Boarding

5-day boarding: Students live on campus from Sunday night through Thursday night, and are picked up on Fridays after school to go home for the weekend and return back by 6:00 p.m. on Sunday. If a 5-day boarder cannot be picked up for leave on Friday or wishes to stay in the dormitory for the weekend, the parents/guardians of the student will be charged a fee per night.

7-day boarding (most common): Students from all over the world live on campus every day throughout the semester and go home during long school breaks.

Farragut is a gated community in a family-friendly neighborhood with 24/7 campus security. All gates are locked at night. The dormitory has alarmed doors between the male and female dorms.

Visit our Day in the Life of a Boarding Student page to learn more!

On a school day, boarding students are woken up at 6:30 a.m. by what is known as “Reveille.” Reveille is a bugle call, trumpet call, or pipes call most often associated with the military. The name comes from “réveillé” (or “réveil”), the French word for “wake up.” Boarding students are required to wake up, turn on their lights, and stand outside of their dorm room so the Wing Leaders can confirm they are awake.

During the weekends, boarding students can sleep in. Brunch is from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and dinner is from 5:00-6:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

During the school week, boarding students have lights out at 10:00 p.m. by what is known as “Taps.” Taps is a musical piece sounded by the U.S. military nightly that signals it’s time for lights out. Boarding students are required to stand outside of their dorm room so the Wing Leaders can confirm they are present.

During the weekends, Taps is played at 10:30 p.m.

All boarding students are required to attend evening study hall unless they are away because of a sporting event or have permission to be elsewhere. Study hall is Sunday-Thursday from 7:00-9:00 p.m. If a student has failing grades, they will be placed in mandatory study hall located in the Student Center.

Students may study in their dorm room at their desk, in the Cadet Union (also known as Calvin’s Lounge), a teacher’s classroom, or in the Student Center.

Everyone’s rooms must be clean at all times. During the academic day, the dorms are closed to all boarding students and rooms are inspected. Rooms will also be inspected during the weekend if the boarding students wish to go on Leave or Liberty. If boarders fail room inspection there are consequences such as not being able to leave campus or attend events. See the Upper School Cadet and Residential Life Handbook for more info.

We go to tons of places in St. Petersburg and the surrounding areas!

REACH is the boarding school software that our Residential Life team uses. Parents really don’t need to do anything at all, other than approving or declining a boarding student’s request to leave campus. Residential Life asks that all students have their REACH requests in the system before Thursdays at noon.

Below is a REACH flow char to understand how it works.

What we call “Liberty” allows boarding students to leave campus for the day after approval from the parents and administration.

During the week: Special liberty (dining out liberty) may be granted to eligible boarding students for special events between 4:00-7:00 p.m. during the school week, but they are required to be in attendance for study hall.

During the weekend: Boarding students may go on general liberty but must remain within the St. Petersburg city limits. These boarding students may use public transportation to and from their destination and they often choose to visit places like the beach, mall, movie theater, or go out for lunch or dinner. First general liberty begins at 12:00 p.m. and check-in is at 4:00 p.m. Second general liberty begins at 4:30 p.m. and return times are based on grade level: 8th-9th grade is at 6:30 p.m. and 10th-12th grade is at 9:30 p.m.

What we call “Leave” allows boarders to leave campus overnight after approval from the parents and administration.

Boarding students are only permitted to have a vehicle on campus if they are in 11th or 12th grade with a valid license. Keys must always be left with the Upper School Office.

Boarding students are authorized to ride in or operate automobiles while on overnight and long weekend leave providing that:

• Parents or legally designated guardian provide written authorization of their permission for the student to ride in or operate an automobile when not accompanied by school officials.
• Students ensure that the driver of the automobile in which they are riding is properly insured with a valid driver’s license and the vehicle properly registered by the state.
• The student is on authorized overnight or long weekend leave under the supervision of parents, guardians, friends, or relatives whom the parents or guardians have given consent.

A Registered Nurse is on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Trained staff are available after office hours to collaborate with the RN for emergency care as needed.

Medications are dispensed by the School Nurse after breakfast, during lunch, or by Residential Life in the evenings as needed. No student is allowed to have medication in the dorm without prior approval of the Student Health Center at Farragut. This includes any vitamins, dietary supplements, prescription, over-the-counter or herbal medications.

All students wear naval uniforms during the academic day. After school they may change into proper P.E. gear. If a boarding student is leaving campus, they may change into civilian clothes.

Laundry service is included in the boarding student tuition. Laundry is picked up and delivered on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week with drop off at 7:30 a.m. and pick up at 3:00 p.m. All clothing must be properly marked with the owner’s name.

Students may also choose to do their civilian clothes at local laundromats within walking distance or short taxi.

All students must maintain a proper military haircut. Boys are not allowed to have mustaches. See this handbook for full instructions.

Boarding students are allowed to have fridges as long as they are plugged into a power strip. Snacks are allowed but they must be stored in sealed plastic containers.

Boarding students may not order food to be brought in by delivery during the academic week.