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An academic or minimal-entrance-requirement boarding school is by definition a traditional boarding school that specializes in getting students back up to their potential scholastically. While these schools are college prep, they have lower admissions requirements than the traditional schools and have less costly tuition and entrance fees.
Such schools are being used by parents instead of therapeutic or residential treatment centers or boot camps, and because of inaccessibility of traditional boarding schools owing to location or prohibitive tuition. Typically such schools accept students of high IQ or potential who have fallen behind in public or other private schools. They are successful getting students back up to their true academic level with the help of very small class sizes and specially trained teachers and staff.
When students have fallen behind their potential or abilities in other schools, they usually have also added minor behavioral concerns to their lives as well. Serious legal or drug issues usually eliminate students from consideration at typical boarding schools; however, minor issues are both accepted and expected at an academic boarding school.
The type of minor behavioral issues referred to would be the following:
1) Fighting with parents and teachers
2) Light marijuana use
3) Alcohol experimentation
4) General oppositional behavior
5) Running away
6) Functioning depression
Other issues accepted in this school format are kids with high intelligence in the autistic spectrum. Asperger's, as an example.
Academic catch up boarding schools do not offer therapy as a standard procedure. They do in most cases have therapists available at additional charge to parents in the event that therapy is necessary for the child's continued mental health or to continue therapy started at home. Children who have recently been involved in a family divorce or a death, as an example, often will need therapeutic help until they can work though depression or anger issues.
Although such schools are less available numerically than the larger older boarding schools, they do show excellent results in getting kids ready for college entrance. Common admissions GPA start at 1.2 to 3.3. Oft times these schools are used simply to get a good student even more successful in their overall GPA and college entrance exams.
It is not uncommon for academic catch up schools to have ACT / SAT scores that parallel or surpass traditional boarding school. Considered to be an excellent educational opportunity for the price, many schools in this profile are seeing students who would normally apply to traditional boarding schools in their student bodies. Small class size and specialized instructors are a combination that elevates success regardless of current mind set or temporary behavioral issues.
Most, but not all, of this class of boarding school are located in a small communities where crime is minimal and drugs are rare or unavailable; which allows students to participate in community affairs including plays, musicals, public service and after school clubs at the public high schools nearby.
Student populations are small averaging between 20-100 kids and are usually co-ed. Most instruction is live instruction by teachers with a Master's degree or better. While sports are readily available, full team sports are not, owing to the size of the student body. Children are usually encouraged to focus on an interest outside of scholastic such as music, the arts, an individual sport, horsemanship, animal husbandry, etc.
The live class times focus primarily on the core courses, math, science, social studies, English etc, while most elective work is done after school to keep the kids occupied in the after school hours. Some of these options can include auto shop, swimming, racquetball, foods classes, horsemanship, agricultural science, work release for on the job training etc.
Overall, this class of boarding school provides a very high standard of academic and minor behavioral improvement in a format that is both success-oriented and engaging. A lower tuition schedule also appeals to parents looking for the right fit for a promising child who, while not a criminal may be pushing the family toward dysfunction or themselves toward more serious problems.
The bottom line is that students graduating from an academic catch up or come-from-behind boarding schools tend to be superior college students after having become reacquainted with their potential and goals. There is also a marked improvement in family relations and social skills so necessary to succeed in this economy.
This class of school, while by their nature not therapeutic, do tend to be very structured and provide 24 hour supervision for students as they work through their previous bad habits and come up to the standard required by their parents, society and their own previous goals .
Referred to frequently as the "smart man's" boarding school, lower tuition, high education value, and structured environment provide an excellent opportunity for students and parents to solve family and child problems without breaking the proverbial bank or lowering expectations for a child's future.
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Source by Marv A Forsythe