New Hampton School - Review #6

The most striking aspect of New Hampton, which I have realized more so now that I have left, is it's sense of community. There is no stratification. Your biology teacher is also your advisor, your history teacher is also your coach, that senior girl is on your team, that sophomore boy was in a music class with you- there are so many opportunities at New Hampton for you to make connections. You can form relationships both in and out of the classroom. In public school, I felt like one of many, a body in a room of 50 kids, but at New Hampton you can form a relationship with the teacher and personalize your learning experiences.

My freshman year I was extremely quiet and very shy. I spoke in public as little as possible and refused to run for the position of freshman class president. However, by senior year my confidence had grown and I ran for senior class representative. I am proud of this personal growth and I think the comfortable and encouraging environment at New Hampton helped me to achieve it.

Take the opportunity to get to know the names of all the faculty. The school is small enough that this isn't hard to do, and its likely that you will have some kind of interaction with most of them during your time at New Hampton.

What I loved most about New Hampton was the community. The faculty and students truly care about one another. Whether friends or not, at New Hampton if you pass someone on the path, you will get a "hello". Faculty will ask how your game went, what color your prom dress is, or make your dorm cookies just because. You don't find this kind of community in public school, or as I'm realizing now even in college.

In the fall or spring, play tennis with your friends after dinner and before study hall. Whether its competitive or your just fooling around, its a great hangout and a lot of fun!

During my time at New Hampton I was academically challenged but very rarely overwhelmed. I think a lot of this had to do with the small class sizes. In public school, I felt like one of many, a body in a room of 50 kids, but at New Hampton your treated as an individual, and if/when you struggle, your teacher is right there with you along the way. I also liked the small classroom environment, because it helped me to become more confident in participating in discussions or activities. No one can be invisible in a classroom at New Hampton. Now at a small liberal arts college, where classroom participation is a large percentage of my grade, I am thankful for the small New Hampton classes that prepared me to confidently participate.

Athletics at New Hampton are a core aspect of the community. My experiences on the field hockey and lacrosse teams are some of the best memories I will take away from New Hampton. The team atmosphere allows you to connect with both older and younger students and form friendships that you might not have made in the academic world. I was fortunate to be on teams that had amazing chemistry and we had a lot of fun with one another.Overall, athletics at New Hampton are very competitive as are the fans. There is a sense of "Husky Pride" throughout the school, and very rarely are games unattended by classmates or fans. I have been on both sides of the spectrum, and there's nothing better than night games under the lights on the turf with the whole school cheering you on, or being part of the fan section in the hockey rink or basketball gym during games.Since all students are required to participate on at least one team, everyone is part of the athletic culture at New Hampton. There are a variety of levels as well as sport choices to cater to each individual's interests.

My freshman year at New Hampton, I was able to dabble in dance, photography, music, studio art, and theater as part of an Arts Foundations Class aimed to expose students to the various classes offered. Art is not one of my strengths and so I did not take any other art classes during my time at New Hampton, however I did enjoy my experiences freshman year. The classes were definitely a challenge for me, but they were a nice contrast to textbooks and labs.While I was not an artist myself, I was able to observe my artistic classmates during my time at New Hampton. The theater productions continue to amaze me, as do the music concerts, dance performances and art gallery.If you are an artist, regardless of your craft, New Hampton offers the facilities and teachers to help you excel and develop yourself further.

A very unique aspect of New Hampton is community service. During the fall and spring semesters on select Saturdays, students, either on campus or within the greater community go out and complete some kind of service. Service ranges from playing boardgames at a local nursing home, helping at the humane society, organizing a blood drive, raking leaves at an elderly local's house, student government etc. Community service is a nice contrast to Saturday classes, as well as affords students an opportunity to give back to the school and surrounding area.

I was a day-student at New Hampton, but many of my closest friends were boarders. From what I have gathered from their experiences, the dorms were like a home away from home. Often dorms were very close-knit groups, and similarly to athletic teams, helped to foster relationships outside of the classroom, both with fellow students as well as dorm parents.

The dining at New Hampton is amazing. There is almost always a salad bar, sandwich bar, hot foods, bagels, cereal, fruit, soup, pasta and deserts. There are also many vegetarian options. The dining hall is open for most of the school day, so in between classes it is nice to be able to pop in and grab a piece of toast or fruit. The "cafe" as we called it, was a great hang out spot either after class and before practice, or after dinner.

The town of New Hampton is probably the school's weakest feature. There is a main street with a library and a country store owned by the school, and not much else. However, the school almost always offers trips to restaurants, shopping centers etc. which are 10-15 minutes away.

Social life at New Hampton is not limited to the weekends but occurs almost 24/7--in the dorms, in class, in the cafe, watching athletic games, on school trips etc. Since the student body is so small (approx 300) you see the same people everyday and are able to 'be social' at the most minute times.Weekends however do bring more formal occasions to be social. The school brings in bands, entertainers and activities to campus to offer fun things to do on Saturday nights.Also, there are weekend trips to the mall, movies, restaurants, hikes, shows etc which are available to students. If you want to do something specific and can get enough people to also be interested, faculty will figure out a way to get you there.