ALUMNI PROFILES BY DECADE
1990s
Perseverance in Education Brings
Entrepreneurial Success
M
arc Hoffman KLHT’95 traces his success as an education entrepreneur to eighth grade. He was nervous about entering the Upper School, as students often are. Sue Cesare LH’48, Head of School at the time, saw Marc’s hesitancy and was intent on seeing him move up and thrive. “Sue Cesare is an amazing person,” Hoffman said. “I am where I am now because of the leadership role she took with me and the support I was given.” Hoffman flourished in the Upper School. He became an excellent student and was named captain of the football team, voted homecoming king, and elected student body president. He developed relationships with students throughout the school. He graduated with perfect attendance. “I do not believe there was a clinical terminology for ‘growth mindset’ and ‘inquiry-based learning’ back then,” said Hoffman, who channels his passion for education into seminars and workshops for schools and organizations. “King was on the cutting edge of education. That is why I was able to thrive.”
After King, he studied psychology at Williams College, worked in the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and earned his master’s degree in child clinical psychology at Yeshiva University before making education his career. He founded the Hoffman Educational Group to offer academic coaching and educational advocacy services for students and their families. “Talent matters, but grit is more important. ... I gravitate toward challenges." —Marc Hoffman
In 2014, he founded Strong Start Early Care and Education, a project-based, early-education program for children from birth to five years old. The program serves nearly 400 children in Shelton and Trumbull, Connecticut. “Strong Start is an extension of my experience in learning with King’s project-based model,” Hoffman said. Like King’s Lower School, Strong Start’s philosophy is rooted in the Reggio
Emilia Approach, a child-centered, inquiry-based approach to learning. Students explore the environment within intentionally designed spaces that allow them to actively engage in their learning. The students’ interests and curiosity drive the curriculum, often resulting in long-term project work that helps develop concepts of knowledge and understanding. “Learning is not one-size-fits-all,” Hoffman said. “If I look at the people I work with professionally now, these are just übersuccessful people who all look at issues or solve problems differently, many of them being dyslexic and ADHD like myself. The learning environment is imperative to help cultivate that. If I had been in a passive learning environment where I was lectured, I would have had trouble, so I am committed to creating environments like the one I had.” Hoffman loves seeing curiosity lead to discovery in the Strong Start students, including his son, Avi, 3. “I have seen the project-based model’s impact on how he sees the world, how he applies what he learns in the classroom outside the classroom,”
Sue Cesare LH’48 Remembers… "It was a pleasure for me to encourage Marc because his spirit to succeed was always visible and presented with humility. Our school is truly fortunate to have such an exceptionally committed, professional educator in its midst." Sue Cesare, Head of School from 1970 to 1996.
52 Quest 2023-24
