August 2021
Teenagers typically don’t have a lot of control over their lives. Even though their minds are rapidly maturing, they are still under the roof and rule of their parents or guardians. If they are working, they usually take the jobs and hours that no one else wants. And when it comes to their primary occupation—that of being a high-school student—they follow the cookie-cutter curriculum that their school’s administrators place before them.
The problem is that not every student is the same. Everyone has different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and aspirations. Each individual has a different vision of their own future.
Fordham Prep also offers Advanced Placement courses in 20 areas, including everything from Music Theory to Calculus to Chinese to U.S. Government & Politics. And qualified seniors can attend actual college classes at Fordham University, which shares the historic Rose Hill Campus. These students also have access to University Library for research and enrichment.
Proximity to Fordham University also enables Fordham Prep student athletes to take advantage of NCAA Division I-caliber training and practice facilities. Athletics are a big of campus life for Prep students, and over the past decade, the Fordham Prep Rams have won more than 50 individual city and state championships in rugby, track, crew, football, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, and swimming.
We want students to have a large say in their experience ... We want to create an individualized academic program that challenges students in the most appropriate way.”
By focusing on the individual, Jesuit education molds students who will
serve the greater good
Through its unique Good Neighbor Initiative, the Fordham School of Professional and Continuing Students (PCS) is offering adult learners in nearby neighborhoods an automatic 30% reduction in undergraduate tuition fees.”
Of course, scholarship is only part of Fordham Prep’s mission. And when it comes to “service,” students are encouraged to see themselves and their paths in a global context. Fordham Prep’s Global Education Program gives them firsthand experience, by sending them on exchange and service trips around the globe, including places like Tanzania, Ireland, Italy, Rwanda, and Belize. These adventures will prepare students to be more empathetic, aware of social justice and human rights issues, and better suited to enter the interconnected and diverse world they will live and work in.
Back home in New York, students are required to perform a service project every year, with an emphasis on helping the underserved and under-resourced. Seniors alone perform 17,000 combined hours of service each year.
And when it comes to faith in the context of Fordham Prep’s mission, it’s about more than just religion. While the Jesuits are an order of Catholicism, 26 percent of Prep students are non-Catholic. They are Jews, Muslims, Protestants, Hindus, and Sikhs. The labels don’t matter if the individual is prepared to ask important questions of themselves when it comes to their place in both the Fordham Prep and their own wider community.
“In terms of faith, we want to ensure that our students leave with a better sense of self in this world,” says Serton. “And we want them to have a deeper relationship with God, however they define God.”
Regardless of which religion or denomination they follow, the ideal Fordham Prep student is open to everything the world has to offer. They have high standards and are ready to push their own limitations. They are prepared for a challenge and not afraid to fail.
“This is a place where you can fail and that’s okay, as long as you learn and adapt,” says Serton. “This is a place where students can grow and leave as informed as possible.”
Previous students have left Fordham Prep to find success in finance, business, and medicine. They have started small businesses and nonprofits. Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully was Class of 1947, and other alumni include former CEO of TD Ameritrade Joe Moglia, Time magazine writer Sean Gregory, former president of Motown Records George Jackson, and current New York Yankee Andrew Velazquez. And 33 other alums, including Serton, are passionate enough to return to Fordham Prep and help today’s students become tomorrow’s leaders.
If you see yourself as a student open to new challenges and experiences, who wants to dedicate both your own growth and the betterment of the world around you, consider coming to Fordham Prep. For young men in and around New York City and New Jersey, it’s an easy commute to their Rose Hill campus via MetroNorth. The campus is just a short walk from both the Botanical Garden and Fordham stations. And the school awards $4.5 million in scholarships and financial aid each year.
Take a virtual tour, or better yet, attend one of the school’s in-person Open Houses this fall (October 14 or October 30). Registration for these events opens on September 1.
Brad serton
Director of Admissions at Fordham Prep and Class of 1995
That’s why at Fordham Preparatory School, a private Catholic institution located in the Bronx, every student is prepared for college in their own individual way. Fordham offers a robust academic experience tailored to the individual. After all, that is the school’s mission.
Founded in 1841 as St. John’s College, Fordham Prep was one of the first Jesuit schools in the U.S. The institution’s stated mission is to form leaders in faith, scholarship, and service. And as a Jesuit school, the educators center their approach to education around the Latin ideal “cura personalis,” which translates to “the care of the individual.” In pursuit of this ideal, the teachers and administrators at Fordham Prep focus on helping each student explore his unique potential.
“We want students to have a large say in their experience,” says Brad Serton, Director of Admissions at Fordham Prep and Class of 1995. “We want to create an individualized academic program that challenges students in the most appropriate way.”
This approach is embodied in Fordham Prep’s iSTEAM program. By providing access to dynamic Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math through an Ignatian perspective, Fordham Prep students can collect and combine ideas from multiple disciplines including aviation, engineering, biomedical research, and gaming. Along with critical thinking, this will enable them to imagine, design, create, and discover for their own purposes and those of social justice and the larger
benefit of mankind.
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