Weeks two and three of my Boarding School Blitz proved to be just as exciting as week one, with new adventures all along the way. I kicked off week two in Ontario, Canada, with visits to Albert College and Lakefield College School, continuing to spread the word about how peerTransfer can save time and money on international tuition payments.
Lakefield College School had one of the coolest chapels I’ve seen in any boarding school; old windows with new architecture – just fantastic! The pièce de résistance was the use of an enormous boulder from the grounds as the base for the altar. So unique!
Ashbury College (Ontario), had me catching Karmen Arril from the business office running late for a meeting – we got caught in traffic causing her to spill her salad on the sidewalk. We encountered those fallen chickpeas on our way out after our visit and had a laugh.
Moving on from Canada back to “The States” landed me in Maine where Gould Academy has a horse drawn campus taxi service. I could get used to that!
Continuing into New Hampshire was a beautiful scenic drive taking me to Tilton School. Tilton School has built a campus around their original buildings from the mid-1800s, greeting you with a light, airy, welcoming space.
Looking like fall in New Hampshire…
Emma Willard School in New York is preparing for their bicentennial and has some of the most impressive Gothic architecture I’ve seen on my “Blitz”. The faculty and staff there were wonderful.
The Putney School (VT) has a fun and unusual feature in their bathroom – flamingos and palm trees on the boarder tiles! I wonder if they’re student artwork? What a wonderful warm and welcoming community! I hope to go back to fish with Randy Smith, CFO, who keeps fishing rods right by the door to his office. I bet he knows of a few good fishing holes near campus!
Vermont Academy found me crossing paths with Kim Gundy, Admissions, who has given presentations with her daughter at TABS conferences. Hopefully, Kim and her daughter will consider speaking at another TABS event.
The last three days of “The Blitz” brought me to Buffalo Seminary, an all girls school that goes by the nickname, SEM. I highly recommend stopping in for a visit if you are in the area. I also stopped by Houghton Academy, a strong, religious based school with a tremendous sense of community.
My last day led me to two schools that were new to me, but I am very happy I got to visit them: Nichols School and The Park School, both in New York. Nichols School is a big school with an international residential component. Very nice! The Park School is located just outside Buffalo with a very inviting and charming staff.
Special thanks to Thomas Steele-Maley and the Bridge Year at Kieve for my weekend getaway at their campus. After 11 straight days at Hampton Inns, it was such a refreshing change of pace at Cutler cabin and Camp Kieve – “the lions sung me to sleep.”
I’m off to my second phase of “Watson’s Boarding School Blitz” – Chicago to Vancouver.
Check out the map of the trip so far and follow along with the Boarding School Blitz on LinkedIn and Twitter!