As students take a summer break, schools prepare for September
Students are planning for camp, vacation, swimming, and more, as educators around the region switch gears to prepare for the fall. Many schools are building and renovating; some are restructuring their leadership; while others are implementing new programs to keep their students prepared in this ever-changing educational landscape.
New leadership
Many schools are changing their administrative structure to meet the new demands of running an educational institution. Some are splitting the administrative leadership into academic and administrative tasks to allow the leaders to make the most of their strengths.
“As the Immaculate Heart Academy (IHA) community moves into the future, we have initiated a new model of governance,” explains current IHA Principal, Patricia Molloy about the future of Immaculate Heart Academy. “The President-Principal model provides the school with two experienced leaders who bring new perspectives while maintaining the core mission of the school—to educate young women in a Catholic, college preparatory high school of the highest caliber. As the new president, effective July 1, I am looking forward to contributing my 43 years of experience and institutional history toward enriching the future of IHA.”
New facilities
Education often happens outside the classroom. Schools that want to create the best learning atmospheres focus as much on their gyms, fields, and extracurricular spaces as they do on their curriculum.
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“When we celebrate a long and exciting history it’s a great time to celebrate the future, too. Dutchess Day School is in its 60th year and, to honor that legacy, we are in the midst of a capital campaign that will launch the school towards the next 60 years,” says Vanessa Park, Director of Development, Communications, and Alumni Affairs. “A major renovation of one of the school’s gyms will create theater space, music classrooms, and instrumental practice rooms. A reconfiguring of sections of the main building will expand learning spaces to accommodate our growing enrollment. A mood of celebration and gratitude has pervaded the school all year as we look ahead to a bright and exciting future.”
“At Trinity​-​Pawling, we are beginning construction on a 20,000 square-foot field house that will be attached to our existing athletic complex,” says Headmaster Bill Taylor. “The construction will go on for the next academic year, but not interfere with our athletic program or use of our athletic facilities for the next academic year. A year from now, it will allow us to have much greater access to athletic facilities in the winter months. Academically, the focus is on adding more project-based learning and problem solving skills into the curriculum. This type of teaching resonates with what we know to be how boys learn best.”
Programs to meet career needs
Often students take courses to enhance their skills or be better prepared for a new career. “Ramapo College launched two new graduate degrees in Special Education, and Social Work,” says a Ramapo College spokesperson. “The college plans to continuously develop new degree programs and specializations in a commitment to preparing students for career success. The Adler Center for Nursing Excellence opened in the fall, 2015, increasing classroom, research, and simulation laboratory space and enabling expansion of healthcare and science programs/courses. Ramapo offers special tuition rates and grants for New York residents for graduate degree programs and associate’s-to-bachelor’s-degree transfer programs.”
With today’s technology, students can find ways to learn on their schedule. Sometimes they do not even need to go to campus. “At Capri Cosmetology Learning Centers, we offer courses that work with many different schedules. Students can even take advantage of our online curriculum to help reinforce what they learn here at school,” says Anthony Fiore, Capri’s owner. Fiore shares his knowledge of the craft in programs that fully prepare students for successful careers in the ever growing beauty industry. Train to be a hairdresser, manicurist, make-up artist, and more from experts in the field.
Resource Directory
Capri Cosmetology Learning Center
39 N. Plank Rd
Newburgh
845-563-3090
251 West Rte 59
Nanuet
845-623-6339
www.caprinow.com
Dutchess Day School
415 Route 343
Millbrook
845-677-5014
www.dutchessday.org
Hoosac School
P.O. Box 9
Hoosick
518-686-7331
www.hoosac.org
Immaculate Heart Academy
500 Van Emburgh Ave
Township of Washington, NJ
201-445-6800
www.immaculateheartnj.com
Ramapo College
505 Ramapo Valley Rd
Mahwah, NJ
201-684-7300
www.ramapo.edu
Trinity-Pawling School
700 Route 22
Pawling
845-855-4825
www.trinitypawling.org