Boarding Schools:
These are independent schools (some Parochial, some not) that allow students to live on campus. Students have roommates, eat at a dining hall, and are generally self-sufficient. Students who attend these schools must be self-motivated and ready to live a life independent from their families.
Schools to Consider:
La Lumiere School Website
Lake Forest Academy Website
The Daniel Murphy Partnership Schools website has a list of vetted boarding schools across the country.
How to Apply:
Each school sets its own application process. Typically, this includes an application and taking an entrance exam (the Independent Schools Entrance Exam – ISEE, or the Secondary Schools Admission Test - SSAT). Some schools require essays, interviews, shadowing a student at the school or attending an information session, and/or recommendations from teachers or administrators. Because the schools are small and are generally well-regarded, there is often a lot of competition for a spot.
Eligibility Requirements:
Anyone can apply for any independent school.
Required Testing:
The ISEE has five sections: multiple choice questions in Verbal Reasoning (which tests vocabulary and knowledge of synonyms), Quantitative Reasoning (math word problems), Reading Comprehension, and Mathematics Achievement, and an essay. Students have 2 hours and 40 minutes to complete the exam.
The SSAT has six sections: a writing prompt (a traditional essay or a piece of creative writing), two Quantitative portions (one with a calculator and one without), Reading Comprehension, Verbal (synonyms and analogies), and an unscored Experimental section to help the test writers build future tests.
Selection Process:
Independent schools look at the whole student when considering applicants for admission, rather than just 7th grade grades and test scores. This means that students who turn it around in 8th grade still have a chance to be admitted. It also means that students who are not the strongest academically but have other strengths may be considered, depending on the type of student body the school wants to create.