thumb|[[Dollar Academy, a boarding school in Scotland]]

A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend across many countries. Their functioning, codes of conduct, and ethos vary greatly. Pupils in boarding schools study and live during the school year with their fellows, housemasters and housemistresses. Some boarding schools also have day pupils who attend the institution during the day and return home in the evenings.

Pupils who board at the school are called boarders, or day pupils if they don't board. Pupils may be enrolled for one to twelve years or more in boarding school. There are several types of boarders depending on the intervals at which they visit their family. Full-term boarders visit their homes at the end of an academic year, semester boarders visit their homes at the end of an academic term, weekly boarders visit their homes at weekends. There are also semi-boarders who attend a boarding school in the school hours for formal instruction and activities but return home by the end of the day. In some cultures, boarders spend the majority of their childhood and adolescent life away from their families.

Boarding schools are relatively more prevalent in the United Kingdom, India, China, and parts of Africa. These countries begin boarding schools at a very early age and for a longer span of time. Boarding schools are less prevalent in Europe and the U.S., where it is mostly seen for grades seven or nine through grade twelve—the high school years. Some are for either boys or girls, while others are co-educational. The United Kingdom has a long tradition of boarding school education, and the term public school has an elitist association. There are also some state boarding schools, many of which serve children from remote areas.

In some societies and cultures, boarding schools are the most privileged educational option (such as Eton and Winchester in the U.K., which have educated several prime ministers), whereas in other contexts, they serve as places to segregate children deemed a problem to their parents or wider society.

The United States and Canada forcibly assimilated indigenous children in the Canadian Indian residential school system and American Indian boarding school institutions. Some functioned essentially as orphanages, e.g. the G.I. Rossolimo Boarding School Number 49 in Russia. Tens of millions of rural children are educated at boarding schools in China. Therapeutic boarding schools offer treatment for psychological difficulties. Military academies provide strict discipline. Education for children with special needs has a long association with boarding; see, for example, deaf education and Council of Schools and Services for the Blind. Some boarding schools offer an immersion into democratic education, such as Summerhill School. Others are international, such as the United World Colleges.

Description

Typical characteristics

The term boarding school often refers to classic British boarding schools and many boarding schools around the world which are modeled on these.

House system

thumb|right|Boarding house of the [[Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney, New South Wales]]

thumb|Dormitory at [[The Armidale School, Australia, 1898]]A typical boarding school has several separate residential houses, either within the school grounds or in the surrounding area.

A number of senior teaching staff are appointed as housemasters, housemistresses, dorm parents, prefects, or residential advisors, each of whom takes quasi-parental responsibility (in loco parentis) for anywhere from 5 to 50 students resident in their house or dormitory at all times but particularly outside school hours. Each may be assisted in the domestic management of the house by a housekeeper often known in U.K. or Commonwealth countries as matron, and by a house tutor for academic matters, often providing staff of each gender. In the U.S., boarding schools often have a resident family that lives in the dorm, known as dorm parents. They often have janitorial staff for maintenance and housekeeping, but typically do not have tutors associated with an individual dorm. Nevertheless, older students are often less supervised by staff, and a system of monitors or prefects gives limited authority to senior students. Houses readily develop distinctive characters, and a healthy rivalry between houses is often encouraged in sport.

Houses or dorms usually include study-bedrooms or dormitories, a dining room or refectory where students take meals at fixed times, a library and possibly study carrels where students can do their homework. Houses may also have common rooms for television and relaxation and kitchens for snacks, and occasionally storage facilities for bicycles or other sports equipment. Some facilities may be shared between several houses or dorms.

In some schools, each house has students of all ages, in which case there is usually a prefect system, which gives older students some privileges and some responsibility for the welfare of the younger ones. In others, separate houses accommodate the needs of different years or classes. In some schools, day students are assigned to a dorm or house for social activities and sports purposes.

Most school dormitories have an "in your room by" and a "lights out" time, depending on their age when the students are required to prepare for bed, after which no talking is permitted. Such rules may be difficult to enforce; students may often try to break them, for example by using their laptop computers or going to another student's room to talk or play computer games. International students may take advantage of the time difference between countries (e.g. 7 hours between China and the U.K.) to contact friends or family. Students sharing study rooms are less likely to disturb others and may be given more latitude.

