At NCS, students build friendships through shared experiences, new challenges, everyday laughter, and the simple joy of being part of a community.
Starting a new school can feel daunting for any child, especially for those entering a boarding school setting. Stepping into an unfamiliar environment without a single recognizable face in sight is a big transition, both for a student and for their family watching as they take those first steps.
At North Country School (NCS), a junior boarding and day school serving grades four through nine, we recognize this turning point as an opportunity. Rather than leaving connections to chance or expecting middle schoolers to navigate social dynamics entirely on their own, our approach to building community is intentional, gentle, and part of daily life on campus. NCS does not have traditional dorms; instead, students live in houses with houseparents and their peers, creating a home for students to return to at the end of the school day.
Building Community Starts on Day One
Introsession offers returning and new students a chance to get to know one another through games and activities designed to foster collaboration.
When ninth graders visited a high ropes course, they discovered how to work together while tackling challenges.
Students learn to communicate with one another, navigate conflict respectfully, and bond over shared experiences while at NCS.
That intentionality begins the moment students arrive on our Adirondack campus. Instead of arriving full of nerves on the first day of school, students arrive on campus a day early to register, before transitioning directly from a family BBQ into a more intimate gathering with their housemates for icebreakers, laughter, and lighthearted team activities.
Within the first week, every grade packs up for a class adventure that lets students explore the surrounding Adirondack landscape. Some groups set off to hike a trail, others spend the afternoon building a forest shelter, and some take on an outdoor ropes course. Stepping out into nature together creates an immediate shared story. Out on the trail, the usual middle school awkwardness gives way to mutual support; the ice isn’t just broken, it melts away entirely.
Mixed-Age Friendship & Mentorship
Mentoring younger students is an opportunity for our Upper School students to practice leadership and empathy skills.
As the school year takes shape, students quickly discover that life at NCS isn’t siloed by age. While many schools strictly separate grades, our days are woven through with cross-grade interactions. A morning at the barn might see a fourth grader and an eighth grader working side by side to groom our resident horses and feed our chickens, sheep, and other livestock. On any given weekend, a sixth grader might find themselves summiting a 4,000-foot-High Peak alongside a ninth-grade mentor offering steady encouragement along the trail. It is common to look out a window across campus and spot an older student cheerfully carrying a younger housemate on their back, or groups of students huddled together laughing on the lawn.
Community Built Around Sharing Meals
The Dining Room is a convivial place where our whole community gathers to enjoy delicious, farm-to-table meals together.
Perhaps nowhere is this inclusive spirit more evident than in our dining room, a space that, in many traditional middle schools, can be the most intimidating part of the day. At NCS, meals are served family-style, with a faculty member or ninth-grader sitting at the head of each table to guide conversation, model table manners, and ensure every voice is heard.
Table seating rotates every two weeks, giving students a built-in opportunity to share meals with every single peer and adult on campus over the course of the year. The result is a dining room free of cliques and one filled instead with students who are comfortable connecting with others in kind and meaningful ways.
Midway through the week, that family feeling deepens with a beloved campus tradition: Wednesday Homenight. Maya S, a sixth-grade day student, loves Homenights.
“I love that day students and boarders get to mingle,” Maya said. “You get to hang out more with students you might not normally get to spend more time with.”
Once a week, boarding students and day students gather in their houses to cook dinner together. Roles rotate naturally: One team chops vegetables for the main course, another bakes dessert, while others set the table and take charge of the dishes. After the meal, the evening shifts into relaxation and fun. One house might challenge another to a moonlit game of Capture the Flag or ultimate frisbee, while others head into town for ice cream, bowling, or night skiing. Homenight offers a rhythmic, cozy pause in the week where students can simply unwind and be themselves.
Deep, Lifelong Friendships
By working, learning, and living together, students build enduring bonds of friendship.
Friendship grows in the everyday moments—on the trail, in the classroom, around the table, and everywhere in between. These are the connections that help make NCS feel like home.
New acquaintances become old friends by the time the summit is reached.
Over time, these daily moments of shared work, play, and conversation compound into friendships that run remarkably deep. Because our students truly know one another, their bonds frequently stretch across state lines and international borders. It is not at all unusual for classmates to spend their vacations visiting each other’s families around the world. At the end of last school year, an eighth-grade student from New York State boarded a flight to China with a classmate, spending several weeks experiencing her friend’s home country and culture firsthand.
Watching our campus come alive each autumn as returning students rush to embrace friends after the summer break is a constant reminder of what makes NCS unique. Long before those tearful reunions or cross-continental visits happen, a hundred quiet, thoughtful moments behind the scenes made them possible.
At NCS, building community isn’t just an aspiration; it is the everyday practice of helping kids find a place where they truly belong and giving them the knowledge of how to build their own communities long after their days as a student at NCS.
For more information about life and learning at NCS, schedule a 30-minute phone or video call with our Director of Admissions, Catherine Bemis.