5 Top Boarding Schools for International Students

16 Nov 2015

Choosing the right boarding school for your child can be a challenging experience. With countless institutions on offer worldwide, and varying fees from the manageable to the superstellar, increased cost doesn’t always result in quality. Parents are bombarded with options, all while trying to find the ideal home-away-from-home which combines modern facilities with excellent pastoral care in a community environment. Increasingly, prestigious institutions around the globe are opening their doors to international students, offering excellent academic teaching with manageable fees.

Lasting friendships

Children and teenagers can enjoy an excellent education while experiencing a new culture and creating lifelong friendships. From sports to art and drama to music, students can form lasting friendships and familial-style bonds while learning a new skill or attribute. In fact, increasing numbers of parents are choosing a boarding school education for their children as it enables them to gain internationally recognized qualifications while learning how to build relationships with their peers during a child’s important formative years.

International boarding schools are accustomed to the initial teething problems posed by homesickness and culture shock, meaning that each student is provided with specialised care and support during their first few weeks when everything feels new and friendships are established. Choosing an international boarding school is an exciting and dynamic choice for both parents and children, encouraging students to thrive on independence and benefit to the full from qualified, professional teaching staff.

Pic: St. John’s-Ravenscourt School

Spreading their wings

Furthermore, a boarding school education will encourage students to become more independent, from managing their belongings, class timetable and even getting out of bed to make it to lessons, children soon become self-sufficient, driven individuals with excellent time management skills.

Students at international boarding schools are continuously supported during their entire school career. No problem is unresolvable. Be it an academic issue or homesickness, students are helped day and night by an attentive team of teaching staff. With the level of one-to-one support on offer, children are recognized as individuals within the boarding school community while receiving and unparalleled level of attention.

Professional career focus

Choosing an international boarding school education for your child can help set them on a dynamic career path from a very young age. Boarding schools recognize and hone childrens’ talents, supporting and encouraging them during their school life. Parents can be assured that boarding schools often possess links to world renowned universities and institutions. From Cambridge to Yale, choosing an international boarding school will continue to open doors within your child’s educational and professional life.

Furthermore, international boarding schools offer activities which encourage students to learn and develop CV building skills alongside their full-time studies. Public speaking, debating society and even the chance to become a student prefect teach children responsibility and professional relationships, placing them at a distinct advantage in the student talent pool. Combining a traditional experience and high-caliber education ensures that international boarding schools produce well-rounded, talented individuals who stand out from the crowd.

Pic: Lyndon Institute

An international experience

Choosing an international boarding school for your child will provide them with an all-round multinational experience. Friendships with domestic and international students is an important part of childrens’ all-round educational experience, which domestic schools are much less likely to offer. In fact as schools increasingly support English learning, children from non-English speaking countries will finish school with a new language as part of their diverse and comprehensive skill set.

With so many schools available, choosing the right school for your child can be difficult. Read on to find out more about schools offering excellent teaching, modern boarding campus facilities and varied extracurricular activities led by outstanding teaching staff.

CARLSBAD INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL – CZECH REPUBLIC

Carlsbad International School offers IB Diploma and pre-diploma programmes in English for students aged 14 to 18 years old in the heart of Europe. Located 120km west of Prague airport, the school provides an exceptional level of academic and residential support, preparing students for higher education and beyond. Carlsbad strives to provide life-long learning opportunities, develop inquisitive minds and encourage students to become active members of local and global communities. Boarders from 27 countries form part of a welcoming, campus community and benefit from the variety of excursions and extra-curricular activities that the school offers. Carlsbad’s modern boarding facilities provide students with a home away from home.

ST. JOHN’S-RAVENSCOURT SCHOOL – CANADA

With a school community that is built around the four pillars of academic excellence, creative expression, active healthy living and social responsibility, St. John’s-Ravenscourt is an independent co-educational school for students in Kindergarten to Grade 12. At the vibrant campus in Winnipeg, Manitoba, students are taught the values of integrity, compassion and community service and are encouraged to succeed in both academic and co-curricular activities while being nurtured and supported in their academic and social development. Since its establishment in 1820, SJR has maintained a tradition of excellence and a welcoming environment where lasting friendships grow and students thrive.

LYNDON INSTITUTE – UNITED STATES

Established in 1867, Lyndon Institute is a comprehensive independent boarding school for pupils aged 9-12 years old located in northeastern Vermont. Lyndon offers an engaging and empowering academic experience in a safe and caring community environment, supporting individual student growth and development. Students are encouraged to develop their skills and personal strengths through the school’s diverse extracurricular activities. Lyndon Institute offers its students a unique academic community which aims to provide pupils with excellent preparation for success in school and beyond. The school’s diverse student population consists of around 580 students from over 20 countries, living in a small, close-knit American campus community.

BOX HILL SCHOOL – UNITED KINGDOM

Box Hill is a co-educational boarding school for students aged 11 to 18 years old, only 40 minutes from central London. The school is a founder member of Round Square, a worldwide association of schools who strive to prepare young people for life by facing it directly within a supportive but challenging educational environment. With some 160 boarders at Box Hill, the school has a busy, community atmosphere, with support on offer from residential houseparents. Pupils are provided with a wide range of co-curricular options to develop interests, increase their confidence and provide them with a wide variety of life skills.

THE FRIENDS’ SCHOOL – AUSTRALIA

Since 1887 the Friends’ School has provided a warm community atmosphere for its students, reflecting the intentions of its founding Quakers. As a learning community, the school focuses on the academic, cultural, physical, and spiritual development of each student in its care. Students at the Tasmania campus can benefit from modern facilities including a swimming pool and fitness complex, alongside homely boarding houses, providing consistent pastoral care and a large-family feel. From early years to secondary level, students are supported and nurtured during their time at the Friends’ School, as students’ grow on both a spiritual and intellectual level.