This year, the five candidates were split into two groups visiting northern and southern schools. The northern group visited Lawrenceville, The Hill School, Tabor Academy, Brewster Academy, Lawrence Academy, Kimball Union Academy, and Northfield Mt. Hermon. The southern group visited The Pennington School, Perkiomen, Oldfields, Foxcroft, West Nottingham Academy, and Episcopal High School. The students had the opportunity to tour the schools and interview to begin the ninth grade in Fall 2015.

As the week progressed, the DCMS students became more confident in their interview skills and enlightened in what they are looking for in a boarding school. Trevonya Pinder of Waterford says, “After seeing the schools and what they offer, I am inspired and motivated. I am looking for a school that has small classes and a good music program.”

This trip was nine months in the making; students begin the boarding school process the January before the trip and adhere to rigorous standards to remain in the process. This includes an intensive boot camp to study for the SSAT exam and leadership positions in extracurricular activities. For the candidates, their hard work is beginning to pay off. Deep Creek’s Dashae Clarke says, “My favorite part of the trip was meeting the students and interviewers from the different schools. I could picture myself doing the activities that I saw the other kids doing. It made me feel like part of the boarding school family.”

Student Advancement Coordinator Megan Kelly chaperoned the southern group and had the opportunity to visit with DCMS alumni who are already enrolled in the schools. She says, “It is a gratifying experience to see our alumni excelling at their boarding schools. Every former DCMS student we met held multiple leadership roles at their schools: everything from being tour guides to team captains to class presidents.” This success proves that DCMS is preparing students for the rigors of the top schools in the United States.

The trip was enhanced by the hospitality of many Island School alumni families who hosted the students in home stays. Welcoming the DCMS students with Bahamian flags, photos from the Island School, and regional dining specialties, the students quickly felt at home. DCMS is grateful for the generosity of the Paget-Brown family (Heather F’14), the Gould family (Lauren F’12), the Keefe family (Hilary S’04, Andrew S’05, Brittany S’06, and Peter F’13), the McDonough family (current IS Fellow Tom S’08), the Howard-Gould family (Marcus S’13), the Sands-Bliss family (Maya F’13), and the Maxeys. The trip was made even better by the bonds formed with the host families!

“Zach has been an incredible contributor to academics, the school community, and the greater community of South Eleuthera. He will add a lot to their school and will soak up all the opportunities he is offered while he is away,” said Dr. Joanna Paul, Director of Education. Zach is a member of the Eco-Club, Early Act Service Club, Founder of the Spanish Club, and an avid SCUBA diver. Here he can be seen as the Plastic Bag Monster while advocating for plastic reduction efforts at a workshop on Harbour Island.

This year’s candidates are touring early and will be applying next year. They saw The George School, Oldfields, West Nottingham and St. Andrews to help them understand the range of schools and offerings that they can consider. Thank you to the homestay families, The Strathmanns (parents of Will F’07) and the Obrechts (parents of Annie S’12) for making their visit possible!

Each November, admissions officers and school leaders from around the United States come to Eleuthera to get more familiar with The Deep Creek Middle School, The Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute. On November 18 & 19, visitors from Perkiomen, Cushing Academy, The Christchurch School and Camden Hills Regional High School spent time visiting our Cape Eleuthera campuses.

The visit helps schools understand the innovative best practices of the schools, get familiar with the caliber of the programs and allows them to consider partnering with us in the future. For many DCMS students, these visits can result in scholarships and placements for students who wish to continue their secondary education in the U.S. In DCMS’s 12 year history, it has sent 30 students to US boarding schools, earning over $3.25 million in scholarships.

Three students from the class of 2013 have earned $100,000 for their education at U.S. high schools next year. With each student we send abroad, we are bridging the gap between The Bahamas and the US and are working to establish global citizens that will help ensure a viable and sustainable future worldwide and in The Bahamas.

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We had awesome tours at all of the schools we visited. We had a great time during our trip. We visited Wilbraham and Monson Academy (MA), Lawrence Academy (MA), The Putney School (VT), Hebron Academy (ME), Berkshire School (MA), Vermont Academy (VT), The Darrow School (NY), Kents Hill (ME), and New Yarmouth Academy (ME). All of these schools were beautiful and filled with talented students. We came to love them and hope to be enrolled in one of them next year. Personally, I had a really fantastic trip. I know that by working harder, achieving higher SSAT scores and contining to be an honor roll student, I will meet the standard that is required and will be accepted in one next year. That is my goal.

Others agree. “The Boarding School Trip was a blast! We visited a variety of schools. I have a lot of favorites. In addition we all bonded and had a great time visiting new places and meeting new people,” said Breanna Leary. “This experience was awesome. Visiting the schools and learning about a different culture was good exposure for me and I’m excited to experience more of it,” said Keniesha Pinder. “The opportunity to experience all of what those schools had to offer was great. I’m looking forward to exploring and learning about one of them,” said Shawnea Neeily.

As you can see, we are all excited about studying in the U.S. We all hope to be enrolled in one of these great schools next year. Special thanks to all the following school supporters for hosting us on
our trip:

• The Ellisons (Cate F’12)
• The Osborns (Meghan S’10)
• The Twomblys (Hannah S’11)
• Bobbi Hallig
• The Freemans

• Ashley Gibson – St Margaret’s School, VA
• Moesha Leary – Christchurch School, VA
• Lionel Johnson – Woodberry Forest, VA
  
• Yanni Giannakopoulos – The Ross School, NY
  
• Treshae Clarke – Wilbraham and Monson Academy, MA
  

The DCMS Grade 9 boarding school tour was spectacular! We woke up early Sunday, October 16th, 2011 and met at the Rock Sound Airport to begin the journey where we would interview at boarding schools in the U.S. for high school options.  From there we went to New Providence where we would soon board our U.S Airways flight to Washington D.C.  The flight to Washington was two hours but we were occupied with music and studying for our upcoming SSAT exam.

When we arrived to Washington we drove to Virginia. For that night we stayed in an old faculty house that belonged to St. Margret’s School where two girls interviewed and toured the next day. We then moved on to New Jersey where we stayed at the Maxey’s house.  On this journey we stopped in Downtown Philadelphia to try a famous “Philly cheese steak.” We spent two days in New Jersey, toured George, Hill, Church Farm and Solebury schools and enjoyed visits from our friends that are currently in boarding school.

We then made our way to Connecticut, where we stayed for one night and visited Miss Hall’s, Taft, Trinity Pawling and Wilbraham and Monson schools. On to Boston, where we were invited to a little party at Lizzie Ayoub’s house which was really fun.  We also spent the night at the house of a former Deep Creek Middle School teacher, Ms. Anderson and former Island School teacher, David Miller. We stayed here most of the trip. The next day we took the challenging SSAT and went to New England a school by the name of Worcester Academy and picked up our former classmate, Aleice Goodman from Lawrence Academy.  On Saturday, some students interviewed at Northfield Mount Hermon and some attended a volleyball game at one of the schools we toured.  We met another former classmate, Anna McCartney.

Finally, on Sunday we headed to the airport in Boston to fly to Philadelphia where we would return to the Bahamas. It was very sad to leave because we all had such a good time. Altogether it was a great experience and we went to states where we have never traveled before.   Hopefully our experience will also result in places at some of these schools for us next year.