Boarding and day students form friendships and build a community where everyone is enriched by their differences and shared pursuits.
Residential life at Porter’s provides a safe and nurturing environment that promotes character development and personal responsibility. We challenge girls to become their best selves, teaching resilience, independence, and respectful engagement with the world around them.
Our dormitories, which have the look and feel of private residences, contribute to an important sense of home. Additionally, we know students transition to boarding school best when there are adults in their lives who are present and available to provide guidance, just as families do. As such, we have committed to a unique residential model that includes full time House Directors whose primary responsibilities on campus are within our dormitories. Students are also supported by Junior Advisors, who are student leaders appointed to serve as peer counselors in the dormitories. Of course, there is always a healthy dose of fun as well, including snacks, movies, activities, and conversation.
Day students are fully integrated into life at Porter’s. They participate in all activities, traditions, and programs and form strong bonds with boarding students. Day students often return to campus on the weekends for social events, athletic games, performances, club activities, and sleepovers.
Day students are affiliated with dormitories for traditions, celebrations, and events. They also have a day student space where they can relax, store their belongings, and spend time with friends. Each day student is also offered a locker, which provides a convenient location to store books and sports equipment during the day and overnight. The day student room is often a gathering spot for impromptu dance parties, class meetings, and socializing between classes. And just as the boarders enjoy having the day students in the dorms, the day students welcome boarders into their day student rooms and their homes.
Our dormitories blend the charm of old New England architecture and design with modern amenities and comforts that create a welcoming environment.
When the academic day ends, the recreational opportunities at Porter’s come alive. With over 50 student organizations, various performing groups, countless community service experiences, activities each weekend, and revered traditions, there is something for everyone.
Our Head of Student Activities works closely with the Office of Student Life to build our weekend activities. Events often include shuttle runs to area malls and shopping centers, movies, museums, and restaurants. We host coed events with Avon Old Farms each weekend and also belong to a consortium of area schools that alternate hosting inter-school events. Porter’s students meet and form friendships with other students within the consortium at events such as socials, performances, carnivals, concerts, and trips to NYC and Boston. There are also many on-campus activities offered on the weekends, including movies, spa nights, game nights, coffee houses, and club sponsored events.
Traditions play a very special role in the community at Porter’s. Handed down from generation to generation, these events foster friendships among students, unite the community, and connect students with the graduates who came before them. Our fall traditions, such as the Welcome Tradition, focus on welcoming New Girls, while the spring traditions, such as Singing in the Garden, provide an opportunity to bid farewell to our seniors and wish them luck and happiness in their future endeavors. Some traditions are timeless and reverent, while others are just plain fun!
Leaders aren’t born — they are made. Great leadership arises from character, authenticity, and genuine concern for the needs of others, inspiring action toward a shared vision and values.
All students at Porter’s gain self and social awareness, self-management skills, relationship skills, and decision-making skills. This social-emotional education is woven into advisory and core classes and is the underpinning of the Porter’s Seminar, which focuses on health and wellness, identity development, global competency development, and life skills.
Our elected and selected student leaders, including our Nova Nine, Junior Advisors, Alliance Leaders, and Student Council Representatives, receive additional leadership training to enhance their skills in communication, collaboration, and strategic thinking and planning. Most importantly, they learn the significance of empathy, resilience, and cultural awareness. The end result is a community that encourages and values student voices and empowers young women to take their rightful place as agents of change.
To learn more about our student Alliances and Affinity Groups, see our
Chief Enrollment & Student Affairs Officer
Dean of Students
Assistant Dean of Students
House Director & Office of Student Life Coordinator
The Colgate Wellness Center (CWC) is home to our health and counseling centers. The CWC health care team empowers students to care for themselves through the delivery of comprehensive health care focused on both physical and emotional well-being. The progressive wellness model extends beyond the walls of the CWC and includes a holistic approach to education, health promotion, prevention, and personal responsibility.
The leadership team in the CWC offers campus-wide wellness initiatives, student education, and evidenced-based health intervention. The health care and education provided acknowledges the identities of each of our students, and seeks to empower and engage them in their own care, whether through 1:1 appointments, peer support groups, student health advocacy groups, or full community programming.
Our experienced nursing team is on call 24/7. The Medical Director provides patient care and case management weekly, and the school APRN provides clinical care 12-15 hours weekly. The counseling service is staffed by two full-time licensed counselors who are available to all students on a confidential basis. A consulting psychiatrist is also available for consultation.
Director of Nursing, Colgate Wellness Center
APRN, Colgate Wellness Center
Registered Nurse
Counselor
Assistant Director of Counseling
Assistant to the CWC
Director of Counseling
Nurse
House Director
House Director & Director of Summer Programs
House Director, Residential Life Associate
House Director
House Director & Office of Student Life Coordinator
House Director
Intern - OEI & House Director
House Director / Teacher - AIS Global
House Director
House Director