WOODBURY — As the class of 2025 made their post-secondary decisions, one thing became abundantly clear: Nonnewaug continues to produce students ready to conquer our nation’s most prestigious colleges and universities.
This year’s senior class reminded the Region 14 community that Nonnewaug’s seniors can compete alongside the state’s top high schools as this graduating class includes multiple students accepted to Yale, another on Harvard’s wait-list, and multiple National Merit Scholars.
The list could certainly go on, but the class of 2025’s success speaks volumes about the quality of NHS academics.
“I think that Nonnewaug did prepare me for college. I think that the hard classes that I was able to take were also a big factor of it.” said Gavin Sandor, the class of 2025 valedictorian. Sandor is attending Yale University in the fall after choosing NHS for his high school career.
“It isn’t necessary [to go to a private school] and going to those schools don’t necessarily guarantee you to get into an Ivy League,” said Sandor. “I think it really comes down to how much an individual applies themselves.”
Many students choose to attend private high school for an increased chance of getting into a reputable university. However, between the pricey tuition and constant planning, is going to private school worth it?
Nonnewaug has yet another Yale-bound student, Andrew Grivner. Grivner is among the top 10 percent of NHS students.
“In my opinion, you definitely don’t need a private school to get into good colleges,” said Grivner, who chose Yale over a service academy. “As long as you do well in the school that you’re at and have lots of extracurricular activities, schools will look at you the same as they would look at a private school student or even more so.”
Beyond just this year’s class, Nonnewaug has enjoyed plenty of acceptances from Ivy League schools and other institutions of national acclaim.
Class of 2018 alumnus Dean Jones, now a University of Pennsylvania alumnus, sees the connection between Nonnewaug’s rigorous academics and life as a UPenn graduate.
“Public schools like Nonnewaug provide excellent resources, dedicated teachers, and diverse experiences,” said Jones, who has since graduated from Penn’s Wharton School of Business, “which can equally prepare students for admission into top colleges if a student takes advantage of what is available to them.”
Admin alike strive to help students get into any desired colleges of their choice.
“I think overall the public school experience, with what we offer [around 42 AP classes], you can still get the same information, than you would at a private school, and probably at a much cheaper cost,” said NHS principal Mykal Kuslis.
Nonnewaug has added countless dual-enrollment and AP courses over the past few years. The Class of 2024 finished with a total of 688 ECE credits that had a college savings value of $473,612.
This isn’t the only impressive academic fact. At Nonnewaug, accounting for the percentage of students scoring a 3 or above on the AP exams, students on average earned 279 college credits with a savings value of $197,811. Public schools like Nonnewaug offer many college-level courses that prepare students for their college experience.
Alongside the bevy of impressive acceptance letters, NHS has made significant strides in developing student academic skills so that it can compete when it comes to getting into the nation’s top universities.
Micah Tracht and Luke Vitalis have been recognized as National Merit Scholars following their PSAT scores that placed them among the top finalists.
Whether you go to private school or public school one thing is certain: NHS students can create your own narrative.
“If your goal is to get into a good college, going to a private school isn’t a free ticket into a college,” said Grivner.
This piece is an op-ed written by NHS Chief Advocate reporter Catherine Viveros ’28.
