Welcome
Testimonials from Parents and Recent Alumni
From the mother of a new 9th grader from near Cincinnati:
The change in my daughter’s attitude and performance since starting Olney is the thing I think is most remarkable. Both her academic performance and her self-respect have soared since going to Olney. She has become more responsible and mature, and a delight to be with.
The thing I really like about the atmosphere is that she gets constant, loving supervision and feedback from people who know how to deal with teenagers. They guide and correct her in the way I’d want to, if I had the time and patience.
From the parents of a new 10th grader from Saudi Arabia:
It’s comforting to know that our son is not only getting a great education, but he is happy at school as well. You help him get organized, motivated, and interested in learning.
From the father of a new 11th grader from North Carolina:
Two months after my daughter started at OFS, she wanted to spend a weekend with my wife’s cousin, who live several hours’ drive from Barnesville. My wife and I contacted OFS and discovered that my daughter would have to fill out a weekend absence form, complete her “majors” (Friday afternoon chores), and have her majors inspected before she left campus for the weekend.
Two months earlier, managing to get an “excused absence” form turned into our local high school’s attendance office had been a three week parent/child ordeal.
With visions of her cousin having to wait for hours in the car on Friday afternoon, my wife called our daughter Tuesday night. My wife wanted to make sure that the form would get filled out on time, that the majors would be completed and inspected, etc.
Our daughter stopped my wife in mid-sentence. “Mom, I already filled out the form, and I talked to Shelley. I have arranged to do my majors on Thursday, and have them inspected on Thursday afternoon, so I can be ready at 3:00 on Friday. I’m in boarding school now. I have to do those things for myself!”
From an alum from Viet Nam, now studying at Widener University:
Dear Promise [12th grade Humanities teacher],
My second semester started this week. I am taking English 102 right now and today in class, my professor read out loud for us, which made me miss you so much, Promise. We are studying Regeneration [by] Pat Barker. The outline of this course is similar with what we did in our class when we had to read Mrs. Dalloway. I was afraid of it when I saw the syllabus but I am more comfortable since she gave a bit of the background about the book today. The technique which she is using to teach is so like yours, Promise. I always knew that you [had] prepared me well for college but I [could] never imagine how well you train[ed] me to be such a confident student like this when it comes to novels, annotation, and analyz[ing] a character in the story.
From an alum from Ethiopia, now studying at Kenyon College:
While working at camp, I came across a lot of kids who have gone to fancy boarding schools. They all had one thing in common — not having a sense of community. They all said a sense of belonging as a community was not presented at their schools.
At Olney I was friends with everyone and talked to everyone.
One of the best decisions in my life I made is not having followed [my sibling to another boarding school]. At the time I was so drawn by the fine facilities. I now realize that Olney was more than just a boarding school I attended for four years. It was a home for me. I felt like I belonged there.