The Marvelwood School

Marvelwood School's commitment has always been to the potential that resides in each of its students. The advisor system, small classes, dedicated faculty, optional skills support, and whenever possible, a hands-on approach to teaching and learning are some of the methods used to help students achieve their goals. The school strives always to be familial and to be a place where each student is known, valued, and treated with respect. Programs are designed and continually reviewed to enable each student to experience success in several different areas with a view to building self-confidence and optimism.

Marvelwood School is a non-profit, 9th - 12th grade, coed, college-preparatory boarding school located in the town of Kent in northwest Connecticut. Enrollment for the 2004-2005 school year was 145 students who come from all over the country and the world. The school is located on 83 rural, hilltop acres. The campus includes 20 buildings, eight tennis courts, four playing fields, two ponds, and large open spaces and woods. The Appalachian Trail passes close by and the land sits above the Housatonic River in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. The school is 55 miles west of Hartford and 80 miles north of New York City. Because of its rural location, hiking, biking, camping, skiing, and field studies are all normal activities at Marvelwood.

Marvelwood School provides a secure, supportive, and challenging environment in which a diverse group of young people can achieve academic and personal success. Unlike more traditional, highly selective boarding schools, Marvelwood enrolls students who have not previously been able to perform to their capabilities. There are many situations that lead an individual to our school, but all are seeking the same things: greater achievement in the classroom, the safety of our structured environment and intense faculty involvement, and the satisfaction of accomplishment in the social and moral areas of their development.

Marvelwood helps its students learn by offering small classes with individual attention, by adapting teaching styles as necessary, by emphasizing experiential learning and community service, by reinforcing constructive behavior with public recognition, by discouraging unproductive behavior with immediate, appropriate consequences, and by hiring and training faculty who are committed to spending time, energy and emotion on helping young people grow into well-educated, happy adults who will serve their families and communities responsibly and with integrity.

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Marvelwood's Mission Statement

Marvelwood's mission is to provide the path that leads to personal growth and academic success for young people willing to get involved in their own education and committed to the challenge of preparing for college.

The School is an optimistic place that provides a structured, supportive and challenging environment, celebrates diversity, and awakens untapped potential.


Our Core Values

Honesty

Honesty has been and remains the School's most important rule and guiding principle. Being honest involves keeping promises, having the courage to do the right thing and to admit wrongdoing, being candid and forthright in all relationships and situations, and practicing truthfulness in all communications, actions and decision-making. Honesty inspires trust and builds a strength of character which all members of the Marvelwood community should strive to achieve.

Respect

Self-respect and respect for others are the cornerstones of our diverse community. Self-esteem, courtesy and wise decision-making form the foundation for a School based on the values of empathy and tolerance. The value of community goes beyond the notion of assimilation to embrace mutual respect, diversity and integration, which mean learning from each other's experiences and beliefs to build a common and evolving School character.

Responsibility

Being responsible means being in charge of our choices and, thus, our lives. It means being accountable for what we do, what we say and who we are. It also means recognizing that our actions matter and that we are morally bound to the consequences.

Service to Others

The School's longstanding commitment to serving others reflects our desire to foster and nurture a genuine service ethic in all members of our community. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to look beyond themselves by reaching out to others, showing kindness and generosity, anticipating the needs of others, and putting service before self.

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The Marvelwood Experience

A Marvelwood education is characterized by intensive personal attention to the individual student. We are passionate about providing a college-preparatory environment which nurtures academic and personal growth and awakens the potential that resides in each of our students. A small, coeducational boarding and day school located just two hours from New York City in beautiful Kent, Connecticut, Marvelwood strives always to be a place where each child is known, valued, and treated with respect.

Honors and Advanced Placement courses, English as a foreign language, private Strategies and math tutorial programs and a dedication to experiential education enable Marvelwood to serve a diverse student body with a wide range of learning styles. Our experienced and dedicated faculty is committed to each student's success and delivers a superior educational program attuned to individual strengths and weaknesses. Nonacademic programs including weekly community service, visual and performing arts electives, an impressive slate of interscholastic and noncompetitive sports offerings, and a variety of leadership opportunities increase the potential for engagement and success outside the classroom. In every way, the structure of the school is thoughtfully designed to support college-bound students in their efforts to achieve positive intellectual, social, personal and moral growth.

