KeepingTABS

Independent Schools Address Educator Sexual Misconduct

Posted on August 23, 2017 by TABS — No Comments ↓

Peter Upham, TABS Executive Director, and Donna Orem, NAIS President, co-authored this blog.

Independent schools exist to help young people learn, grow, and become healthy adults. Our schools have been highly successful, many for hundreds of years, but as a number of schools have experienced in recent years, the scourge of sexual misconduct can affect any institution that serves children.

Sexual misconduct — which can range from verbal harassment to forcible rape — undermines the bedrock expectation that schools will provide a safe place for children to learn. It violates the core values of independent schools and the ethical standards of the thousands of educators who devote their lives to teaching, coaching, and mentoring the students in their care. To protect the children our industry exists to serve and to deliver on the promise independent schools make to families, our schools must address this issue head on. As leaders of associations that serve nearly 2,000 schools and associations of schools, we are committed to doing so.

Letting Her Go

Posted on June 2, 2017 by TABS — 4 Comments ↓

By Trish Fogarty

Editor’s Note: Trish Fogarty posted this story to her Facebook page the night before her daughter Margaret graduated from The Rectory School. Since then her son Patrick and daughter Kathleen have also joined Rectory’s family. Rectory shared this story with Trish’s permission; TABS is pleased to re-post with Trish’s permission as well.

I dropped her off at boarding school for her 8th-grade year, knowing she would be there for two years. She was 13 and we were both soaked with tears by the time we said our goodbyes.

In the weeks that followed, many friends and acquaintances asked me why I would send her away. So many women said, “I would never send my daughter away.”

I understood how puzzling it may have seemed to other people, and I spent many conversations talking about why and how, and I realized I was making excuses, as if I had to defend myself. I think I worried that people would think less of me, they would think it must have been easy for me to do, or they would think I was a bad Mom.

After too much time making excuses my response became this: “Don’t ever say you would NEVER do something, because the very thing you said you would never do, could be the EXACT thing that your child needs.”

Why TABS Doesn’t Rank Schools

Posted on May 25, 2017 by TABS — No Comments ↓

Peanut butter and jelly whole meal sandwich

Editor’s Note: This blog was originally posted in April 2015.

We’re often asked why TABS doesn’t rank schools. The short answer? It’s all about fit. The long answer? Here goes…

As we all know, one can find web sites (frequently run by for-profit groups) that rank schools by the average SAT college admission test scores of their students or graduates, or by other individual measures. We feel that this practice borders on the unethical; the information provided is certainly misleading. We do not rank schools, period—by test scores, by any other single metric, or by any formula or synthesis of metrics.

Why Boarding School?

Posted on May 3, 2017 by TABS — No Comments ↓

Helen H. Waldron, M.Ed., an academic tutor at Noodle Pros recently published an article, “Why Your Child Should Attend Boarding School” for Forbes.com and wrote this piece exclusively for TABS.

“Why would anyone send their kids to boarding school?” Since 1989, when I signed on as a boarding school teacher I have been answering this question. As a teen who yearned to live outside the confines of my home town, I vicariously lived through my friends who attended boarding school. They wrote letters telling me about classmates from places like Bern, Switzerland and Sapporo, Japan. They rowed in regattas, played squash, took Mandarin class and joined debate club. They cheered on friends at water polo matches, studied abroad, went dog sledding, joined animation club, directed and produced an original play, and the list goes on. Not surprisingly, I chose a boarding school career.

Preparing Your School For More Effective Crisis Response – Two Essential Organizational Prerequisites

Posted on April 10, 2017 by David Wolowitz — No Comments ↓

News reports about sexual misconduct in schools are no longer uncommon. Whether the allegations are about current student – student sexual assault or past teacher – student sexual abuse, no type of school is immune, including independent schools. A claim of sexual misconduct invariably triggers a crisis for the school. The stakes for a school responding to this type of crisis are high. Missteps can result in significant harm to a school’s most valuable asset, its reputation. Damage to a school’s reputation can adversely impact relationships with students, parents, alumni, donors and prospective applicants.

