My experience as a lifer, and what makes Catlin Gabel such a special place

Photo of the Class of 2020 in the Beginning School (I’m the one at the top of the stairs not looking at the camera!) Photo provided by Annika Holiday ‘20’

I’ve been coming to this campus nearly everyday for the past 15 years. Without a doubt, it’s become my second home. I am graduating this week and have been reflecting on my time here.

With everything going on with the school, hearing mentions of a revised mission statement, the lawsuits, and the potential for online learning past the completion of this school year, I would like to share my experience.

For me, the most important part of my Catlin Gabel experience is the patience that teachers exercise with their students, the way they can tailor their classes to fit as many different learning styles as possible, and the more intimate relationships between students and teachers.

My experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Honestly, I don’t have too many knocks on the school. The way they tailor an education to accommodate as many different learning styles and people as possible is nothing to scoff at.

I have struggled with ADHD for my entire life, but I always felt supported by teachers, learning specialists, and the administration. I was generally behind the curve academically, but everyone took that in stride. Nobody at Catlin Gabel would ever shame me, as they understood that I had difficulties learning.

In Lower School, it felt like we hit the ground running. Things started picking up. Similar to the Beginning School, we had just one homeroom teacher. This was an introduction to the type of relationships we would have with our teachers: friendly, but professional.

For me, Middle School was the start of what I like to call the “real Catlin Gabel.” We started the block schedule, were introduced to C&C’s, and now had core classes and teachers. The curriculum also picked up notably. These were definitely welcome adjustments.

No longer was everybody learning the same thing. There were advanced language classes, and different levels of math offered. While I did appreciate the changes, I was still a bit shocked. Everything seemed to be changing a little too quickly, and I struggled mightily in sixth grade to adjust.

Something that made the adjustment easier, however, was newer and closer relationships with teachers. This might seem odd, as before we had a homeroom teacher, a language and music teacher, plus rotation of woodshop, science, and visual art instructors. Now with seven different block teachers and either one or two C&C advisors, relationships were closer.

These relationships are the cornerstone of my CGS experience. They are by far the core of what makes a Catlin Gabel education so potent and so elite.

Small class sizes allow for teachers to get to know their students on a deeper level. Teachers encourage students who are struggling with certain concepts or still learning the material to meet with them individually, almost like a personal tutor.

This remained true for me throughout the entirety of Middle and Upper School, and even managed to amp up in the higher grades. In the Upper School, teachers set aside office hours to assist students in their learning.

Other than just being of assistance outside the classroom, every teacher I’ve ever had made an effort to understand who I was as a person. Catlin Gabel teachers are personable, and want to see you succeed inside and out of the classroom. You can often find teachers in the stands cheering on students at various sporting events.

The main differences between Middle and Upper School were more free time and a massive increase in workload. Looking back, the structure of everything is a lot more similar than I remember. The introduction of free blocks gives students more autonomy, undoubtedly the school's way of teaching responsibility, and time management.

During my junior year, I met with the learning specialists to get an accommodation for extra time on the SAT and ACT. Something else that came out of the meeting, however, was an agreement with my teachers that let me leave and walk around for a couple minutes during longer classes. I struggle sitting still for long periods of time, so the specialists helped me create this agreement with a few teachers. I don’t know many other places where individualized care like this happens.

With the possibility of remote learning in the future, and the school looking to change their mission statement, I urge them to keep the following in mind: patience and flexibility with students who have trouble learning, and intimate student and teacher relationships. While this is just my experience, many people I know would agree with my list.

For this past semester, teachers did a good job keeping these values. In the case of online learning for part of the 2020-2021 academic year, I have no doubt that instructors will keep up their high level of patience, flexibility, and kindness towards students. A lot of this can just be attributed to the teachers that CGS employ, so regardless of where the learning takes place, I believe that those aspects of the Catlin Gabel experience are safe.

I appreciate my time at Catlin Gabel so much. Being able to call this amazing campus and loving community my home for the last 15 years is nothing short of a blessing. I only wish I could’ve finished out my tenure on campus.