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Marianapolis Prep School
Marianapolis Prep is an independent, Catholic, co-ed boarding and day school in northeast Connecticut, on a beautiful 150 acre campus where experiential learning is a must. Every parent wants their child’s school to encourage more than just memorizing facts from textbooks, and Marianapolis’ family-oriented, values-based community empowers students to enact real-word change. Inclusive of all faiths, the Marianapolis community believes spirituality to be a strong foundation for fostering compassion, generosity, and respect. In grades 9 through 12, as well as postgrads, Marianapolis classes encourage critical and disciplined thinking, the effective articulation of this thinking, and the enactment of these ideas in real-world, hands-on contexts.
Choosing the Centers of Excellence for Your Child
While enrolled at Marianapolis, students may choose a specific track to focus on, which allows them to further pursue their individual interests and passions while gaining experience that will help them in college and their careers. An optional program, The Centers of Excellence (COE) earns students a specialized diploma in one of the following: Center for Social Justice, Center for Business & Entrepreneurship, or Center for Innovation. In addition to specialized coursework in each COE, students will complete a related internship, a COE seminar, an applicable LEAP Week course (more information about LEAP below), and a senior capstone project.
The COE option is one of several ways a Marianapolis education stands out from the crowd. Students on their campus navigate academic challenges through a series of behaviors known as the “Habits of Mind.” The six Habits of Mind are preparation, participation, curiosity, organization, self-advocacy, and perseverance. With a 100% college acceptance rate, these habits are clearly beneficial to Marianapolis students.
Additional support is available to students as well, including peer tutoring, twice-weekly meetings with advisors, daily office hours with teachers, and numerous summer classes open to students who want extra time to dive into their coursework.
Learning by Doing at Marianapolis
Both day students and boarding students are part of the experiential learning environment that is characteristic of Marianapolis. Students learn by doing at Marianapolis, and these opportunities generally come in three different forms, described below.
LEAP Week is a one-week mini-term in March, during which students can travel around the United States to explore a specific topic, project or adventure. In previous years students chose from about 30 trip options that range from local, regional, and international travel. LEAP Week opportunities span every discipline, and in previous years, students have done everything from learning how to film and edit a news package at the New York Film Academy’s Broadcast Journalism School, to participating in a simulated mission on Mars at NASA’s Space Camp.
Throughout the year, students also participate in Experiential Learning (EL) weekends. By incorporating travel all over New England, EL trips allow students to build their cultural capital by participating in new activities such as surfing and welding, and to relate these skills back to their course curricula.
If students are craving even more opportunities to learn and experience, Marianapolis also offers innovative online Summer Sessions. These courses can help students catch up on curricula and/or advance their graduation timeline.
For More Information
Ultimately, whether on campus, online, or halfway across the world, Marianapolis provides students with a meaningful, relevant education that is rooted in strong spiritual values, experiential learning, and the fostering of critical thinking skills. For more information about enrolling your child at Marianapolis, you can visit their website.
