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Maren Holmen

Summer School – It’s Not Just For Flunkers Anymore

“Summer school” has been the boogeyman of students in movies and schools for decades: “If you fail this course, you’re going to have to go to SUMMER SCHOOL!”  (Cue scary music and/or demonic laugh.)  But for a growing group of families, summer school (and, particularly, summer school for high school students) is not a punishment but an opportunity—a chance to improve skills, follow a passion, or jump ahead.

Options to Homeschool Outside Your Home

There are multiple reasons (philosophical, lifestyle, financial) why a family may opt to homeschool their children.  For the early grades and even for some more advanced courses (where a parent or close connection has a background in that area), it’s fairly easy to direct the education of homeschooled children.  But what do you do for those courses that you aren’t comfortable teaching?

What Should You Look For in a High School?

So you’re starting high school next year.  For some, that means that you need to look for a new school.  There are so many things to consider: Will I like the other kids?  Can I be on the debate team and the soccer team?  Do they let freshman have roles in the spring play?  But you may not have a good strategy for finding that new school and making sure that you’ve done what you can to be successful in high school.

The Beekman School's Unique Admission Process: Immediate Entry

Navigating the complexity of New York City’s high school admission process is not an easy task: tests, auditions, screenings, etc.—all to determine whether a student is “well-suited” for a school. There is nothing more discouraging than being rejected the right to learn because you are not considered to be the “right fit” for a school. Apart from depriving the student of the opportunity to demonstrate his or her true potential, we believe that this practice poses the risk of making a student lose confidence and motivation for individual achievement.

5 Tips for Staying Focused During Summer Break

It's summer again—a long-awaited time of rest for many students, time to have fun, explore, travel or dedicate yourself to a new or an old hobby. Who doesn’t want that? As we’ve said in the past, we all need a break, and we probably deserve it.

However, long summer vacations could also make you forget a lot of what you’ve learned over the past school year. And we value the time and effort you’ve put during that time, so we’ve come up with the following five tactics to help you stay focused, avoid summer learning loss, and get ahead with your future goals.

Now That You’ve Decided to Take an AP Exam

While going about how to register for the AP exam, people tend to put off finding a place where they can take the them until the last minute--and that's the worst thing you could do, especially in a place like New York!  Unlike the SAT or ACT, there is no online AP test registration and there are no test centers set up specifically for these exams.  It’s left up to each school to allow (or deny) students who wish to test with them.  I always recommend the following:

Deciding Whether or Not to Take AP Exams

As parents and their children worry more and more about how hard it is to get into college, they look for additional opportunities to distinguish themselves from the rest.  Advanced Placement courses and exams have become one of those things high school juniors and seniors take to show that they are competitive.  Every year, however, I field inquiries from frantic parents who are looking for a tutor or a place for their child to take these AP exams, in large part because “that’s what everyone does.”  Befo

What it Takes to Learn Your Way: A Personalized Approach

This post is part of a series inspired by Dream School: NYC, a SundanceTV docu-series that follows 15 New York City teenagers who left high school and are now trying to get back on track to graduate. The Beekman School partnered with the show to help customize the learning experience for the students. Follow this blog to learn more and participate in the social media conversations using the hashtag #LearnYourWay.

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