Welcome to Boarding
A Home Away From Home
The Dalat boarding community is a home away from home for DIS students from international or local families who want their students to grow in independence. Living in the dorms is a great way to make new friends and learn life skills while living in a supportive and encouraging environment.
Please take a moment to scroll through our dorm photo album for a visual tour of dorm life:
Dorm Life!
We create a home-like atmosphere in each dorm to help students feel comfortable, secure and well cared for. Our dorms are all family-style, which means each dorm includes both genders and a variety of ages. This creates a close-knit family atmosphere, fosters healthy relationships between dorm students of different ages, and allows siblings to live together in the same dorm.
We offer many family-bonding opportunities which help students connect with one another and feel a sense of belonging: birthday parties for each student, special outings and activities, dorm family devotions, homemade daily breakfast and weekly special treats, service projects, dorm Christmas parties, and an annual dorm retreat.
The Greatest Strengths of our Boarding Community are:
Partnership With Parents
Since Dalat’s boarding program is an extension of the loving care that parents provide for their children, dorm staff seek to develop strong, close relationships with sending parents. Staff work closely with parents to understand and meet the individual needs of each student. Guest rooms are provided in the dorm building at reasonable rates so that parents always feel warmly welcomed and have the opportunity to observe dorm life first-hand.
Communication with parents is a high priority as dorm staff view themselves as partners in the process of caring for students. To stay in touch, dorm parents write weekly letters to parents and send pictures of the various activities in which students are involved. We welcome correspondence from parents about the individual needs and progress of their child.
Christian Atmosphere
We strive to maintain a Christian atmosphere in each dorm, which means that students are treated with love and respect and are expected to honor one another. Spiritual formation is a high priority of the staff. Students are given many opportunities to nurture their personal faith in the dorm and Dalat community. Students are also given the option of meeting weekly with a staff member if they are interested in being mentored
Practical Skills
Qualified, caring staff equip dorm students to grow in every way, including character and responsibility. The boarding community helps students learn important life skills such as how to:
- Develop independence
- Manage time
- Focus on studies
- Use technology wisely
- Complete daily chores
- Communicate well with others
- Live in community
- Serve others
Excellence and Accountability
The residence life program at Dalat is accredited by the Association of Christian School International, which means the program is held accountable by an outside agency to maintain high standards in the areas of personnel, facilities, finances, program, administration and philosophy.
Our own internal strategy for continued growth in excellence includes annual surveys in which students and parents are given opportunity to give their feedback and suggestions for improvement. For ongoing input, a council of dorm student leaders meets monthly with the residence supervisor to discuss current issues related to dorm life and to plan special activities for long weekends
Close-knit Community
Our dorms are best known for being places where deep relationships form. Dorm students call their dorm parents “uncle” and “aunt” and their dorm mates often become like brothers and sisters. Friendships developed in the dorms are often life-long, as evidenced by the activity on our alumni web site.
Cultural Diversity
The multi-cultural atmosphere in our dorms gives students the opportunity to grow in their ability to appreciate the experiences, differences and strengths of people from different backgrounds. Dorm students learn to live, study and play together with others from a wide variety of cultures. This ability to live in a diverse community prepares young people to succeed wherever they go in the world.
Need a More Detailed Explanation of Dalat Boarding Life?
View our Online Residence Life Handbook for a detailed overview of Dalat’s Boarding Program. This document is also available to download in PDF format.
Google Translate, though it is not a totally accurate word for word translation, it will enable you to at least view much of our content in over 100 languages. Studies show that Korean and Chinese have accuracy rates ranging from 80 to 90 percent.
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