A journey not about GPAs, cramming for tests, or meaningless lectures - but a personally-curated experience equipping students to lead lives of agency, confidence, clarity, and real impact. The courage not to ‘blend in and behave,’ but to be the kind of person others stop to take notice of. This is a new kind of school experience. Dare we say: a better way to grow up.
The Fundamentals
Foundational skills like reading, writing, and mathematical reasoning are as vital as they've ever been as an interface for communication and critical thinking. We build these skills through two types of focus sessions: Hands-on, objective-based workshops, and engagement with our adaptive, real-time tutoring platform — allowing each student to advance at their pace, in their style, and with engaging content that mirrors their interests.
Fitness & Movement
For younger students, we prioritize fun-first games with light competition. In the Upper School, (Grades 6+) a deeper focus is placed on individual fitness routines & consistent exercise strategy. For these sessions, students work directly with Drew's varsity collegiate athletes and university performance training staff.
Creator’s Studio
The Studio challenges students to identify and create real solutions to the world's most pressing every-day problems. Guided by faculty and mentors with on-the-ground experience, cohorts work collabortively with each other, as well as the broader NYC-area community, to produce long and short-term capstone projects with concrete impact.
Immersive Electives
Students enjoy several immersive enrichment electives that draw on the very best of Drew’s collegiate offerings and expansive facilities: These electives include: Foundational Arts (via Visual Arts Department), Stage and Story (via Theatre Department), History in Action (multi-departmental), and Experiential Science+ (via biology, chemistry, and physics departments) This is a chance for students to dive deeper into the concepts they’re intrigued by, in socratic, interactive workshops.
Their pace
Kids move through material as fast or as diligently as needed. If they already know the concept, no need to dwell on it. If they need some extra practice or support, the platform will stick with them stride for stride to keep them on track.
Their interests
Studies show that students are more engaged when presented with example problems they actually care about. If a kid’s obsessed with Harry Potter, they’ll read excerpts from the novel. If a kid loves basketball, they’ll get math problems about game statistics. This is a small touch, but it helps more than you’d think.
Their learning style
If a kid learns better through short videos than text-based paragraphs, the platform will adjust to meet that teaching style. If a kid needs scaffolding structure, the program can adapt to that too.
The results
Students not only build elite understanding and a rock-solid foundation, but also demonstrate their proficiency by ranking at the very top of standardized achievement tests. See the results across grade levels from 2023-2024 at Alpha school here.
The adult’s role
During this 2-hour period, the adults in the room serve as motivators and guides to help students stay energized and confident. They walk around to answer clarifying questions and assist students who may need a pep talk or face to face support.
Total transparency
Parents always have access to an intuitive portal to view their student’s day-to-day progress, outlining exactly where they stand in concept mastery. Parents should never have to do the guesswork.
Five sample schedules for students in different developmental stages at Drew.
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