It sounds like a Zen koan: If you go to Pierrepont School worrying about getting into a top college, you won’t engage with your education in ways that will get you into a top college.
That’s the magic — and surprise — of the very small, virtually unknown K-12 Westport institution.
It’s hidden in plain sight. The Mediterranean mansion (and former offices of Lindblad Travel) is tucked high on the Sylvan Road North hill at the Post Road West traffic light.
But for a certain type of student (and parents and teachers), it is a model for what education can and should be.
Pierrepont School, on Sylvan Road North. the entrance faces Post Road West.
Founded in 2001, Pierrepont has long kept a low profile. In a town dominated by outstanding public schools, and equally outstanding private Greens Farms Academy, Pierrepont does not “compete” for students. Their main marketing method is word of mouth.
A certain kind of student, Pierrepont figures, will find them.
A biology student draws a detailed neuron.
Those students are willing to dive way deep into subjects that interest them — and those they are totally unfamiliar with. They’re okay with the “process” of learning, rather than the “product.” (That is very important. Pierrepont does not give grades, class ranks or other “honors.” And there are no AP classes.)
Pierrepont students enjoy preparing well for class, and speaking up in discussions and debates. (Also important — with 6 or 7 students sitting around a classroom table, there’s no place to hide).
They are students who are okay without having sports teams to play on, or big musicals to act in. Instead they’ll create a dance performance, or collaborate on a computer science project with someone in Nigeria.
Young students perform an interpretive dance at Pierrepont’s graduation.
And they must be comfortable with diversity. Belying the stereotype of private schools, 47% of Pierrepont’s 130 students (grades K-12) are of color.
They come from 35 towns and cities throughout the region. But 40% are from Westport.
“You can’t develop intellectually, wholly and deeply, unless you’re in a community of difference,” says head of school Sarah Marchesi.
She notes that race and ethnicity are not the only types of differences. Pierrepont strives for diversity of religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomics and political points of view too. Financial aid is available.
The faculty is equally diverse. Of 52 teachers, 46% are of color.
Almost none live in Westport. Most commute from New York or New Haven.
Very few have teaching degrees. But at least 60% have at least one post-graduate degree.
“They are not trained teachers,” Marchesi notes. “They don’t have a pedagogical orientation.”
They are, however, “deep in their fields.” An English instructor is a published poet. A dance teacher runs her own Brooklyn dance company. A music teacher is writing 2 operas. A number are former college professors. They teach courses like Latin, Mandarin and African Dance (all required).
A high school theater class.
Faculty members are attracted by the chance to work collaboratively across disciplines with a non-standardized curriculum, and by the lack of letter grades. Students are accountable for their own learning.
Accountability is big — sometimes in ways unfamiliar, even uncomfortable, to parents.
“We limit direct contact between parents and teachers,” Marchesi says. “We ask teachers to be accountable to their students, and administrators to be accountable to parents.”
There’s a “sense of defensiveness” if teachers must constantly post grades and assignments, Marchesi says. That gets in the way of the learning environment Pierrepont hopes to foster.
Above all, the school prizes curiosity and learning, for learning’s sake.
“Grades create ceilings,” Marchesi points out. “Getting an A is not necessarily great. Some kids can do very little, and get A’s.”
Instead of letter grades, Pierrepont students receive detailed written assessments 3 times a year, in every class and from every teacher.
The lack of grades has not hurt seniors’ college chances. Though Pierrepont does not focus on preparing students for the most selective schools, those universities know how deeply and broadly its graduates can think, analyze, synthesize, write and create.
A piece of art from middle schooler Dereje Tarrant, on the Pierrepont wall.
“Colleges look for authenticity,” Marchesi says. So — back to that Zen koan — the students who go to Pierrepont not worrying about getting into the “top” colleges often do.
The small graduating class sends students regularly to the Ivies, and schools like Stanford and the University of Chicago.
And — because this is Pierrepont — several have gone to Deep Springs, the tiny, demanding, self-governing school in a Nevada valley.
Meanwhile, back in Connecticut, Pierrepont does what it does best: empower a diverse faculty to teach and learn with a diverse student body, in rigorous, inclusive, empathetic, intimate and ambitious ways.
Student musicians — from kindergarten through high school — rehearse for a concert.
It’s not for everyone. But for the students and staff who seek it out, it works.
For over 2 decades it’s worked — quietly and effectively — right here in Westport. And under most Westporters’ noses.
Now, Pierrepont School prepares itself for the decades ahead. This fall they closed on the purchase of the Sylvan Road property they’d rented for years.
That Mediterranean mansion on the hill is now their permanent home.
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