of this mingling.
Boarding school populations now are economically, racially, and ethnically diverse, but staffing remains remarkably traditional, with most administrators coming from the same cohort that used to populate the traditional student enrollment. Old Prep values which derived from the original Old Money values continue on: valuing service and sacrifice over individuality, and caution and comportment over free expression and exuberance. A good portion of this preference may stem from common sense – keeping a lid on a campus full of teenagers is no small task – but the underlying assumptions of restraint, service to the group, an appreciation of conformity and a suspicion of individuality appear to be due more to cultural assumptions than to pure necessity.
A FAMILY TRADITION
Some boarding schools were founded by members of the same family. The Phillips family of Massachusetts established the Phillips Academy in Andover, MA; a few years later, Phillips Exeter Academy was founded in New Hampshire. The Webb family founded not one but two Webb Schools in Tennessee, and also the Webb Schools of California. St. George’s an Episcopal School, and Portsmouth Abbey, a Catholic school, were both founded by the same person, the Rev. John B. Diman.
SO WHAT IS A “PREPPY” ANYWAY?
Just as the definition of “prep school” is imprecise, so the term “preppy” (or “preppie”) means different things to different people. This has some relevance to the purpose of this book.
In the beginning, a preppy was simply a young lad from an Old Money background who attended the family’s boarding school as a matter of course before going on to the family’s college. The post-WWII era brought the rarified and secluded world of WASP privilege to more general attention. The “Ivy League”, a termed dating from the 1930s, became firmly entrenched in American parlance when the Ivy League athletic conference was founded in 1954. Ivy League men’s clothing became fashionable. Tracking this development, prep schools gained wider attention and interest. Some point to the film Love Story as the first wide spread use of the term “preppy” , used in a somewhat mocking and negative tone, indicating a person from an upper class WASP background and their manner of dress and behavior.
In 1980, a book was published that changed that definition – probably by accident. The Official Preppy Handbook, a witty insouciant satire on prep culture, became an instant best seller and a “how-to” handbook for determined status seekers. The result was a shift in the meaning of “preppy” from an underlying WASP lifestyle (and its fundamental values) to a fashion trend: “preppy style”. This expanded into a lifestyle choice one could acquire. A prep school education became a status symbol to collect, along with other preppy accoutrements – Volvo station wagons, pure bred dogs, and summer vacations in certain acceptable zip codes.
The prep craze was magnified by intense marketing. Ralph Lauren, who began his career with Ivy/prep mainstay Brooks Brothers, recognized this marketing opportunity and has exploited it ever since. Popular Merchandise, Inc, aiming for a Ralph Lauren look at a much lower price point, rebranded itself as J. Crew, a fabricated name referencing the ultimate Ivy clothier J. Press and the uber-prep sport, crew.
The prep style continues as it always has, waxing and waning in popularity. The damage, however, has been done. The whimsical sprezzatura of the earlier Old Money era carries on, but it has been nearly overwhelmed by a relentless, rather desperate New Money search for status. With the latter comes a grim focus on all prep schools, boarding and day, as commodities, status markers, and stepping stones to the next aspirational plateau: elite college placement. As a result, the term “preppy” now signifies a shallow materialism, ostentation, and self aggrandizement, values quite at odds with its origins.
WHEN IS PREP NOT PREP?
The terminology in this book is specifically American. British and Commonwealth schools use similar terms but for entirely different meanings:
AMERICAN USAGE BRITISH USAGE
High School College
University or college University
Junior boarding school (pre high school) Prep school
Prep School or Boarding School (high school) Public school
Government chartered high school Academy
Additionally, American usage makes a distinction between boarding “schools” and “academies”.
And as noted, to muddy things further, the American usage of “prep school” can mean either a preparatory boarding school or preparatory schools in general, whether boarding or non boarding.
CHAPTER 2
BOARDING SCHOOLS TODAY
Modern American boarding schools strive to balance their enduring community traditions with a forward thinking stance towards educational innovation and societal change. Academics are supported by co-curricular and experiential learning after class, day and night, in sports and activities, at meals, in the dorms, with frequent extra class contact with teachers who also coach sports and oversee dorm life. Teachers and students also interact at meals and at social events — coffees and teas, school rallies and other events, all additional opportunites for discussion and learning. The Schools are in essence a collegiate environment but with close adult supervison.
Boarding schools are highly social and self contained; students rarely leave the campus community. A widely diverse student body is norm, with students from different ethnic, racial, geographic, income, and national backgrounds. Minority representation is much higher than at private day schools.
Financial aid tends to be much more ample and available than at day schools. As a consequence, these schools enroll large numbers of students from middle and lower income backgrounds. Also, families with incomes too high to qualify for financial aid at day schools often find that they are eligible for aid at boarding schools.
Issues of status and prestige are deliberately controlled. All boarders live in dorm rooms which are typically spare and small. This uniformity and lack of space diminishes status of possessions. Instead, school policies enchance the status of rank (upperclassmen over underclassmen) and success (through positions of leadership in academics, athletics and activies).
Today’s boarding school typically provide advanced systems for student support — counseling, advising, tutoring, medical and psychological care, sports training and therapy with fully equipped facilities and resources in support of these services. Certain school policies enhance student safety. Campuses have 24 hour security.
Drugs and alcohol are banned, and while such bans are not 100% effective, student access to these substances is more restricted than at day and public schools. Boarding students typically do not have cars at school, nor are they allowed to ride in cars without express parental permission. Off campus trips are controlled and require faculty permission.
Challenges remain. Elitism is an ongoing concern. The schools continue to strive for excellence and to prepare young students – now coming from every cultural and societal background – to assume the mantle of leadership in the society of the future. How this equates with the schools’ professed values of democracy, equality, and social justice remains an unresolved question.
Blacks and Hispanics continue to be underrepresented in prep student populations, as are students from lower income families. Many schools have responded with vigorous
