When our daughter, Maya, graduated from The New School and started attending Nottingham, we knew it would be a transition for her. It was her first experience with public school. How would she do with so many new teachers, passing from class to class with over a thousand other students, and keeping up with the demands of high school academics? Fortunately, the lessons she learned at The New School served her well immediately. Maya was used to interacting with adults who treated her with respect and in a friendly and professional manner; her new teachers all spoke highly of her and how she was a positive influence in her classes. She also made friends with various classmates within the first week of school; she was used to being friends with kids who were different ages and had different interests. Even “mixing it up” at lunch at The New School came in handy; she rotates among different friend groups at lunch in the cafeteria. Finally, she joined the backstage tech crew and worked on the drama productions; she had the confidence to try new things.

We were pretty sure that Maya would do fine socially in whatever setting she found herself, but what about academics? We truly believed that learning at one’s own pace was important, but we also knew that most people – even teens! – need a little encouragement from time to time to get their work done. Plus, the academic workload would be significant now that Maya was in high school. Six subjects and nightly homework would be a big adjustment. She found that many of her teachers used “playlists,” a type of individualized instruction that allowed students to choose which activities to do and even essentially choose which grade they might earn. This was, in many ways, very similar to The New School and its contracts. Her teachers were impressed by how self-motivated she was to do her work without any prompting or cajoling on their parts.

We’re happy that Maya’s transition to Nottingham has gone so well; she really enjoys the experience she’s having. She sees how The New School prepared her for high school as well, and we would continue to encourage students and parents to trust the process because it truly does work.