25th Anniversary Celebration
On Thursday, March 31, New Hope School celebrated its 25th anniversary with food, song, and a healthy dose of enthusiasm. Mrs. Jeanne Carroll, who started the school in her home in the fall of 1996, returned with the aid of a slideshow to recount the history of the school’s beginning and subsequent development. Driven by a desire to offer children an education that stressed strong character development and love of God as well as academics, she inspired six families to join her in creating a first-grade class in her home. Adding a new grade level each year, the school moved several times before eventually settling in its current location at the Athenia Reformed Church on Clifton Avenue in Clifton.
Since coming to Clifton, New Hope has continued to develop its activities, initiating a vibrant after school program, including choir, robotics class, and martial arts, accepting foreign exchange students, adopting a Core Knowledge curriculum that has helped to generate consistently high standardized test scores, adding a kindergarten class, ongoing professional development of its teaching staff, conducting a growing number of project-based learning (PBL) activities, and receiving accreditation from the Middle States Association for Colleges and Schools.
Taking time from his busy schedule, Clifton Mayor James Anzaldi stopped by to congratulate the school on its anniversary. He also presented a proclamation from the City of Clifton, read by eighth grader Kenji Onishi, congratulating the school on its 25th anniversary. In particular, the Mayor complimented the school on the quality of its education program and its promotion of a high standard of moral conduct. The New Hope School choir then sang two songs: “Lean on Me” and “You Raised Me Up.” In addition, several of the school’s alumni appeared and, to the rapt attention of New Hope’s current students in attendance, shared stories of their experiences at New Hope and beyond.
The program concluded with a sharing of the anniversary cake and lots of chitchat among staff and both previous and current families connected with the school.