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BALTIMORE BOARDING OPTIONS
Boarding in Baltimore:
For the right student, boarding is the perfect fit
KADENCE EARLY HAD NEVER CONSIDERED GOING TO BOARDING SCHOOL BEFORE HER GUIDANCE COUNSELOR SUGGESTED THE IDEA. WHEN HER COUNSELOR ENCOURAGED HER TO APPLY TO GARRISON FOREST SCHOOL IN OWINGS MILLS BACK IN HER EIGHTH GRADE YEAR, KADENCE TOOK HER ADVICE.
BY LAURA STEWART
Kadence, now a rising eleventh grader, applied before even visiting the school. “I kind of did everything backward,” she said. But when she visited Garrison Forest, she felt right at home. “Once I was on campus, I felt very comfortable there,” she said. “It was just the community, and everyone was beyond welcoming.” At the time, Kadence’s parents lived in Bowie, Md. and commuted to Alexandria, Va. for work every day. Her younger sister Anaya attended day school in Annapolis, around a 40-minute drive from Bowie. If Kadence wanted to attend Garrison Forest, boarding was the only option. In addition to easing logistical issues, Kadence saw boarding school as an opportunity to gain independence.
“When I was at home, I was definitely responsible for some of my cousins and my sister, so I recognized that going to a boarding school would give me independence and give me time and space to learn about myself,” she said. When Kadence first started, she came back home nearly every weekend. By the end of her ninth grade year, both she and her parents were comfortable enough with the space between them that she rarely came home. “She was really, really comfortable and more confident by the time she was done with her ninth grade year,” said Kadence’s mother, Michelle Massie. “She was advocating for herself academically, personally, and on behalf of her classmates.” While there are a variety of advantages to boarding schools, boarders make up a small percentage of the student body in Baltimore. According to the latest survey by the National Association of Independent Schools, boarding students made up 1.5% of the 15,260 independent students in the Baltimore area. One factor that may contribute to the small percentage of boarding students is cost. The average tuition at seven-day boarding schools in Maryland is approximately $62,100, according to the National Association of Independent Schools. For those who can afford the high cost, boarding can provide a host of benefits.
Boarding students learn how to be independent at a young age, explained Catie Gibbons, director of enrollment management at Garrison Forest. “You’re learning how to do your laundry, you’re learning how to make the right choices to eat, how to spend your free time,” she said. “It sounds kind of silly and simple, but those are the kids who get to higher ed and excel because they’ve managed all of those things.” These advantages apply to many different types of students, Gibbons explained. “Kids who are super involved, super driven, need extra support, benefit from extra structure, or maybe come from a large family with young parents,” she said. All-girls boarding schools like Garrison Forest, Oldfields School, and St. Timothy’s School offer young women the opportunity to advocate for themselves, form unique relationships with teachers, and engage with students from around the world. For young women, the all-girls environment can be particularly impactful, explained Jackie Geter-Hunter, dean of students at St. Timothy’s School. “The whole use of your voice and developing that,” she said, “some come with it, others will develop it. How to speak for yourself, how to advocate for yourself, how to celebrate yourself.” Alicia Bowers, director of marketing and communications at Oldfields School, sent her daughter to Oldfields because of the unique access to teachers outside of school. While her daughter was a day student, she could still utilize this aspect of the boarding program. “I wanted my daughter to experience what it was like to have access to teachers outside the classroom, access to coaches more than just during practice, to be able to have dinner with them, to be able to see them on weekends,” she said. “The learning extends way beyond the academic day.” In addition to strong student-teacher relationships, many families in the Baltimore area choose boarding schools because of the international component. At St. Timothy’s, boarding students come from over 12 different countries and 15 different states. The mix of international and local boarders pushes students to learn about cultures that are different from their own, explained Geter-Hunter. In an effort to encourage students of different backgrounds to learn about each other, the school has a required seating program at lunch. Interacting with students from other countries gives rise to “learning about yourself and developing yourself,” Geter-Hunter said. “What about you is challenged?” she added.
The Boys’ Latin School of Maryland, the oldest K-12 school for boys in the Mid-Atlantic, will soon be able to host students from all over the world in its new boarding program. Last year, Boys’ Latin announced that it purchased 28 acres of land from its neighbors, the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, with the intention of opening the first seven-day boarding school for boys in the Baltimore area. “It’s 28 acres of rolling, “You’re learning how to do your untouched countryside,” laundry, you’re learning how to make the right choices to eat, said the school’s head master Chris Post. how to spend your free time,” she said. “It sounds kind of silly and simple, but those are the kids who get to higher ed and excel When the school had the chance to acquire the Josephites’ land back in 2018, Post saw a “once in a generation opportunity,” because they’ve managed all of he said. those things.” “The boarding program was a natural extension of our tight-knit community,” Post said, “We want to provide students from across the country, and ultimately around the world, with the opportunity to learn and grow with each other.” The school will draw from its strong alumni network to both generate interest and send its children to the boarding program. Boys’ Latin plans to enroll ten boys in the inaugural boarding class, which will begin this fall. So far, the boys come from six different states. The boarding program will ultimately accommodate 40 students in 20 dorm rooms, each roughly 350 square feet. For families who are looking for a co-ed boarding experience, McDonogh is the only option in the Baltimore area.
In addition to being the only co-ed option, McDonogh is the only five-day boarding program. Because students board during the week and go home on the weekends, McDonogh has a more local student body. The area that students come from is “basically a 90-mile radius around McDonogh,” said Merritt Livermore, head of upper school. The five-day program is “the best of both worlds,” said Kate Mueller, associate head of school. “There’s a real balance
that the kids are able to experience, where the students can have the opportunity to grow and be independent but still be with their families on the weekends,” she added. At McDonogh, the percentage of students who enroll in the five-day boarding program increases with each grade. Ten percent of students board in 9th and 10th grade, 15% board in 11th grade, and 20% board in 12th grade. While boarding school has its benefits, it may not be a fit for every student. First and foremost, the student has to want to go. “The child has to want it,” said Alicia Bowers. “It can’t be the parent saying ‘we think this would be good for you.’” Some students may be uncomfortable with the frequent check-ins and more rigid structure. “While you’re learning 24/7, you’re also around people 24/7,” said Bowers. “That’s not for everybody. It can be great for someone socially and emotionally to have that kind of exposure, but for some students, especially younger ones, it could be overwhelming.” For students who want to attend, boarding school can improve relations between them and their parents. Parents can learn to trust their student and take on a less disciplinary role in their child’s life.
“What I hear year after year is ‘I was so afraid to give my baby away to you guys but now, in fact, my relationship with my daughter has blossomed because I’m not the one telling her to make her bed, do her laundry, clean her room,’” said Catie Gibbons. “They find that they actually have a much closer relationship with their child than before she went away,” she said. For Kadence and her mother, this proved to be true. “My relationship with her improved by having some of those other intermediary adults help carry some of the heavier news or responsibilities,” Ms. Massie explained. “It gave me the chance to demonstrate to my daughter, ‘Look, I trust you,’” she added.
