The Foreign Service Journal, December 2007

76 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 7 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT ty, U.S.-based schools may offer more opportunities for community service, internships and other programs. Further, the transition to college may be less traumatic for an international student from a U.S. boarding school. Alternatively, there are numerous excellent American-curriculum board- ing schools abroad. Many families find those an appealing choice because of the international student body, meaning that most of the other students are also global nomads with distant families. It is also closer and less costly to go “home” if parents are posted overseas. In addition, the stu- dent’s college admissions profile may be enhanced by an international high school experience. Finally, families may decide on boarding school if a student is strug- gling academically or not performing as expected given his or her potential. Many college preparatory boarding schools have academic support in the form of a learning center to teach study skills, supervised study halls and tutor- ing. In some cases, the smaller classes and absence of distractions such as video games are all that is needed to improve academic performance. In the case of a student with an identified or suspected learning or emotional disability, there are all lev- els of specialized schools and pro- grams. This is a topic in its own right, but if parents know or suspect that their child has such needs or if the staff at the child’s present school has expressed concern, parents should contact the Employee Consultation The application process for boarding schools is much like that for college admissions. Continued on page 80