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« on: March 22, 2005, 04:49:00 PM »
I'm originally from that part of the country and still usually visit southside Va. 2-3 months a year.
One way to find out if this school is NOT bogus is to call and ask how many day students attend. The public schools in Halifax County are terrible and more dangerous than surrounding counties. Still, there is a hospital so there are lots of doctors with money there. Those doctors tend to send their kids to the Fuqua School, which is 60 miles north. There are so many kids coming from Halifax, Fuqua provides an "express bus." Moreover, parents got together and rented a house so they and kids had a place to crash after sports events, weekend activities, etc. Still, bussing a kid 60 miles to school every day is not ideal and I KNOW that if there were a reasonable school in the area, these parents would certainly choose it. If there are NO day students, forget it.
I looked at the website and though there are some things that are typically Virginian, like the honor system and though the writing smacks of educationese "critical thinking," etc. I looked at the staff, and they are associated with Swift River, Cascade, there are some graduates of Brigham Young--but they do seem to have a real faculty. However, I'd call them, tell them I'm moving to the area and understand the public school system is terrible, and though Fuqua (K-12)(pronounced Foo-Kwah) was recommended, you hate the idea of your child taking a bus 60 miles to school every day.
EVERY reputable boarding and military school in VA. takes day students (in fact--that goes for everywhere) and if they don't take day students--you don't want to know from it. Private schools in this area are in great demand and a lot of parents send their kids to reputable boarding schools so they can simply get a good education
without traveling a zillion miles every day.