Eaglebrook Summer Semester in Deerfield, Massachusetts

Every student takes four classes: two from the academic offerings and two from the electives. The summer curriculum reflects the variety presented during the school year and may include English, mathematics, reading, English as a Second Language, Spanish, French, Chinese, computer science, history, drawing, painting, woodworking, photography, drama, stone carving and public speaking. The director of studies handles scheduling and class selection, and each student has a faculty advisor who oversees course planning, sports selection and extracurricular choices.

A four-week boarding programme for boys and girls aged 10 to 13, built as a balance of academics, athletics, outdoor exploration and community living. Candidates submit a transcript of their academic work together with letters of recommendation from their English and mathematics teachers. Teacher comments and grades for all courses are mailed to the student's home at the end of the semester.

Students live in dormitories on campus, girls in one house and boys in another, under close faculty supervision. Faculty members share dormitory life with the children, and each student has a dormitory advisor they see every day. Children share fully equipped rooms and are provided sheets, blankets, pillowcases and towels; televisions and cooking appliances are not allowed. Each dormitory floor has a telephone, and students may keep their mobile phones.

Meals are served family-style in the Dining Hall, whose wide glass windows frame views of the playing fields, the valley and the mountains. Faculty members and their families share meals with the children, encouraging good manners, lively conversation and healthy eating habits. The kitchen prepares lean meats, seafood, whole grains and fresh fruit and vegetables from the Deerfield Valley, and the school bakery mills whole grain flour and bakes its own bread.

Every afternoon has an hour-long athletics period, and each week students choose a sport from the list on offer; the most popular have been soccer, ultimate disc, basketball, swimming and capture the flag. One day midweek the whole programme leaves campus on a field trip with an academic focus, among them the Boston Science Museum, Sturbridge Village and a day hiking Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire. Friday evenings are spent in the dormitories over games, Saturdays the programme travels to an attraction in the greater New England region, and Sundays bring a relaxed schedule with small groups going out with a faculty member.

The campus sits on a hillside above Deerfield, Massachusetts, with playing fields, a swimming pool, dormitories and the Dining Hall. The Health Center is open 24 hours a day and a nurse is available to students daily; all medication is kept and dispensed by its staff, and a completed medical form is required from every student before enrolment.

Children from every ethnic, racial, economic and geographic background are welcome, and the school describes its community as multicultural, encouraging shared interests and respect for differences. Dress is informal for almost all activities on campus. Parents and friends are invited to visit after the first week, with Sunday the best day for a visit, as students and faculty are off campus on Saturdays.