A Home Away From Home at Ross
Boarding students from near and far
(10/15/2009) Even when Courtney Ross revealed her vision for a progressive school, started with two students in a cramped office on Goodfriend
Jeff Park and Fara Kaner
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Drive in 1992, the international focus was more than apparent. Nearly 20 years later, the Ross School has steadily expanded into a sprawling kindergarten through 12th-grade institution on two campuses, where globalization and cultural understanding are the glue that binds the curriculum together.
It stands as no surprise, then, that since a boarding program was set up there last year, the school has attracted nearly 50 students from 10 different countries, including the United States, with more on the way as word spreads about the program. “There’s a lot of interest, from all over the world,” said Michele Claeys, the head of school, during an interview beside the fireplace in her office.
According to the school’s Web site, tuition for boarding students in grades eight through twelve is $43,900 (day-student tuition is $30,000 for high school students), with a range of additional fees that could make the final cost significantly higher. Beginner English as a second language students, for instance, can expect to pay an additional $6,000 for classes, and there are other fees and costs for health insurance and travel expenses.
While the school prides itself on a generous tuition assistance program, with nearly half of the approximatley 500 students enrolled there receiving some form of financial aid, Ms. Claeys said that money was typically reserved for students who live nearby. In a difficult economic climate, the school has launched a program that could bring a significant amount of cash to its coffers.
According to Ms. Claeys, dormitories on the school’s East Hampton campus that house larger numbers of students could be a reality in the foreseeable future. “Ultimately, of course, we’d like to have housing here on campus,” she said.
For now, students from as far away as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan are set up with host families that include faculty members and families of local students, which could be part of the draw to the institution for many. The school’s Web site shows colorful images of international students playing board games with host families, decorating Christmas cookies, and dining on “a traditional Thanksgiving meal . . . cooked by the house parents.”
Jeff Park, a ninth-grade student from Seoul, South Korea, said he heard about the Ross School through a friend of his parents. It is not uncommon in his home country, he said, to hire a consultant to locate a desirable private school for children of more affluent families. He was attracted to the images on the Ross Web site, and the description of an environment where educators take pains to integrate arts and culture into nearly every aspect of the curriculum.
“The reason I came to America is I want to go to university in America. I want to be a doctor, like both of my parents,” he said. “I think this school helps me to be a well-rounded citizen, it makes you be engaged. A lot of universities require [students] to be well-rounded.”
Jeff was a student at a boarding school in Canada. So far, he said he has enjoyed his experience on the eastern end of Long Island much more. “You actually live with native parents, and you get your own room,” he said. “In Canada, you’re almost trapped in the school. Here, the staff members take you out.”
While the school day can be as long as 13 hours for boarding students, including meals at the Ross cafe, classes, after-school activities, and an evening study hall, there are plenty of social activities to participate in.
“Often a boarding student will go home with a day student on the weekends,” said Ms. Claeys. There are sign-up sheets for bus trips to Manhattan, and other activities like sailing or shopping excursions. For students like Fara Kaner, a freshman whose parents live in Manhattan, there is also the opportunity to take the Hampton Jitney home on the weekends.
Fara started as a boarding student at Ross last year. When she was in seventh grade, she moved in with her grandparents, who live in Sag Harbor, so that she and her older brother could attend the school before the boarding program was available.
Housing is divided according to gender, and although she doesn’t live with her brother, “I don’t feel that much separation,” since the students eat together and spend time with each other during study hall. “In terms of not seeing my parents every day, that’s harder,” she said.
“When I was a day student, I loved Ross,” she said. “Now, being integrated with the international students — we all eat together, we study together — it’s very interesting to have that cross-cultural experience.”
Unlike Jeff, Fara said she is “not exactly sure” what she wants to be when she grows up. For the last few years, she said, she has been busy learning Chinese, and sees a career “in Chinese and business in my later years.” But at Ross, “my interests also range.” She is a musician, who also works on the school newspaper.
To be so adventurous and well rounded at such a young age is an accomplishment that has not gone unnoticed, for either student. “I frankly just think, whether they’re international students our not, our boarding students are really brave” to strike out on their own, Ms. Claeys said.
Certainly, the atmosphere at Ross helps to ease the transition. In an environment where most of the other students have traveled to exotic places for educational trips on midspring breaks, and spend much of their time studying other cultures, boarding students are, not surprisingly, well accepted by their peers.
“The day students are very, very nice,” said Jeff. “I was very anxious and nervous on the first day,” but the tension eased up when he quickly realized that “they actually want to be friends with me.”