Ready for anything.
Everything we do builds to prepare our students for entry into an impressive range of the top high schools in the city and region. Students graduate from our program as well rounded, articulate, confident, and morally responsible individuals who are prepared to meet the challenges of a demanding secondary education and continue on the path of lifelong learning.
Process
In the spring of 7th grade, families begin working with our High School Placement Director, learning about the mechanics of the high school application process. Families then devote time during the summer to explore high schools.
As the students enter their 8th grade year in the fall, they embark on visits and interviews to prospective schools, while benefiting from our weekly Decisions classes, where we offer support and guidance throughout the process. In addition, a series of parent meetings and regular, detailed communication from the Placement Director ensure that families remain well-informed and on the right path.
We embrace a collaborative approach involving the Placement Director, the Head of Upper School, the student support team, and teachers. The Head of School also actively participates by conducting mock interviews with students. Our aim is to establish a robust support system that not only provides comfort and security to students and their families, but also encourages thorough consideration of all available options.
Relationships
Town partners closely with students and their families throughout the high school application process.
Our Director of High School Placement, Head of Upper School, and Upper School student support team all teach our 8th grade students regularly, which means that deep knowledge of each individual child informs reference letters, meetings with families, and conversations with high school admissions officers.
We are known for our integrity in advocating for our students with other schools. High school admissions officers know that our goal is to help students get to know schools and for the admissions teams to get to know our students. The information we share is based on real, lived experience with each student.
Outcomes
Our graduates enter high school with the confidence and self-knowledge that can only be achieved through a rigorous, well-designed placement process. Town alumni/ae go on to attend the best schools in New York City, including independent day schools, performing arts academies, and specialized public high schools, as well as boarding schools in the tri-state area and beyond.
“The special thing about Town to me was that I enjoyed most of my classes and felt encouraged to keep pursuing a portfolio of learning rather than a single track. I enjoyed English the most and it led to more differentiated skills in my career. Learning to love reading, scan text for the arguments and core theses, write with clarity and concision all came from Town. Though there were clear rewards for focusing on quantitative subjects, I was unwilling to give up the other half of my brain that I developed in Town English courses. That led me to take Philosophy and Economics courses in college, helped spur my interest in language models over other machine learning subjects, and it made me a more effective communicator as I've tried to start my own business.”
High School Destinations
Classes of 2020 - 2024
Over the past five years, Town graduates have attended the following schools:
American Heritage - Florida
American School in London*
Avenues: The World School*
Avon Old Farms
Birch Wathen Lenox School
Blair Academy*
The Brearley School*
The Bronx High School of Science*
The Chapin School
Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School*
The Dalton School*
Darien High School
Dwight Englewood School*
Elisabeth Irwin High School
Emma Willard School
Ethical Culture Fieldston School*
Fordham Preparatory School*
Frank Sinatra School for the Performing Arts
Friends Seminary*
Grace Church School*
Gulliver Prep - Florida
The Gunston School - Maryland
Hackley School
Abraham Joshua Heschel School
High School of American Studies
High School for Mathematics, Science & Engineering at City College
Horace Mann School*
Istanbul International School
Kent School
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts*
LaSalle Academy*
Léman Manhattan
The Loomis Chaffee School*
Loyola School
The Masters School*
Miami Country Day - Florida
Millbrook School
The Nightingale-Bamford School*
The Packer Collegiate Institute
Poly Prep Country Day School*
Riverdale Country School*
Rumsey Hall School
Convent of the Sacred Heart
The Spence School*
Taft School
Trevor Day School*
Trinity School*
Urban Assembly New York Harbor School*
W. T. Clarke High School
Williston Northampton School
Xavier High School*
York Preparatory School*
*Indicates that two or more graduates attended
College Destinations
Classes of 2015 - 2019
Over the past five years, Town graduates have attended the following colleges and universities:
Barnard College
Bates College
Boston College*
Boston University*
Brown University*
Bucknell University*
Carlton College
Case Western Reserve University*
Chapman College
Claremont McKenna College
Clark Atlanta University
Colgate University
Concordia College
Cornell University*
Dartmouth College*
Duke University*
Elms College*
Elon University*
Emerson College
Emory University*
George Washington University
Georgetown University
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Haverford College*
Kenyon College*
Lehigh University*
Loyola University - New Orleans
McGill University
Mohawk Valley Community College
New York University*
Northeastern University*
Northwestern University*
Ohio State University
Pomona College
Purdue University
Queen Mary's College of London
Regents College (London, UK)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rhode Island School of Design
Rochester Institute of Technology*
Sarah Lawrence College
Skidmore College*
Smith College
St. Andrew's University - Scotland*
Stanford University*
Swarthmore College*
Syracuse University*
Trinity College
Tufts University*
Tulane University*
University of Chicago*
University of Colorado
University of Miami*
University of Michigan*
University of North Carolina*
University of Pennsylvania*
University of Richmond
University of Southern California*
University of Texas
University of Vermont
University of Virginia
University of Wisconsin
Vanderbilt University
Villanova University
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest University*
Washington University in St. Louis
Wesleyan University*
Williams College
Yale University
*Indicates that two or more graduates attended.