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July 2012
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July News
Staff Changes and Summer Reflections
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A student's pumpkin vine sports a preying mantis, a sign of a healthy ecosystem.
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| Storm King School students and faculty are taking well-deserved summer breaks, spending time with families, pursuing extracurricular interests, and enhancing their skills with summer work. SKS's campus remains busy with a variety of camps: dramatic and musical groups performing in SKS's Walter Reade, Jr., Theatre, athletic groups training in SKS's gymnasium and fields, and students from around the world taking advantage of SKS's beautiful surroundings and nearby attractions. Pumpkin vines that students planted in the spring sprawl through the organic garden.
The Office of Admissions, however, will be open all summer, and cordially invites prospective students and their families to attend an Open House. Summer Open Houses begin in Orr Commons in the center of campus (follow signs) at 10:00 AM promptly. After brief welcoming remarks, you will tour our beautiful campus and receive a description of our programs. You will see a short video and participate in a discussion about the application process. Closing remarks will take place about 12:00. Please call 845-534-9860 to request more information or leave your name and telephone number to register.
Photo courtesy of Toni Scherrer.
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 | Paul Domingue Arrives on Campus
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Welcome from the Headmaster
How big can you dream? We love dreamers at The Storm King School. Kids from all over the world come here to learn how to realize their dreams. And when they arrive on campus they discover they are not alone. Here at SKS they find a community of teachers and students that is dedicated to helping students to achieve their highest aspirations. They find a place where they can be themselves, where everyone accepts them for who they are. This is a community that is interested in personal achievement, not how students are measured against some arbitrary standard.
So, what have you always wanted to achieve... to become... to be? What are your dreams? Have you ever been told that your dreams might be out of reach?
Every one of us is a unique individual who possesses strengths and weaknesses. And each of us has a personal potential that is far greater than most of us realize. Our job here at SKS is to help you fulfill that potential, by working closely with you to develop the skills, values and habits of mind that are the keys to your success....
Click here to see the rest of Paul's welcome.
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| From the College Counselor's Office
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All SKS Students Accepted at Choice Colleges
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Picnic tables were a gift of the senior class.
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"All launched" was the happy phrase buzzing around the office of SKS's dedicated college counselor, Jim Leppla. Mr. Leppla worked closely with students beginning in their junior year to identify factors they were looking for in higher education and to facilitate all steps in the college application process. All SKS seniors were accepted to a variety of colleges that fit their individual talents and aspirations.
Mr. Leppa commented about the changing face of the college admission process. "The biggest lesson learned was that parents who were able to let their students drive the process, even when it seemed they didn't know which way to steer, produced the most satisfying results." Parental encouragement, student involvement, and SKS guidance contributed to a most successful conclusion.
SKS is proud of its seniors' 100% acceptance rate. For a list of colleges that SKS graduates have been accepted to and attended in recent years, contact admissions@sks.org.
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| Admissions Team Welcomes New Staff Member
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Team Offers Insightful Help to Families Seeking Educational Fit
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Toni Scherrer, Joanna Evans, and Garrett Bamann stand ready to help families through the admissions process
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Former Director of Admissions David Flynn and his wife and their daughter have moved to a school that is much closer to their families. Those of us who enjoyed Mr. Flynn's ready laugh and welcoming demeanor were sad to see him go, but wish him well.
Fortunately, former Associate Director of Admissions Joanna Evans has stepped up to fill David's shoes as SKS's new Director of Admissions. Ms. Evans, known for working thoughtfully with students and their families during the application process, has a wide-ranging history in the independent school world and is beginning her fourth year at SKS.
The School is also pleased to welcome Garrett Bamann as the new Associate Director of Admissions. Mr. Bamann came to SKS from another independent boarding school where he worked in admissions and coached.
To read biographies of the SKS Admissions Team, click here.
