Embarking on the new school year, Morristown Beard School is offering a staggering 15 new courses this fall. These classes reveal the diverse perspectives and interests of the MBS community. Not only is every department represented among these new offerings, but also some of the courses are interdisciplinary and co-taught. These classes offer unique opportunities for students and allow teachers to develop new curricula filled with content that MBS students would otherwise not be exposed to.

History teacher Ms. Katie Cannito is the first to teach Introduction to Psychology at MBS. Cannito expressed excitement for the “opportunity to be creative while forming a new curriculum.” She felt like there was a lot of student demand for the course and offering it this year shows just how much the school is listening to the needs of its students.
In the World Language department, Señora Aline de la Torre-McCloskey is teaching Human Rights in Latin America Honors. In the school’s course catalog, this course’s goal is “to promote respect of human rights and see the role we play as becoming socially aware.” This reflects MBS’ values, specifically, Awareness of Diverse Perspectives. “I wanted to do this class because I realized that a lot of students didn’t understand the human rights issues being violated in Latin America,” de la Torre-McCloskeye said. She explained that to change the perspective that students have about human rights in Latin America. “The goal [of the course is] not to pressure a single perspective, rather for students to develop their own ideas,” de la Torre said.

In the math department, Mr. Ryan Tamburino introduced a new course entitled Network Analysis. Tamburino said, “I chose to offer this course so that students can see a different side of math and how it can be useful in their fields of interest. So far, the course has been going wonderfully; the students have confidently taken on the challenge of learning something totally unfamiliar and have produced thought-provoking models of various board games.” One of those students, Anjalika Shah ‘22 said, “I wanted to take another math course that was more applicable to the real world. I am glad I took it because we are using really complex tools and programs to sort out networks and make sense of them.” This course offers additional opportunities for students interested in pursuing math in the future in a more non-traditional format.

MBS continues to introduce technologically centric courses like new faculty member Dr. Dennis Evangelista’s “Drone Engineering.” Through this class, students are given the opportunity to develop vital engineering skills such as programming and basic operational-pilot skills. Dr. Evangelista said, “a course like drone engineering is a gentle introduction…built around shared experiences and memories that often help young engineers remember why they want to be engineers – the thrill of flying something made with their own hands; the creative excitement of the design process; the camaraderie of working with a team.” The course is currently made up of upperclassmen – mostly seniors. J’Meeyah White ‘22 said, “[the class is] a unique experience for people who want to be innovative, and the [class periods] are spent exploring creation and flight of drones.” The course introduces students to a new area of interest that is not commonly offered at the high school level.

With fifteen new course offerings this fall, the Morristown Beard School community continues to broaden students’ education embodying part of the School’s mission to give students the opportunity to “discover and develop their individual pathways to academic success and personal fulfillment while becoming enlightened, morally responsible citizens of the world.” The creativity of teachers and the eager student body continue to contribute to an ever-growing curriculum that explores the many values and diverse perspectives of the school community.