Boarding Program
Boarding at Menaul School is the first time for many of our students to live away from home. Our main goal in residential life is to make the residence halls feel warm and welcoming so that all of our students can call Menaul School their “home away from home.” While living on campus means being away from family and what is familiar, it also supplies a great opportunity for students to learn and grow in social and living skills.
Whether it is attending classes, participating in our athletic or arts programs, or living on campus, our students have opportunities to meet and interact with one other and with the adults in our community on many different levels. Our boarding curriculum strives to guide students to live with a roommate and share space, to ask their advisors and teachers for help or support, and to become more independent by learning to be responsible and accountable for their own actions.
At Menaul School, students build strong relationships with the faculty and staff as well as their peers. Students get to know the adults in the community not only as their teachers but also as their coaches, their trip leaders, their dining mates, and their co-workers. Alumni frequently cite this as one of the best things about their Menaul School education. When they graduate they are comfortable with relating to adults and being able to ask adults for what they need. This is a significant skill both for college and for life.
Each night boarding students check into their halls at 7:00 pm and start doing dorm jobs, which are typical household chores. Once those are complete, students clean rooms and attend study hall. Study hall is two hours spent working together or individually on homework assignments and lights out. Many nights dorm parents allow students to play games in the gym or “surf the web” once the students have shown proof of completion of their assignments.
Weekend Activities
Right after the end of athletics on Fridays, the pace of the campus changes. Weekend activities are announced at announcements at Monday chapel, and students sign up for on- and off- campus programs and events organized by dorm faculty and students. Weekend activities include a range of many different options including movies, shopping, music and art shows, bowling, skiing, snowboarding, hiking, gym games, climbing, biking, baking, arts and crafts, and much more. All activities are announced and presented to our students at Monday announcement during daily chapel.
Aside from social activities and off-campus excursions, weekends are a busy time for athletic teams competitions. Regular opportunities to attend local houses of worship are arranged and encouraged. Community service projects, from serving meals at a shelter to serving as a tutor for an on-campus children’s literacy project, are also among the activities offered on weekends.
Students, with permission from their families, can also opt to go off campus. They often leave campus in small groups catching a ride with the faculty-run shuttle bus, via public buses or pre-approved cab rides. Day student families regularly host boarding students at their homes for the weekend. This requires parental approval and submitting a weekend plan form to the Deans’ Office by Thursday prior to each weekend.
Once each quarter an all boarding student Menaul School Explores New Mexico weekend excursion will visit one of New Mexico natural and cultural wonders such as Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Rafting the Rio Grande, Santa Fe, New Mexico College tour, Exploring Acoma Pueblo, Cumbres & Toltec Steam Train, Skiing Taos and others determined by the boarding students in junction with the dorm faculty.
Typical Weekend Activities Schedule
Friday and Saturday Evenings
5:30-6:30 p.m. Dinner (check-in required of all boarders)
6:30 p.m. Movie bus
11:00 p.m. Check in at residence hall
Midnight Students must be in their own rooms and quiet
12:30 a.m. Lights out
Saturday Day
8-8:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Sat/ACT Prep class
Noon-1 p.m. Brunch (check-in required of all boarders)
1-9:00 p.m. On/Off-campus activities Lobos game and Mall Trip.
11:00 p.m. Check in at residence hall
Midnight Students must be in their own rooms and quiet
12:30 a.m. Lights out
Sunday
8-9 a.m. Continental breakfast
9:30 a.m. Worship Opportunities at local churches (optional)
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Lunch (check-in required of all boarders)
1-5:30 p.m. On-campus activities (open gym, computer lab open,
5:30-6:30 p.m. Dinner in the dining room
7 p.m. Dorm jobs in residence halls
7:30-9:30 p.m. Closed study hall
10:30 p.m. Quiet, free time in house
10:30 p.m. Bed check and lights out for freshmen and sophomores
11 p.m. Bed check and lights out for juniors and seniors
Boarding tuition and fees:
Application fee $50
Tuition, room and board $26,778
Registration fee $200
Activity fee $375
TORP (tuition insurance) fee (optional) $600
Uniform costs $300 approximate
Total $28,303 approximate