Northwood School View Book

Northwood School

Center of Somewhere Special

Northwood School is an internationally recognized private boarding and day school located in the world-renowned Olympic destination of Lake Placid, New York providing access to world-class events and facilities, outdoor experiences, and unique amenities not offered anywhere else. Founded in 1905, Northwood is among the nation’s top private schools for excellence in academics and athletics. Every student is well-supported to co-create and pursue a personalized pathway to success in high school and beyond.

Named “The 26 most beautiful towns in America” by Condé Nast Traveller magazine, August 2021.

Prepare for success.

Northwood School offers a rigorous college preparatory curriculum while also engaging in intensive, hands-on learning experiences including Honorslevel Independent Study, L.E.A.P., Advanced STEM Research, Advanced Humanities Research, design thinking, robotics, entrepreneurship, Learning Center, and cross-pollination with partners.

Academic Philosophy

Northwood School prepares students to shape the future. We engage students in the active pursuit of knowledge and believe that students learn best through exploration and inquiry. Students gain resilience, become independent thinkers, and challenge perspectives by forming relationships with their teachers and peers. The Northwood experience is rooted in the Adirondacks and creates confident, globally-minded students, ready to innovate and adapt to our ever-changing world.

Small class sizes allow for personalized instruction, active participation, and genuine relationships with faculty mentors.

ACADEMICS

Place-Based Learning

The greater Lake Placid, Adirondack Mountains and nearby Olympic facilities are extensions of our classrooms and labs. Northwood’s unique location provides opportunities for faculty and students to apply the knowledge they are learning using inquiry and place-based projects.

Academic Boost

Northwood’s Learning Center provides students with an additional layer of academic support. Our academic coaches use students’ strengths as the foundation to build individualized plans that increase self-awareness and knowledge of learning styles, establish strong academic habits and behaviors and allow students to become more independent learners.

6:1

STUDENT TO TEACHER RATIO

Beyond the classroom, faculty members play multiple roles at Northwood; such as advisor, coach and dorm parent.

NURTURING ENVIRONMENT

Human relationships extend beyond the classroom wall but also inform what happens inside classes. Northwood has a deeply committed, experienced, passionate faculty who loves teaching and forming lasting relationships that inspire students long after they’ve graduated.

ACADEMICS

OUR APPROACH TO CO-CREATION

At the Innovation Hub students are cocreators of their learning in a setting that is intentionally integrated into the Lake Placid community to promote real world opportunities and collaboration. Student’s tinker, build models, and test ideas alongside their peers, their teachers, and their real-world mentors. They present their work to real world audiences. Additionally, their work is personally meaningful and makes an impact on their communities. This innovative and collaborative approach to learning empowers students to personalize their pathway to success in college and careers, while also learning to navigate complex systems and communicate with diverse audiences.

A Progressive Facility

Northwood School’s commitment to excellence and innovation in academic programming now extends into a progressive 9,000+ square foot co-creation space in downtown Lake Placid. The flexible, open classroom and event space is a center for real-world application, creative thinking, and community collaboration, providing a hub for modern day learning for all of Northwood’s students.

HAPPENINGS AT THE HUB

Promoting collaboration, innovation, and modern-day learning in our community, the Innovation Hub hosts:

• Innovative day camps and workshops for youth

• Pop-up Programming such as Hub Talks, panels, and workshops

• Collaboration Space for local non-profits, businesses, and individuals to host meetings, conferences, and special events

Preparing Students for the Future

Northwood School provides the space, tools, and guidance to hone 21st century skills and real-world experiences that the country’s top colleges and employers value most. In addition to our regularly programmed course offerings in innovation and design, engineering, robotics, entrepreneurship, the Hub hosts innovative pop-up programming (talks, workshops, events) that is open to Northwood students and the greater Lake Placid community. With the addition of this space to the Northwood School experience, our graduates will be better empowered and equipped to confidently shape the future as learners and leaders.

Fostering Mastery

The Advanced Scholar Programs encourage achievement and accelerated instruction to high-performing students. Advanced STEM Research provides a platform to engage in independent research within the fields of biological sciences, physical sciences, behavioral sciences, and engineering. The Advanced Humanities Research Program offers the opportunity to engage in the highest level of academic inquiry by designing and executing a year-long research project in the humanities or social sciences.

PROJECT: ADIRONDACK INVENTORY & MONITORING (AIM) CAMERA TRAP NETWORK

Students use trail cameras to conduct wildlife surveys and collect climate data.

