So, like, this fall, the British boarding school Harrow is gonna open its first offshoot in the US, in Long Island. It’s gonna be this fancy 170-acre waterfront campus, and it’s gonna cost parents a whopping $75,000 a year to send their kids there. The school is all about them centuries-old traditions, like calling teachers “beaks” and bad behavior “skew”. The classes are gonna be held in the Bourne mansion, which used to belong to some rich American dude, and they’re gonna build modern facilities around it.
The school put out this real shiny teaser video that shows off this super idyllic life at Harrow New York. Nick Page, who used to be a deputy head at Harrow UK, talks about how the school is like an oasis, with drone shots of lush lawns and lakes where ducklings and deer just roam free. And get this, it’s right by New York City and the Hamptons, so parents with a beach house can just whisk their kids away for the holidays. In the video, you see students walking around in those straw hats Harrow is known for, painting, playing soccer, reading poetry, and even rocking VR goggles.
Boarding schools have been a thing in the US for a while now, but the top ones like Phillips Exeter Academy and Phillips Academy don’t have a mandatory uniform and they’re more into sports like lacrosse and hockey. Americans have always been kinda obsessed with British boarding schools, from Hogwarts to that movie Goodbye, Mr Chips. It’s not just the schools, it’s the whole deal – castles, fancy parties, a sense of history, and the royal family. Young Americans are even starting to talk with British accents and use more British English words. But, like, will they really buy into this Harrow New York thing?
Alright, so Harrow was founded way back in 1572 by some farmer dude who wanted to give free education to some poor kids in the Harrow parish. Then it got all popular and started letting in kids from outside the area, which led to the whole boarding school setup. In 1998, they opened their first international campus in Bangkok, which they thought made sense because of the ties between Harrow in London and Thailand’s royal family. But let’s be real, there’s probably some money to be made in opening up a school in Asia, too. Parents love the idea of sending their kids to a branded school with a fancy reputation. Not really sure why this matters, but Harrow has a bunch of schools all over Asia and they’re planning to open two more in the UAE next year.
So, like, it’s kinda up in the air whether this British boarding school vibe can really take root in the US. Harrow New York is gonna be this big, swanky campus with top-notch facilities and sports stuff. But, maybe it’s just me, but there’s some doubt about whether the whole British education thing will really stick in the States. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see, right?