Live the Questions AN EXPERIENCE-BASED SEMESTER PROGRAM ABOUT NEW YORK CITY FOR JUNIORS AND SENIORS IN HIGH SCHOOL
You will explore New York City as your classroom, laboratory and playground.
You will think critically, embrace new experiences, work collaboratively and learn about yourself.
CITYterm is… … a community of 30 juniors and seniors and 10 faculty members. Students come from across the country and around the world, from Minneapolis to Miami, San Francisco to Seoul. … located on the 96-acre campus of The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Students live in one dormitory with access to the dining hall, library, athletic fields, art studio, music practice rooms and gym. … an experience-based academic program focused on the complexity of New York City. Students study New York City life through a combination of seminars, city expeditions and meetings with a myriad of New Yorkers. … composed of a curriculum that includes three classes from the Urban Core (Honors-level History, Literature, and Urban Environments) and two courses from our broad range of math, science, and foreign languages.
Urban Core The Urban Core classes put so many ideas in your head that you can’t help but open your eyes and your ears to the world in ways you might never have before.
ZOE ZACHARY, Fall 2011 Brookline High School 2012 Bard College 2016
The Urban Core curriculum is an interdisciplinary, honors-level, study of the history, literature and urban environments of New York City. Urban Core courses meet three days each week in the classroom and three days in the city. The curriculum’s project-driven focus fully engages the student in the content and the learning process. Each semester, students meet with a diverse group of New Yorkers — authors, photographers, urban planners, Broadway producers and former Mayors — as part of the Urban Core’s three credit, experience-based curriculum. You will take the lead in your exploration of the curriculum and the city. The Urban Core classes allow you the freedom to take ownership of your own learning and study the pieces of New York about which you are most passionate. Because New York and our students are constantly changing, no two semesters ever look the same.
Urban Core Brooklyn Bridge Spend a week engaged in an interdisciplinary exploration of an iconic structure. Create a product — a poem, a calculus equation, a short film or something entirely different — that expresses your understanding of the Brooklyn Bridge using the medium of your choice. • Explore the cultural, historical and political implications of the Brooklyn Bridge through eight diverse seminars • Discover the intricacies of the bridge during multiple CITYtrips • Design your understanding of the Brooklyn Bridge for CITYterm’s Exhibition Night • View the work of others during Exhibition Night to deepen your understanding
When walking along the Brooklyn Bridge, I thought it would be hard to capture everything I saw and felt in one cohesive project. But when I got started, it was just like a chain, each link connected one by one until it all became clear to me. YASHODHARA SURI, Fall 2011 Palmer Trinity School 2013 Florida International University 2017
Urban Core Grand Central Winter Venture into Manhattan after midnight to examine your assumptions about life on the streets of New York. • Read Grand Central Winter, a memoir about homelessness in New York City • Engage author Lee Stringer in a dialogue about his life and work • Participate in a Midnight Run to provide food, clothing and companionship to the homeless residents of New York City • Author a written reflection that makes meaning of your experiences A year ago, someone could have asked me what I thought it meant to be homeless and I would have answered: to not have a home. After reading Grand Central Winter, I saw homelessness through new eyes, but after the Midnight Run, my new vision became tangible. I learned first-hand that the homeless are not just blank faces hoping for some change, but that they have stories and dreams, families and friends. LEO SCHUCHERT, Fall 2010, Freeport High School 2011, Wagner College 2015
Urban Core Sustainable Waterfront Analyze a waterfront neighborhood and design a public space that addresses that community’s current needs. Consider your solution in the context of long term social, economic and environmental sustainability. • Study the factors that affect waterfront development in New York City. See your classes in action during visits to the Coney Island Boardwalk and Brooklyn Bridge Park • Choose a New York waterfront and become an expert on the site, the neighborhood and the environmental concerns • Synthesize your ideas and your experiences by drafting a new plan for a sustainable public space • Present your plan to a team of New York City architects and hear their feedback We presented the idea to create an eco-friendly space on the site of the Gowanus Canal that included greenhouse space for people to have individual farm plots. This appealed to the residents of Brooklyn and their desires for fresh but affordable food. CAROLINE HARIRI, Spring 2012, Branson School 2013, Trinity College 2017
Math Science Languages Math at CITYterm is a unique experience. The small class sizes and the discussion-based setting make for an ideal learning experience. Because you live with your classmates, collaboration is natural and a great way to continue learning outside of the classroom. ABIGAIL McLEAN, Spring 2013 RJ Reynolds High School 2014
In addition to the Urban Core you will take two courses from our broad range of math, science and foreign language offerings. These classes are small and tailored to your individual needs. The faculty works with the teacher from your sending school to assure that you are studying the same content as your peers enrolled at home. With small class sizes, you will find that you easily engage with the CITYterm faculty, who will work with you to achieve your own goals. If you are taking courses outside of CITYterm’s course offerings, the CITYterm Academic Dean can arrange a tutor for an independent study. Recent independent studies have included Mandarin, Hebrew, German, Latin and AP U.S. History. Courses currently offered at CITYterm: Math: Probability & Statistics, Algebra II/Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, AP Calculus (AB & BC) Science: Chemistry, Physics French and Spanish: Intermediate, Advanced and AP Language
Community CITYterm brought me something new every day — a question, a learning tactic, a building, a challenge — and a group of some of the most interesting and engaging people I have ever met to experience it with. ANDREA ZHU, Spring 2012 The Winsor School 2013 Columbia University 2017
A semester at CITYterm affords students the opportunity to build a community of learners. Participants come from across the country, each bringing a unique combination of experiences, interests and skills. Working in collaboration, students and faculty form a unique community each semester, one that values individual differences and supports collective growth. With inclusivity and immersion in the group experience as a foundation, CITYterm students build life-long relationships with one another and the faculty. Being part of the CITYterm community—by flipping pancakes together on Breakfast Crew, by navigating the New York City subway system or by working together to design the ideal public park—is a rewarding experience. CITYterm’s strong community has a positive effect on each student’s social, emotional and intellectual experience.
