Dear Community,
My daughter, now age 23, graduated from New Roots. She started halfway through her junior year when we moved to Ithaca. She and I were happy to find a smaller school setting as Ithaca High School (IHS) did not seem like a good fit for her. She graduated with awards and is now studying Biotechnology and Lymes disease.
Her brother joined her when he entered 9th grade. Back home the high school he was supposed to attend was only going to allow him to be tutored due to anxiety issues he had in middle school. His grades were awful, he hated school. New Roots gave him a chance. He hated moving, being in Ithaca and New Roots when he started. The teachers and staff let him know how happy they were that he was there and were very understanding to how he was feeling. Needless to say, 9th and 10th grade were rough but New Roots never gave up on him. He graduated with excellent grades, awards and amazingly organized in his studies. He attends TC3, just switched to be a History major from Computer Science and finished the semester with a 3.9 GPA.
Now we have the trifecta! My 14 year old son is attending New Roots! He now really enjoys going to school as his middle school experience was pretty bad. He made friends quickly, loved that there is Ski Club and really enjoys the farm to table food. Alas, with Covid, we are now home and he can’t wait to get back to the Clinton House.
New Roots has done an amazing job addressing being home during Covid. They were up and running in a week with classes online. What has really impressed me is how they listened to the parents and students concerns about how much class time on Zoom with the amount of school work and tweaked the schedule accordingly. They now have a beautiful balance of time online and life while staying home during Covid. Plus the lunches they deliver are amazingly delicious!!
It is pretty impressive how much New Roots is able to accomplish on a small budget. The teachers are creative with both materials and space which translates into a great life lesson; you can do a lot with a little if you put your mind to it. Are you interested in something in particular? Just let them know and they will try and make it happen! It is individualized attention in a school setting. The teachers and staff are able to be fully invested in each student which is difficult for a public school teacher just due to the sheer volume of kids.
I am so grateful to have found New Roots for my kids.
Wendy Durso