All aboard: boarding schools are trying to broaden their base and diversify their student bodies

Most people don't know much about boarding schools, says Craig Thorn, who has taught English for 20 years at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., alma mater of President George W. Bush and his father. "A lot of people in our generation think of English boarding schools -- all-white, all-boy places where gentlemen are trained," says Thorn, an editor of Second Home: Life in a Boarding School, a collection of essays by boarding-school students and faculty. "The easy stereotype is to say a boarding school is a rich school filled with rich people, but that's not the case."

Phillips is one of nearly 300 independent, accredited, nonprofit boarding schools in the nation. They offer world-class educations framed by top-flight instructors, rigorous curricula and steely codes of ethics and honor. But quality comes with a price: The average annual cost is $25,000. Yet most schools claim that, with research, effort and sacrifice, many American families can manage the financial burden.

"We do have plenty of students who come from wealthy and privileged backgrounds," says Thorn. "But we have over $1 million in financial aid, and an astonishing number of kids here are on it." In fact, the need-based scholarship budget at Phillips is $7.7 million, according to James F. Ventre, director of financial aid and admissions operations. The school awards such aid to 39 percent of the student body."
 

Don't accept or rely on federal, state or local funds, and the rules and regulations that accompany those monies," says Steve Ruzicka, executive director of the Association of Boarding Schools. "Administrators and teachers can focus on their students' needs, and they have flexibility in how they implement their academic and nonacademic programs."

More than 42,500 students are enrolled in boarding schools across the country, and the routes there are varied. "In some cases, it might be traditional for a child to attend boarding school," says Ruzicka. "For the new families looking at boarding schools, it might be because the local school doesn't have a program that the child wants -- anything from a sports or arts program or a special academic course."

Safety and security are key, adds Christopher Tompkins, director of admissions and financial aid and a member of the history department at the coed Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pa. "In the last seven years, all prep schools have seen a dramatic increase in those inquiring and applying," he says. "I think it's because of a negative reason such as safety, and also a positive reason: America is a wealthier country since the 1990s."

Tompkins cites a strong sense of mission as a big selling point, as well as the assurance that a school "holds to the rules," offering structure in a rigorous academic environment. "In the classrooms, the primary responsibility is with the teachers," says Tompkins. "In the dormitories, it is with the dorm deans who live on each floor. Students' advisers are often called into play and, ultimately, the dean of students and possibly the head of the school will speak to the children. However, we all try to help in every way that we can."

The size and scope of a school's advanced-placement (AP) program is another draw. AP courses give students college-level course work, and many colleges grant credit to incoming students who score at a certain level on standardized tests. "It's generally acknowledged that students from boarding schools are more likely to be able to `place' out of freshmen courses at the college level" says Thorn, "in part because many of those courses are taught at the boarding-school level."

Students at boarding schools find other differences between their campuses and traditional day schools, Ruzicka says. For one, boarding-school teachers are a presence in the lives of students virtually every minute of the day. "In public school, when you go to English, that's your 40 minutes with me, but at boarding school, you're with me all day, all week," says Tompkins. "That can be a shock to a teen-ager's system, but after a few weeks, people get to understand each other on so many different levels. You really do not have an `us vs. them' mentality at most boarding schools because, like in a small town, we all have to live here today."

In addition, students are not-so-gently encouraged to hone their study habits through mandated study halls -- averaging two hours a night. "While this may sound daunting to a student, it's important to remember that everyone is doing it," Ruzicka says, "and even though it sounds like the schedule is pretty regimented, there is ample opportunity for social activities."

Ruzicka offers a day-in-the-life snapshot of the boarding student. As in any high school, boarding students attend classes all day; afternoons are spent participating in sports or extracurricular activities or meeting with teachers or advisers, following "the whole idea of keeping the day structured for the student." Dinner may mean a "sit-down" meal, for which a coat and tie or a dress may be the required attire, or students may dine in a more informal fashion. After study hour comes lights out, but the hour for that varies from school to school and grade to grade.

Weekends are pretty busy on a boarding-school campus, too. "They will have downtime, but there will be activities and programs set up for students -- some required, some optional," Ruzicka says. To exit the campus, he says, students must gain permission from the weekend adviser -- "as most students would have to get from their parents, anyway." Some schools restrict the number of weekends students can spend off campus and some do not, but all welcome parental visits during the week as well as on weekends.