My Boarding School Blog
Archive for March, 2008
03 31st, 2008 Pros and cons of coed dorms
Living and studying in a boarding school can be a daunting task for students. One of the most challenging, and oftentimes confusing and scary, situations is the opposite’ sex presence in a dorm room. Most boarding schools do not let the genders mix in, specially in the dorms, but some of them do and not to mention college where everything is so much scarier and much more confusing. But that doesn’t mean that being in a coed boarding school dormitory is all bad, there are a few good things too. Here is a list of the pros and cons of living in a coed dorm: Read the rest of this entry »
read comments (0)03 27th, 2008 Tips for exam takers
For anyone who has ever taken any type of exam before, a good study habit can be the deciding factor on whether or not you pass or fail. Here are a few basic tips that you can follow if you want to pass that all important exam.
Time Management
Before you start to study, make sure you have an sufficient amount of time to complete this task. Keep in mind that the amount of time you’ll need to study for a college exam is probably quite a bit more than the time you needed to study in high school. Read the rest of this entry »
03 25th, 2008 A few questions to ask when looking for a great school
If a parent wants to find the best possible school for their children then asking the following question would be a great idea in order to get valuable information. Don’t forget to bring a pen and paper to take note of the answers.
•What is the school’s philosophy?
•What is the school’s code of conduct?
•Does the school offer conflict resolution? •What are the guidelines for suspension and expulsion?
•Does the school have a strict dress code? •How do the students interact with the teachers?
•Does the school have a diverse student population?
•Does the school have an accelerated or gifted program?
•What is the criterion for having your child tested or admitted into a gifted program?
•What is the average class size?
•Does the school have reduced class size? (Are the reduced class size only for particular programs?)
•Does the school offer an integrated curriculum with full inclusion of all learners?
•What are the school’s academic standards?
•How are the school’s test scores?
•Have the scores fluctuated or have they been steadily improving or declining?
•How does the school prepare its students for higher education?
•What programs are offered in the school?
•Does the school support English Language Learners?
•How long has the administration been in the school?
•Does the school provide teachers with professional development?
•Does the school have a strong PTA or PA?
•Is an after school program offered?
•Does the school have an Emergency Evacuation Plan? If so, is it plan given to parents?
•Does the school have a website?
This list can be very useful, but parents should also ask whatever questions they may have that are not listed above. You can also share those question in the comment box for other parents to read.
03 24th, 2008 A cool school
CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. — At this remote ski resort, going to “boarding school” means spending as much time in a snow-packed terrain park as a high school classroom. The students at the college preparatory school here even wake up in a hotel and spa that once housed a Club Med, a location that gives the skiers among them slope-side access to some of the most famed expert terrain in the country.
But for the 70 youths enrolled at Crested Butte Academy, the similarities to being on vacation end there.
On a recent day, those who live on campus rise before dawn for a mandatory breakfast appearance before joining the day students at a nearby building for an hour of strength training with their performance coach.
Brendan Gerard, a shaggy-haired 17-year-old and four-year academy veteran, arrives last because he’s been scraping the wax off the bottom of his snowboard. He’s soon groaning alongside two dozen other teenagers, some of whom begin stripping off their ski caps and tossing them aside with the parkas, boots and other layers of clothing that already sit in piles around the perimeter of the dimly lit room.
The students listen up as Bud Keene, who coached snowboarder Shaun White to Olympic gold in 2006, enters the room to put strict limits on the use of portable music players on the slopes. Keene, who joined the academy last spring as director of snowboarding and freeride skiing, allows a split-second for any questions.
“Everybody got that? Cool.”
The new iPod edict comes as a blow to some of the kids in the room. But the change is just a tiny tweak compared with the complete turnaround in the school’s once lax standards and near-bankrupt status.
The school’s reversal of fortunes gained momentum when the school was absorbed last year into the IMG sports and talent agency, the behemoth that has operated in 30 countries and represents big names such as Tiger Woods.
Its far-flung business now includes widespread media and entertainment interests and a division that operates a dozen sports-specific academies aimed at churning out future greats.
The winter sports emphasis at Crested Butte Academy filled a gap in IMG’s diverse portfolio of schools, some of which cater to tennis players and golfers, even future trophy fishers. The deep-pocketed IMG has allowed the academy here to do more than just keep the doors open. It has moved from aging quarters and dilapidated dormitories to relatively posh resort digs that have it claiming to be the only ski-in, ski-out private school in the country.
Its recruitment efforts — the school has almost doubled its full-time enrollment in a year and now brings dozens of youths in for weeklong training sessions — have been aided by its ability to lure big-name coaches.
A typical day also involves four hours on the snow and four hours in the classroom. There are three daily meals designed by a nutritionist, stretching, strength-training and mental-conditioning programs, as well as a two-hour study hall in the evenings.
The intensive athletic and academic experience comes at a price: $34,000 a year for tuition, room and board.
The cost doesn’t include multiweek summer training camps that often involve international travel.
The academy was founded as an alternative high school for local kids whose parents wanted them to attend high school in town rather than down the valley in Gunnison.
It went out of business briefly in the middle of the 2003-04 school year, only to be revived as a nonprofit, sports-focused prep school several days later. It lacked enough coaches to support the new approach. And the purchase of a new building eventually put the cash-strapped school over the edge.
“This was a third-tier boarding school — a school that survived by admitting everyone they could,” says Graham Frey, who became the school’s headmaster just before the start of the 2006-07 school year. “It was a mess.”
About three months after arriving on campus, Frey boarded an airplane bound for Bradenton, Fla., home to IMG Academies and the campus of its biggest and best-known sports academy programs.
“If this place was going to make it, it needed a strong financial partner,” says Frey, who made a pitch that eventually led to the IMG deal.
Despite all the time spent on the mountain, the highly structured lifestyle and all of the rules can prove daunting.
“You do lose a lot of your freedom. And it’s definitely not part of snowboarding society to be restricted,” says snowboarding student Gerard, who spent the early part of his youth in Cleveland. “I miss out on the whole party scene, but how can I be bummed when I get to snowboard when they’re in school?”
Read the resource article here.