Academic Philosophy

The Harkness Table

Students who are used to a traditional classroom with rows of desks may be surprised at first by Lawrenceville's Conference Plan, established in 1936 by the acclaimed educational philanthropist Edward Stephen Harkness.

Still the defining feature of the School's educational life, the Conference Plan seats 12 students around an oval table along with their teacher. Eye contact—between student and teacher, and student and student—is unavoidable.

Students are therefore challenged to be well-prepared and to participate in class discussions. Classes become personal, alive, and creative. Students challenge teachers, express themselves, and risk being wrong. "There's a feeling of intellectual camaraderie," says one student. "Sometimes we even gang up on the teacher and find ourselves going way beyond where we thought we could go with our ideas."

Some Lawrenceville classes, such as mathematics and science, are best taught in a lab or lecture hall, where the teacher can use the blackboard or lab equipment to demonstrate examples. And faculty have introduced an array of educational technology—from CD-ROM to Powerpoint presentations to Web page construction—into the Harkness classroom. In every case, however, classes remain small and intimate. As one student puts it, "Our teachers won't let us get away with saying 'like' and 'you know.' We have to explain exactly what we mean and support our ideas with evidence."

Most Lawrenceville teachers live on campus and are therefore available for individual conferences with students well beyond consultation periods scheduled in each school day.

Academic Requirements

Lawrenceville requires students to take a minimum number of core courses in each academic department. This traditional educational approach is complemented by a rich array of elective offerings. Most of our students take 15 courses per year.

Academic advisors—faculty members associated with or living in the Houses—help students choose their courses each trimester. These consultations focus on the overall degree of difficulty of the schedule, concerns about adjustments to the rigors of the School's curriculum, and commitments to athletic or extracurricular activities. In addition to traditional academic courses, Lawrenceville students are required to meet other important educational obligations, including the following:

Community Service

Becoming an educated citizen means knowing how to contribute to society in order to make the world a better place to live. Therefore, students fulfill a 40-hour community service requirement for graduation. Students may meet this requirement during the school year by working with nonprofit agencies and organizations in the Trenton-Princeton area. Some students meet the requirement with work done during school vacations or prior to coming to Lawrenceville.

Personal Development Seminar

As a residential community, Lawrenceville takes seriously the concerns challenges facing adolescents, and therefore requires Third Formers to take a 10-week seminar designed to help them discuss issues ranging from friendship to sexuality to substance abuse to stress—with the goal of helping them make healthy decisions.