Visiting the Pomfret School in Pomfret, Connecticut

Visiting Pomfret School on Pomfret Street in Pomfret, Connecticut tells you a few things about the Pomfret School very quickly. This is not a large school in a metropolitan area with a campus covering several city blocks. To the contrary visiting the Pomfret School, Pomfret CT means stopping by a small school in a small town with a 500 acre rural campus. Administrators and staff have worked for more than a century to make this small school something truly special and worthy of your consideration if you are looking for a co-ed boarding school for grades 9 -12 and post-graduate study in Connecticut.

What’s so Special About Pomfret. Boarding schools like to distinguish themselves by offering something special. It’s not enough that a school like the Pomfret School in Pomfret, CT offers a traditional college preparatory education, presented by excellent staff in classes that average 12 per room. In private schools that much is rather taken for granted. Why else would parents spend the money that private high school education costs if they could not depend on the school to accomplish that much.

From the position of the administrators at Pomfret School, Pomfret, CT it distinguishing academic features is its adviser/advisee program. Students at each grade level are assigned a staff member to serve as their adviser. Once each week, either at lunch or dinner, students form advisorial groups around their common adviser and have the chance to informally seek the guidance and direction they may be in need of for the short run or the long haul. The opportunity to seek the advice of a staff member on a regular basis provides students at the Pomfret School, Pomfret, CT with support that is especially helpful in boarding school setting where the entire lifestyle may seem strange and threatening.

Parents leaving students at the Pomfret School can rest a bit easier knowing that the adviser/advisee program is up and running here.

Small School, Good Diversity. Sometimes the smaller the school the less chance students have of experiencing their high school years in a diverse student body. The Pomfret School makes a effort to attract students from around the country and around the world. During the school year it visits school fairs throughout Connecticut but also travels as far afield in the U. S. as California , Texas and Ohio. Representatives from the Pomfret School also extend themselves by visiting school fairs in Germany, Bermuda, the Dominican Republic, Guyana and Jamaica. The attempt here is not to wall out but to invite in people of diverse cultural, ethnic and racial types.

On Court and Field. An education at the Pomfret School means having the chance to extend yourself physically in interscholastic athletics. What is impressive for those visiting the Pomfret School is that it does not just offer the “usual suspects” to its high school athletes. Yes you can find football, soccer, field hockey, basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball and tennis here. But what is really pretty amazing for a school of this size is that you can also find facilities and coaching if you want to do something a little different like play squash, play hockey for boys or girls or join crew. You will find these second tier sports at some large public schools in affluent areas but not so in the smaller public, charter or even private schools. There is a solid effort here to really reach out and provide athletic opportunities to meet the tastes and abilities of the majority of students who are athletically inclined.

The Arts . Visiting the Pomfret School it may be possible to pick up on the fact that here a real education is seen to be a combination of three elements:academics, athletics and finally the arts. At the Pomfret school the courses in the arts are offered in dance, music and theater. Participating students have opportunities to perform regularly in concerts, plays and dance programs as part of on campus events. What is really nice for students involved in the arts is that student groups also become involved in productions or performances that take them off the campus and let them perform for audiences in nearby New York and throughout New England. When we remember that this is after all a high school the opportunities to try out your talent in a variety of venues is quite considerable and certain is an educational opportunity.

Living Away. The Pomfret School goes out of its way to make the boarding experience pleasant for its student. All boarders select from single, double or in a few cases triple student rooms. Each student dorm is supervised by Dorm Parents who are staff members who live in the dormitory with the students . There is a good opportunity here for students to learn independence while also feeling the security of reasonable adult supervision. While much about the Pomfret School may seem like it is elevated to the college level, there is clearly a recognition that in fact this is a boarding school for high school students. Supervision and support of a totally different kind than is found in a college dorm is necessary and is appropriately provided.

Pomfret School gives parents a sense that their children will be well taught, well developed and well cared for while they are in attendance at this find Connecticut boarding school. After all at the Pomfret School they have been educating students for more than a century.

Reference:

• www.pomfretschool.org