From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A finishing school is a type of private school for girls that emphasizes cultural studies and prepares students especially for social activities. The name reflects that it follows ordinary school and is intended to complete the educational experience. It may consist of an intensive course, or a one-year program. The course fee of a finishing school is without exception highly expensive, and as such it is traditionally the preserve of the aristocracy and the social elite.

A finishing school focuses on developing a range of academic and social skills. Programs typically include subjects such as languages and communication, interpersonal skills, etiquette, and social skills; but also home management, cooking, floral art, table decoration and many others.

Switzerland is noted for its private finishing schools, such as Institut Villa Pierrefeu or Institut Alpin Videmanette (now closed), where Diana, Princess of Wales studied, and Mon Fertile, where Camilla Parker Bowles was partly educated. It also is known for traditional boarding schools such as Institut Le Rosey, whose alumni include the last Shah of Iran and Rainier III of Monaco.

The term is occasionally used in American parlance to refer to certain small womens colleges, primarily on the East Coast, that were known for serving to prepare their female students for marriage. Since the 1960s, many of these schools have become defunct as a result of financial difficulties stemming from parents' decreased interest in paying for such an education for their daughters. However, some such institutions effectively transformed themselves into highly selective and well regarded academic institutions, with modern, rigorous curricula. The Seven Sisters institutions serve as prominent examples. This process of academic rejuvenation at Wellesley College is portrayed in the film Mona Lisa Smile. The plot focuses on the tension arising due to society's expectation for the students to marry a man of proper, blue blooded background and many of the students' own desire to have careers comparable to that of their husbands.

The following are examples of finishing schools for young women:

Pure Finishing School

• Institut Villa Pierrefeu (The Original Swiss Finishing School - Multi-cultural Etiquette 20 countries)

High School or Language School with Finishing Programme

• Surval Mont-Fleuri (Finishing programmes provided by Institut Villa Pierrefeu)
• GSFS (Good Shepherd Finishing School, Ooty, India)