Merit Scholarship Exam at Garden School

On Saturday, December 10, more than 100 students will converge on Garden School in Jackson Heights for the school’s annual Merit Scholarship examination. Begun seventeen years ago through Garden School’s board of trustees, the Merit Scholars program provides up to four full scholarships to top candidates who take the exam and can be worth as much as $100,000 in Garden School tuition fees over a seven-year period.

Founded in 1923, Garden School was the result of efforts by parents, teachers, and community leaders who wanted to create a school that places the academic and social interests of children at center. To this day, decisions about curriculum and academic achievement are made with students, not politics, in mind.

Garden School is an independent, co-ed, secular, college preparatory school that spans nursery through 12th grade. Ninety-nine percent of Garden School’s students go on to college immediately after graduation. And all of this takes place within a diverse, international environment in which there is no single majority.

The Merit Scholars program provides full and partial scholarships to students who will attend Garden School the following year, entering in grades 6 through 10. This means that students who are currently in grades 5 through 9 are eligible to take the exam. Thus, a student winner entering Garden School as a sixth grader can expect to receive his or her scholarship award for seven years covered by the program.

Winning students need to maintain a B average, be good citizens of the school, and participate in the school’s community service program to ensure that the scholarship continues over the years. Recent winners of the scholarship at Garden School have gone on to such universities and colleges as Harvard, Dartmouth, NYU, MIT, and Cornell.

For those who are interested, here are the details:

When:	Saturday, December 10, 2011, at 9 a.m. (Registration deadline 12/1/11)
Where:	Garden School
	33-16 79th Street
	Jackson Heights, NY 11372
How:	Call 718-335-6363 for an application for the exam. Testing fee is $50.