It's not unusual for students to struggle when they enter high school. Settling into the routine of bells, books and busy hallways can be challenging, and ultimately, a traditional high school just isn't the right fit for some. Charlottesville teen Ed Moss was one of those students who found the large classes and endless distractions of a public school too overwhelming.

"I had a hard time at public school," Ed recalled. "I wasn't the best student. I had a really tough time getting the attention I needed. I was pretty much being left behind by my teachers. I just couldn't keep up with my work."

"He really struggled his ninth-grade year," said Trish Moss, Ed's mom. "It was just a constant difficult time for him and for myself and for his teachers. It was actually Ed who approached me about [going to boarding school]."

Long associated with wealthy families looking for a fast track to Ivy League universities, boarding schools are now becoming more common among the common man. They're no longer just for the elite.

The reasons students attend boarding schools are changing. Some, like Ed, go to boarding school to escape the conveyor belt of public schools, where students can get lost in the shuffle of endless papers to grade.

Ed is now in his third year at Blue Ridge School, located 20 miles northwest of Charlottesville, with a backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

"I didn't realize how important school was until I came here," Ed said. It's hard to get lost on a campus of only 196 boys. "You couldn't hide in any of the classes. If you wanted to sit out of a discussion, it was pretty hard to be skipped."

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Boarding schools also offer unique programming, such as Blue Ridge's Outdoor Program. Classes in ecology, outdoor leadership and others are often taught outside on the mountainside. In the fall, students can join the mountain bike racing team. In spring, there's rock climbing and kayaking. Hiking and biking are daily activities for Ed and his classmates.

Other schools, like Christchurch School, also draw students because of their outdoor programming. Nestled along the Rappahannock River in Virginia's Middle Peninsula, Christchurch integrates its waterside view into its curriculum. The school has 220 students.

"Our location is what makes us so unique," said Nancy Nolan, assistant head of school. "The river is a constant in our daily life."

The school specializes in the sciences with an emphasis in marine and environmental sciences. As part of their studies, students go crabbing, grow oysters and monitor the health of the river. For recreation, there are sailing and crew teams, and the river is nearly always a scene for weekend activities.

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There are also boarding schools for students who enjoy a more urban environment. Located in Alexandria, Episcopal High School takes full advantage of what the nation's capital has to offer its 435 students through its Washington Program.

"All students should see the monuments and the museums and buildings, so on Wednesday afternoons about 80 percent of our students are either on an enrichment tour or an academic tour," said Emily Atkinson, director of admissions.

Enrichment tours expose students to some of the most well-known sites around D.C., while the academic tours are more class-specific, providing students with access to experts and experiences in government and arts.

Students are also drawn to Episcopal High School's spiritual component and its close-knit community, a common feature of many boarding schools. Most faculty members live on-campus, extending the school day well past the last bell.

"We're one of the only boarding schools in the country that has continued to remain all boarding," Atkinson said. "We wake up together, we learn together, we end our day together. There's the feeling that we're all in this together because there's no one leaving at the end of the day."

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Many boarding schools offer opportunities not found elsewhere. "Chatham Hall's Leadership-in-Residence Program brings women of international stature to campus to interact with students in class, in small group discussions, over meals and in the lecture hall," said Robert Ankrom, Chatham Hall's director of communications. In October, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, president of Liberia and the first elected female president of an African country, visited the school, which has 137 pupils.

"As I watched President Johnson-Sirleaf talk with our girls, I saw their power growing," said Dr. Gary Fountain, Chatham Hall's rector.

Many boarding schools also offer a high degree of structure for students who may get easily distracted. Through Fork Union Military Academy's one-subject plan, the 550 students focus on one subject every 7.5 weeks. "Instead of taking five or six classes a day, our students only take one class at a time. We cover the same course material, but we're spending every period focusing on that subject and then two hours a night on homework. The . . . plan is the ultimate block schedule," said Stephen Macek, director of admissions.

Fork Union's military component offers even more structure, highlighting the principles of leadership, teamwork and punctuality. "We utilize those aspects of the military program that complement what we are trying to do here. We are not trying to train soldiers so we don't have a boot camp-type program here," Macek explained.

Located two hours southwest of Roanoke, Oak Hill Academy also stresses the importance of structure. "Most of our students are students who have slipped through the cracks of a large school system," said Dr. Michael Groves, Oak Hill's president. "Even though we aren't military, there's a lot of structure to our school. We emphasize being on time, being in school dress and obviously academic accountability."

Attending a boarding school offers the 130 students many advantages, Groves said. "Studies show students who perform well at a boarding school perform better in a college environment. They become more independent and responsible; characteristics that will benefit them in college."

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"A common trend that we see now is that parents see the private boarding school as a sort of pre-college, but with a net. It's a nice precursor to college because they've been through the dynamics of living in a dorm and all the experiences [like leaving home for the first time] that can be pretty traumatic," continued Rita Ralston, director of development for The Miller School.

Located about 20 minutes from Charlottesville, The Miller School was founded 130 years ago to serve orphan and indigent children in Albemarle County. In addition to teaching the classics, the school also taught trades. That tradition continues today through the school's woodworking program, which draws about one-third of the coed student body. The 150 students make everything from jewelry boxes and furniture to kayaks that can be launched on a nearby lake.

Stuart Hall School is another boarding school known for its arts program. This coed school, which offers an all-girls boarding option and has 320 students, regularly partners with Staunton's arts groups. Through its affiliations with the American Shakespeare Center and the Staunton Augusta Center for the Arts, students can hone their artistic talents on and off campus.

"We are in a thriving small city, which is safe and provides us with a lot of community interaction," said Dave Taibl, assistant head of school.

Boarding schools today offer many options it's just a matter of what the student seeks.