Boarding Schools for Girls

"When no boys are in the classroom girls take part more. They answer more questions, and they argue more. I guess you would say they debate more, but I remember the same situation happening when boys were in the class and a couple of them yelled out "Cat Fight!" The girls got angry, and they stopped debating."

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The Benefits of Boarding Schools: An Interview with Laura Mack, Executive Director of Bromley Brook School

By Hugh C. McBride

When they are portrayed in films and on television, boarding school students often fall into one of two categories: the spoiled rich kids run amok or the difficult teens whose parents simply don't want them around anymore.

Back in the real world, though, life (thankfully) doesn't always imitate "art." For example, spend any amount of time at an all-girls private boarding school such as Bromley Brook School, and you'll develop an entirely new perception of a boarding school student – a girl who is working hard to overcome challenges and pursue a future that can best be described with one word: Success.

"When a boarding school student gets to college, she will be the one on her dorm floor with her paper completed," said Laura Mack, Bromley Brook's Executive Director. "She will be the one to recognize she needs a tutor for chemistry. She will be the one to make peace with her roommates."

From Struggling to Successful

Housed on a lush and inviting campus in the Green Mountains of southwestern Vermont, Bromley Brook features comprehensive academic and therapeutic support services to help adolescents achieve successes both within the school's college-prep curriculum as well as with any social, emotional, or developmental challenges they may be experiencing.

The school accepts girls between the ages of 13 and 17 who are college- or career-bound, and who are open to learning – but that doesn't mean that the school's students necessarily arrive equipped with the skills to be immediately successful.

Most students who enroll in Bromley Brook have also demonstrated one or more of the following problematic behaviors:

•    Achieving below potential
•    Ignoring family rules, and isolating herself from family members and friends
•    Having poor-self image and acting out sexually
•    Displaying antisocial behaviors or poor social skills
•    Showing signs of anxiety and depression
•    Experiencing challenges regarding paying attention, staying organized, and studying
•    Having trouble with reading, writing, and other language skills

Within six weeks of arriving at Bromley Brook, each student is provided with an individualized learning plan to ensure that her academic experience is best suited to her unique learning style, strengths, and challenges. Depending upon the specific needs of each student, components of an individualized learning plan may include personal tutoring sessions, adapted lessons (for example, emphasizing auditory, visual, or hands-on instruction), and additional support services such as cognitive coaching and collaborative learning.

In order to develop their strengths while also addressing areas in which they need to improve, Bromley Brook students participate in weekly individual counseling sessions and twice-weekly therapy groups. Topics discussed during the group encounters include solving problems, communicating better, addressing anxiety, and building relationships.

It is the comprehensive nature of the boarding school experience that Ms. Mack said encourages and enables the transformation from struggling teen to successful student.

"A boarding school allows the teachers, therapists, and life coaches a 360-degree vision of the student," Ms. Mack said. "Often learning disabilities are diagnosed on the playing field, intelligence is discovered in the art room, and emotional balance is fostered in the classroom."

Providing Perspective

For students whose struggles have caused tension and dissention within their families, a private therapeutic boarding school such as Bromley Brook also offers two often-overlooked additional benefits: time and space.

"A boarding school creates a healthy distance from the family drama," Ms. Mack said. "Everybody gets to take a break from the old patterns and get distance on the issues that are causing the chaos."

The collaborative nature of Bromley Brook ensures that parents and children are not isolated from each other. Instead, they are provided with a framework that facilitates effective communication and positive interactions, and are given guidance on how to make the most of this opportunity.

"We are most effective in encouraging the process of change when we can work collaboratively with families to deliver clear and consistent expectations," Ms. Mack said.

While the students are re-establishing the lines of communication with their parents, they are also developing a greater appreciation for the benefits of inter-generational relationships through their work with Bromley Brook's teachers, counselors, and other staff members.

"A boarding school encourages healthy and meaningful relationships with adults," Ms. Mack said. "Too often the stress and dysfunction of the family have caused students to mistrust all adults; boarding schools encourage a new vision of adults as mentors, helpers, and supports." 

The professional services that a boarding school offers are also enhanced by the enlightenment that in some cases can only come from separation, Ms. Mack also noted.

"A little homesickness is often a corrective to 'my parents are the stupidest people in the world,'" she said.

Self-Reliance and a Sense of Community

Ultimately, the goal of the Bromley Brook boarding school for girls is to teach each teen to recognize her own individual needs and to use her self-awareness to achieve more than she thinks possible. To achieve this objective, the school has established a philosophy that emphasizes the following three elements:

1.    Excellent education and professional mentoring
2.    A focus on family and community
3.    Girl-centered pursuit of self-discovery and self-knowledge

Though Bromley Brook students are provided with a wealth of academic and therapeutic support, and progress according to an individualized plan of treatment, the school is far from a "me first" environment. Instead, the Bromley Brook experience is collaborative in nature, with students, faculty, staff, and parents working together in virtually every area.

From the development of the individualized learning plan, to daily lessons and therapy sessions, to each student's planning for her post-school future, teenage girls learn to use their burgeoning skills and abilities in concert with their peers, parents, and other concerned parties.

"Boarding schools instill a sense of community and an awareness of teamwork," Ms. Mack said. "There is structure without confinement and discipline without coercion."

When the school succeeds in sparking what Ms. Mack termed "an independent and self-reliant spirit," the benefits extend far beyond the classroom walls or the school's grounds. 

"Boarding school instructs students on the mysteries of handling bureaucratic issues like grades, credits, transition planning, even picking up laundry," Ms. Mack said. "These are the skills that make us effective citizens."
 

What are the different types of girls boarding schools? Learn about specialized boarding schools for girls, such as boarding schools that specialize in learning disabilities, Asperger's syndrome, oppositional defiance, and substance abuse issues

What do the studies show about girls-only boarding schools? Statistics and other studies on how girls' only schools impact girls' learning, education, and academic performance >>

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