Innovations in Learning

Hero Treatment

A Taft education goes beyond the traditional delivery of a core curriculum. Experiential and applied learning opportunities at Taft transform theory into practice, knowledge into understanding, and passion into action. Our diverse programs and learning opportunities prepare Taft students to not only thrive in the 21^st century, but to lead the way as globally literate, intellectually robust, and ethically principled citizens of an increasingly interconnected world community.

Independent Study Program (ISP)

For more than 50 years, Taft's ISP has allowed students to pursue their passions through high-level, inquiry-based, self-directed courses of study. Our program was the first of its kind in the nation, and continues to offer students a unique opportunity for advanced learning outside of the traditional classroom. Learn more.

Independent Tutorials

Online Learning

Taft is a member of the Global Online Academy (GOA), giving students access to a wide-range of non-traditional courses, as well as a network of people and resources from more than 60 independent schools around the world. GOA students are global citizens and modern learners, working in an environment where curiosity and passion drive learning. Students log in multiple times a week to engage in discussions, collaborate on projects, and apply knowledge in creative ways.

Most GOA courses are asynchronous; students are not expected to show up at one place at one time every day. Classes are capped at 18 students to maximize collaboration with both teachers and other students.

Global Online Academy FAQ’s

Global Online Academy (GOA) is a nonprofit organization that reimagines learning to empower students and educators to thrive in a globally networked society. Their approach is focused on building relationships that lead to deep learning and meaningful change.

The online courses are limited to 18 students and are taught by a teacher from a member school.
A GOA course can be just as rigorous as a Taft course.
A GOA course requires 4 - 6 hours of work per week, sometimes more.
Zoom and Canvas are the platforms used.
Grades and comments from theses courses will go on your report card.
Grades and courses will be on your transcript.
Available to Upper Mids and Seniors
You may take at most one GOA course per semester per year.
You must take one GOA course plus a minimum of 4 additional classes at Taft.
Taft School rules apply, including our Academic Honesty rules.
The timeline for a GOA course might be slightly different from our school calendar, and you must adhere to the GOA calendar, even if that means working over a vacation such as spring vacation.
Communicating with your teacher regularly is an expectation.

All GOA students develop six core competencies in practical, hands-on ways:

Collaborate with peers who are not sitting with them on campus.
Communicate and empathize with people living in areas of the world that are culturally different from their own.
Leverage their curiosity to curate and create content that is relevant to real-world issues.
Reflect on and take responsibility for their learning and that of others in an open forum.
Organize their time and tasks to become independent learners.
Interpret assignments and express themselves using a variety of learning tools.

Unique Partnerships

For nearly five years Taft and The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) have enjoyed a growing and meaningful partnership. Taft welcomes NYBG staff to campus several times each year for a scientific lecture series, and the Garden welcomes Taft students not only to its legendary grounds each year, but also to its classrooms, laboratories, libraries, and research spaces. Taft students work side-by-side with renowned scientists and college and graduate students during summer internships, conducting advanced research that has included collecting, developing, and digitizing assets for the 2.3 million specimen C.V. Starr Virtual Herbarium, and devising a rapid DNA extractor for use by botanists in the field. Learn more about the NYBG partnership.

Taft students have also worked in collaboration with the Sustainable Aquaculture Initiative out of Woods Hole, MA, to develop a small scale tilapia aquaculture model to benefit upland Haitians by growing fish to an edible size with little time or resource input, and with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), Marine Biology Lab (MBL), US Geological Survey (USGS), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

It bodes well for the school to be aligned with one of the best research and education institutions in the world. It demonstrates not only the tremendous opportunities available to Taft students, but also the esteemed position Taft enjoys in the larger community.

—Paul Parvis, Taft School, NYBG partnership founder

Study Away

Our school is an international community—a forum for widely diverse points of view and a laboratory of global issues. Our diverse student body makes this inherently so; programs that extend learning beyond Taft’s classrooms—both at home and abroad—enrich our community with newfound perspectives.

