NEW YORK—A boarding school fair held in Brooklyn on Saturday welcomed youth from near and far to explore an educational opportunity that might have appeared more elusive at first glance than it actually is.
Many brilliant and motivated students may not realize their potential without a helping hand, but one private tutoring company is there to offer such assistance. The Ivy Key opens the door to Ivy League schools, such as Harvard and Yale, by providing mentors to promising students.
Ivy Key founders Jae Gardner and Chris McConnell believe that all young students should have the same educational opportunity regardless of financial limitations. Though the company is not a non-profit organization, it provides free group tutoring on a weekly basis and negotiates lower rates for students with potential.
“As long as we’re an educated community and an educated society, we’ll be stronger because of it, and that unifies [us]. … We look out for one another, act as each other’s crutch. [By] having that sense of community not only in New York but in America, we will reach higher than we ever thought [of] before,” Gardner said.
Gardner grew up in the Upper East Side and was a student at Regis High School before studying economics and sociology at Harvard. He has been tutoring for the last decade and has realized that “you can be a big influence, you can have a big impact, and it doesn’t cost you anything but time.”
Gardner established a tutoring center in his native Upper East Side, but he also services the greater New York City area, Long Island, the Hamptons, Connecticut, as well as a program in China.
The Ivy Key will be working with an organization called China Your Way to make American Ivy League schools more accessible to Chinese students. Under the program, willing families host the Chinese students while the Ivy Key prepares them for SAT testing and other requirements necessary for applying to the universities.
INSPIRING YOUNG MINDS
Gardner and McConnell hosted a booth alongside over 50 boarding schools on Saturday at an annual boarding school fair organized by Inspiring Young Minds (IYM).
IYM was founded by Mark and Marion Cheong in hopes of connecting youth with a better education.
Cheongs said that people incorrectly assume that boarding schools are either for rich kids or troubled kids. Their son dispelled their own misconceptions about preparatory schools when he took an interest in attending one and did the research himself.
Promising students are often awarded scholarships, which makes these schools more affordable, explained the couple, so money alone does not determine admission to a boarding school.
Schools such as The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry value work ethic and enthusiasm above all else, said Matt Kammrath, who represented The Masters School at the fair. Mark Cheong and IYM volunteers allow youth with these qualities to connect with preparatory schools based on their individual compatibility, he noted based on his experience collaborating with the organization.
The Cheongs hope to buy the vacant St. Vincent Ferrer School building to provide a space for youth to learn and develop skills for their future, but they must first raise funds for this venture.
As the St. Vincent auditorium filled up with students and their parents, volunteer and former teacher Ed Taylor rejoiced.
“It lightens my heart to see so many people curious about education,” he said.
Many brilliant and motivated students may not realize their potential without a helping hand, but one private tutoring company is there to offer such assistance. The Ivy Key opens the door to Ivy League schools, such as Harvard and Yale, by providing mentors to promising students.
Ivy Key founders Jae Gardner and Chris McConnell believe that all young students should have the same educational opportunity regardless of financial limitations. Though the company is not a non-profit organization, it provides free group tutoring on a weekly basis and negotiates lower rates for students with potential.
“As long as we’re an educated community and an educated society, we’ll be stronger because of it, and that unifies [us]. … We look out for one another, act as each other’s crutch. [By] having that sense of community not only in New York but in America, we will reach higher than we ever thought [of] before,” Gardner said.
Gardner grew up in the Upper East Side and was a student at Regis High School before studying economics and sociology at Harvard. He has been tutoring for the last decade and has realized that “you can be a big influence, you can have a big impact, and it doesn’t cost you anything but time.”
Gardner established a tutoring center in his native Upper East Side, but he also services the greater New York City area, Long Island, the Hamptons, Connecticut, as well as a program in China.
The Ivy Key will be working with an organization called China Your Way to make American Ivy League schools more accessible to Chinese students. Under the program, willing families host the Chinese students while the Ivy Key prepares them for SAT testing and other requirements necessary for applying to the universities.
INSPIRING YOUNG MINDS
Gardner and McConnell hosted a booth alongside over 50 boarding schools on Saturday at an annual boarding school fair organized by Inspiring Young Minds (IYM).
IYM was founded by Mark and Marion Cheong in hopes of connecting youth with a better education.
Cheongs said that people incorrectly assume that boarding schools are either for rich kids or troubled kids. Their son dispelled their own misconceptions about preparatory schools when he took an interest in attending one and did the research himself.
Promising students are often awarded scholarships, which makes these schools more affordable, explained the couple, so money alone does not determine admission to a boarding school.
Schools such as The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry value work ethic and enthusiasm above all else, said Matt Kammrath, who represented The Masters School at the fair. Mark Cheong and IYM volunteers allow youth with these qualities to connect with preparatory schools based on their individual compatibility, he noted based on his experience collaborating with the organization.
The Cheongs hope to buy the vacant St. Vincent Ferrer School building to provide a space for youth to learn and develop skills for their future, but they must first raise funds for this venture.
As the St. Vincent auditorium filled up with students and their parents, volunteer and former teacher Ed Taylor rejoiced.
“It lightens my heart to see so many people curious about education,” he said.
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