I am a 2018 graduate of NewGate, now attending Georgia Tech and studying electrical engineering. Furthermore, I attended NewGate from 18 months of age- through to graduating high school minus a three year gap in elementary school. That makes 14 years at NewGate for me.
I can confidently say that NewGate helped me tremendously to become the person that I am today. NewGate teaches academics, independent thinking, kindness, and most of all has instilled a love of learning in me that will never go away. When I was in the toddler classroom I loved playing with the lock board (basically a wooden board with handles and many locks) and the label maker.
As I grew older, I became interested in how things work and was lucky to have many teachers at NG who fostered that interest. In middle and high school I was afforded the opportunity to manage the IT infrastructure, setting up the wireless networks and working on various other technical projects at NewGate. I was able to choose my interests and explore them more fully in the International Baccalaureate program (high school) where I investigated Kombucha fermentation for my IB Biology internal assessment and shoreline erosion and salinity of barrier islands in IB Geography.
At NewGate you feel connected with a community both of your peers and also of your teachers and administrators. NewGate’s exceptional drama program is also noteworthy- in which I participated in more plays during middle and high school than I can honestly keep track of (probably about 8). In elementary school and middle school you also participate in a yearly opera, which is an exciting experience for any young child as this is when I first fully realized how much can be accomplished when one works in a large group towards a common goal.
In highschool I learned how to plan large scale trips, working with other students and faculty to plan yearly research trips to Washington DC, the Dominican Republic, Denver, Appalachia, New York City, and more. I gained confidence speaking to representatives from airlines, bus companies, and more while also learning how to plan logistics of travel for large groups. Each trip experience helped to create the tight-knit community feeling so unique to NewGate while also fostering an openness to new experience.
I haven’t really talked about “academic rigor” in a traditional test scores sense on purpose. Getting my IB diploma and good SAT scores is important to NewGate and the teachers will help to push you to reach your academic goals- that much is for sure- but it’s not the end goal at NewGate.
The end goal there is much more. It’s about helping you to become a good person, a person capable of learning well beyond university, and a person who is unique and true to yourself. Additionally, NewGate’s academics (especially the rigor of the IB program) prepared me well to take on the STEM class heavy electrical engineering curriculum.
As a student now at a University many orders of magnitude larger than NewGate and surrounded by other students from various educational backgrounds, I often reflect on my experience at NewGate and remind myself how lucky I was to have had the opportunity to have such a unique and fulfilling education there. As someone who has spent more of their life at NewGate than away from it- I invite you to reach out to me if you have any questions about any aspect of my experience or about what the school has to offer. Just ask NewGate’s Headmaster, Tim Seldin ([email protected]) for my number and mention this review, I’d be happy to take your call.
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