Life beyond Forman

FORMAN ESSENTIALS

Life beyond Forman

Forman is a magnet for bright, motivated individuals.

It’s also the start of learning and self-knowledge as a lifelong adventure. Our rigorous college prep program—complete with immersive classes, one-on-one counseling, campus visits, and summer workshops—not only produces 100% year-on-year college placement, but emboldens each graduate to thrive there.

While at Forman, students gain an enviable skill set. They learn how different subjects and ideas intersect, how to apply knowledge inventively, how to be leaders, how to thrive alone and collaboratively, and how to dream a bigger world for themselves—armed with the toolkits and planning abilities to realize their ambitions.

Our brilliant, networked alumni community spans over 40 countries and countless career sectors, from architecture to design, marketing to neuroscience, academia to government. Many graduates are leaders in their respective fields and return to share their journeys, offering inspiring and diverse blueprints for students on how rewarding postschool life can be.

“College prep helped me make the most of my college decisions.

The faculty helped me grasp the pros and cons for each college, from the small things like weather and transportation accessibility, to how rigorously academic it was.”

— Forman graduate

Preparing for college The post-secondary planning one and two-level courses are graduation requirements, designed to complement our oneon-one college counseling. Students learn how to navigate college websites, unearth career possibilities using specialist software, analyze majors and colleges, and track the likelihood of admission to desired schools. College essays are a focus—brainstorming, writing, and editing a working draft—as is the end-to-end application process, which bolsters students’ time management, self-advocacy, and organizational abilities.

Our College Counseling Office is open all summer and hosts structured in-person and virtual workshops throughout the break.

Career counselors collaborate closely with students and their families. They live on campus, coach, and work night and weekend duties, helping them to form close bonds and find more thoughtful, tailored opportunities for students.

Zach Bitan on transitioning to college The medical student—currently studying at the Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel—has a B.S. and M.A. in neuroscience from Trinity College and was previously a research coordinator at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in Manhattan.

“Honestly, college is a huge jump from high school; it was definitely a hard transition,” Zach says. “But Forman gave me my academic confidence back, and my ability to ask questions and be a selfadvocate. Initiatives like the Rainforest Project helped me to start thinking like a scientist and problem-solver, and [be ready to] engage in research from my first day at Trinity.”

I was varsity captain of two sports. Those leadership skills have helped me in medicine, in science, and in life.

ZACH BITAN, FORMER STUDENT

Being able to have the hands-on support I did at Forman, I knew— and still know to this day—that I am capable of accomplishing anything.

SOPHIA GADSDEN, FORMER STUDENT

Sophia Gadsden on the importance of community Having graduated from Lasell University with a degree in creative advertising, Sophia is now studying for her M.A. at Lasell in integrated marketing communications. She has also accepted a full-time offer as a wholesale marketing coordinator at Clarks’ Boston offices.

“Being at a boarding school helped me navigate so much and learn about living away from home—skills I didn’t think I was going to take on at high school,” Sophia says. “The teachers and faculty take you on as family. I was never seen as another number.

Everyone knew who I was.”

Sophia knew she wanted to replicate that tight-knit community in college, and worked closely with us to apply for the right ones.

“I felt like I had an extra set of hands with me throughout the whole process,” she says. “At college, I knew for me to stay organized, I had to stay busy, so outlining a schedule right off the bat of my freshman year helped so much.”

For students with learning differences, college applications can seem like a minefield.

At Forman, the process is made digestible and approachable.

Laura Baldini on trusting yourself In 2012, the Forman alum cofounded Mother Juice, Boston’s first food truck selling cold-pressed juice. In just a decade, the company has expanded to six plant-based cafes across Boston, including a high-visibility location at Logan Airport. Laura is also the founder of The Flie, a “stadium-approved” handbag brand. “Mother Juice is women-run, organic, gluten-free, and super cute,” she explains. “Some of my proudest moments have been seeing us in the news—or during the pandemic, when we distributed healthy snacks and juices to frontline workers.”

Laura’s confidence in her abilities as a young entrepreneur was fine-tuned at Forman. “I feel lucky I was able to go to a school that knew exactly how to teach me,” she says. “I learn differently and am more creative than most, and that all shapes how a person should be taught. At Forman, I learned a lot about action and reactions, how I don’t always move from A to B in a straight line, and to never give up.”

Eli Morgan Gesner on second chances “You may think what I have to say is just sales talk,” says Eli Morgan Gesner, cofounder of both Russell Simmons’ clothing company Phat Farm and global skate brand Zoo York, creative consultant for HBO’s How to Make It in America, and a director and narrator of multiple films. “But it’s not. The only reason I was ever able to do anything meaningful with my life is a direct result of going to Forman.

I cannot stress that enough.”

Eli struggled in his teens: “I had a lot of energy but I was a complete disaster child.” But at Forman, he felt listened to. He learned how to focus his creative energy, convey his ideas clearly, and develop the discipline to work. “They assessed my abilities and my shortcomings, and they took the time to treat me as an individual,” he says. “They helped nurture me into a person with the discipline, skill sets, and abilities to succeed in the world. I am forever in their debt.”

IF YOUR IDEAS ARE IMPORTANT AND YOU NEED TO SHARE THEM WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD, THEN YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO GET USED TO WORKING TWICE AS HARD AS EVERYONE ELSE. FORMAN TAUGHT ME HOW TO DO THAT. ELI MORGAN GESNER, FORMER STUDENT

Enroll THE OFFICE OF ADMISSION 860.567.1802 admission@formanschool.org formanschool.org Forman School 12 Norfolk Road, P.O. Box 80 Litchfield, CT 06759