Life After Graduation from the New School of Monmouth County
High schoolers returned March 10 to the Holmdel alternative school to share their experiences
by Holly Garguilo
Over 50 people squeezed into the second floor of the New School of Monmouth County for Graduate Night on March 10, giving current families and prosepctive families a chance to see how this alternative school prepares students for the future.
The New School, founded by current director Susan Chilvers, bases their education model on the Montessori system where students learn at their own pace, explore areas of interest to them, and receive a more individualized curriculum. The only testing comes in the form of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), which is necessary for high school placement.
But how do these students from the small alternative schoolhouse fare when they transfer to mainstream high schools? Eighteen graduates now attending high school came back to answer that question.
“My friends in high school think one bad grade makes them bad at something,” said Varun Kambhampati, a freshman at High Tech High School in Lincroft. “Because of the New School, I learned to look at what I did wrong, know I can do better, and realize that one grade doesn’t quantify my intelligence.”