Boarding Schools  Kent School

Kent School www.kent-school.edu

In their own words, “Kent is a great school and a balanced school.” Its academic program isn’t just rigorous, it’s rigorous and interesting, with classes that are rare at the high school level. As you look through the course titles – Irish Drama; Mandarin Chinese; Genetics; Biotechnology; Genocide in the 20th Century; Constitutional Law, Civil Rights and the Supreme Court – you’ll see what they mean.

You can also design your own course as an Independent Study Project. One student studied behavioral development in her grade-school-aged dance studies; another focused on American socialism and its quick rise and fall. The local history of Kent itself has been a student’s project, as have robotic machines built from Legos.

 Academics

As great as your studies are at Kent, that’s just part of the picture. The Arts flourish here, with strong programs in the visual arts, drama and music. Again, the variety of courses is rich – Sculpture, Digital Imaging, Orchestra, to name a few – and they are supplemented by extracurricular arts activities, such as Bell Ringing or singing in our acappella groups, or even the spring musical, which combines efforts from the whole arts department.

Kent also has a vigorous and successful athletics program. We compete in 32 varsity sports in the Founder’s League, one of the most competitive independent school leagues in the country. Virtually every year Kent wins the League Championship in at least one sport and every season Kent athletes earn League All-Star, New England All-Star, or even All-American recognition. There’s also an excellent intramural program with sports like skiing and mountain biking.

 Special Highlights

Work Program. Since the founding of the school in 1906, it’s been a tradition for every Kent student to have a job. You might help in the Dining Hall or be a Student Technician. Maybe you’ll lead tours of the school for prospective families, help fix computers, or clean up the common room in your dorm. You might keep your same job the whole time you’re here or change it every term. These tasks can take you as little as ten to twenty minutes a day or much more (leading tours and becoming a tech guru are quite a bit more involved).

Clubs & Organizations. Extracurricular activities at Kent are varied, lively, enriching and exciting. You can write for an award-winning arts magazine, adopt a grandparent, perfect your French, your German, or your Spanish. You can work for the student newspaper or for the environment. If the club you want doesn’t already exist, you can start it, and chances are, there’ll be a lot of other students who will want to join. One student started a spirit club and three weeks later, it was one of the most popular groups on campus!

 Top colleges attended by students

Boston University, George Washington University, College of Charleston, St. Lawrence University, Trinity College, Boston College, Cornell University, U.S. Naval Academy, Wake Forest University, Brown University

 What the school looks for in students…

“Kent looks for A to B students who are well-rounded and participate in a variety of extra-curricular activities.”