Unleash creativity.

The arts experience at Northwood School begins with each students’ creativity and is fostered by faculty who draw on their own experience to encourage each student’s artistic expression and to inspire students to explore new spaces and mediums. Students have the opportunity to express themselves artistically through painting, print-making, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, publishing, choral, performance and dance.

Inspiring to Aspire in Dance

Northwood School’s dance program is offered through our partnership with The Dance Sanctuary and provides options and opportunities for students of all abilities. The program features performance-based offerings for students of all abilities, and we also offer multiple dance-focused courses as part of our academic curriculum. Courses vary each semester but typically delve into topics such as The History of Dance, Dance Technique and Improvisation, The Art of Dance, Ballet and Jazz Technique, Dance Anatomy and Kinesiology, Social Dance Through the Decades, The Choreographic Process, Modern, Tap, Dance Theater, and more.

Pursue your passion.

Physically, our students focus on elite athletics at Olympic facilities while also playfully exploring and expanding their interests in co-curricular. Northwood has a rich tradition of athletics dating back to its founding in 1905. The school’s founding principles included a balance of rigorous academics, appreciation for the natural beauty of the Adirondack Mountains, and unique athletic opportunities for its students. Northwood’s athletic department supports this balance fostering its student-athletes moral, mental, and physical development.

Making its debut for the 2021 academic year, the Northwood Outing Club (NOC) program is designed for aspiring outdoor enthusiasts to build a lifelong passion for adventure sports while utilizing worldclass venues and unique assets within the Adirondack Park, North America, and internationally. Students will develop soft and hard skills, environmental stewardship, risk management procedures, and leadership skills while working closely and collaborating with faculty, staff, and professional guides.

Expand your interests

Northwood students have a wide range of co-curricular options across all three seasons. Twice an Olympic competition site, Lake Placid abounds with opportunities for hiking, rock-climbing, white-water rafting, kayaking, mountain biking, luge, bobsledding, cross country skiing, biathlon, ice skating on Mirror Lake, skiing, etc.

Achieve more.

Northwood School has been widely recognized for the performance of its boys’ and girls’ hockey teams, alpine skiing, and boys’ soccer teams. All athletic programs, whether elite, interscholastic, or recreational, offer Northwood students the opportunity to develop sound character and work habits with an emphasis on the school’s five core values: Responsibility, Respect, Integrity, Compassion, and Courage.

Full Potential

The teams play 40 to 50 games per year, boast an intense year-round training schedule, and the receive the coaching and academic support they need to reach their full potential in the rink and the classroom.

BOYS’ HOCKEY

The boys’ hockey program at Northwood School includes three teams and recently joined forces to create the Prep Hockey Conference with six leading men’s preparatory hockey-playing institutions.

GIRLS’ HOCKEY

The girls’ hockey program helps student-athletes achieve their goals on the ice as well as in the classroom, and alumni have gone on to play at the university, professional, and international levels.

Olympic Roots

The Olympic spirit of building a peaceful world through mutual understanding, friendship, and sports are intrinsic to the Northwood ethos, and true to its Olympic roots, many Northwood student-athletes have gone on to play at the college, professional or international level. Northwood has had the rare distinction of having a former student participate in every Winter Olympics since 1964. This includes six former Northwood student-athletes at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Countless other students have discovered new interests, lifelong pursuits, and important lessons about teamwork and effort through the athletic offerings.

Skiing

Northwood offers an elite athletic program in alpine skiing and additional snowsport disciplines with on-and-off snow year-round training, successful records, and college counseling/ placement to select skiing schools. Northwood and New York Ski Educational Foundation (NYSEF) have a long-standing relationship and student-athletes in alpine, freeride, ski jumping, and Nordic are all members of NYSEF. With a committed team of coaches, Olympic experienced leadership, faculty, staff and tutors, student-athletes are supported as they compete from the U16 level through the regional championships, the U.S. Nationals, and beyond.

WHITEFACE

Northwood’s home mountain for alpine is Whiteface Mountain, the largest vertical drop in the East, ranked as the best ski area in the East by Ski Magazine.

Boys’ Soccer

In collaboration with the Black Rock Football Club, Northwood is host to the northeast region’s very first residential soccer academy. When players are chosen for the Black Rock program, they attend Northwood School, live on our diverse campus, and train daily throughout the academic year from August through June. Many residential soccer players have gone on to play at the university or club level and have the potential to pursue a professional soccer career.

