Student Life Built By Traditions of the South Kent Community

We offer programs throughout the day, in evenings and on weekends to round out our solid offerings in other areas and ensure all students who graduate are ready mentally, physically and socially for college and life beyond.

We make sure that every student has the right mix of activities so he stays busy and involved and develops skills that will help him in the future.

We assess our extracurricular program offerings and make changes or additions to mirror students’ current interests.

Trinity of Values

  • Simplicity of Life: ability to discern what is important and what is a distraction, to see the complexity in life and yet be able to focus energy.
  • Directness of Purpose: is to find the capacity for personal purpose and social purpose. One who displays the characteristics of a heartfelt purpose to excel in the classroom, as a kind community member, and a student-athlete.
  • Self-Reliance: is based on the characteristics to be able to take responsibility for one’s own learning, failures and self-motivation to achieve goals.

 

SOUTH KENT HONOR CODE

  • As a code of personal integrity, honor guides those who do the right thing when no one is looking. It is not only a duty, but also a distinction, as those who possess honor are held in honor. It’s found in one’s beliefs, but exhibited through one’s actions.
  • Honor guides young men to exemplify the best in ethical and moral behavior: to never lie, cheat, or steal; to abide by an uncompromising code of integrity; to respect human dignity; and to respect others. The qualities of maturity, dedication, trust, and dependability commit young men to act responsibly, to be accountable for their actions, to fulfill their obligations, and to hold others accountable for their actions.
  • As members of the South Kent School community, we commit ourselves to act honestly, responsibly, and, above all, with honor and integrity in all areas of campus life. We are accountable for all that we say and write. We are responsible for the academic integrity of our work. We pledge that we will not misrepresent our work, nor give or receive unauthorized aid in completing our work. 
  • We commit ourselves to behave in a manner which demonstrates concern for the personal dignity, rights, and freedoms of all members of the community. We are respectful of school property and the property of others. We will not tolerate a lack of respect for these values.
  • We ultimately have but one basic rule here: Every student must be a gentleman.

Civic Engagement

Job Programs

All students at South Kent School participate in the jobs program on campus by serving the school community in some aspect of the day to day functioning of the school. Jobs range from dishwashing or collecting recycling to leadership opportunities that allow our community to be self-reliant.

Community Service & Service Trips

Develops a sense of purpose by challenging students to explore their call to serve. South Kent students are servant leaders who, in their pursuit of their life’s purpose, are willing to act selflessly on behalf of their communities. Each student will have to wrestle with the truth so clearly expressed in a prayer attributed to St. Francis:  “For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."Throughout the year students will be immersed in a community service trip around Kent or to other locations throughout Connecticut. Through these trips, students will come to appreciate the opportunities afforded to them, in addition to understanding the tremendous impact a single person can have in the world.

Student Wellbeing

South Kent Saturdays

Outdoor Adventure: Through exploration of our outdoor spaces on campus, and the expansive outdoors available to us here in the Litchfield Hills, we hope to instill in our students an appreciation for the natural world, an environment that offers both tremendous beauty and extreme challenge. Students are challenged to leave their comfort zones and, in that challenge, to reflect upon and assess their gifts, talents, and ultimate purpose in this world. By taking students out of the comfortable routines of their daily lives, we hope to challenge them to grow into a deeper understanding of themselves. We aim to introduce, or reintroduce, them to the many eye-opening, humbling experiences that the outdoors offers and to foster a love of the natural world that is so essential to human development.

Artistic Expression: Creativity exists in every student and it is our goal to unlock that potential through drama, movement, poetry, story-telling, video production, and more. The activities offer an opportunity for students to explore and express themselves through the Arts. By encouraging students to take risks and to leave their comfort zones, they will gain a deeper understanding of self and a balance between the material and spiritual.

Clubs/Activities

Extracurricular clubs and activities play an integral part in the development of thriving and engaged citizens by providing students with the opportunity to expand their knowledge, develop critical skills, and support creative expression. Clubs and activities foster the development of relationships between students, adults, and the greater community and the freedom in organizing and hosting events.

Student Leadership

Prefects: The student body is led by the Prefects. The prefects serve as role models for the entire student body, in addition to supervising specific aspects of the school including the dining hall, assembly, chapel, and other responsibilities.

Resident Mentors: Trained fifth- and sixth-formers can show their leadership skills as resident mentors. Resident Mentors are role models and have the specific goal of fostering a sense of community within the residence house to make them an inclusive place for all students. Resident Mentors will form genuine relationships with their peers in the residence house through the completion of “Getting to Know Me” interviews. In addition, the Resident Mentors will help with the evening check-in process, room inspections, and supervision of residence house chores.

Peer Counselors: Working under the direction of the Director of Peer Counseling, students who have applied and been trained as peer counselors will serve as social emotional sounding boards for their peers. The goal of the peer counseling program is to provide the student body with peers who are trained listeners and expert resource identifiers for students who may need emotional or academic support. These peer counselors will have weekly check-ins with students who they are working with, in addition to having weekly check-ins of their own with the Co-Directors of Peer Counseling.

community life

Our THRIVE program develops thoughtful students by instilling healthy habits of mind and providing a caring and supportive environment for self-reflection, resulting in a deep understanding of their value within our community.