In September 2000, I experienced my first day of pre-kindergarten. I walked onto the small 8-seat yellow bus that would take me to Newcomb Central School. At first, I found myself to be the only one on the bus, but the driver coasted down the street a couple of houses and picked up two more. I was waiting for a fourth kid, but the bus did not stop again until we got to the school. Here began the class of 2014, just three-strong on the first day of school. On June 28, 2014, nine students walked across the stage at Newcomb to receive their degrees.
At the time of my last day of school, there were roughly 110 students attending Newcomb Central School, which is a public school housing grades pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade. A common saying about Newcomb is that its students receive a private education in a public school. No, we do not wear uniforms. No, parents do not pay fortunes for their kids to attend high school. We are simply set in a small town in upstate New York that has never known large class sizes. When “picture day” arrives at Newcomb, the photographer can usually capture the entire school on the gymnasium bleachers.
At Newcomb, everyone knows everyone. Each teacher knows the first and last name of every single student, and it is not uncommon for the superintendent (or principal) to strike up conversations with each student. Teacher-student relationships are highly casual, even though it is still the norm to call them Mr. and Mrs., with the exception of the physical education teacher, who the students all lovingly call Coach.
Classrooms rarely see attendance above 15 students. Throughout my years, the smallest class I had was 3 and the largest was 24. This allows for great one-on-one teaching, which is an educational luxury that parents across the country spend thousands of dollars on for their children. Therefore, students rarely fail their classes because the teachers notice which students are not doing well and correct the problem with the student directly before it gets any worse. Also, teachers will literally drop whatever they are doing to help a student in need. I cannot count how many times I went to my science teacher’s room during his planning periods.
When it comes to athletics, anyone can walk onto any of the teams, providing that they go to the practices. If a student wants to try a new sport, even if they are not good at it, they can still play on the team. I played six years of tennis, two years of varsity soccer, and two years of varsity basketball. Even with the “anyone can play” provision, we had such a small amount of student-athletes that the school’s athletic department is combined with a nearby district.
One might think that a small town in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains would have a school full of predominantly white American children. Not quite. As of May 2016, the school has hosted 95 international students from 28 countries, such as Zimbabwe, China, Russia, South Korea, Germany, Australia, Thailand, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, and Brazil.
This international program was started by Superintendent Skip Hults, who arrived when Newcomb Central’s student population was around 55 and the district was facing possible closing or consolidation. By hosting international students, the district has been able to attract other families from different towns, doubling the student body by 2014. Other districts have followed Newcomb’s example and now have their own international programs.
Of course, the population was not the only reason why the international program was created. Having a diverse student body from different cultures exposes the somewhat isolated hometown students to different ideas and customs. My father and I housed five international students, two from Russia, one from Armenia, one from South Korea, and one from China. Learning from their perspectives vastly changed my outlook on the world. I also made some great friends throughout the years and it is really cool to say that I have friends all across the globe.
The reason why I am sitting here rambling about my old school is because it provides an education that you cannot get anywhere else. One-on-one classes in a diversified educational setting provides you skills and experience needed to excel in the real world, and it is extremely uncommon to find such an institution in a town with no street lights, one gas pump (not a gas station), and one general store.
Students also get a chance to travel outside of the small, rural town and see the world. For example, the band travels out of state each year for music festivals. The entire high school has embarked on numerous field trips to New York City. The school’s Youth and Government program gives students the opportunity to spend a weekend in Albany at the state capital, where they immerse themselves in a realistic experience of presenting bills or litigating in a court room. My class of three students, which grew to seven by ninth grade, was able to fundraise enough money to embark on a senior trip to Belize. I, myself, was also given funding to travel to Washington, D.C. for a ten-day leadership conference on forensic science.
Newcomb truly shaped who I am today. I believe that I am more conscious about other cultures due to the international program. I believe that I was able to learn and understand the curriculum in school because of the one-on-one teaching style. I believe that I was given opportunities to explore my horizons and experience different things. I believe that I am one of a small number of people that can confidently say that their high school completely prepared them for college and life later on.
Ultimately, I believe that I would be a different person from who I am now if I had grown up anywhere else on the planet. I am glad that I was fortunate enough for the lottery of life to plant me in this rural, middle-of-nowhere town that I can call home. Also, I am glad I was fortunate enough to attend such an amazing public school that I can always go back to and feel like I am with family.