, the desks were arranged in a U-shape. I think that harkness style of teaching made learning seem more one-on-one to the students. The jobs program was also very important to the students. Every student had a student job (tour guiding, cleaning white boards, cleaning dining hall tables, etc.) and it made us feel more empowered and kept us busy so home-sickness didn't seem as big of a deal.
2.) What was the best thing that happened to you in boarding school?
I think the best thing that happened to me while I was at Kent was being inducted into the Tri-M honor society. Tri-M is a music honor society and being inducted into it made me feel like all my hard work playing instruments had payed off.
3.) What might you have done differently during your boarding school experience?
I went in very worried that I wasn't going to make friends and I think that (at first) that actually kept me from making good friends because I was too worried that they wouldn't like me. I would have been myself right from the start and then I would have found my close friends a lot earlier.
4.) What did you like most about your school?
I liked that Kent pushed us academically, athletically, and artistically. Kent made sure we had the best education possible while still pushing us to play sports and do something artistic whether it was art, music, or theater.
5.) Do you have any final words of wisdom for visiting or incoming students to your school?
My final words of wisdom are to just be yourself and everything will fall into place.
My favorite snack at the snack bar was curly fries!
A great place to visit on campus is the chapel; it is very beautiful and calming.
Hoerle Hall is definitely the nicest dorm (it's also the newest).
Academics:
1.) Describe the academics at your school - what did you like most about it?
I liked how many different classes were available and that they were available at all levels. We had regular classes, honors classes, and accelerated classes as well as APs. We also had a variety of classes such as Latin, Ancient Civilizations, as well as the more popular courses like Biology and Algebra.
Athletics:
1.) Describe the athletics at your school - what did you like most about it?
I liked that there were also different levels of sports at Kent (Varsity, JV, thirds, club. Each level of the sport had a different commitment level so you were free to choose how much commitment you wanted for sports.
Art, Music, and Theatre:
1.) Describe the arts program at your school - what did you like most about it?
I absolutely loved the music program. There were so many options for classes (AP Music Theory, Music Technology, etc.) during the day as well as many performing groups after school (Jazz Band, Percussion Ensemble, Concert Band, Orchestra, etc.). I also loved that there was a recording studio in the music department. Throughout my time at Kent I went from only being able to play the flute to being able to play the flute and trombone as well as some percussion instruments.
Extracurricular Opportunities:
1.) Describe the extracurriculars offered at your school - what did you like most about it?
My favorite club at Kent was something called REACH (Remember Every Action Can Help). REACH was a club for volunteers and the adult who oversaw the club set up a lot of different opportunities for us students. I was able to volunteer at two different nursing homes, Hour Children in NYC, a local soup kitchen, and an early learning center among others.
Dorm Life:
1.) Describe the dorm life in your school - what did you like most about it?
I was actually a day student at Kent, but I did have experience with dorm life because all day students also had a room in the dorm. I really liked that all students were included in dorm life and that we could set up the furniture however we wanted.
Dining:
1.) Describe the dining arrangements at your school.
I liked how Kent had so many options available to its students. I also liked how we had Formal Dinner every week. Formal Dinner was a chance for us to sit with our advisors and the other advisees in their group and to catch up on each others' weeks. Formal Dinner was the only assigned seating we had in the dining hall.
Social and Town Life:
1.) Describe the school's town and surrounding area.
Kent is a very small town but it did have everything we need like clothing stores, restaurants, and a grocery store. I really liked that the town was within walking distance from the school.
2.) Describe the social life at your school - what did you like most about it?
The social like at Kent was really great! You pretty much knew the name of everybody and you could sit anywhere you wanted in the dining hall so you could make new friends.
Daily Schedule:
Weekday
7:00 AM
Breakfast
8:00 AM
Classes start
9:30 AM
Chapel Starts
10:15 AM
Classes resume
12:15 AM
Lunch
2:45 PM
Classes end
3:30 PM
Afternoon activity or sport starts and lasts until dinner
6:00 PM
Dinner
6:30 PM
Concert band rehearsal lasts until 8
8:00 PM
Study hall lasts until 10
Weekend
8:00 AM
Breakfast
9:00 AM
Classes Starts
11:30 AM
Classes finish
11:45 AM
Lunch
1:00 PM
Sports teams leave for away games
2:30 PM
Home games start
6:00 PM
Dinner
8:30 PM
Either an ice cream social or some other social event
11:00 PM
Back to the dorm
Read more details about Kent School on their 2023 profile page.
Alumni Reviews Review School
Review
Description
The freedom Kent offers its students is truly unparalleled, and with freedom comes responsibility: Students quickly learn how to look after themselves and one another. If you're looking for a place to learn independence, and. . .
Kent's emphasis on individualized education is one of the elements that sets it apart from other boarding schools. The Studies Office allows students to choose classes that interest them the most, when they have completed. . .
Campus is beautiful and landscape around it. It was very relaxing walking around campus and looking at the beautiful mountain algo and Housatonic river.Teachers and advisors were available 24/7 and always happy to give advice. . .
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