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RISING STAR PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOL

Going Beyond the Quiz and Textbooks
At Trevor Day, venturing out into the world

Reading a book and taking a quiz on it is one thing,” explains Pamela Clarke, head of school at the Trevor Day School. “But we want to get beyond that here. We’re more interested in questions like, ‘What does this book mean to you?’”

Such is the philosophy at Trevor Day, a private school on West 88th Street just off of Central Park. It is a place where learning is for learning’s sake, and curiosity, engagement and application of learning principles are at the heart of what Clarke calls “the experiential aspects of education.”

“We’re trying to combine the traditional principles of strategic learning with a more hands-on, activity-based approach,” she said.

One example of this educational strategy is a comprehensive study of worldwide poverty that the entire Trevor Day high school embarked on last year. For three days, the student body was split into groups and asked to portray a different country and a different crisis. Such interactive approaches, the school believes, bring a sense of significance and immediacy to education.

Hands-on learning also takes place during the “Bridge Semester,” when Trevor Day seniors spend their last trimester pursuing independent learning experiences outside the classroom. This can include everything from studying dance to working in a hospital.

A second core component of Trevor Day’s educational approach is the intimate relationship between students and faculty. Classes are small, mostly 12 to 14 students, and even smaller at the higher levels, to better enable students to get a personalized educational experience.

Trevor Day also has a student-faculty center, a room a little smaller than a gym in which faculty and students spend all of their out-of-class time. Teachers do not have private offices and there is no faculty lounge. They literally spend all day with students. So if a student is struggling academically, teachers will assuredly be nearby to offer a helping hand.

“The ideal Trevor Day student learns things because he wants to,” Clarke said. “And anything he wants to learn, we’re there to teach him.”

Administrators believe that this close contact between teachers and student fosters maturity. “When students are surrounded by adults, they act the part,” said Clarence Perkins, director of the high school division. “Our students tend to be very mature.”

Administrators say Trevor Day has a more equitable social arrangement than most high schools. Here, the influence of cliques and the popularity hierarchy are minimized. “It’s really democratic, with a small ‘d,’” Clarke said.

The third hallmark of the Trevor Day philosophy is its emphasis on integrating technology into the learning experience. “We’re a laptop school,” Clarke proudly says. From fifth grade on up, every student owns a laptop that contains almost all schoolwork, which is housed on the Microsoft class server program. “We’re almost paperless,” Clarke said. This emphasis prepares students for a world that increasingly depends on technology. “You’ll find the level of computer savviness is very high with these kids,” Perkins said. “And that’s by design.”

Throughout its history, Trevor Day has been known by a few names—the Church of Heavenly Rest, The Day School—and has undergone a number of expansions. The current incarnation is the product of its 1991 merger with the Walden Lincoln School, a progressive high school that was having financial trouble. It assumed its current name in 1997.

“It was a merger that made sense,” Clarke said. “Walden Lincoln was a progressive place like we were.” The overwhelming majority of students hail from the Upper East and West sides of Manhattan. Tuition is expensive, and although 16 to 17 percent of students receive some type of financial aid, the school says that economic and ethnic diversity is something that it would like to improve.

Admissions are extremely competitive, particularly at the 9th grade level. Last year, 221 students applied for slots in the freshman class. Only 19 were accepted. So what exactly is the Trevor Day admissions office looking for?

“We’re looking for curiosity,” Perkins said. “We’re looking for kids who are able to interact with and get along with adults. We’re looking for kids who are excited.”

-- Greg Hanlon