Marlynne Marlow P'20

"I really like the community at Pennington, in the sense that it was very easy to get to know other parents, to get involved in School activities, and to work together. The Pennington School is a very nice, friendly, welcoming place. When you have concerns about your children, teachers are very accessible and willing to listen and to help. The teachers are quite dedicated to their students and want to do all they can to assist. If there were problems, we heard about them right away, and everyone got together to try to help.

There are so many resources here that you can tap into. Parents for Pennington (parents association) hosts all kinds of social events for parents and the group is very involved in the life of the School. Whenever I was on campus, I saw that teachers knew all the parents and they knew who every child was; they always stopped to say hello. You are not just a number here—everyone knows who you are, they address you by name, and you feel so welcome as a result.

My son was so happy here. He wanted to be involved in everything and it was actually difficult to tear him away at the end of the day. That is probably the best way to describe how great this environment is.

There is so much opportunity here for everyone—the School caters to all the students' needs—from art to athletics to social events in the evenings and on weekends; it's all here. I definitely got the sense that teachers really want all students to reach their full potential—they can get extra help by stopping in after school for a few minutes, they can visit the Writing Center for help with a paper, they can go to extra math help on a Tuesday night, or they can take an Academic Skills tutorial class, come to an evening supervised study hall, or take advantage of the immense resources in the Cervone Center for Learning.

As a parent, I could be involved in everything and I wanted to be—what else can you ask for in a school? And especially with all of the recent renovations on campus and all the new classrooms, I was so happy to show people around. I am incredibly proud to hear from so many people I know in the surrounding community that there is great interest in attending Pennington.

My son started in sixth grade, and we loved the fact that the Middle School has its own dedicated faculty and administration devoted to this age group, but with all the other opportunities available on a campus with such wonderful resources. Middle School students spend a lot of time with Upper School students, in electives and world languages, and sometimes in math, and this also helps to build a strong community. Even in the Campus Center, playing ping pong together makes all students equal in their school community. When he graduated from the Middle School, I saw how those opportunities helped him transition to the Upper School.

I chose Pennington because I felt that, compared to other schools, the application process and the visits to campus were all so welcoming; people always addressed us by name, and we felt that we were known from the moment we stepped onto campus the first time. I couldn't be happier with our experience here."