I thought of a few more answers to the question: Why send your child to Woodstock School?
The Natural Environment
The photo above was taken from the top of the hill above school at dawn on a November morning. Need I say more? Look through the rest of the Woodstock section of this site, as well as the early part of the travel blog from my trip to India with my daughter two years ago, and you’ll see more of the extraordinary beauties of Mussoorie.
People tend to come out of Woodstock with a profound appreciation for – and desire to protect – the beauties of nature. A number have been inspired to make a career of it.
Extraordinary People
Another reason to send your child to Woodstock is that it produces some extraordinary people – and the ones on that page are just (some of) those who have an online presence that I can link to!
International Community
Though the specific demographics have shifted over the years, Woodstock has always been an international community made up of students and staff from dozens of nations, races, traditions, and religions. In such a context, you learn to get along well with everybody, to be sensitive to cultural differences, to find divergences stimulating rather than threatening.
In today’s globalized world, this is perhaps the most important kind of education any school could hope to provide.
You’re an Alum Yourself
A very strong reason to send your child to Woodstock, obviously, is that you yourself went there and loved it. I don’t have exact statistics (have asked the school), but it seems that a large proportion of alumni do send their children (and/or grandchildren, nieces, nephews, children of friends…) to share in this extraordinary experience. Some don’t quite manage to get their kids there for whatever reasons (finance, geography, lack of interest from the kids themselves), but they try, and some regret it all their lives if they don’t succeed.
The case mentioned earlier of the German boy who found Woodstock online and decided to go there is actually very unusual: people most often end up at Woodstock because of word-of-mouth recommendations from alumni and former staff. My husband accuses me, with some justice, of trying to “proselytize” Woodstock to everyone I meet. Well, that’s what I do with things I’m passionate about: I talk (and write) about them.
Now it’s your turn: if you’ve already decided to send your child to Woodstock, why did you? If your child has already gone, did the school fulfill your expectations for him/her? If you’re thinking about sending your child, what else would you like to know?
