Tilton School, an independent boarding school located at the base of the picturesque White Mountains in central New Hampshire, is re-imagining what it means to educate teenagers and prepare them for a future in this ever-changing world.
At Tilton School, students in grades 9 through postgraduate actively engage in the Tilton Experience, an individually customized learning process that uses authentic assessment of a student’s aptitudes, skills, interests, and learning style preferences to help them create their own Personalized Guided Program of Study (GPS) for their journey at Tilton School.
While the Tilton Experience is unique for every student, each journey includes three main elements:
- The development of five Essential Skills needed for the changing world
- A process of self-discovery to understand who they are
- Their own Personalized GPS reflecting their goals and plans across the school’s entire program, including both academic and non-academic areas.
What makes the Tilton Experience different?
Tilton School identified five Essential Skills required in our changing economy; skills that each student will need to succeed in today’s marketplace. They are:
- Communication
- Critical Thinking and Decision Making
- Creative Engagement
- Innovation and Design Thinking
- Mindfulness
A second stand-out feature of the Tilton Experience is the personalized assessments for each student no matter when they enroll in Tilton School, whether they enter as a freshman or join Tilton for their postgraduate year. These assessments look at each student’s personality traits, their skills, strengths and interests, and even their learning preference.
Using this information, each student then works with their advisors, teachers and parents to create a personalized journey of intentional opportunities and experiences that encompasses their entire time at Tilton School. Just like no two students are alike, no two journeys at Tilton School are the same.
A third unique feature of the Tilton Experience is the active self-discovery and goal setting component worked into the daily life of each student. While students create their own personalized journeys, or Personalized Guided Program of Study, they engage in a process of active self-discovery to understand who they are and who they want to become. This process includes coaching from their advisor, input from their family, and the support of the new assessment tools.
Historically strong, creatively engaged
While many parts of the Tilton Experience learning process are new and innovative, the foundation beneath the concepts has always been a key feature of Tilton School.
“We have been a school that has always privileged the relationship between an engaged and eager adult staff of all ages and the students whom they serve,” said Mike Landroche, academic dean and 35-year teaching veteran at Tilton. “The school’s leaders have always pushed faculty to develop their skill set so they can continue to be helpful to kids as they guide them to carve their own way out of Tilton and into their own future.”
It is this personal attention and dedicated faculty and staff that has historically been a hallmark feature of Tilton School, Landroche pointed out. The Tilton Experience now allows this work to go deeper and offer a more enriched learning environment.
“Tilton has always been that place that puts at the center the relationship between adults and students,” he added. “We hire people for that purpose. We are skilled partners in helping students and their parents find the right pathway.”
The power of potential
Founded in 1845, Tilton School is home to more than 250 students from 20 states and 16 countries. The campus contains a balance of traditional and modern architecture including the “Mansion,” the original private home of Charles E. Tilton, founder of Tilton, N.H.; the MacMorran Field House ice rink; a state-of-the-art turf field for American football, soccer, and field hockey, and new tennis courts.
Students at Tilton School have the opportunity to engage in a variety of activities outside the classroom. Academics run Monday through Saturday with Wednesday and Saturday afternoons reserved for athletic competition and enhanced after-school activities. During the other academic days, students can participate in a wide range of on- and off-campus programming, such as community service, yearbook club, kayaking, theatre, and music.
Tilton School truly offers something for every student. With personalized education at its core, the school also helps students find their power of potential in all aspects of their school life. The athletic program boasts champion girls’ and boys’ basketball and hockey teams; boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams with its own on-campus running course; mountain biking; downhill skiing and snowboarding, and a vibrant arts program.
Tilton School is a place where every student can excel through a personalized and individual approach that puts each child at the center of their education.
For more information about Tilton School, visit www.tiltonschool.org or email the school admissions office at admissions@tiltonschool.org, and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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