It’s Your Choice

Whatever you do, don’t send your child to Brentwood! Why?  Because we won’t accept them if it isn’t their choice to be here. There are plenty of other good options for you. No student is ‘sent’ to Brentwood; this is the number one criteria I, as Director of Admissions, look for in the admissions process. We currently have 471 students who have made the choice to venture from home to pursue their high school education at our school; this is fascinating when you think about it. Why would a young person choose to do this?  Unless you visit our campus, it will be very hard for anyone to comprehend. One has to see it to believe it. There is something powerful and dignified about our student body. They are unified in their desire to be at our school and the synergy and compassion that emanates from them is simply magical. Why us?  Obviously the facilities and the location are big influencers at first. Where else in the world can you see seals, whales and eagles outside the windows of your classroom? But this is only part of it; when you only accept students if they have decided to come to your school, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  The happiness factor at our school is incredible and our attrition rate is perhaps the lowest in North America because of it. Our students make our school what it is. Our students are Brentwood College School. Many traditional boarding schools still work on the principle that if you send your kids there, the school will build character and knock some sense into them, get them on the right track, and set them up for life. This is a popular belief and it works for some families. But at our school, we look at the collateral damage of this philosophy. At Brentwood, we know that it only takes a few students who don’t want to be there to make life for those associated with them miserable. This is not what students sign up for so we stand firm and are insistent that everyone truly wants to be here. And it works! I cannot emphasize enough that it has to be seen to be believed. Come and visit us and check it out for yourself; talk to anyone (we do not have tours led by students trained on what to say; our philosophy is that visitors can speak to any student at any time). We try to make it as real and authentic as possible so that the school you sign up for is the exact one that you will arrive at in September. We look forward to seeing you on campus!