Hampshire Country
S c h o o l
hampshirecountry@monad.net
Hampshire Country School, as a small boarding school, is designed to involve its students in the interpersonal experiences they miss elsewhere. Within the boarding environment, students participate in group activities, share common experiences, work with others toward common goals, and participate in the give-and-take of friendships. This happens throughout every day and week, and the power of such involvement for facilitating personal growth far exceeds what would be possible through formal but time-limited social skills training, direct instruction, or counseling.
Afternoons, evenings, and weekends are filled with scheduled and unscheduled activities that bring students together in recreational sports, outdoor adventures, and ardently contested strategy games. Students share enthusiasm for favorite books. They help each other with homework. They grumble together about cleaning their dorm. They argue about who gets the strawberry yogurt at breakfast. Through it all they are not only building lasting friendships but also learning to understand, predict, and value other people. It is not something that could be learned just in a classroom or a skills training group.
All students at Hampshire Country School are full time boarding students, enrolled for weekends as well as school days. They go home for extended vacations at Christmas time, in the spring, and for the whole summer; but when they are at school the hours out of class are at least as important for their long term success as the hours they spend in class.
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Some factors that make H.C.S. an effective school:
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Very small enrollment (maximum 25 students) |
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Boarding environment in which students not only study but also play and make friends among a compatible group of peers |
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Small classes (usually three to six students) with a high level of teacher-student interaction |
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Courses taught at a high scholastic level but with room to accommodate interruptions for difficulties, distractions, or needs |
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A peer group and school culture that values intellectual skills and interests |
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A school philosophy that assumes the kinds of upsets and reactions some students have indicate a need for support and care rather than behavioral training |