Applewild School

Applewild School is located west of Boston, Massachusetts. I lived near the school for 3 years and frequently visited it. Before 2020, it was a day school, but later it transformed into a US junior boarding school. The school was founded in 1957. Covering 26 acres, the school has nine buildings, including a 300-seat performing arts center, two gymnasiums, two art studios, two libraries, two woodworking studios, four science labs, and multiple classrooms. The school offers students challenging courses in English, Mathematics, and Social Studies. Sixth-grade students can learn Latin, while seventh and eighth graders can choose between Latin or Spanish. Accelerated courses in Mathematics and Science are offered starting in the seventh grade. Students enjoy a wide range of weekend activities, including ice skating, watching movies, theater, visiting museums, and shopping. The school also arranges day trips to Boston for students or organizes cooking classes on campus. We previously had students attend when it was a day school, and the feedback was quite positive. Since the boarding program launched in recent years, the proportion of international students has been slightly higher.

Principal Zhan's Review: Applewild is a school that genuinely cares for its students. It provides opportunities for every child in academics, arts, and sports. The head of school and all teachers know all 278 students, ensuring each child receives ample care, making it very suitable for children who have just left home.
Regarding cultural immersion, even as a boarding school, Applewild students are not isolated. Every Sunday is Applewild's Adventure Day, where students visit attractions across New England, including museums, professional sports games, theater and music performances, hiking, celebrating festivals, etc., helping students integrate more naturally into the community and experience diverse social life.
In terms of academic development, the school offers children numerous opportunities to try new things. Children can bring interesting, discarded electronic appliances from home to the Maker Space to disassemble, research, repair, and reassemble them. During their studies, students participate in visual arts, woodworking, drama, choir, instrumental music, sports, community service, public speaking, and foreign language courses.
For community building, carefully planned weekend activities provide many interactive opportunities for both day and boarding students. Whether it's a full-day trip to Boston on Sunday or spending a few hours at a local apple orchard on an autumn afternoon, both boarding and day students benefit from the school's ever-expanding global perspective and warm community.
For emotional support, every child has their dedicated advisor who constantly looks after their daily life, academic growth, mental health, and undergraduate college planning.

I really like how the school only introduces the Humanities (History and English) class in 8th grade, taught by both English and History teachers concurrently. Each week involves a project encompassing reading, writing, and presentation elements. Initially, I thought it would be no different from previous English or History classes, but every week brings a surprise: 1. Firstly, the reading is intensive. Students must take notes and keep reading journals, jotting down insights on specific points, key ideas from paragraphs, and expressions from sections. These are regularly uploaded for teacher feedback, where teachers offer suggestions or shared understanding. 2. The writing is even more unexpected. All topics are historical, and while grammatical and logical requirements are essential, essays must ultimately connect with the present or personal experiences to form an argument. This practice of "reflecting on reality through history and using the past to illuminate the present" is precisely what we've always pursued. This is the true purpose of studying history: to teach us holistic understanding and continuously provide nourishment for our future lives. Yet, we adults often only grasp these principles later. These 8th graders, however, are explicitly branding themselves in the torrent of history, offering their own perspectives and ideas on history, learning to extract and absorb its essence. Each piece of writing helps them grow, leading to a spiritual elevation. 3. Presentations, structured as outlines and PPTs, are not vastly different from before. However, with the preceding two stages of deep thinking, the presentations serve as the final expression and summarization. Each step builds upon the previous one, prompting children to engage in deeper analysis and critical thinking. This is just the homework; there are also weekly exams, and every item has a deadline. In 8th grade, students truly feel the school's commitment to helping them cultivate a sense of responsibility, mission, and values.

There are three aspects of the writing class that impressed me:
1. Freedom in topic selection
The teacher provided two topics: one was potentially controversial with differing opinions (e.g., 'Should there be homework?'), and the other generally pertained to personal preference (e.g., 'What is an animal you like and why?'). Students were entirely free to choose based on their willingness.
2. Impromptu Writing
Students could find useful materials on the website provided by the teacher but had to cite them. Essays had specific minimum and maximum word count requirements. They also needed to demonstrate completeness, clear viewpoints, arguments, evidence, and counter-examples. Essentially, this guided a critical thinking approach to writing.
3. Freedom in Presentation
After writing, students could choose whether to present their work. If they did, the presenter had to accept and rebut opposing views. The audience had to actively provide their opinions, both for and against, during the presentation. This felt very much like a debate class. Afterwards, if there was remaining class time, students could refine and revise their essays for submission.
In a mere forty-five-minute class, it felt like topic analysis, writing, research, presentation, receiving critical feedback, and revision were all completed. I've always said, 'The ocean embraces all rivers; tolerance makes one great' and 'A single tree cannot make a forest,' but I felt my child didn't always understand these concepts. After over a month of this writing class, yesterday they exclaimed, 'You must consider issues from both sides, pros and cons. There's no eternal right, only forever choosing your perspective...'