The Lowell Whiteman School

Residential & Student Life

Residential Halls

Our boarding girls live in Elizabeth Hall; the upperclass boys live in the New Boys' Dorm, while lowerclass boys live in Kakela Hall.  The Residence Halls overlook the main campus, pond, and green space where students and teachers play Frisbee and occasionally gallop the horses.   Wireless Internet is available, and cable TV is located in each Hall's student lounge. 

Each residence is staffed with a senior Houseparent and a residential faculty member.  Around-the-clock residential coverage is  shared between the  Houseparent and faculty.  Residential staff often offer a snack on weekday nights, organize birthday parties or hold a special movie or game night.

The Residence Halls have single, double, and triple rooms, small common area kitchens, washer/dryers, and a lounge most often used for house meetings and free-time relaxation (TV, movies, games, etc.)  The residential staff creates a safe and nurturing home environment for our boarding students.  Students say they typically feel secure and connected within our community. Our residential students form close-knit, and sometimes life-long, relationships with each other and with the residential staff.  Access to trails for hiking, biking, running and horseback riding surround campus.   Students take advantage of the school's on-campus terrain park, tramp, gym, and student lounge.  There is always plenty to do in our safe and supervised campus setting.

The Residence program plays an integral role in the academic and social lives of our residential students, and we encourage a family feeling among our residents.  Students eat meals together in the Dining Hall, attend evening study halls, and relax at either of the Residence Halls or the central student lounge.  Activities are planned for residents during the weekends, and day students are welcome for all.  Residential staff proctor evening study halls, and serve as academic advisers along with teachers. Everybody knows everybody and students form enduring bonds with adults.  It's easy to ask your English teacher for help if you have play Frisbee or have dinner with him.

Meals and Food

Our chef prepares three meals a day, with a mid-day snack in the fall and spring during our longer academic days.  All students, including day students, are welcome to eat on campus.  Lunches and dinners include an entrée, a vegetarian alternative, salad bar, and often home-made soup.  The school takes pride in the variety of homemade, creative and nutritious meals.  Faculty, students and staff eat together.  Students are welcome to use the Residence Hall kitchens (stoves, microwaves, refrigerators) to make their own snacks, and some keep a refrigerator in their rooms.  Students missing school due to illness have meals brought to them in their rooms by Residence Hall staff.

The Gertrude Fetcher Library & Our Foreign Language Lab

Studies have shown that there is a positive relationship between school libraries and student achievement. The library at LWS is a welcoming, warm, quiet center for study.  Multiple computer workstations and printers are available for student use.  The library contains historical photographs, foreign travel memorabilia, our book collection, and a variety of contemporary magazines and newspapers.   The library also includes online database services.

The Zavik Learning Center, attached to the library is used by students and teachers for group computer projects and study.  It features 12 workstations, a teacher station, and a state-of-the-art language lab module from Sony Sans Systems.  Foreign language teachers use this lab to boost language skills; they may assign central or separate assignments to students by workstation or by group.  Students practice vocabulary words, record conversations, use foreign language resource sites, write their assignments, and submit projects to the teacher via computer. Often teachers will send different electronic lessons to students in the same class.

Wireless Internet and workstations

Wireless is available in all our main buildings.  An education-based firewall and content filter protects campus internet connections.  Students have the use of four network printers including a large color laser.  Aside from the Zavik Learning Center, an upstairs lab containing nine computers is also  available to teachers for classes or to students for independent work. In all, there are 25 workstations for student use, with classes occasionally scheduled in the labs.  All though students often do have their own laptops, laptops are not required.  Each student has access to the central file server for document storage that is backed up daily.  Students are also assigned their own Gmail login accounts @lws.edu giving them access to Google Docs, Calendar, and Sites. (Many colleges and universities are also using Google.)   Students graduate from LWS with a comprehensive education in collaborative document sharing, calendaring, and project research using Google. 

Transportation

The school provides transportation to and from a variety of activities, including bi-weekly town trips, skiing/riding or town activities, and training for competitive athletics.  The school has people movers, vans and four-wheel drive Suburbans. Visits to doctors or other professionals in town are scheduled and handled by Residential staff.  Dependent on age, discipline status, Colorado law, parental permission, and school permission, students may also have cars and drive passengers.

Activities