Front Royal, VA— Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal has offered both day student and seven-day boarding programs for grades six through eight since the Middle School opened in 1995. Now the Academy has added something new in the form of a five-day boarding program.
The five-day boarding program will offer students the opportunity to remain on campus from Sunday evenings through Friday evenings. They will benefit from in the boarding school experience—living in a dorm with a roommate, participating in dorm activities, and attending supervised study halls—yet be home with their family on the weekend.
“Families’ schedules tend to be hectic in the evenings,” commented Clare Dame, Director of Enrollment Management at the Academy. “This is particularly true for families with two working parents or single parent families, and it is especially a concern for those with long commutes. Juggling the parent’s schedule, the child’s schedule, the traffic, the homework…it can be overwhelming.”
By offering a five-day boarding program, Academy officials hope to relieve at least some of that stress for families.
“All the activities—the academics, the sports, the homework study hall, the meals—they are all right here,” said Dame. “The students find their schedules are much calmer, and it’s easier for them to finish their homework—and more importantly, learn from it—because they aren’t trying to do it when they’re exhausted.”
The five-day boarding program is limited to families who live within a 150-mile radius. (Those outside the 150-mile radius can be seven-day boarders.) The cost is $21,000 for the 2012-13 academic year, plus expenses, which is less than the cost of most DC-area private day schools.
Randolph-Macon Academy (R-MA), founded in 1892, is a college-preparatory, coeducational day and boarding school for students in grades 6 through 12. Students in grades 9-12 participate in R-MA’s 91st Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) and have the option to participate in a unique flight program. R-MA is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is located in Front Royal, VA.
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