WARING ACADEMICS
Waring School’s program is based on the premise that, in order to learn, students must be challenged with worthy intellectual material, exciting creative projects, and ample opportunities to display their talents and expand their ideas through meaningful interactions with peers and adults.
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
At Waring, a challenging academic program is not enough–the most powerful outcomes occur in a culture that reinforces the joy of learning. Working together in community while engaging with all facets of a liberal arts curriculum is the primary mission of the School.
Central to this are courses and experiences that stimulate and engage our students. Requirements for graduation include studies in humanities (an integrated literature and history course), French, mathematics, science, and writing. Classes in visual and performing arts and participation in athletics, theatre, and chorus are mandatory. Waring offers numerous elective and experiential options so that students may pursue areas of interest outside of the academic classroom, as well as travel locally and abroad. In all of these offerings, students are encouraged to voice their ideas, see things in new ways, show their best work, and engage fully with the material. They are expected to ask questions, think critically, find answers, and defend their own ideas.
A SENSE OF COMMUNITY
Our sense of community is promoted not only by a common curriculum but also through experiences that reach across traditional boundaries of age and grade level. All-School Meetings, the all-grade advising groups known as Tutorials, the Junior Teaching (Teaching Assistant) Program for juniors and seniors, and the all-school Camping Trip at the beginning of the year are purposely designed to strengthen connections between students, their peers of all ages, and their teachers. In addition, humanities, mathematics, writing, and French classes have students from mixed grade levels learning together.
As Waring students are given the tools to learn, they are encouraged to connect their learning to their own lives. In so doing, Waring students develop the self-knowledge and authenticity they will need to be productive and successful.
WHY NO GRADES?
Keeping the Conversation Between Student and Teacher Open
Waring encourages, enables, and affirms each student’s love of learning. We believe that letter grades are dead ends in the cycle of good teaching and learning. At Waring, teachers’ narrative evaluations are just one important facet of a larger, ongoing conversation between the teacher and the student: how can I grow as a student? How might I add more to class discussion in Humanities? What are my strengths and weaknesses in the science lab?
Watch this video of Waring students explaining why “one little letter” can’t evaluate their academic journey.
Why Narrative Evaluations are an Advantage During the College Application Process
A parent explains why an academic transcript from Waring forces college admissions officers to put Waring applicants in a separate pile.