The New School Day One

from Atlanta Intown - September 2021

by Atlanta Intown

Academe of the Oaks Buzz

Back to laughter. Back to learning BACK TO SCHOOL

The New School’s upperclassmen had a first day to remember

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All costumed up for their surprise school dance at Pittsburgh Yards are, from left, senior Emma Tuck and juniors Sarah Hackmuth and Heaven Powell.

By Donna Williams Lewis

The first day of school for juniors and seniors at The New School is never traditional, and this year’s first day was no different.

It wasn’t at school at all.

Usually, upperclassmen at the small private high school in Grant Park do a camping trip, but the pandemic put them on a different path this year.

“As high school students in Atlanta head back to school this year, they’re faced with rebuilding and renewing relationships with classmates, most of whom they haven’t seen in a year and a half,” said Jill Morehouse Lum, director of admissions. “Clearly, it’s an important time to explore what it means to be a teenager, in relationship with other teenagers, or, as we put it, who we are together.”

The New School’s 38 juniors and seniors spent their first day of school at Pittsburgh Yards, starting the day with yoga on the rooftop of the coworking space on the Atlanta BeltLine.

They then got busy working on plans for the school’s first ever prom in an assignment designed to get them in the mood for an end-of-day surprise – a silent and socially distanced dance party at Pittsburgh Yards, with music shared on headphones and costumes borrowed for the occasion.

School leaders hoped to help make up for the celebrations students have missed since the pandemic began.

“Celebrations and rituals are so important in the lives of us all and we wanted to find a way to start this year by injecting some of that spirit into the beginning of school,” said Head of School Peter Lefkowicz, co-founder of The New School.

Design teacher Jason Kofke helped plan the dance with Monique Nunnally, the school’s director of Community Engaged Learning.

“Our prom was replete with all the awkward social anxiety and avoidance of strangers or intimidating relations that I knew from all my high school dances. It was beautiful and perfect and real. And somehow it was still fun,” Kofke said. “Fast forward only 48 hours later and the classes were intermingled, knew each other’s names, and were hanging out like they’d known

Galloway students learn more than

just core academic subjects; they learn about themselves, who they are, and what role they want to play in making our world a better place.

PRE-K3 – GRADE 12

Jenny Lemay

people, learned about the significance of Slave Square in Oakland Cemetery, deconstructed the meaning of a historical marker or two, and tried their hands at spray painting the Krog Street tunnel. At the end of the first week of school, students started rebuilding their

Teams of students went on a scavenger hunt armed with spray paint, community of friends, challenges and a map. Freshman Caden Jenkins, left, and sophomore Lefkowicz said.

Jayla N’diaye tag Krog Tunnel with a core school value, “Be Yourself.” “They’ve gotten back each other for weeks. … Our community’s foundation is established.” The New School operates under the principle that the city is the classroom. in the habit of being out and learning in the city,” he said, “and they’re rediscovering what it means to be active, engaged young people in Atlanta.”

“We take our high school students out of the classroom and into the city, working with our faculty and community partners on issues important to all Atlantans, from water quality to urban development to racial justice,” Nunnally said.

“So, on the second day of the school year, we’re splitting up all of our students into small groups, taking MARTA to the heart of the city, and setting them off on a day exploring, and learning from, the city of Atlanta,” she said.

As they made their way through “Coming from sitting in my room historically significant and newly developing staring at a computer for multiple hours a neighborhoods, they explored what Martin day to traveling in small groups with other Luther King, Jr.’s legacy means to different students around the city was monumental.”

— Janiya Williams, junior

“It was great to spend a whole day in the city in a chill group of 10 freshmen, sophomores and juniors. These past days really helped our school to become a community again after Covid slowly tore us apart.”

— Ana Hoeferle, junior

“I was sweating like a sinner in church but we all still had fun.”

— Amar Quick, senior

Our Foundation

“It was lots of fun, and I can guarantee that no other school had a first week like this one! It felt great to be back in person and get to see the upper halves of so many new faces and I have high hopes for the year.”