When one thinks of an international boarding school, they tend to only focus on students that have an international background or students that stay in accommodations on campus, but one can’t forget the important role a local day student plays.
Most international boarding schools have international boarding students and local day students. Local day students are crucial to the success of a vibrant and inclusive environment. A day student is a student that typically lives within driving distance of the school and unlike a boarding student, only stays on campus for the academic day. Our day students at Merrick Preparatory School typically arrive for 8:30 am to have breakfast with their peers and generally leave campus around 5:00 pm depending on what activities may be happening on campus.
Day students bring a ton of positivity to the school. Firstly, students from all around the globe can befriend students from the community. This helps students feel more at home and part of a community within the school. Our local students also benefit enormously from being exposed to a bundle of different cultures, perspectives and feeling part of a global community.
International students who may not have strong English language skills are able to practice their English language capabilities throughout the day by communicating with their classmates.
Local and international students also have the opportunity to grow outside of the classroom. If you were to drive by our campus on any given day, you would see the international and local day students participating in 1 of our 40+ co-curricular activities that we offer. Day students also participate in weekend activities such as: bowling, shopping, movie night, dances, museums, paintball, and so forth.
Our local students also benefit by creating a network of international friendships. In the global world that we live in, it is so important that our young generation learns how to live in a multicultural environment and how to build skills like intercultural competence. This sets them up for future success.
In 2019 one of our local families went on vacation to Japan. While there, the local student and his family met with our Japanese student’s family and enjoyed a wonderful dinner and social time together. This friendship has lasted beyond their time at MPS. This is just one example of many showing the positive impact that local day students make on an international school. Bringing the world together and building a strong global community is something we thrive on.
Would you to hear more success stories? Please reach out to us at MPS!
