Figure 1.-- These boys at the end of the school year are in the junior section about to move up to the senior section in the next school year. |
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Most standard, stand-along prep schools are divided into two sections, a junior and senior sections. This does not include the pre-prep which is almost always a separate part of the school, sometimes even at a differentb location. The junior and senior sections of the prep school often have different names, but the division is fairly standard. The junior section is children 8-10 years old. The senior section is children 11-13 years old. This can vary slightly from school to school. It is somewhat complicated at coed schools because the girls going to a girls public school often leave earlier than the boys going to boys ahnd coed public schools.
The junior section of a prep school generally included the new entrants and the younger boys through 9-10 years. These students generally take most of their classes in their form rooms. The first year is particularly difficult because many children are adjusting to the school and making new friends. Many come from the pre-pep, but many others are new to the school. This means that their preparation can vary. After the fitst year most of the difficulties have been ironed out and the differences in the children's preparation addressed. Within a year or two, especially with boarders, the children become very close. Very close friendships are formed. Often their best friends become their school mates because they spend so much time together. Children at this age especially seek adult approval. Peer presure is a less poweful force than it will become with the older children. The children by the second year, meaning 8-9 year olds, have fully adjusted to boarding life. These children because of the boarding experience are often much more independent than other children their age.
The senior section normally begins with children 11 years old. These boys are more likely to attend classess es in specialised classrooms rather than in their form room from their form teacher. The academic program becomes increasingly rigorous as the childre approach the time that they take the Common Entrance exam. By this age, most of the children have been at the school for 2-3 years, more if they attended the school's pre-prep. A few new boys will show up, often children whose parents could not afford the whole program, but did want their children to have the advantage of prep school instruction before beginning their secondaty schools. As most of the children have been at the school for several years, they are well aquainted not only with the orogram, but have developed close friendships--especially among the boarders who spend so much time together. The prep-school program has helped turn them into responsible, polite young people and living away from home, more independemnt than many children their age.
