School life, between the linesBy Admissions Diary
School stories, admissions adventures, and the things parents talk about on the way home.
School portraits · Washington, DC
Every newcomer at a Washington girls' school is assigned Purple or Gold. One Friday a year, the two sides meet on opposite sidewalks and try to outshout each other.
School portraits · Washington, DC
Lunch at the Washington boys' school is family-style, with a teacher at every table. One of the table games asks for the worst poem you can write. Doing well has consequences.
School portraits · Wallingford, Connecticut
For Deerfield Day 2025, Choate students rode north in boar onesies and tinsel. Behind the costumes was a sign-up system, a chaperone on every bus and a head count.
School portraits · Groton, Massachusetts
In 2016 a Groton student lost her favorite pencil case and emailed her whole grade. The next day, at the headmaster's house, someone remembered to ask. It was in her backpack.
School portraits · New York City
The cafeteria at the United Nations International School got a facelift. The student paper polled students, teachers and the woman at the register, and the register won.
School portraits · New York City
A Manhattan school runs a student record label, 566 Records, with its own studio and a Beatles covers project. Parents of teenagers in headphones have lost an argument.
School portraits · New York City
On a 2019 overnight farm trip, LREI fourth graders posted short reflections on the class blog. One of them, about a cow, was two sentences long and perfect.
School portraits · Boston, Massachusetts
In 2023–24 a Boston school's student officers decided school life needed more excitement. They founded a bureau, and then an agency.
School portraits · Dedham, Massachusetts
A Massachusetts school serves lunch in a building called the Castle. The tour is about the architecture. The students are thinking about the tortillas.
School portraits · Milton, Massachusetts
At Milton Academy's graduation, diplomas go out in random order. For once in a senior's career, being last is the prize.
School portraits · Oakland, California
At an Oakland school, the entire senior class puts on a Shakespeare play every spring. The head of school went to see Twelfth Night and came out with notes.
School portraits · Hillsborough, California
At a Hillsborough school, one day a year the juniors plan everything and the seniors are not told where they're going. I am the man the seniors need a break from.