Other facilities

As well as the usual academic facilities such as classrooms, halls, libraries, and laboratories, boarding schools often provide a wide variety of facilities for extracurricular activities such as music rooms, gymnasiums, sports fields and school grounds, boats, squash courts, swimming pools, cinemas, and theaters. A school chapel is often found on site. Day students often stay on after school to use these facilities. Many North American boarding schools are located in beautiful rural environments and have a combination of architectural styles that vary from modern to hundreds of years old.

Food quality can vary from school to school, but most boarding schools offer diverse menu choices for many kinds of dietary restrictions and preferences. Some boarding schools have a dress code for specific meals like dinner or for specific days of the week. Students are generally free to eat with friends, teammates, as well as with faculty and coaches. Extra curricular activities groups, e.g. the French Club, may have meetings and meals together. The Dining Hall often serves as a central place where lessons and learning can continue between students and teachers or other faculty mentors or coaches. Some schools welcome day students to attend breakfast and dinner, in addition to the standard lunch, while others charge a fee.

Many boarding schools have an on-campus school store or snack hall where additional food and school supplies can be purchased; may also have a student recreational center where food can be purchased during specified hours.

Boarding schools also have infirmary, a small room with first aid or other emergencies medical aid.

Time

Students generally need permission to go outside defined school bounds; they may be allowed to travel off-campus at certain times.

Depending on country and context, boarding schools generally offer one or more options: full (students stay at the school full-time), weekly (students stay in the school from Monday through Friday, then return home for the weekend), or on a flexible schedule (students choose when to board, e.g. during exam week).

Each student has an individual timetable, which in the early years allows little discretion. Boarders and day students are taught together in school hours and in most cases continue beyond the school day to include sports, clubs and societies, or excursions.

British boarding schools have three terms a year, approximately twelve weeks each, with a few days' half-term holidays during which students are expected to go home or at least away from school. There may be several exeats, or weekends, in each half of the term when students may go home or away (e.g. international students may stay with their appointed guardians, or with a host family). Boarding students nowadays often go to school within easy traveling distance of their homes, and so may see their families frequently; e.g. families are encouraged to come and support school sports teams playing at home against other schools, or for school performances in music, drama, or theatre. It is recommended that international boarding school students have an appointed educational guardian.

Some boarding schools allow only boarding students, while others have both boarding students and day students who go home at the end of the school day. Day students are sometimes known as day boys or day girls. Some schools welcome day students to attend breakfast and dinner, while others charge a fee. For schools that have designated study hours or quiet hours in the evenings, students on campus (including day students) are usually required to observe the same "quiet" rules (such as no television, students must stay in their rooms, library or study hall, etc.). Schools that have both boarding and day students sometimes describe themselves as semi-boarding schools or day boarding schools. Some schools also have students who board during the week but go home on weekends: these are known as weekly boarders, quasi-boarders, or five-day boarders.

Other forms of boarding schools

thumb|[[Torgelow am See|Schloss Torgelow, a Gymnasium boarding school in Germany, that leads to the Abitur exams]]

thumb|Traveling boarding schools, like [[Think Global School|THINK Global School, partner with an IB school in each country they visit.]]

Boarding schools are residential schools; however, not all residential schools are "classic" boarding schools. Other forms of residential schools include:

  • Therapeutic boarding schools are tuition-based, out-of-home placements that combine therapy and education for children, usually teenagers, with emotional, behavioral, substance abuse, or learning disabilities.
  • Traveling boarding schools, such as Think Global School, are four-year high schools that immerse the students in a new city each term. Traveling boarding schools partner with a host school within the city to provide the living and educational facilities.
  • Sailing boarding schools, such as A+ World Academy, are high schools based on ships that sail around the world and combine high school education with travel, and personal development. Classes typically take place both, onboard and in some of the ports they visit.
  • Residential education programs, which provide a stable and supportive environment for at-risk children.
  • Residential schools for students with special educational needs, who may or may not be disabled
  • Semester schools, which complement a student's secondary education by providing a one semester residential experience with a central focusing curricular theme—which may appeal to students and families uninterested in a longer residential education experience
  • Specialist schools focused on a particular academic discipline, such as the public North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics or the private Interlochen Arts Academy.
  • The Israeli youth villages, where children stay and are educated in a commune, but also have everyday contact with their parents at specified hours.
  • Public boarding schools, which are operated by public school districts. In the U.S., general-attendance public boarding schools were once numerous in rural areas, but are extremely rare today. As of the 2013–2014 school year, the SEED Foundation administered public charter boarding schools in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland. One rural public boarding school is Crane Union High School in Crane, Oregon. Around two-thirds of its more than 80 students, mostly children from remote ranches, board during the school week in order to save a one-way commute of up to across Harney County.
  • Ranch school, once common in the western United States, incorporating aspects of the "dude ranch" (Guest ranch)

Applicable regulations

In the U.K., most boarding schools are independent schools, which are not subject to the national curriculum or other educational regulations applicable to state schools. Nevertheless, there are some regulations, primarily for health and safety purposes, as well as the general law. The Department for Children, Schools and Families, in conjunction with the Department of Health of the United Kingdom, has prescribed guidelines for boarding schools, called the National Boarding Standards.

