Boarding FAQs

Our boarding program begins in the 7th grade. This generally corresponds to students 12-13 years of age.

The campus closes completely for the three major academic holidays: Thanksgiving in November, Christmas in December, and Spring Break in March. These breaks range from 10 days to three weeks long. During these holidays, it is the responsibility of the students and their families to arrange off-campus plans. If they do not go home, most international students spend these holidays in the homes of their American friends from school.

During shorter breaks such as Easter Break and Fall Break, the campus remains open and all boarding students are welcome to remain on campus.

Yes, boarding students are allowed to go home on weekends, and, with parental permission, go home with friends.

Our close-knit family of boarding students and faculty is a vibrant, global community where friendships flourish and young people thrive. Students are steps away from class, the gym, the library, the student center, and the dining hall. Living on campus is an opportunity for students to develop independence in a safe and supportive environment.

We have seven residence halls on campus, all with spacious and welcoming common areas, laundry facilities, and shared kitchens. Dorm life is supervised by our student prefects and faculty dorm teams, some of whom live in the dorm. Most dorm rooms are two students to a room with personal sleep, study, and storage areas. Check out our dorms here.

School days for boarding students are very structured. After class, boarding students participate in our afternoon program. They have time to rest after their last class period before heading to practice, a game, their afternoon activity, or work.
 

Each weeknight, boarding students report to the dorms for study hall. On Sundays, boarding students come together for chapel. When not involved in school activities, boarding students can relax in the dorms, hang out with friends at the Student Center, and enjoy our beautiful campus.

Rabun Gap is one of the safest boarding schools in America. The safety of our students is our number one priority. We have a full-time Campus Safety Manager, Sgt. Adam Casebolt, who ensures the safety of our community. Sgt. Casebolt Sergeant Casebolt is one of the top safety managers in the industry.  For nearly 20 years, he served in the police department at the University of Central Florida. He has also served in roles as an Emergency 911 dispatcher managed training for police officers on emergency protocols and safety management.  He earned master's and bachelor's degrees in criminal justice from the University of Central Florida and graduated from the Valencia College Law Enforcement Academy.

The school takes into consideration students’ common interests when assigning roommates. We also do our best to ensure international students are housed with someone who does not share the same native language to encourage cross-cultural friendships. 

Parents are very connected to the boarding experience. They have a direct connection to the school through their child’s faculty advisor, who meets weekly with students to check in on their academic progress and overall well being. Parents receive school correspondence through email as well as our password-protected school portal.
 

Parents often return to campus for Family Day at the Upper School, where they can meet with our faculty. They are also encouraged to experience campus life and visit regularly for athletic and arts events. Many athletic events and fine arts performances are livestreamed and saved so that parents can see their child compete and perform, either in real-time or when it is convenient for them. Parents who live close to each other have even held “watch parties” to share the experience!

Applying to be a boarding student at Rabun Gap is easy! Click here to learn more about the online application process.

In addition to weekly trips to the supermarket, Walmart, local restaurants, Starbucks, and the movie theater, many more trips and activities are planned for our boarding students every weekend. These activities may include trips to the Mall of Georgia, Six Flags amusement park, arcades, and a paintball course, as well as sporting or theater events in nearby Atlanta or Asheville. There are also a plethora of outdoor activities made available to students, including camping or kayaking just to name a few! In general, the costs involved in these activities are covered in the tuition. Learn more about Weekends at Rabun Gap.

On campus, students enjoy full use of the exercise room, gym facilities, student center, and all of our athletic fields. Students can roast S’mores around the fire pit at night, play field games with their friends, or belt out their favorite song at a student center karaoke night. There is also the opportunity to explore our vibrant 1,400-­acre campus which includes a private lake, forests, fields, a putting green, hiking trails, and climbing towers. And yes, students are welcome to just sleep in, enjoy a late brunch, and have a cozy day watching television on the sofa in their dorm if they like as well!

Our residential faculty members staff Rabun Gap dorms and run our residential programming for boarding students. Each dorm has a faculty dorm head who also teaches or works on campus. Dorm teams of faculty members rotate duty, where they supervise and form close bonds with boarding students. For our Middle School junior boarding program, we have one full-time dorm parent staffed in the dorm and one part-time dorm parent.

The health of our entire community is a top priority at Rabun Gap, and we’re committed to ensuring our students are well taken care of. We have a dedicated health center on campus, with a full-time nurse during the day and a night nurse for our residential community. All of our residential faculty members are CPR certified. Learn more about health services here.