Boarding schools for boys can be either all-boys boarding schools or coeducational boarding schools. This article reviews the basics of boarding schools for boys, including the pros and cons and how to find a boarding school for your son.

What Is a Boarding School for Boys?

The boarding schools for boys that most people are familiar with are the boys-only and co-educational schools generally called college preparatory schools (or college prep schools) and military academies. These schools have a long tradition of educating academically gifted students and helping ensure them a chance to go to the most highly-regarded colleges and universities through the employment of highly-qualified staff, maintaining small class sizes, providing the opportunity to participate in elite-level sports training and competition in well-appointed facilities.

Public boarding schools, present in the United States since the late nineteenth century, are less well-known. Originally organized to educate children orphaned by the Civil War or experiencing difficulty with hearing or sight, public boarding schools in the twentieth century made a move to provide top-level education to public school students with gifts in the areas of science, mathematics, and the arts.

Other types of boarding schools for boys include schools in which academic focus shares pride of place with focus on participating in a particular sport, for example, ski racing, on an elite level, as well as private boarding schools with a subject area focus-whether science and math, the arts, or sustainability-and boarding schools for boys that combine an academic program with a therapeutic program designed to assist and treat with problems ranging from learning disabilities to mood disorders to substance abuse to destructive, self-destructive, or defiant behaviors.

Pros and Cons of Boarding Schools for Boys

Academically-focused boarding schools for boys can provide a fine education and promote acceptance at a top college or university for a boy who is very good in school, self-disciplined, and prepared for independence and the responsibilities of leading his life away from his family. Young men who are troubled or struggling would not do well in these settings, including the military boarding schools, which are-overall-not designed for the student having academic or other difficulties. Such students may, however, benefit a great deal from a well-chosen, licensed and accredited therapeutic boarding school setting.

Finding a Boarding School for Your Son

The student assistance corporation in your state or the guidance department of your son's current school may be able to provide information and assistance in helping you seek out a boarding school for your son. If you are searching on the Web, these sites may be helpful:

-The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) lists boarding school networks, which often provide a searchable school directory, here: boardingschools.com/about-tabs/friends-in-education.aspx
-Boarding School Review has a search tool that lets you use some well-conceived filters to narrow your search here: boardingschoolreview.com/searchschools.php
-National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP) provides a search for licensed and accredited therapeutic schools and programs here: hnatsap.org/search.asp

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