O2 - Issue 2 - (Page 57)

THE PREP HANDBOOK Ten questions for Irwin Shlachter A NEW MEMBER JOINED THE FAMILY OF IS: The process of getting into kinderarten and NEW YORK INDEPENDENT schools in 2005 with the opening of Claremont Preparatory School. Where bankers used to roam Claremont’s 125,000-square-foot converted building, now grade schoolers invest in their futures—thanks to Mandarin classes, Suzuki-method music practice, yoga instruction, and a host of other academic amenities. Headmaster Irwin Shlachter, a 25-year veteran of the Rodeph Sholom School, joined Claremont in fall 2006 to shepherd it through its formative years. O2 spoke to him about establishing a new school, the admissions stress epidemic, and looking beyond names. O2: Claremont’s founder, Michael Koffler, is something of an education entrepeneur, but this is his first mainstream ongoing school. Did he choose downtown Manhattan because of a gap in the market? Irwin Shlander: “If you build it, they will come” nursery schools has gotten out of hand. And the hype is internal, coming from families wanting to get an edge. I think people erroneously believe that if they’re in the right school, they will be successful in life. That’s about as accurate as an IQ test. O2: Nor is admission—or rejection—a reflection of a child’s potential. IS: You can miss out on a lot of kids who, say, don’t speak to strangers. That doesn’t mean the child shouldn’t be given the chance. O2: How can parents unplug from the hype? IS: I think they need to realize that an early childhood experience has to be positive. The name of the school doesn’t necessarily connote the future success of the student. For example, if you’re going to be acepted to a lead place like Horace Mann, Dalton, or Trinity, somebody has to be at the bottom of the class. Over the next 10 to 12 years, what does that do to self-esteem? O2: What, then, are ways for parents to find the best fit for their children? IS: Instead of getting caught up in a name, I think does not work with independent schools. There’s a legacy: Schools like Collegiate were founded hundreds of years ago. O2: So proximity doesn’t win over parents? IS: I think proximity definitely plays into it, but you’ve got to start with experienced faculty, a firstclass facility, and a mission that will give people a level of comfort to be the first on the bus. Certainly there’s the potential for growth, because downtown is growing rapidly and plans to open new public schools won’t be realized for a few years. Meanwhile, Claremont can accommodate as many as 1,000 students. But then there’s the question of the qualified student. The child has to take the ERB, interview—there’s no automatic enrollment. O2: But the ERB isn’t the be-all for you. IS: What we know today is that every child learns you need to talk to people and ask them about their own experiences. One of the things parents want to look for is whether or not the kids are happy, the parents are happy, the faculty is engaging and warm and child-friendly. It’s not to be taken for granted that it’s the same in every school. O2: What about admissions for older kids—for families that have been transferred to New York, for example? IS: It’s easier to see whether a third- or fourth- grader is a better fit. It’s also easier for a school to measure who the student is. As the child gets older, too, he or she has to play a more active role in determining which school is right. O2: Do you have a five-year plan for Claremont? IS: I would say to have somewhere in the area of a little differently. Some are auditory, some are kinesthetic, some are visual, some are athletic, or theatrical, or musical. Being open-minded is a good thing: We have a child who is a magnificant cello player and has great voice; she’s never going to be the world’s best mathematician. Yet what she brings on balance is so worthy and meanginful to me as an educator that I’d rather err on that side. O2: If at least some schools espouse this stance, then why do parents stress over getting their kids accepted? 600 students. Also, the class that was just promoted to seventh grade will be the first to graduate from Claremont High School—so the challenge is to build a first-class high school and graduate that class in 2013. Where those children go to college will be very telling of how well we did. O2: And would you say you have a gauge for your success so far? IS: The proof of whether you’re doing a good job lies with the parents. A happy consumer, a happy parent, becomes the best ambassador of the school. I believe we have that right now. [ O 2 G R E E N M A G A Z I N E . C O M ] 57 http://O2GREENMAGAZINE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of O2 - Issue 2

O2 - Issue 2 Contents Letter Freshpicks Itinerary The Hunt Flight O2 Outer Beauty Fuel 4 Thought Health Tech One to Watch Great Outdoors Features Future Focus Musings

O2 - Issue 2

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.