Students head for boarding school but stay close to home

A growing subculture of private school students are boarding at institutions within driving distance of their homes, a set-up that allows them and their parents to avoid the crawling D.C. commute and to get the boarding school experience without being 500 miles away in the anxious post-9/11 era.

Marshall Forney Jr., right, chats with classmates Guy Steuart, Gabe Roark and Taylor Ritt at St. Albans School in the District. Forney, whose family lives in Dale City, Va., is part of a rising trend of private school students who choose to board locally.

Ricky Carioti-The Washington Post

The Lane-Johnston Building at St. Albans houses the 23 boarding students who attend the school. Nineteen of them have families who live within driving distance of the school, an uptick from ten years ago when locals comprised just over a third of the boarders.

Ricky Carioti-The Washington Post

Forney and fellow students Lloyd Howell and Woody Atwood take in a geometry lesson taught by Michael Hanen. Even that he's not living at home, Forney and his parents stay in close touch with phone calls and text messages every day.

Ricky Carioti-The Washington Post

After geometry class, Forney walks to the dining hall with his classmate Lloyd Howell. Without the long commute to Dale City, Forney says he has more free time and enjoys the social experience of living in the dorms.

Ricky Carioti-The Washington Post

Forney eats lunch at the St. Albans dining hall with classmate Scott Alman and Rick DuPuy, a Latin and computer programming instructor.

Ricky Carioti-The Washington Post

Forney waits to meet with teacher Michael Hansen for a little help with his geometry studies.

Ricky Carioti-The Washington Post

Forney gets assistance with his geometry studies from his teacher, Hansen.

Ricky Carioti-The Washington Post

Forney unlocks his dormitory door after wrapping up a day of school. Boarding at St. Albans costs $13,677 above the regular tuition of $32,990.

Ricky Carioti-The Washington Post

Forney sits in his bedroom in The Lane-Johnston Building. His school commute used to be a slog: an hour and a quarter each way, but now it takes about 45 seconds--out of bed, along a hallway, down a staircase and into a classroom.

Ricky Carioti-The Washington Post

Gallery Credits:
Producer, Photo Editor Stephen Cook Text Editor Sarah Halzack

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