One example of regulations covered within the National Boarding Standards are those for the minimum floor area or living space required for each student and other aspects of basic facilities. The minimum floor area of a dormitory accommodating two or more students is defined as the number of students sleeping in the dormitory multiplied by 4.2&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup>, plus 1.2&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup>. A minimum distance of 0.9&nbsp;m should also be maintained between any two beds in a dormitory, bedroom, or cubicle. In case students are provided with a cubicle, then each student must be provided with a window and a floor area of 5.0&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup> at the least. A bedroom for a single student should be at least of the floor area of 6.0&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup>. Boarding schools must provide a total floor area of at least 2.3&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup> living accommodation for every boarder. This should also be incorporated with at least one bathtub or shower for every ten students.

History

Boarding schools manifest themselves in different ways in different societies. For example, in some societies children enter at an earlier age than in others. In some societies, a tradition has developed in which families send their children to the same boarding school for generations. One observation that appears to apply globally is that a significantly larger number of boys than girls attend boarding school and for a longer span of time. The practice of sending children, particularly boys, to other families or to schools so that they could learn together is of very long-standing, recorded in classical literature and in U.K. records going back over 1,000&nbsp;years.

In Europe, a practice developed by early medieval times of sending boys to be taught by literate clergymen, either in monasteries or as pages in great households. The King's School, Canterbury, arguably the world's oldest boarding school, dates its foundation from the development of the monastery school in around 597&nbsp;AD. The author of the Croyland Chronicle recalls being tested on his grammar by Edward the Confessor's wife Queen Editha in the abbey cloisters as a Westminster schoolboy, in around the 1050s. Monastic schools as such were generally dissolved with the monasteries themselves under Henry VIII, although Westminster School was specifically preserved by the King's letters patent, and it seems likely that most schools were immediately replaced. Winchester College founded by Bishop William of Wykeham in 1382 and Oswestry School founded by David Holbache in 1407 are the oldest boarding schools in continuous operation.

United Kingdom

thumb|[[Charterhouse School]]

Boarding schools in Britain started in medieval times when boys were sent to be educated by literate clerics at a monastery or noble household. In the 12th century, the Pope ordered all Benedictine monasteries such as Westminster to provide charity schools, and many public schools started when such schools attracted paying students. These public schools reflected the collegiate universities of Oxford and Cambridge, as in many ways they still do, and were accordingly staffed almost entirely by clergymen until the 19th century. Private tuition at home remained the norm for aristocratic families, and for girls in particular, but after the 16th century, it was increasingly accepted that adolescents of any rank might best be educated collectively. The institution has thus adapted itself to changing social circumstances over 1,000&nbsp;years.

Boarding preparatory schools tend to reflect the public schools they feed. They often have a more or less official tie to particular schools.

The classic British boarding school became highly popular during the colonial expansion of the British Empire. British colonial administrators abroad could ensure that their children were brought up in British culture at public schools at home in the U.K., and local rulers were offered the same education for their sons. More junior expatriates would send their children to local British-run schools, which would also admit selected local children who might travel from considerable distances. The boarding schools, which inculcated their own values, became an effective way to encourage local people to share British ideals, and so help the British achieve their imperial goals.

One of the reasons sometimes stated for sending children to boarding schools is to develop wider horizons than their family can provide. A boarding school a family has attended for generations may define the culture parents aspire to for their children. Equally, by choosing a fashionable boarding school, parents may aspire to better their children by enabling them to mix on equal terms with children of the upper classes. However, such stated reasons may conceal other reasons for sending a child away from home. These might apply to children who are considered too disobedient or underachieving, children from families with divorced spouses, and children to whom the parents do not much relate. Also in Britain children as young as 5 to 9&nbsp;years of age are sent to boarding schools.

United States

thumb|[[Phillips Academy Andover, MA]]

Before the advent of universal public education in the United States, boarding school was often the only secondary school option for students in rural New England communities. Some states, especially Massachusetts, sponsored and subsidized semi-public boarding schools, often called "academies," to educate students from the surrounding rural areas. Some of the oldest remaining academies include West Nottingham Academy (est. 1744), Linden Hall (est. 1756), The Governor's Academy (est. 1763), Phillips Academy (est. 1778), and Phillips Exeter Academy (est. 1781).

