Student Life

Life at Milton extends well beyond the classroom. Boarding and day students have the opportunity to be full participants in the Milton experience, through clubs and affinity spaces, community engagement, student activities, arts, athletics and much more. This section of the Handbook details information and resources for learning and fun, life in the residence houses, using all of Milton’s facilities properly, and maintaining health and safety for all members of our community. As students make use of school’s facilities, the expectation is that all spaces are left neat and clean after use.

Milton celebrates the blend of boarding and day student life and sees it as a fundamental strength of the school. We ask every student to approach life at Milton prepared to fully participate in all the school has to offer and we encourage day students to take advantage of the unique mix of the boarding and day worlds. A boarding school offers a wealth of opportunities (diversity, depths of relationships with faculty and students, social life, etc.) that a day school cannot offer. To fully realize the experience that Milton provides, we ask day students and their families to participate in school activities and events outside the academic day.

Student Activities

Milton has many student clubs based on shared interests, such as math, robotics, music, fashion, politics, gaming and much more. Additionally, there are several culture clubs, open to all students; and affinity spaces, which welcome students who connect via a certain aspect of their identity, as opportunities to bond over shared experiences.

The activities office is located on the Centre Street level of the Schwarz Student Center. Many student groups, including the Student Activities Association, use this office as their base of operations. All students involved in organizing or running clubs should work through this office, as should anyone wanting to sponsor weekend events, class functions or other class-related school programs. If a student would like to start a new club, activity or publication, or raise money for an existing program, they must have an adult supervisor and follow a set of guidelines as established by the activities office. Procedures for applying for school approval and funding are available in the activities office.

Weekend Activities

Regular weekend activities at Milton include athletic contests, concerts, drama performances, movies and dances. All students, day and boarding, are encouraged to participate. You can find information about weekend events on the school calendar.

The school counts heavily on the cooperation of day parents in making careful plans for their children’s attendance at school events. Chaperones monitor all events but cannot take responsibility for students who leave the areas where such events are taking place. The school and parents must trust students to adhere to school regulations, but there should be a clear understanding about limits. Driving arrangements, plans for the evening and time of return should be carefully discussed in advance. All students:

  1. are under the school’s jurisdiction.
  2. are responsible for the behavior of any guests they may bring with them.

A student who is dependent on adults for transportation should be picked up in front of Ware Hall promptly at the end of each occasion (10:45 p.m. for classes I–IV on Friday and Saturday night). Chaperones should not be expected to wait for a parent’s arrival nor should house faculty have that responsibility. On weeknights (Sunday–Thursday) day students should plan to leave campus by 10 p.m.