At CITYterm, routines are made to be broken; each day is a new chance to create your own adventure. Between seminars and CITYtrips, you will find yourself discussing Do the Right Thing on the subway, playing basketball in the gym, eating a falafel in the Lower East Side on a Saturday night, or wandering through the Festival of San Gennaro in Little Italy.
Some of the best moments of CITYterm were in our dorm room when we had hour-long conversations about the things we talked about in class. CITYterm showed me that my academic and social lives don’t have to be separated, and that so much more learning happens outside the classroom. ELLA STOREY, Spring 2012 Marin Academy 2013 Bucknell University 2017
Beyond
CITYterm Talking with Tristan about his CITYterm experience was like a floodgate opening up. We had the most amazing discussions of so many things, completely open, upbeat. His optimism and excitement about the future is incredible. ELIZABETH HAND, CITYterm Parent Spring 2007 and Spring 2009
When visiting Columbia and Barnard, you will read beneath the surface of the college tour and the manicured campus. With your college counselor, you will structure a story linking who you are, what you want to study and who you want to be. You will make more informed college decisions because you know yourself better. Your teachers will know you better, too. Like most CITYterm alumni, you will likely ask a CITYterm faculty member to write a college recommendation. You will never be at a loss for college essay ideas—that moment on the Brooklyn Bridge will always give you goose bumps.
I can think of no better preparation for college, both academically and personally, than a semester at CITYterm. A CITYterm graduate appeals to universities, and subsequently succeeds during their college tenure, because of their proven ability to expand their worldview through an experiential learning process that encourages personal development unparalleled in any other setting. A student who succeeds at CITYterm will undoubtedly be the type of person who arrives on a college campus ready to explore, question, and experience. —ZOE CARTER, Assistant Director of Admissions, Boston University In the last five years, the thirty colleges most attended by CITYterm alumni are: American University Bard College Barnard College Brown University Bucknell University Colorado College Columbia University Cornell University Duke University Emory University The George Washington University
Georgetown University Macalester College New York University Oberlin College Occidental College Sarah Lawrence College Scripps College Skidmore College Stanford University Syracuse University
Tufts University Tulane University University of California, Los Angeles The University of Chicago University of Michigan University of Pennsylvania Vassar College Wesleyan University Williams College
Why CITYterm I’ve learned more here than I ever could’ve expected; not just about the city, but about myself and the way I learn. CITYterm has given me confidence and knowledge that I know I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. NORA DALY, Spring 2013 Waynflete School 2014
CITYterm is truly an experience that you cannot pass up. —MATTHEW GASIOREK, Fall 2012, Greensboro Day School 2014 A semester at CITYterm is truly a once in a lifetime experience. In four months you will learn, explore, and know New York City in more depth than you ever thought you could. But CITYterm is about more than the city. CITYterm is about taking ownership over your own learning by participating in small class discussions, collaborating with engaged students from across the country and working closely with caring, innovative teachers. At CITYterm you will practice leadership skills, as well as critical thinking and writing skills that are invaluable in college and beyond. Along the way you will build lifelong connections with students and teachers. After a semester at CITYterm there are limitless opportunities to shape who you are as a person, learner, and thinker.
It was the people, this program, and this city who let me find a new, multi-faceted sense of self. — SUMMER KOO, Fall 2012, Chadwick School 2014 I couldn’t be any more grateful for CITYterm. You don’t come to CITYterm to change; that’s inevitable. You come to CITYterm to grow. — ADAM HARB, Fall 2012 San Francisco University High School 2014
CITYterm should be called CITYlife because my future has forever been altered. — DAWSON NANCE, Spring 2012 Santa Fe Prep 2013, Elon University 2017
Apply
Today CITYterm is exponentially more than the brochure advertises. I would encourage anyone even remotely interested in the experience to apply; you won’t regret it. SARA EISMONT, Spring 2013 Shady Side Academy 2014
Are you excited about the possibilities of CITYterm? Are you ready to learn more? Check out our website at www.cityterm.org to get more in depth information and download your application. You can also find out how to apply for financial aid. CITYterm and our partner schools are committed to providing the opportunity to attend this program regardless of economic background. If you are ready for a semester at CITYterm, we are ready to explore financial aid options with you. Fall and Spring applications for admission and financial aid are due February 15th
I came into CITYterm expecting to learn just about New York City, but left with a whole new outlook on learning and life. —REBECCA YOUNGDAHL, Spring 2010, Pingry School 2011, The College of William and Mary 2015
Spend a semester in New York City:
Learn how to live the questions.
Before CITYterm I used to ask “what?” and now I ask “why?” SAM HIGGINS, Fall 2011 Episcopal School of Dallas 2013 Hendrix College 2017