The market for semi-public academies narrowed in the second half of the nineteenth century as local governments began establishing free, public secondary day schools. Some academies joined the public school system, and others shut down. and focused on preparing students aged roughly 14–18 for college entrance examinations. Because of their college-preparatory approach, they were dubbed prep schools, although most American prep schools educate only day students. At the turn of the twenty-first century, 0.5% of U.S. school children attended boarding schools, about half the percentage of British children. Others provide a more focused environment for students from at-risk backgrounds.

Boarding schools for students below the age of 13 are called junior boarding schools, and are relatively uncommon. The oldest junior boarding school is the Fay School in Southborough, Massachusetts (est. 1866).

Native American schools

right|thumb|Students at [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Pennsylvania ()]]

In the late 19th century, the United States government undertook a policy of educating Native American youth in the ways of the dominant Western culture so that Native Americans might then be able to assimilate into Western society. At these boarding schools, managed and regulated by the government, Native American students were subjected to a number of tactics to prepare them for life outside their reservation homes.

In accordance with the assimilation methods used at the boarding schools, the education that the Native American children received at these institutions centered on the dominant society's construction of gender norms and ideals. Thus boys and girls were separated in almost every activity and their interactions were strictly regulated along the lines of Victorian ideals. In addition, the instruction that the children received reflected the roles and duties that they were to assume once outside the reservation. Thus girls were taught skills that could be used in the home, such as "sewing, cooking, canning, ironing, child care, and cleaning"). They varied in their organization. Some schools were a type of specialized schools with a specific focus in a particular field or fields such as mathematics, physics, language, science, sports, etc. For example, in the 1960s Soviet official established a new type of boarding school, an AESC - Advanced educational scientific center (Russian: СУНЦ - Специализированный учебно-научный центр) (SESC - Specialized Educational and Scientific Center Beau Soleil, Collège du Léman, Collège Champittet and Leysin American School.

Japan

In Japan, there are several international boarding schools operated by private institution. Notable examples of privately-run institutions include NUCB International College and Hallow International School. These boarding schools are affiliated with various educational boards, such as the IB (International Baccalaureate), A-Level, and Article1 of the Japanese School Education Law. English is predominantly used as the primary medium of instruction in these institutions.

China

there were about 100,000 boarding schools in rural areas of Mainland China, with about 33&nbsp;million children living in them. In China some children are sent to boarding schools at 2&nbsp;years of age. The majority of boarding schools are in western China, which generally is not as wealthy as eastern and central China. Many migrant workers and farmers send their children to boarding schools.

India

[[File:Student hostel (Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Barabanki).jpg|thumb|

Boarder students at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Barabanki]]

In India, there exists a variety of boarding schools, which are operated by both private entities and governmental bodies at the state and central levels. Some notable examples government run institute include are Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Ekalavya Model Residential School, and Ashram Schools. Boarding schools in India are affiliated with various educational boards such as CBSE, ICSE, IB, NIOS, and AISSCE. Those institutions predominantly use English as the primary medium of instruction.

Sociological issues

Some elite university-preparatory boarding schools for students from age 13 to 18 are seen by sociologists as centers of socialization for the next generation of the political upper class and reproduces an elitist class system. This attracts families who value power and hierarchy for the socialization of their family members. This refers to the way in which boarding schools not only manage to control the students' physical lives but also their emotional lives. According to Peter W Cookson Jr (2009), the elitist tradition of preparatory boarding schools has declined due to the development of modern economy and the political rise of the liberal west coast of the United States of America. In one studied school the social pressure for conformity was so severe that several students abused performance drugs like Adderall and Ritalin for both academic performance and to lose weight. and possibly experiencing social detachment, as suggested by social-psychologist Erving Goffman. and emotional abandonment

The celebrated British classicist and poet, Robert Graves (1895–1985), who attended six different preparatory schools at a young age during the early 20th century, wrote:

Some modern philosophies of education, such as constructivism and new methods of music training for children including Orff Schulwerk and the Suzuki method, make the everyday interaction of the child and parent an integral part of training and education. In children, separation involves maternal deprivation. The European Union–Canada project "Child Welfare Across Borders" (2003), It is used to identify a set of lasting psychological problems that are observable in adults who, as children, were sent away to boarding schools at an early age.