Adventures on Faculty Family Day!

On Thursday this week, students ventured off-mountain for fun adventures with their LAS Faculty Families. Their journeys ranged from Swiss city explorations in Bern, Geneva, and Lausanne, to wakeboarding on the lake, hiking through the Alps, and making authentic Italian pasta (just to name a few!).

Faculty Families are a longstanding LAS tradition, forming an important part of our school since our founding in 1961. With this week’s events, family groups enjoyed their first full-day Faculty Family adventure together, which created bonding opportunities that will help them solidify their family unit throughout the year to come.

LAS Faculty Families are comprised of two or three faculty “parents” and 5-8 student “siblings” from the same grade level. Faculty Families allow our students to feel more comfortable and supported as they transition into boarding school life. At LAS, we strive to create a friendly, family-based community that supports each student to develop into compassionate and responsible global citizens. Faculty Families are an excellent way for students to meet new people and ensure they are getting the most out of their LAS experience.

At LAS, we believe that these intimate moments of Faculty Family bonding are just as important as any academic curriculum we offer. Through the Faculty Family experience, students learn important lessons about kindness, community, and responsibility. Their family members provide crucial support and camaraderie in challenging times, and for many students their Faculty Family continues to be a support system well beyond their years here on campus. Faculty Family parents are also an important bridge between students’ families off-campus and their day-to-day lives at LAS. 

When we catch up with our alumni, the first thing that many of them talk about is the sense of family and community that they felt when they were at LAS. That’s why we feel that time spent with Faculty Families is essential, and why we organize a large number of events that develop positive relationships between students and staff. Our community had a blast on Thursday and really enjoyed getting to know each other more and trying new activities. We can’t wait for our next Faculty Family activities this semester!