Grauer Student Honored as a National Merit Commended Student

Encinitas, CA, November 22, 2014 --(PR.com)-- Grauer School senior, Natalie Brooks, has been named a Commended Student in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program. To achieve this honor, Brooks placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2015 competition by taking the 2013 Preliminary SATA/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).

As a college preparatory school that emphasizes Socratic education balanced with expeditionary learning, The Grauer School does not focus on “teaching to the test” and instead focuses on values like perseverance and humanitarianism. The Grauer School has a Mastery Learning program that encourages students to master key skills and concepts to really understand a topic or subject.

“The Grauer School’s Mastery Learning program taught me to persevere and stay determined. Expeditionary learning helped me stay calm, because knowing how diverse and variable the world is opened my eyes to the reality of how unimportant [standardized] tests really are,” Brooks said.

Brooks appreciates the “no busy-work” policy among The Grauer School teachers that has allowed her to focus on becoming a well-rounded person. She participates on the volleyball team, choir, and Anatomy & Physiology club on campus. Brooks plans on going to college somewhere in the Pacific Northwest and is looking forward to majoring in English after spending a summer backpacking in Europe.

The Grauer School, established 1991, grades 7-12, is the region’s oldest independent school and features a 7:1 student to faculty ratio. The Grauer School is the leading school in the region for relationship-driven education and nationwide leader of the Small Schools Coalition. Visit The Grauer School during its Open House on November 2nd or, for more information, call (760) 274-2116 or visit www.grauerschool.com. The Grauer School is enrolling grades 7-12 for the 2015-2016 academic year.