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Headmaster's Welcome

Thank you for your interest in Marvelwood School. As the Headmaster and a father of four children, I recognize the importance of finding a school that fits your child?s intellectual, athletic and emotional needs. Marvelwood is a small school which achieves success through intense faculty commitment to the individual student, a strong curriculum and small classes. Our goal at Marvelwood is for students to graduate with the ability to lead a life both individually satisfying and beneficial to the greater society.

On campus, there is a strong family atmosphere which creates a very nurturing and supportive learning environment. Teachers are more than just educators at Marvelwood; they are advisors, coaches and role models to our students. The educational partnership that develops between our students and teachers is a bond that enables students to achieve success not just in the classroom, but in almost everything they do at Marvelwood: from playing on a team and developing sportsmanship, to trusting a fellow student to belay him/her down a rock-faced slope, to taking a chance in the classroom. Building a student?s overall self-esteem and confidence is one of our most important goals.

I encourage you to visit our campus and to meet our family of dedicated faculty and diverse student body. Spend a day with us and see for yourself the commitment and enthusiasm of our teachers and the Marvelwood spirit in our students, and envision your own child?s guided journey to achievement.

Scott E. Pottbecker
Headmaster

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Mission Statement
Marvelwood's mission is to provide the path that leads to personal growth and academic success for young people willing to get involved in their own education and committed to the challenge of preparing for college.

The school is an optimistic place that provides a structured, supportive and challenging environment, celebrates diversity, and awakens untapped potential.

Faculty and Administration
There are 46 full- and part-time faculty/administrative members (19 men, 27 women). 24 hold advanced degrees. There are also 30 staff members.

Marvelwood boasts an impressive number of long-time faculty and staff members. Six current teachers have been at the school for over 16 years! Another 14 faculty members have been here between 6 and 15 years. Marvelwood also employs an admirably stable administrative and staff population: a total of 14 current administrators or department heads have been at the school since at least 2002, and 12 staff members have worked here between 6 and 14 years!

Enrollment
In 2007-2008, the student population is made up of 153 students: 104 boys and 49 girls. Currently there are 11 day students enrolled, with the remaining students boarding at the school.

Accreditation/Memberships
Marvelwood is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and is a member of The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS),The Connecticut Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) and The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS).

Number of different courses offered: 55
Number of courses for which Honors credit is available: 12
Number of Advanced Placement (AP) classes: 3
Average class sizes in 9th and 10th grades: 6-12 students
Average class sizes in 11th and 12th grades: 8-14 students

The Robert A. Bodkin Library
Volumes of print material: 9,700
Non-print media collection: 400
Computers available for student use: 10
Media Room features: LCD computer projection system, Mimeo interactive whiteboard and digital ink recorder, wireless keyboard, stereo surround sound system.
The library maintains active participation in reQuest, the statewide inter-library loan system.

Endowment
$1,635,000

Annual Giving
$70,005 (July 1-December 31, 2007)
$156,000 ('05-'06)

Alumni
1,600

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The Marvelwood School History

Marvelwood School was founded in 1956 by Robert A. Bodkin and Ian Hanna in Cornwall, Connecticut. After several summers teaching reading at the Salisbury Summer School, they felt there was a need for a school for boys who had "not yet discovered how to make the most of themselves." These two men created Marvelwood to fill the gap between conventional college preparatory schools and strictly remedial schools by providing an appropriate mix of structure, support and challenge.

The student/teacher ratio has been and remains about 4:1. The school has grown considerably since the first four young men graduated in 1958.

In 1970 the school became a coeducational institution, and in 1995 moved from its small campus in Cornwall to much larger facilities in Kent. Over the past four and a half decades the mission of the school has remained fundamentally unchanged. The founder, Robert A. Bodkin, remained Headmaster until 1981. He was succeeded by Peter B. Tacy until 1989, H. Mark Johnson until 1997, and Anne Davidson Scott until 2005. Scott E. Pottbecker is the current Head of School.

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A Marvelwood education is characterized by intensive personal attention to the individual student. We are passionate about providing an educational environment which nurtures academic and personal growth and awakens the potential that resides in each of our students. Through our website, we hope you will get begin to get to know us as a place where each child is known, valued, and treated with respect. In every way, the structure of the School is thoughtfully designed to support college-bound students in their efforts to achieve positive intellectual, social, personal, and moral growth.

Please come see for yourself; in visiting the School, you will be introduced to a community where individuality, diversity, and excellence are celebrated and nurtured.

Katherine Almquist
Director of Admissions