Two Campuses, One School
As a student who attended Grace from junior kindergarten through high school, I have been interested in the differences between the experience on each of the two campuses. I asked a number of students and teachers who have taught or attended both campuses what differences and similarities they have noticed between the high school and grade school (the JK-8 program). When I completed all of the interviews I noticed common threads, like the high school program has much more freedom and independence and while the middle school is based in tradition and structure. However, both divisions of Grace Church School are rooted in community.
Julie Morse and Eden Sherrod are both seniors who attended both campuses. Julie explained that, “I think the biggest difference {in the High School} that I notice is having a much bigger grade because it allows for a bunch more independence.”
Her classmate Eden has a similar perspective. “I think the high school is more loose in structure. I also feel as though the teachers are more eager to help the students and expand on their curriculum. In the middle school the teachers are more set in what they like to teach.” According to these two students, the new part of Grace, the high school, is more innovative.
Ms. Laurence, Dean of Student Life for the entire school, explained a similar idea. “I think that at the high school, thanks to our being a relatively new division of the school, we benefit from being in a position of constantly researching best practices in education, because when a class doesn’t even exist yet, of course we want to figure out how to create and implement the best possible program. This means we have an excellent testing-ground of sorts for piloting new ideas in the classroom at the high school, which then, when appropriate, can trickle down to benefit the middle or lower school, as well.”
I also talked to students who recently graduated from the middle school and are now sophomores in the high school. They pointed out new freedoms the high school afforded them. Jane Arons 17’ said, “Freedom of expression because {in the middle school} there were a lot of random rules like no nail polish and no headbands. Also everything {in the high school} is a bunch more easygoing to especially in terms of sports you are not being monitored as much.” Penelope Platt 17’ added, “{In the high school there is} a lot of freedom. No hovering teachers. You can use your phones.” Charlotte Robertson 17’ shared her thoughts too. “{In the high school there is} a lot more independent classes like March Madness, versus in the middle school where everything was very structured.”
Some people thought the individuality was positive. Isabel Jacob 19’ said, “The atmosphere {at the highschool} is a lot more relaxed – there is no uniform, the schedule is much more relaxed because there are a lot more breaks between classes. In the high school you learn together with your peers as opposed to being taught at.” While others thought this is a negative. Parker Ludwig-Larson 19’ said, “I think the middle school is very traditional. The high school thinks it is very liberal in terms their school stuff, but really high school is just as toxic as middle school, maybe even more because of that.”
However, when it comes to similarities between the two, students and teachers agree that one theme stands out: community. When I asked Mr. Reilly, Dean of the Class of 2019 who previously taught in the middle school for several years, about the similarities he said, “The first thing that comes to mind is the similarities. One of my biggest concerns coming to the high school was that it would feel like a different school from Grace Middle school but it doesn’t, it still feels like Grace Church School. The reason that is is because when I sit down with teachers or I try to make something work in my own class, we think about what works best for that one kid who is struggling and who needs a little extra help right now. So we can step back and take the time to make sure we do what’s best for each individual student in a class. We do what’s best for all 18 but then we say you know what maybe i need to change it a little bit here for this student.”
Isabel Jacob, Class of 2019, explained perfectly how important community is to Grace Church School. “The similarities are that there is still this strong sense of community, even though there are different groups of people and different groups of friends. The teachers are still really friendly and everyone comes together to create a really strong community.”