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| Advanced Placement Students Receive Results
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Students Who Chose Greater Challenge Reap Rewards
 The College Board has completed its scoring of Advanced Placement examinations and recently sent results to students and their schools. SKS is proud of our students' performance and wishes to congratulate those who met their goals. Advanced Placement courses are college-level courses that high-aptitude students may choose to take in high school. High schools such as SKS engage in a rigorous process to offer certified AP courses, and students take College Board AP examinations at the end of the academic year. Colleges are impressed when they see that applicants are taking and performing well in AP courses, and many colleges offer college credit to students who do well on AP exams. SKS currently offers AP courses in the areas of English, Economics, Psychology, Calculus, Statistics, Physics, Computer Science, Art History, Studio Art, and Biology. |
| Hands-on Projects Give Students a Taste for Research
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Students Test Psychological Principles
At SKS, all students within the history and English departments wrote formal research papers during the winter trimester. For psychology students, these included hands-on research projects. Students in the general psychology and the AP psychology classes each designed an original experiment or recreated a classic experiment to test a psychological principle. Each student then wrote up his or her results and discussed them as they related to a review of the literature on the topic.
 Polina G. '13 chose to recreate a classic memory construction experiment by Loftus and Palmer in which subjects viewed a film of a traffic accident and then answered questions about the accident. The objective was to see if the wording of the questions would affect the subjects' recall of what they had viewed. Sure enough, subjects who were asked, "How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?" reported higher speeds compared to students who were asked how fast the cars were going when they hit each other. Subjects who heard smashed were also more likely to report seeing glass fragments, although the film had shown no broken glass.
By conducting their own experiments, students gained a better understanding of the principles involved and also came to appreciate the scientific nature of psychological research. Gathering data, reviewing literature on their topics, organizing, documenting, and writing their research reports provided valuable experience and strengthened students' skills. Several of the students plan to pursue psychology as a major in college.
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| See and Order a Copy of The Quarry
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2012 Yearbook Is Available for Download or Purchase
 Click here to view and/or purchase a copy of The Storm King School's yearbook. Designed by students, this book is a beautiful example of the talent, creativity, and hard work SKS students apply every day. |
| Open House on Saturday, July 14
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Tour, Video, & Discussion with Students & Faculty
 The Office of Admissions cordially invites you to attend an Open House for prospective students and their families. The Open House will begin in Orr Commons at the center of The Storm King School campus.
This Open House will provide an opportunity to tour our beautiful campus. After the tour, you will see a short video about the School and participate in a discussion about the application process. There will be plenty of time to answer your questions about the School.
Open House Schedule:
10:00 Tour of Campus
11:15 SKS Video
11:30 Overview of Application Process and General Question
and Answer Session
12:00 Closing Remarks
Please contact the Office of Admissions for more information.
314 Mountain Road
Cornwall on Hudson, NY 12520
845-534-9860
admissions@sks.org
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| For Your Calendar
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Upcoming Open Houses
Saturday, August 4, 10:00 AM-12:00 Noon
Saturday, August 18, 10:00 AM-12:00 Noon
Saturday, September 15, 10:00 AM-12:00 Noon
Open Houses generally start in Orr Commons in the center of The Storm King School campus. We will begin with a tour of the campus after brief welcoming remarks. You will learn about the School and its programs. After the tour, you will see a short video about the School and participate in a discussion about the application process.
It is helpful if you call (845-534-9860) to register in advance.
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| Check Out Our School Video
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Inside America Visits The Storm King School
Click here to view our school video.
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See you soon!
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SKS students and faculty gather on top of Storm King Mountain.
Photo courtesy of Taras Ferencevych.
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| | Founded in 1867, The Storm King School celebrates a long tradition of helping students translate potential into success as they prepare for college and meaningful lives. Through academic classes, outstanding fine and performing arts, competitive and club sports, and interesting extracurricular activities, the faculty and staff offer students in grades 8-12 opportunities to enrich themselves through learning and confidence building. For college-bound students with learning differences, a small (35 students) school-within-a-school program called The Mountain Center, offers specialized, differentiated instruction in up to four core classes. Mountain Center students are full participants in the SKS community. In addition, The Learning Center offers support to any SKS student who needs extra help with study and organizational skills. Boarding and day options are available.
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Contact Information
To visit us on the web, click here.
Click here to see our new school video.
Email: admissions@sks.org
Phone: 800-225-9144 (in the U.S.) or 845-534-9860
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