School portraits · Palo Alto, California
At Castilleja, the Senior Road Trip Is One Lap
A Palo Alto girls' school gives its seniors decorated cars on Opening Day and a destination they can see from the start line.
Opening Day ritualsRead the story
School life, between the linesBy Admissions Diary
Notes from the School Gates
School stories, admissions adventures, and the things parents talk about on the way home.
New York & beyondHistory · Culture · Parent perspectives
School portraits · Los Angeles
Windward's New Head of School Joined the Improv Show
Four months into the job, Sarah Beck took the stage in the Windward School's faculty improv match in Los Angeles. She was nervous. The students chanted her name in rehearsal.
A first semester at Windward, August to December 2025Read the story
School portraits · Los Angeles
Marlborough's Seniors Speed-Dated Their Mascot Candidates
Every year the senior class at the Los Angeles girls' school chooses a mascot that represents them. In 2023 it was a chameleon from a Disney movie. In 2025 it was a bear with a marmalade sandwich.
Senior mascot reveal · Marlborough, Los Angeles, fall 2023Read the story
School portraits · Los Angeles
At Archer, Growing Up Is Measured in Trips Across Sunset
In 2021 the Los Angeles girls' school let sophomores cross Sunset Boulevard at lunch for the first time. Each grade gets a little more of the other side of the street.
Across Sunset, 2021Read the story
School portraits · Lakeville, Connecticut
Hotchkiss Trained 94 Student Leaders, Then a Pig Escaped
A 2016 retreat at Hotchkiss's farm was about building trust and community in the dorms. Then four of the fifteen pigs got out, and the curriculum changed.
A proctor retreat, 2016Read the story
School portraits · Watertown, Connecticut
At Taft, Softball Before Study Hall Is an Official League
A Connecticut boarding school publishes a glossary of its own slang. The best entry is the one that schedules the hour before homework.
Spring evenings in Watertown, ConnecticutRead the story
School portraits · Deerfield, Massachusetts
The Founder of Deerfield's Slow Eaters Was Too Busy to Attend
At a school where dinner is assigned, served and cleared on a schedule, a senior started a club for people who were still chewing.
The Slow Eaters’ Society, one fall term · 2023Read the story
School portraits · Dallas
St. Mark's Pecos Trip Once Cooked in Cafeteria Vegetable Cans
A Dallas boys' school has sent its rising freshmen into the New Mexico wilderness for over half a century. One teacher remembers the early equipment list.
Memories of the Pecos wilderness tripRead the story
School portraits · Chicago
Lab's Nursery Class Pressed Apples for One Pitcher of Cider
At the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, nursery classes make their own cider in the fall. The yield is modest. The teacher is honest about it.
An early-childhood traditionRead the story
School portraits · Santa Monica
At Crossroads' Senior Dog Day, the Cat Had a Law Degree
In April 2020 a Santa Monica school moved a beloved senior tradition online. Cats and rabbits were welcome, and one of the cats was overqualified.
Senior Dog Day from the kitchen table · April 2020Read the story
School portraits · Houston
At Kinkaid's Field Day, Seniors Walk Out With a Small Buddy
Field Day at the Kinkaid School in Houston dates to 1925. In 2017 the morning had karaoke, a pie-eating contest and a ping-pong match that ran too long. The afternoon began with the seniors collecting their buddies.
Field Day · April 20, 2017Read the story
School portraits · Boston
On Ring Day at Winsor, It Is Just a Normal Day
Every spring, Winsor's seniors secretly plan the ceremony where juniors receive their class rings. The juniors know it's coming, dress up anyway, and insist nothing is happening.
Ring Day at Winsor, one spring, junior yearRead the story