The New School Podcast

Jason Kofke, the design teacher at the New School, and Kate Rouse, a TNS alumna, share their unique experience with the Arts Program at the New School with guest host Clara Jennings. Jason and Kate share the elements of TNS's curriculum that make the Arts Program current, experiential, and different from your standard high school art class.

As long as there has been school, there have been final exams. We may dread sitting down to take a test, but it’s the best way to quantify how much information you’ve absorbed in a year… Or is it?

What if there was a different way to showcase what you’ve learned? The New School has reimagined the end of the semester with their Exhibition of Student Learning, or “Exhibition.” The New School has held “Exhibition” every semester since it first opened its doors in 2014. The event serves a few purposes:

1. As a forum for taking students' ideas and work seriously
2. It creates an opportunity for TNS students to talk about their work, not with one another or with their teachers… but also with strangers!
3. It gets students out of their comfort zones.

Today on the show, host Adam sits down with co-founder and head of school Peter Lefkowicz and humanities teacher Alison Hennessee to learn more about the Exhibition of Student Learning. Enjoy today’s episode!

On this month’s episode, we’re highlighting a variety of perspectives on The New School's unique college prep and decision experience. Host Adam Walker is joined by TNS Director of College Counseling Anna Pless Peel and TNS seniors Ben Hofert and James Brathwaite. We talk about the school’s organized and student-focused approach to the college application and decision-making process.

The New School is a high school in Atlanta, Georgia that is devoted to challenging the status quo in education with its innovative curriculum and community-focused outreach.

But what makes TNS different?

To answer that question, we have three 10th grade students on the show today who will share more about their experience at TNS. Through virtual and hybrid learning last school year, to in-person classes today, Kaylin, Justice, and Zain will tell us more about what motivates them to get up and go to school tomorrow and give their thoughts on what makes their high school special.

Community-Engaged Learning is a term that encompasses a variety of educational experiences, but they do have some common characteristics.

Community-Engaged Learning experiences take students outside the walls of the traditional classroom and in to one or more communities. They do this in order to expand student perspectives, get students working with community partners who are subject-area experts, and create opportunities to apply classroom learning in real-world scenarios.

On Episode 1, Adam co-hosts with Brooklyn Williams, a junior at The New School Atlanta.