Seven A Child’s Place School Alumni Now Freshmen at Monmouth County Vocational Schools

Published in The Journal (Navesink and Rumson November 2017 editions)

Lincroft: When Middletown triplets, and A Child’s Place School alumni, Esteban, Isabela, and Victor Fuentes applied to the Marine Academy of Science and Technology (M.A.S.T.), their mother, Kim, was understandably nervous: What if only one was accepted? Even worse, what if one was NOT accepted? Happily, all were successful and this fall entered M.A.S.T. as freshmen. Notably for A Child’s Place, the triplets were not the only alumni that were accepted to Monmouth County Vocational Schools this fall, in fact seven students–almost half of the 2009 graduating class of seven-year-olds–are now freshmen at three of the vocational high schools.

Joey Doerr and Matthew Laub (both at M.A.S.T.), Naomi Littenberg (Communications High School), and Laura Futamura (High Technology High School) recently joined Esteban, Isabela and Victor Fuentes at A Child’s Place for a reunion. They all excitedly made their way through their first school, which Laura said, “felt like home.” They stopped at different areas to reminisce, exclaim at memories of teachers, class pets, projects, and yellow tricycles, and find themselves in the photo scrapbooks that are kept of every class. Esteban took the opportunity to satisfy his curiosity, finally (after seven years!) asking the question, “What lies behind the mystery door?” in the loft of the Primary classroom. The attic was probably not the exciting response he had imagined all these years!

All the alumni agreed that the creative freedom they were allowed at A Child’s Place from a young age helped them with independence in their thinking and confidence in their approach to school work through elementary and middle school; this ultimately led them to success on the vocational schools’ entrance exams. After only a few weeks at Communications High School, Naomi Littenberg has been delighted with the new friendships she has been making and discovering different perspectives; she and Laura Futamura believe that the social nature of the way children work at A Child’s Place provided them with a basis for confidence in forming connections with others.

Excitement and joy of learning were evident in these students. Joey Doerr’s decision to apply to M.A.S.T. was strongly influenced by the prospect of the “senior project” and he cited his early experience with project work at A Child’s Place as the basis for this interest. Esteban, Isabela and Victor Fuentes also expressed their interest in the senior project as well as the marine biology and N.J.R.O.T.C. components of life as M.A.S.T. students.

Where do these young people see themselves after high school? While Naomi’s interest lies in digital video and creative writing, and Victor sees engineering in his future, Matthew Laub expressed the view shared by them all that the opportunities afforded them, beginning at A Child’s Place School and through the next four years at the vocational schools, open up a world of possibilities!

A Child’s Place School is a private preschool for children ages three to seven years old. Please call 732-747-0141 or email: director@achildsplaceschool.com.