By Devin Beliveau
Staff Columnist
SACO—
Thornton Academy is going international. This August, the independent high school in Saco will open up a brand new dormitory, and fill it with up to 38 tuition-paying boarding students. “We have around 31 signed up,” said Mark Powers, Director of Admissions at Thornton Academy.
So far, all 31 of the students are from China and Taiwan. “I did some international recruiting this fall. I went to South Korea, Taiwan, China, Thailand, and Japan,” said Powers. The trip “was about 3 weeks long, and I went to fairs much like college fairs, set up a table, and met with students and their families.”
Powers said the biggest surprise of his trip were the bilingual abilities of the students he met. “I couldn’t get over how well everyone spoke English. Even the younger kids who I met applying for freshmen year had already taken 5 or 6 years of English.” English is a standard part of the Chinese school curriculum.
The typical school size in China is about 5,000 students, according to Powers. “Classes range from 50-60 students per class, and they’re taking 12-13 classes a day, with no room for extracurricular activities or athletics,” he explained.
Powers believes that these students are choosing TA because “they recognize the critical thinking that American education, Thornton in particular, tries to get across to its students.” They also want to go to TA to “prepare for a university here in the United States and improve their English along the way.”
There will be a number of ways in which the new boarding students can take advantage of the opportunities Thornton has to offer, according to Kelli Corrigan, a Math Teacher and the newly appointed Director of Residential Life & Residential Students. “After the academic day is done around 2 p.m., the students can either participate in athletics or clubs, we have over 40 to choose from. And if they are not participating in an athletic event or club, then we will have an individualized event for them,” explained Corrigan. “I will meet with all the students who are not doing an athletic event or club every Monday, and we’ll come up with activities that they want to do that week.” Such activities may include fishing, surfing, hiking, Ultimate Frisbee and other active endeavors.
In the evening after dinner, “there will be a tutorial program available where all of our content areas will be covered by faculty members,” said Corrigan. Then boarding students will return to a dorm that will be run and monitored by 5 current TA faculty members.
New courses being added, such as AP Physics, will be a byproduct of the new boarding program. Having the library open on Sundays, a new intramural athletics program, and new weekend activity programming will also benefit the day students as well as the boarding students.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for students here in Saco to really learn about different kinds of people. We’re a pretty homogeneous group here at TA. The different cultures and academic interests these boarding students will bring will expand our students’ horizons,” said Powers.
Corrigan agreed, “It’s going to be an amazing eye-opener (for TA students) to see that there is a world beyond ours. I think it’s great.”
Construction on the dormitory began last year and is expected to finish near the beginning of August. Despite the current make-up of the dorm, it is not strictly an international program. Thornton also hopes to eventually draw boarding students from Maine and other states.
Photo caption: The new dormitory at Thornton Academy will house up to 38 students. (Jen Hass photo)
Staff Columnist
SACO—
Thornton Academy is going international. This August, the independent high school in Saco will open up a brand new dormitory, and fill it with up to 38 tuition-paying boarding students. “We have around 31 signed up,” said Mark Powers, Director of Admissions at Thornton Academy.
So far, all 31 of the students are from China and Taiwan. “I did some international recruiting this fall. I went to South Korea, Taiwan, China, Thailand, and Japan,” said Powers. The trip “was about 3 weeks long, and I went to fairs much like college fairs, set up a table, and met with students and their families.”
Powers said the biggest surprise of his trip were the bilingual abilities of the students he met. “I couldn’t get over how well everyone spoke English. Even the younger kids who I met applying for freshmen year had already taken 5 or 6 years of English.” English is a standard part of the Chinese school curriculum.
The typical school size in China is about 5,000 students, according to Powers. “Classes range from 50-60 students per class, and they’re taking 12-13 classes a day, with no room for extracurricular activities or athletics,” he explained.
Powers believes that these students are choosing TA because “they recognize the critical thinking that American education, Thornton in particular, tries to get across to its students.” They also want to go to TA to “prepare for a university here in the United States and improve their English along the way.”
There will be a number of ways in which the new boarding students can take advantage of the opportunities Thornton has to offer, according to Kelli Corrigan, a Math Teacher and the newly appointed Director of Residential Life & Residential Students. “After the academic day is done around 2 p.m., the students can either participate in athletics or clubs, we have over 40 to choose from. And if they are not participating in an athletic event or club, then we will have an individualized event for them,” explained Corrigan. “I will meet with all the students who are not doing an athletic event or club every Monday, and we’ll come up with activities that they want to do that week.” Such activities may include fishing, surfing, hiking, Ultimate Frisbee and other active endeavors.
In the evening after dinner, “there will be a tutorial program available where all of our content areas will be covered by faculty members,” said Corrigan. Then boarding students will return to a dorm that will be run and monitored by 5 current TA faculty members.
New courses being added, such as AP Physics, will be a byproduct of the new boarding program. Having the library open on Sundays, a new intramural athletics program, and new weekend activity programming will also benefit the day students as well as the boarding students.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for students here in Saco to really learn about different kinds of people. We’re a pretty homogeneous group here at TA. The different cultures and academic interests these boarding students will bring will expand our students’ horizons,” said Powers.
Corrigan agreed, “It’s going to be an amazing eye-opener (for TA students) to see that there is a world beyond ours. I think it’s great.”
Construction on the dormitory began last year and is expected to finish near the beginning of August. Despite the current make-up of the dorm, it is not strictly an international program. Thornton also hopes to eventually draw boarding students from Maine and other states.
Photo caption: The new dormitory at Thornton Academy will house up to 38 students. (Jen Hass photo)