There are, in my opinion, two key organizational elements that are crucial for helping schools weather the storm in such a crisis. First, the board and the administration must have a collaborative working relationship. Second, the school must have established principles to guide board and the administration during the crisis. I will address each of these key elements. Read more ›

Posted in Administration, Boarding schools, Boards, Business Office, Communications, Dispelling Myths, Heads, Independent Schools, Trustees Tagged with: crisis management, sexual abuse

25 Factors Great Boarding Schools Have in Common

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Pat Bassett and Pete Upham — No Comments ↓

Editor’s Note: In June of 2013, Pat Bassett retired as president of NAIS, the National Association of Independent Schools, and now consults with schools. Pete Upham is executive director of TABS, The Association of Boarding Schools.¹ This blog was originally posted in January 2014.

Great boarding schools are “built to last.” Many of the earliest schools founded in the U.S. were boarding schools. Today, more than half of the 280+ college prep boarding schools in North America are more than 100 years old, and 24 boarding schools are more than 200 years old).² Great boarding schools persist over time because they appeal to families seeking an education of deep impact, focused not only on academic training, but also on the formation of good character, habits of lifelong learning, and active citizenship.

What follows are the reflections of two educators whose work in boarding schools and with boarding schools over nearly five decades positions them to observe what boarding schools “built to last” do particularly well.

6 Things Every Boarding School Senior Should Consider When Picking a College

Posted on March 24, 2017 by Courtney Williams — No Comments ↓

Senior year I was sitting in an interdisciplinary class on the history and literature of Great Britain. I was supposed to be paying attention to something about Henry VIII’s sixth wife, but in my lap I held a tattered scrap of paper with a list of 10 colleges on it. I was almost going blind staring again at the biggest decision of my life, sweating, no longer able to hear, flashes of fate, glory and doom assailing me with every short breath, until my best friend slammed her hand on my desk and said, Put that away!

I loved boarding school, even the parts other people didn’t love so much, and was extremely successful academically and well rounded in my extra-curriculars. For some reason when it came to picking a college, I lost my usual confidence and the spirit of adventure that took me head first into everything. Here are 6 things that would have helped my young angst-ridden self as I reached for my sixth side dish of crinkle cheese fries later on hamburger day. Read more ›

Posted in Boarding schools, College Admissions, College Advising, Counseling, Dispelling Myths, Student Culture, Student Life, Students

Let’s Celebrate the Work of Our Admission Office

Posted on March 10, 2017 by Leo Marshall — No Comments ↓

It’s that time of year. March 10, the common notification date for delivering admission decisions. The admission committee has done its work and financial aid decisions are on the table. The entire admission office, director, associates, staff are reflecting on the end of another admission season with a sense of relief mixed with a bit of angst at the possibility that, in spite of their sometime agonized decisions, they still have to wait to see if they will fully enroll the school for another year. And it’s a time when others on the campus ought to be walking into the admission office to celebrate their work – board members, head of school, administrators, faculty, staff – for it’s this admission office whose work will ensure the future of the school and salaries for its employees. The students they bring to the school are the future the school will mold for all of us.

Posted in Admissions

Above all, Mission. Observations from the 2016 TABS Conference

Posted on February 28, 2017 by Courtney Williams — No Comments ↓

I think of David Lee Roth, Boy George and Madonna, and how defiantly outrageous the 1980s seemed when I went to boarding school, like we couldn’t push it any further. But the kinds of changes we are seeing these days are changes in the very structure of things. New situations are arising for which there is no rulebook. How do schools respond? At TABS Annual Conference this year, I was privileged to watch a large group of diverse institutions come together to share concerns and victories. The most powerful tool I noticed, that underlined schools’ approaches to radical change – from redefining inclusion to resolving a threat of terrorism – was the use of foundational principles and mission. Read more ›

Posted in Boarding schools, Dispelling Myths, Diversity, Independent Schools, Professional Development, Student Culture, Student Life, TABS, TABS Programs

Courage: a boarding school graduate reflects on life skills

Posted on February 6, 2017 by TABS — No Comments ↓

Young girl walking in balance on the rope

By Eliza Stroh

The day my mom dropped me off at boarding school was memorable, if only for its lack of drama. In the weeks leading up to the day when I would leave home and move into the dorm, I imagined the long, tearful goodbye my mother and I would exchange before she left me to fend in my new world. I pictured her hugging me too many times as I stoically assured her that Parents’ Weekend was only a few weeks away — I would see her soon.

So when the last of the boxes were unpacked, I was alarmed by the squeals of her car tires as she sped away without so much as a tear shed. And that was that. There I was alone. And completely exhilarated.

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Editor’s Note: This blog was originally posted in April 2015.