L.E.A.P. COURSES EACH SPRING 17

Learn by doing.

Each spring, our students select a L.E.A.P. (Learn. Engage. Apply. Perform.) course as part of our experiential learning program. These courses occur outside of a traditional classroom setting and in many cases in locations far removed from the campus. L.E.A.P. allows students to choose a specific passion and focus, and gain first-hand experience by learning in an environment that requires immediate practical application.

Beyond the classroom

Sample courses include:

Adirondack Farm to Table & Culinary Experience

Art, Music and Biomechanics of the Modern Circus

Geothermal Sustainability in Iceland

Introduction to Woodworking (using hand tools)

Coastal Vietnam – Sustainable Tourism, Culture, Geology and Cuisine

New York City Ballet & Balanchine

Nutrition and Athletic Performance

Our faculty leverage individual expertise to craft week-long courses that immerse students in unique subjects, from fly fishing on the Ausable River to exploring the glaciers and volcanos in Iceland.

Engage your world.

Students’ experiences are distinguished by being a part of a community like no other. Socially and culturally, students feel pride in contributing to and persevering on multicultural teams while being supported by a group of caring professionals (teachers, coaches, and advisors) that customize for students’ strengths, needs, and interests. Northwood School’s diverse student body consists of 190 students from every region of the United States and 25+ countries, bringing rich perspectives. Students from all over the world come together to live, learn, laugh, grow, struggle at times, and discover who they are and who they are becoming, all with the support of one another.

Opportunities abound

With the Adirondack Mountains in our backyard, students can adventure in the timeless wilds while also enjoying the modern comforts and amenities of the vibrant village of Lake Placid.

MOUNTAIN DAY

Northwood carries long-standing traditions that define the Northwood experience. Mountain Day, Winter Carnival and “Ringing the Bell” at graduation are a few.

COMMUNITY COLLABORATION

The Innovation Hub on Main Street in downtown Lake Placid serves as a natural and physical connection between students and the shared knowledge and creativity in the community, promoting collaboration, engagement, and partnerships.

LIFE AT NORTHWOOD

Love where you live

Lake Placid is an incredibly vibrant town within walking distance of restaurants, shops, theatre, music, art, events, and its private beach on prestigious Mirror Lake. Within a short drive, grocery and retail stores, and unique experiences such as zip-lining, bobsled ride, sky ride, ski jump access, outdoor skating at the Olympic Oval, and so much more.

THE LIVING ROOM

Just one of many places where the community congregates regularly and informally, hanging out together just as family does.

Shaping a Future as a Leader

Whether captaining a team or helping to run a dorm, students at Northwood play a vital role in shaping the community and developing key leadership skills and experiences that are harder to find at a larger, less community-based school.

Many teaching or administrative faculty also advise, coach, and live in dorms. That closeness and those many points of contact underpin relationships with mentors that last a lifetime.

Achieve your goals.

Northwood provides personalized, expert college advising that guides students through each step of the process, from course selection in younger years to broadening perspectives and knowledge about colleges to comprehensive guidance through the application process itself. Counselors truly know the students and advocate for them while advising on “fit” because their understanding of colleges and Northwood students runs deep.

Proven Success

Northwood School is proud of its 3,500+ alumni. Our graduates’ wide-spanning and impressive accomplishments are rivaled only by their contributions to society and their devotion to Northwood.

Take the next step.

The best way to experience Northwood School is in person. When you arrive, a current Northwood School student will lead your family on a campus tour. Our student tour guides provide a first-hand perspective on daily life, school facilities, and academic programs.

During the campus visit, each prospective student participates in an admission interview. Upon request, our Admission Office will coordinate meetings with program directors in your area of interest as schedules allow.

To schedule a tour, contact admissions@norhtwoodschool.org or (518) 523-3382.

CLOSE PROXIMITY

Northwood School is 2 hours from Montreal, Albany, and Burlington and 5 hours from New York City and Toronto.

NORTHWOOD SCHOOL FOSTERS GROWTH IN YOUNG PEOPLE SO THAT THEY MAY ENGAGE THEIR WORLD AND LEAD LIVES OF CONSEQUENCE.

Cobble Hill, a 2,331-foot-high mountain with views of Lake Placid and the surrounding area including Marcy and Algonquin Peak. Northwood School is situated at the base of Cobble Hill.

COBBLE HILL

BE A HUSKY

92 Northwood Road, Lake Placid, NY 518.523.3357 admission@northwoodschool.org northwoodschool.org