Atheneum School’s mission is to provide young people with the opportunity and means to initiate and develop their own education. Students and faculty discuss original texts of literature, poetry, music, and history; reenact crucial scientific experiments and mathematical demonstrations; strengthen the integrity of body and mind; and travel to destinations celebrated for their historical and cultural significance. Every course of study challenges the students and faculty to consider the principles of their learning and the relevance of these principles to their lives. In this way the program inspires the practice of not only the intellectual virtues, but also personal and civic responsibility: the lifelong refinement of community and self.
Our students represent the full spectrum of capabilities and interests, and at Atheneum they develop these to the fullest. Small classes, individualized study plans, and a program that instills reading, writing, speaking, listening, and reasoning skills, and health of mind and body ensure a complete preparation for college and a life of continual growth in learning.
Atheneum by nature and design prepares the high school student for the most challenging college work. College admissions officers and high school counselors know that the most competitive universities look at more than just high test scores, grades and honors or advanced placement labels on transcripts. Nearly all viable applicants to selective colleges exhibit these. What sets a student apart from this group of the “talented tenth” goes beyond these selective norms.
Admissions officers look for responsible students with experience in community service or mentorships; students who can work cooperatively and succeed as leaders; students who seize opportunities to learn in depth, analyzing and thinking critically, questioning and solving problems; students who can initiate and complete independent learning and civic projects; and students willing to take academic risks, who are creative and sincerely inquisitive.
Students with excellent records from academically sound independent schools find themselves at every advantage in college admissions. With Atheneum’s emphasis on reading original sources, study groups, writing, individualized study, community projects, leadership, travel, Socratic inquiry, and academic and physical proficiency, universities and colleges welcome our students. They are uniquely prepared for the challenges and rigors of higher education.
Atheneum School’s mission is to provide young people with the opportunity and means to initiate and develop their own education. Students and faculty discuss original texts of literature, poetry, music, and history; reenact crucial scientific experiments and mathematical demonstrations; strengthen the integrity of body and mind; and travel to destinations celebrated for their historical and cultural significance.
