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Students New to Ranney

Katherine B., Class of 2018, on the changes she discovered in her education and student life experience after joining Ranney.

Katherine B.

Class of 2018
The Move from a Public to an Independent School
by Katherine B., Class of 2018

When I was 13 years old, I would dance 18 hours a week in New York City. At the time, I was a pre-professional ballet student at Valentina Kozlova's Dance Conservatory of New York.

My parents are both immigrants. When my mom first came to the United States from Tbilisi, Georgia, a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, she began working as a seamstress. During prom season, she would tailor dresses for groups of high school girls. Every time she encountered an intelligent, well-rounded girl in her fittings, that girl would turn out to be a Ranney student. As high school was approaching, my parents knew that they didn't want to send me to public high school. My mom instantly remembered Ranney, and when I came to campus for a walk-through and interview, it was love at first sight!
 
Upon my acceptance to Ranney, I had to make a tough choice. I could either invest the next few years of my life training in ballet or in expand my knowledge and experience high school as a normal teen. Obviously, I chose Ranney.

Before coming to Ranney as a freshman in 2014, I had been attending public school since the first grade in Monmouth County. In my eighth-grade class alone, there were about 750 students. Obviously, the school was huge. On an average, my classes consisted of 25-30 students each. What I loved about Ranney when I first arrived was the size of the community and the physical campus itself. Instead of sitting in an awkward room with 30 desks and white brick walls, I had the opportunity to walk around campus and breath in fresh air between classes. Not only that, but I finally had the opportunity to highlight my own textbooks and bring a laptop to class for academic use. When teachers conducted online activities, I no longer had to wait on a line consisting of 30 students to use a shared computer; instead, I could use my own laptop to take notes and follow along with the teacher’s lesson.  

In my first year at Ranney, I also noticed a different type of student body than I was used to. For the first time, I was in an environment with people that actually cared about learning as much as I did, and still do. In my previous school, there was always a group of people that would distract the teachers from teaching and completely disregard their futures and their grades. At Ranney, people are very aware of their futures--maybe not the specific field they wish to go into, but the fact that life continues after high school and that eventually we all gain responsibilities as an adult.

Students at Ranney are more presentable as well. With an intact dress code, I am not only learning important academic skills but also how to present myself nicely and to look neat. Most important, however, is that my teachers at Ranney are very approachable and I finally feel challenged in the classroom. (In my public school experience, I was able to commute to New York everyday and still maintain high grades!) I am no longer afraid to question my teachers if something doesn’t make sense. I even have the opportunity to schedule appointments with them if I need to review a test or concept. All of my teachers truly care about how I am doing and how my learning process is evolving.
 
In terms of challenges faced as a new independent school student, I did find it a little tricky to blend into an environment where a sizable portion (about 30%) of the student body are “lifers.” Finding the right friend group was one thing that I had to maneuver around. As my first year progressed, I changed friend groups multiple times, but still kept good relations with others. By the end of my freshman year, I was involved in various sports to compensate for my lack of dance, including tennis, fencing and softball. (As a sophomore, I managed to convince my parents to let me dance four times a week again, but this time, locally). Due to participation in these sports and multiple extracurriculars, including the spring musical and Harvard Model Congress, I was able to meet new people and get to better know my community. These activities allowed me to build friendships in not only my grade, but in the grades above me as well.
 
Now in my second year at Ranney, I’m more than content with the environment and my choice to attend the school. With the supportive atmosphere that Ranney offers, I have even been able to start my own dance activity with Taylor Cruz, a junior, that meets once a week on campus. If I had not come to Ranney, I believe my view of the world would be more narrow-minded. I would not have developed the friendships I have, or discovered a liking for visual arts, biology, history, and, now, writing. Although, at times, I do miss my intensive dance regime in New York, I am happy that I chose to attend this school. My teachers keep me motivated and hungry for learning, and I am more than eager to continue growing as a Ranney student.
 
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Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
Our mission is to know and value every child, nurturing intellectual curiosity and confidence, and inspiring students to lead honorably, think creatively, and contribute meaningfully to society.