PORTSMOUTH — Standing outside St. Benet's, one of six dormitories on the campus of the 500-acre Portsmouth Abbey boarding school, 10th grader Joy Loftus admires the stone exterior and arched entry of the residence that serves as her Narragansett Bay home during the academic year.
“When you look at it from the outside it’s like a castle. It’s almost like Harry Potter,” Loftus said, smiling. That’s what I thought when I first came here. It’s very homey and cozy in there and when you’re away from home, it’s really nice to have that.”
From Portugal to Portsmouth, students from around the world leave their homes each September for another family on campus. For those that attend the Abbey, it’s the right fit, but many students agree that there are many myths about boarding schools.
Unlike the common misconception that most students are forced to attend boarding school, Loftus enthusiastically dispels that idea.
“I chose to go to boarding school. I chose it because the education is simply much better than I could find in the public school in my hometown,” she stated. “It’s challenging and rigorous. When I came here I knew that it was the right fit and that’s what I’ve been searching for in my whole education.”
Many students describe “Life on Cory’s Lane” as a unique academic, social and spiritual experience. At Portsmouth Abbey, one of two Catholic boarding schools on the East coast, two-thirds of the student body is Catholic. Benedictine monks own and operate the school, working as administrators and educators. The school recognizes that the spiritually passionate influence of the monks deeply affects each student.
“I think that everyone really respects the monks here,” Loftus explained. “It’s interesting to have that perspective from someone who is so spiritual. They are really caring. I chose this school because it was Benedictine and I wanted to see what it was like. They do a really good job at incorporating religion into the school’s atmosphere. In every house we have night prayer before we go to bed, and our Masses are really, really special.”
Among those attending the Abbey — from places such as Thailand, Bermuda and Nigeria, to name a few — there are also those with shorter commutes, some only minutes away on Aquidneck Island. Assistant Director of Communications Kathy Giblin Stark explained that from day students, you will often hear that “the only difference between day-students and boarders is where they sleep.”
Olivia Wright, an 11th grade day-student from Portsmouth, shared that boarding and day-students quickly embrace each other as one family.
“There are some pretty tight friendships between day students and borders,” she said. “Most of my friends are boarders and they have been my closest friends since I got here. A lot of day students come back for afterschool activities, sports and social events, to go to dances or to watch the weekend movies. You are on campus quite a lot. You’re there for classes and sometimes people come early for breakfast and stay late for dinner. You’re there for a good chunk of the day, so it’s really only the study hall hours, late evening hours and sometimes the weekends that day students really aren’t on campus.”
Many people tend to think that boarding schools are for troubled teenagers whose parents don’t love them, but Wright explained that attending Portsmouth Abbey is a privilege not a punishment.
“I have friends who are borders that when their friends found out they were going to boarding school, ‘what did you do wrong’ was their first instinct,” she said. “A lot of them are here for the academics and for the environment. It’s actually hard for a lot of people to leave their families to come to boarding school. But they decide to make that decision because they have a lot of opportunities here. There’s a lot of interaction that goes back and forth over phones and e-mails, so the students are very close with their parents. Coming here is not a punishment.”
Wright also dismissed another myth that everyone who attends boarding school is rich. She added that there is a wide spectrum of students from all economic backgrounds.
“That’s definitely not true,” she said. “I’m probably at the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum as far as people that go here. It’s definitely true that there are wealthier kids here, but for the most part you don’t really realize it until something blatant happens, like when you see their driver pick them up to take them home for vacation and you just kind of realize it, but it’s not a central topic. I wouldn’t be able to come here if I didn’t get financial aid from the school and I’m receiving a pretty decent sum to be able to attend. The Abbey put’s a lot of their money that comes from donations into the community and helping people who maybe don’t have the finances to pay the full amount.”
Wright knew going into Portsmouth Abbey that the classes were going to be challenging, but she wouldn’t say unmanageable.
“Everyone here is pretty competent, but it’s not like everyone is a super-genius, so it’s not intimidating in that sense. It’s challenging and it’s in a good environment, but I wouldn’t say it’s impossible.”
Julian Minondo, a 12th grader from Guatemala, shared that he was excited for the opportunity to attend Portsmouth Abbey. He added that one aspect about boarding school that people might not understand is that it is indeed “full time.”
“It’s day in, day out. You really are living with other kids, studying with them and doing activities with them. It’s somewhat peculiar, but you create tight knit relationships,” he said.
Minondo added that this unique way of scholastic life did take some getting used to.
“It’s a matter of adapting and acclimating. It can always be tough being away from home, being away from family and being away from everything that is familiar. And that’s the toughest part,” he said. “Once you sort of understand the ins and outs and time management, everything sort of falls into place.”
When it comes time to begin a new academic year, after three months of summer vacation, students like Loftus are eager to return to friends that have become like family and to a campus that feels like home.
“It’s really special when you come back here. You obviously can’t really see everybody, but we keep in touch with phones and Facebook. They become your family, so when you come back it’s like a seeing a sister you haven’t seen in a while. It’s kind of like going back home.”
