Day Students
As a day student at a small boarding school, you get the best of both worlds.
Your Day at TJ |
You go home at night. But you're part of everything here.As a day student, TJ is your school during the day and home is still home at night. But because some of your classmates live on campus, school life doesn't simply stop when classes end. Friends are still around, teachers are nearby, and there is usually something happening. You share the same classes, meals, traditions, activities, and friendships as your boarding classmates. When something is happening at TJ, you are part of it too. |  Day and boarding students share the same classrooms, activities, meals, traditions, and friendships. The difference is simply where the day ends. |
 | There's room in your day.A TJ day isn't one long stretch of classes followed by another long stretch of scheduled activities. There are breaks and open periods throughout the day, so you'll have time to meet with a teacher, get some work done, or catch up with friends. That flexibility continues after classes. Some days you'll have practice or something else you want to stay for. Other days you'll be ready to head home. And every once in a while, someone may even have to remind you it's time to leave. |
A Place of Your Own |
You actually have a room on campus.This is one of the things that makes being a day student at TJ a little different. Every day student is assigned to a dorm room with boarding students. You don't sleep there, of course, but during the school day, it's your room too. It's a place to leave your things, change clothes, relax during a break, or hang out with your roommates. Instead of spending your whole day moving from classroom to classroom, you have a home base on campus that belongs to you. The dorms are part of everyone's day.Sharing that space brings day and boarding students into each other's everyday lives. You see each other between classes, stop by your room during open time, and get to know one another when nobody has anywhere in particular to be. The dorms aren't just where some TJ students sleep. They're part of where all TJ students live their school day. |  |
 | Your friends may come from a few miles away. Or a few thousand.Some of your friends will go home to St. Louis neighborhoods near yours. Others live at TJ because their families are in another state or another country. Pretty quickly, who is a day student and who is a boarder stops feeling very important. Those friendships don't have to stay on campus either. Boarding friends might come home with you for dinner, spend a weekend with your family, or join you somewhere around St. Louis. When your friends come from different places, their world becomes part of yours too.
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A Big World, Right Here in St Louis |
Your family becomes part of the community too.Day students often bring boarding friends into their life outside school. A friend might come home with you for dinner, join your family for a weekend, or come along for something around St. Louis. Those friendships work both ways. You get to share the city and family traditions you know while learning how life looks in someone else's home too. | Different feels normal here.At TJ, you may hear different languages, learn about holidays you have never celebrated, or discover that something completely ordinary in your family is new to a friend. You may not have been to Seoul, Shanghai, or Istanbul, yet but someone you know well calls it home. |
Day Student FAQs |
| What does it mean to be a day student at a boarding school? |
Day students attend TJ during the school day and return home in the afternoon or evening. They take the same classes and participate in the same activities as boarding students, and the two groups are fully integrated throughout school life. At TJ, being a boarding school shapes the experience of every student, not only those who live on campus. |
| What time do day students arrive and leave TJ? |
Day students typically arrive before classes begin in the morning and leave after their final commitment. Departure times vary depending on athletics, activities, and what a student chooses to do after class. Some students head home when their day is finished, while others stay longer to study or spend time with friends. |
| Why do day students have dorm rooms? |
Assigning day students to dorm rooms is one of the ways TJ brings day and boarding life together. It gives every student a home base on campus and creates natural opportunities for friendships across the residential community. Day students use their rooms during the school day but do not sleep on campus. |
| Do day students have to stay late after classes? |
No. Day students may stay for athletics, activities, academic work, or simply to spend time with friends, but staying late is not expected every day. Families can decide what works best for their student once school commitments are finished. |
| Can a day student become a five-day boarder later? |
Yes, when space is available. Some families find that five-day boarding becomes a good fit as a student gets older or family circumstances change. The Enrollment Office can help families explore the day, five-day boarding, and seven-day boarding options available at TJ. |
