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Our junior boarding program serves students in grades 4-9. We offer spaces to domestic and international students as a way to broaden our shared perspectives and sense of place within the global community. There are many opportunities for our day students and families to build community with our middle school boarding students. Families may elect a 5-day or 7-day option.
Our Program
We believe that our residential students do best when gathered together in small family-like groupings. It's not just a place to live, it's a place to grow. Our students develop executive function skills through our high-nurture, highly structured residential program. The cumulative impact in a young person's life is they develop personal agency, metacognition, and independence. Students learn exceptional social skills in a dynamic, multicultural environment. A junior boarding experience is the gift of a lifetime for a child.
Our Facilities
Our dormitories are built with the needs of younger residential students in mind, and are located on our beautiful and secure campus. Our residential life team not only cares for and attends to our residential students during evenings and on weekends, but they are involved in daily campus life as tutors, coaches, and teachers. Knowing our students well helps us to support them in all of their endeavors—academic, athletic, and social. Our dining hall offers a wide range of foods that provide healthy and delicious meals. Our Health Office is always available to take care of routine issues, and able to secure the necessary medical care our students need.
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Get to know junior boarding:
Parents choose junior boarding as a transformative and life-changing educational opportunity for their 4th to 9th grader. It is the gift of a lifetime that empowers students with confidence and self-motivation.
Our residential program helps students develop to their fullest potential given the rapid changes that occur in a child’s brain in early adolescence. Some of our program highlights include:
- Skills around time management, executive functioning, and self-regulation
- A natural environment to help students with focus and serenity
- Physical activities for healthy minds and bodies
- Community oriented, supporting student connection and relationship building
- Stable, structured, high-nurture environment
Our program produces student who are competent and confident and secondary schools know our students are poised for success!
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we are in the process of building a state-of-the-art two-story dormitory located adjacent to our soccer and lacrosse fields, and abutting the nature preserve. The new dormitory is being constructed during the 2023-24 school year and will open Fall 2024. This new dormitory will feature mini-suites where four students will share two bedrooms and a private bathroom. The dormitory will also have student common rooms with kitchenettes, and apartments for up to eight faculty members. There is high demand for our robust and vibrant junior boarding program.
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Sample Schedule
| Weekday | Weekend |
|---|---|
| Wake-up / Room Checks 6:40am | Wake-up / Room Checks 8-9am |
| Breakfast 7:30am | Brunch 10:30am |
| Academics 8am | Off-campus Activity 11:30am |
| Snack / Choice Time 3:30pm | Free Time or Super Clean 4pm* |
| Study Hall 4:30pm | Dinner 5:45pm |
| Dinner 5:45pm | Bedtime Varies by Age 9:30-10pm (Friday/Saturday) |
| Evening Free Time and Tech 6:30pm | |
| Bedtime Varies by Age 8:30-9:30pm | *On Sundays we run a study hall at 4:30pm |
There are only 11 junior boarding schools in the USA which specialize in the unique needs of early adolescent children.
Schools must be fully accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and be a full member of The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS). To affiliate with NAIS and TABS, a school must be of the highest quality.
Schools must offer a ninth grade but no higher grades. This is because junior boarding schools specialize in early adolescence and many students benefit from the opportunity of a ninth grade in a smaller environment, and without the influences of older teens.
Our boarding program brings talented students from all over the world to Applewild. We are an intentionally global, multicultural, and inclusive community. The entire Applewild family benefits from the diversity of perspectives, cultures, and traditions that our boarding students bring to campus. Our current residential students in grades 4 to 9 come to us from Spain, Ghana, Taiwan, Uganda, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Mexico, and the United States.
Res LifeA highlight of the Res Life program at Applewild is the varied weekend activities we have available in our region, from apple picking at nearby orchards to day trips to Boston! Our boarding students enjoy a balance of down time to rest after rigorous academic weeks and engaging activities that explore the history and natural beauty of New England.
Res LifeThis 1910 mansion was fully renovated in 2020 to provide a warm, home-like environment for students and faculty. The Flat Rock dormitory is located adjacent to our soccer and lacrosse fields, and entrances to nature trails that run through the forest. The dormitory features two common rooms and two covered porches.
Res LifeIn 2022 we fully renovated the graceful Victorian home into a cozy, convenient dormitory for students and faculty. Student rooms feature double and triple configurations with a main-level common room, and a large covered porch for socializing.
Res Life
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