outreach FALL 2013 Donald M. Austin Head of School
PERSPECTIVES
Lisa Grider Director of Institutional Advancement EDITOR Debra Marr Director of Communications
FROM DONALD M. AUSTIN, HEAD OF SCHOOL
A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R Marci Kahwaty Communications Associate CONTRIBUTORS Sean Allen ’03 David Hardin ’73 Elizabeth Barbado LaPadula, D. Litt. Grace Alofe ’14 Elaine Brodie Jessica Lubow Matthew Gertler ’90 Blackie Parlin Ted Gilbreath Jeffrey Vinikoor Glenn Waldorf ’90 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Chairman Jonathan D. Olesky ’74 Executive Committee William Bloom Kim Hirsh ’80 Patricia Budziak Jeffrey Kaplan Laura White Dillon David D. McGraw ’77 Nancy Baird Harwood ’75 Jane Wilf Trustees Donald M. Austin Philip McNeal John Bess ’69 Samir Pandiri Betsy Dollinger Bernstein ’86 Sandra Peinado Lawrence G. Cetrulo ’67 Richard Redmond ’77 Jeffrey H. Cohen ’81 Alexander M. Rose ’96 Samuel W. Croll, III ’68 Mark Rosenbaum Mary Ellen DeNoon Joshua Weinreich Scott Hayward Larry S. Wieseneck Lauren Hedvat ’01 Suzanne Willian Betsy Zimmerman
Leading From the Middle While many changes at Newark Academy over the last five years are associated with the Upper School, the Middle School has steadily evolved as a center of excellence and
Emeriti Louis V. Aronson II ’41 William D. Hardin ’44 Paul Busse ’38 K. Kelly Marx ’51 Robert Del Tufo ’51 John L. McGraw ’49 William D. Green ’69 Gary Rose William T. Wachenfeld ’44
innovation, with its own unique character and signature
A L U M N I A S S O C I AT I O N B O A R D O F G O V E R N O R S John Bess ’69 President
to improve a program that is already strong.
Van Stevens ’65 Vice President Amanda Addison ’06 Benjamin Purkert ’03 Sean Allen ’03 Edward Pursell ’02 Jacqueline Lipsius Fleysher ‘93 David Rattner ’03 Noah Franzblau ’86 Jed Rosenthal ’93 Peter Gruenberg ’81 Lara Samet ’01 Shannon Hedvat ’03 Alexander Senchak ’02 William Kaplan ’69 Andrew Somberg ’07 Lauren Jacobs-Lazer ’98 Glenn Waldorf ’90 Gillian Javetski ’07 Arthur Williams IV ’81 Brian Zucker ’84 Emeriti Lance Aronson ’74 J. Richard Beltram ’41 Richard M. Watson ’50 Newark Academy Office of Institutional Advancement 91 South Orange Avenue • Livingston, New Jersey 07039 Telephone: 973.992.7000, Fax: 973.992.8962 E-mail: dmarr@newarka.edu • Website: www.newarka.edu
programs. Much of the success of that division can be attributed to Middle School Principal Tom Ashburn and our outstanding Middle School faculty, who have worked hard
D
eliberate shifts in our Middle School have strengthened the distinctive identity of the division and built a program that better serves our youngest students. Within our instructional framework, we have increased direct learning opportunities, such as Capstone Experiences and project-based learning. Our view is that students learn better through direct experience, and they tend to be more engaged when they can apply what they have learned in class to real-life situations. One such example is the Grade 6 pond study unit. Working in small groups, students take measurements of the water (science, teamwork), make calculations about their findings (science, math), and discuss the broader implications of clean water (sustainability, the role of government regulation). Our young citizen/scientists benefit from being active, and they enjoy the change of pace of working outdoors after a long winter in the laboratory. Newark Academy’s Middle School teachers have moved away from content that tends to be department-specific to a blend of skills and content