The Boarders’ Report

Have you ever wondered what other prep schools are like? Perhaps what your life would be like if you had chosen Andover? Deerfield? If only there were some website or hub of information which could organize and compare information about prep schools.Luckily, Taylor Jean-Jacques ‘16 often ponders these questions. After developing an interest in the similarities and differences between Exeter and other prep schools, Jean-Jacques teamed up with a student from Andover to create a website that would help bring boarding school students together. The Boarders’ Report, which officially launched in 2013, is an interactive website built to help current and prospective boarding school students explore prep schools.One of the main reasons that Jean-Jacques created the website was to assist in the search process for students applying to boarding schools. After wandering her way through a process based solely on numerical information regarding courses and extracurricular activities, she yearned for a more holistic representation of the schools she was applying to. Jean-Jacques began looking past the dull campus tours and repetitive informational brochures, collecting student-run publications to get a feel for each school’s community. “In order to delve deeper in my research, I collected student-run newspapers from each school I visited and spent hours searching for interesting stories about student life,” Jean-Jacques explained.Once she began at the Academy, Jean-Jacques realized just how dismal the process was. At Exeter, she was exposed to new experiences and opportunities no campus tour could possibly explain. Students around her were enjoying a tremendous amount of opportunities and an amazing sense of community both on and off campus. “I noticed that many of my various boarding school friends from home were having tremendous educational experiences; accomplishing great feats, and learning from leading instructors, visiting speakers and alumni from their respective schools,” Jean-Jacques said.Jean-Jacques detailed how this lead to The Boarders’ Report. “I found that most students had close friends and/or relatives at other boarding schools and were interested in what was going on in these other schools.  They acknowledged that the experiences of other boarding school students could help refine their own.”There was no resource available which could properly exemplify Exeter, or boarding school for that matter. So Jean-Jacques created one. The Boarders’ Report offers students the chance to connect with other schools throughout the world. It provides an angle of student life previously unexposed by incorporating regular article updates. “The purpose of the platform is to inform and enrich the lives of boarding school students from around the world based on our commonalities under a unique learning experience.”Along with serving as an informational source for students, the Boarders’ Report allows current students to share their experiences with the world. The website recently featured an interview session with a student author from Andover, allowing users, including prospective students, to ask any questions.The helpful features of the Boarders’ Report are available globally. The information hub experiences users from the United States, Brazil, Canada, Portugal, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. In the past summer alone, attendance nearly quadrupled.As the website picks up steam and gains a dedicated following, Jean-Jacques looks to make the experience more interactive, possibly by creating an easy-to-use app. The app will expedite the tedious process of accepting new suggestions, which the website receives across the planet from school administrators, current and prospective students and alumni.