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Our Graduates

Blue Rock graduates are often described by educators, community members and their own peers as grounded, confident, independent, thoughtful, creative, adaptable and fearless. We maintain contact with many of our alumni and alumnae, and in interviews they have shared how their Blue Rock education fostered a belief in their own abilities.  The years they had here to develop a clear sense of themselves as active learners has made them adept at solving problems and collaborating with others. They feel able to find the necessary tools to complete new tasks, readily face challenges and are motivated to pursue their interests.  Our alumnae and alumni have a deep appreciation for the attention Blue Rock School devoted to who they were as unique individuals. Many graduates feel that they are not only thriving, but excelling in their new schools, often recognized for their achievements and contributions.

Blue Rock made me love learning. I thought of school as a magical, joyful place that I wanted to be.
— Maud Streep, Harvard graduate and film professional
Blue Rock School and its teachers encouraged creative thinking and problem solving. I learned there that anything is possible. I have an instinctive yearning to ‘figure things out’ that was cultivated and appreciated at Blue Rock.
— Renata Wadsworth Cohen, production potter at the Rochester Folk Art Guild

 

Parents by and large echo these sentiments, also thrilled that their child(ren) enthusiastically engaged in real learning and critical thinking beyond their Blue Rock years, even at extremely rigorous prep schools, while other more conventionally schooled children had “burned out” and lost their love for learning.

 

 
Our two children were amongst the first “Blue Rockers,” back in the school’s early days. To make a long, wonderful story short—our son and daughter flourished at the school in their different ways. Both managed and enjoyed the challenges of high school and of Ivy League colleges. Both have been fortunate enough to find good friends, interests and work they care about “in the real world.” My husband and I believe that Blue Rock, by encouraging their sense of themselves in relation to education in all its guises of doing, feeling, learning and valuing, was crucial to their well-being.
— Maeve Kinkead, writer, actress, trustee and former BRS parent
 
 
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Where They Go from Here

 

Our Graduates | Where They Go from Here | Colleges our students have attended
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Our students have thrived at a variety of public and private high schools and colleges. We have honor students at many Rockland, Westchester and Bergen County public schools including Nyack High School, Clarkstown North and Clarkstown South High Schools, as well as at Hastings High School. Dwight Englewood preparatory school in New Jersey is pleased to receive our alumni.  There, the staff notices that our graduates have dimensions of character and engagement that are rare in children nowadays, and the students perform well academically. The Director of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in Riverdale recommends our school, based on our alumni there. We have had graduates attend Green Meadow Waldorf School where the staff reports they “stand out” academically, creatively, and as leaders. Other graduates have attended The Masters School, Hackley School, The Harvey School, Saddle River Day School and Rockland Country Day School.  Some students are attending specialty high schools in New York City such as Professional Performing Arts School, Kaufman Center Special Music High School, Bronx High School of Science as well as Rudolph Steiner School and The Dalton School. Some have traveled further to The Darrow School in New Lebanon, New York and The Putney School in Vermont. Other high schools attended include:

Class Photo 2016

  • Cardinal Spellman High School

  • Fordham Preparatory School

  • High School of American Studies at Lehman College

  • High School for Environmental Studies

  • Iona Preparatory School

  • Irvington High School

  • Nightingale-Bamford School

  • Saddle River Day School

  • Tappan Zee High School

  • Trevor Day School

 

Colleges Our Students Have Attended Include:

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  • Bard College

  • Bennington College

  • Berklee School of Music

  • Boston University

  • Bowdoin College

  • Carnegie Mellon University

  • Columbia University

  • Cornell University

  • Dartmouth College

  • Emerson College

  • Fashion Institute of Technology

  • Friends World College

  • Green Mountain College

  • Harvard University

  • Hunter College

  • Massachusetts College of Art

  • Middlebury College

  • New York University

  • Northwestern University

  • Oberlin College

  • Ohio State University

  • Parsons School of Design

  • Skidmore College

  • Stanford University

  • Rhode Island School of Design

  • Rockland Community College

  • Rutgers University

  • SUNY Binghamton

  • SUNY Oswego

  • SUNY Purchase

  • Syracuse University

  • University of Albany

  • University of Barcelona

  • University of Chicago

  • University of Pennsylvania

  • Vassar College

  • Wesleyan University

  • Westchester Community College

  • Yale University

among others

 

Making a Difference

Our Graduates | Where They Go from Here | Colleges our students have attended
Making a Difference | Alumni News | Send Us Your News

Beyond college, we have had alumnae and alumni engaging in a myriad of service learning programs: the Peace Corps in Africa, bringing theater to communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Kigali, Rwanda, designing water purification systems for developing nations, working as an Outward Bound-trained teacher in the Bronx. In their professional lives they have taken on careers as potters, scientists, doulas, filmmakers, journalists, musicians, doctors, dancers, entrepreneurs, actors, teachers, photographers and visual artists, among other interesting vocations.

Blue Rock graduates' spirited pursuit of their dreams brightens the world and ripples outward to touch many lives. By pursuing their interests and living life fully, our alums are making a conscious and lasting impact on their communities.

Nikolai Stern teaching English in Thailand for the past two years as part of the Peace Corp

Nikolai Stern teaching English in Thailand for the past two years as part of the Peace Corp

 

Alumni News

Our featured Blue Rock Alum for Fall 2024 is:

Our featured Blue Rock Alum for Fall 2023 is:

Our featured Blue Rock Alums for Fall 2019 are:

Our featured Blue Rock Alums from Fall 2018:

If you would like to be featured in our Alum section, please let us know. We are happy to interview you and delighted to have you share a bit about your life after your Blue Rock years.

 

Send Us Your News

We would love to hear from you and hope that you will be in touch. Please complete the Alum Update Form below to keep us and your old BRS friends and teachers up to date. Send a recent photo along as well.

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In Memory of Paul Sturm