Defining Elements of the Residential Life Program
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DEFINING ELEMENTS OF THE RESIDENTIAL LIFE PROGRAM
Every year, over 100 students come together and join the Fay community as boarders at Fay School. The students share in a common experience in which they live, learn and grow together, under the direction of 15 resident dorm parents and about 35 non-resident dorm parents.
Boarding students at Fay live in one of nine dorms or halls. There are four girls and five boys dorm groups. The groups of nine to seventeen students develop individual identities and compete with each other in effort grades and inspection scores. Some groups share common areas with others. Student rooms, which can be singles, doubles and (rarely) triples, are seen as the students' personal area of responsibility. Students are expected to live in an organized and clean fashion. Fay strives to nurture a sense of community and responsibility among boarders.
In addition, every younger dorm also houses ninth grade proctors who model citizenship and work with the dorm parents to help their peers live a healthy lifestyle.
A WHOLE CHILD RESIDENTIAL LIFE PROGRAM
The mission of the Residential Life Program is to provide a structured and nurturing environment in which boarding students can live, learn, and grow. Through a variety of activities and programs, students learn key life skills, develop a sense of community and come to a greater awareness of how to live a productive and fulfilled life. It is the hope of the residential life faculty to create an environment that closely approximates that of a home by supporting our boarders in their efforts to succeed at Fay School. In this regard, a residential life curriculum has been created to guide students and adults who live in the dormitories. Students have weekly inspection, receive bi-weekly dorm effort scores, and come together for both fun and meaningful dorm meetings.
WEEKENDS AT FAY
Weekends at Fay are filled with activities for students to participate in and are a time for a relaxed and fun community experience. The weekend program is posted early in the week for students to sign up for trips and activities. The Residential Life Department works with students and dorm parents to schedule a variety of activities on and off campus that span a wide range of interests and take advantage of Fay's proximity to both metropolitan areas like Boston as well as more rural areas of western Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Weekends include a mandatory Sunday morning study hall for all students on campus. Students away from campus at this time need to make arrangements to complete their homework with relatives or chaperones, although a shortened optional study time exists Sunday night.
Students with visiting or local parents often go away for weekends to spend time with their relatives, or are invited to spend time with day students and other local families. Fay encourages families to invite boarding students home for the day or weekend to promote community and share in a family experience.
Weekly chapel promotes the Fay Core Value of "Wellness of Mind, Body and Spirit." Fay is a school that draws its students from a wide range of cultures and faiths. Chapel is a chance for the school community to come together and share a moment of contemplation and introspection. Services are multi-denominational in nature and aim to build a shared experience that affirms the worth and dignity of all people.
FAY'S NEW VILLAGE DORMS
In March of 2009, Fay completed construction on two new "village dorms" as part of the school's evolving master plan. The two dorms are for Fay's youngest boys and youngest girls. Each dorm will house fourteen 6th & 7th grade students, two 9th grade proctors, and three faculty apartments. The dorms represent current best practices in terms of design and program. Their purpose is to model a home setting within an educational one to provide a structured and supportive living environment for middle school children. Each double room has ample space for individual students. Four students share a common bathroom. Communal spaces include a cathedral-ceiling common room, kitchenette, mudroom and storage area. An intermediary "den" connected to both student and faculty living spaces will provide a relaxed setting to engage students in the family lives of faculty, thereby connecting them to the entire Fay community.
The dorms also represent Fay School's commitment to the environment through a sustainable design that aims to be LEED-Silver certified by the US Green Building Council. The carefully-monitored construction process diverted over 80% of the construction waste from landfills, preserved open spaces, employed non-toxic materials and practices aimed at limiting site pollution. The buildings have a solar hot-water heating system, floors from rapidly-renewable bamboo, energy-efficient lighting, and efficient air quality and temperature controls. Combined with these physical characteristics will be educational outreach program designed to educate the entire Fay community on sustainable practices in daily life.
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