There are many study away programs and opportunities available to Taft students. Representatives from study travel groups visit campus throughout the year, and our faculty can also make informed recommendations. Programs popular with Taft students include:

School Year Abroad (SYA)

Upper mids and seniors many spend study overseas through the School Year Abroad (SYA) program. SYA is a nonprofit organization focused on providing yearlong high school study abroad programs. SYA operates four campuses in China, France, Italy and Spain, and designs its immersive programs to develop skills for an increasingly interdependent world. With more than 8,000 alumni since 1964, SYA is a school fully accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Central to the SYA experience is the adventure of fully engaging with different languages, cultures and peoples.

The Island School

Founded in 1998 with the goal of conserving the wild marine life population by providing alternative food sources and jobs for the people of South Eleuthera, Bahamas, The Island School offers Taft students an opportunity to fulfill the requirements of a traditional academic program while pursuing intensive work in marine biology and environmental science. The Island School offers programs during the fall and spring semesters, and during a summer term. The program is place-based, immersive, and experiential; all courses have a field component to them, which may include work at a government-sponsored research station. The program also incorporates physical and outdoor education components: Not only do students spend five mornings each week training for either a half-marathon or four mile open-ocean swim, but also they participate in two sea kayaking trips and earn PADI’s Open Water Diver certification.

Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki

Designed for upper mids, Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki students live and work on a 400-acre saltwater peninsula, with the goal of exploring the natural world through rigorous courses in natural science, environmental issues, literature and writing, art, history, mathematics, and languages. The community is small—42 students and 15 faculty members—and the application process is competitive. The one-semester program is built to stimulate intellectual engagement, community involvement, articulate expression, a sense of place, and a sense of self.

Mountain School

Each semester the Mountain School welcomes 45 motivated high school juniors from all over the world to the school’s farm in rural Vermont. Students and faculty build a community based on trust and an appreciation of differences, and create an academic and work-based community in which every voice matters. Courses provide a demanding, integrated learning experience that takes advantage of the school's small size and mountain campus. Balancing intellectual inquiry and experiential learning, the curriculum challenges students to think flexibly, speak their minds, and return to their schools equipped for continued academic success. Engagement with the farm and forest sparks an appreciation for their food, their fuel, and their labor. Admission is selective.

High Mountain Institute (HMI) Semester

The HMI Semester is a unique opportunity for academically motivated high school juniors and seniors, to spend one semester in the Rocky Mountains and the canyons of Utah. Students spend 12 weeks taking honors and AP-level classes that are place-based; students also spend five weeks on backpacking and skiing expeditions. Sustainability plays a key role in the HMI community. Students live in comfortable, but off-the-grid cabins while on campus. HMI’s signature combination of academics, wilderness, and small, intentional community leave students feeling confident, independent, comfortable with themselves, and ready to take advantage of the many opportunities that lie ahead.

Summer Programs

Arabic Year at King's Academy

Taft mids and upper mids may spend a full academic year at King’s Academy in Madaba-Manja, Jordan. The Arabic Year (AY) program offers intensive Arabic language study, Middle Eastern cultural immersion, and experiential learning.

King’s Academy is an American-style boarding school modeled after Deerfield Academy. Students accepted into the AY program must be committed to the work necessary to access a difficult language, and be willing to face challenges that inspire self-reflection and a consideration of new and different perspectives. The curriculum is informed by the King’s Academy guiding principles of respect, love of learning, responsibility, an integrated life, and global citizenship.

“Arabic Year at King’s Academy (AY) provides interested young men and women an unprecedented opportunity to study Arabic and explore the culture and traditions of the region. This is a critically important moment in the history of the Middle East. Because of Jordan’s unusual position in the region, we are uniquely placed to provide adventurous young men and women with a powerful and, we hope, transformative educational experience at Arabic Year.”

—King’s Academy Head of School John Austin

Learn more about Arabic Year at King’s Academy.

In This Section

Leadership Affecting Change

It was a pairing that was meant to be: Taft’s longstanding connection with The Island School, and Upper Mid Sean Dunbar’s longstanding connection to the island, itself.