The Clark School is a family institution
Danvers Herald, February 28, 2008
By Myrna Fearer
DANVERS--Once a student at the Clark School
for Creative Learning, Jeff Clark now serves as its
proud director. In the past three years, the enrollment
has more than doubled at the school, which
can take a child from kindergarten through high
school graduation.
Previously, the Clark School served children from
kindergarten through grade 8, with an occasional
ninth-grader, Clark said. Their graduates went on
to area high schools or prestigious private schools
including Pingree, St. John's Prep, the Waring
School, Glen Urquhart, Exeter and The Governor's
Academy. Although a private school also, Clark
stresses the Clark School is anything but elitist.
"It's not about us, not even about the parents," he
said. "It's about the child. We don't care what
clothes you wear or what car you drive. There are
as many Fords as Mercedes that come here."
The school's philosophy that the child is first led
to instituting a probationary period for both the
student and the school.
"We're realistic," Clark said. "If we're not the
right fit for you, we don't want to just take your
money. What's made us different than other
schools is we have a pro-rated tuition return."
Clark also said even if Clark School isn't the right
fit, the staff does its best to try to place the child in
the appropriate school where he or she could succeed.
The Clark School also gets many referrals. The
school focuses on a strong academic curriculum
designed to best accommodate each student's
needs and strengths. To allow for this individualized
education, class size will never exceed 15,
Clark said. Currently, the ratio is eight students to
one teacher.
"It's like home-schooling away from home," he
said. And with the curriculum geared to the student,
the school can offer rolling admission.
It can also accommodate individual requests and
cater to specific talents, like the professional ballerina
enrolled in the school and the Equity actor
who can still perform in a theater production. The
student body comes from all over, including a
youngster from Seoul, Korea.
"We look for students who will be a good role
model for all our kids," Clark said. "Many of our
teachers have kids who either went here or go here
now.'"
Though always providing an enriched program for
the gifted and talented, in the late 90s, Clark said,
they added another component.
"We moved into a safe-house mode," he said.
"This is a bully-free environment, a safe place to
come."
It's also a place where kids can feel secure enough
to make mistakes.
"It's OK to make an error; that's how you grow,"
Clark said. "We have a rubber chicken we pass
around to the teacher who made the biggest mistake
of the week."
The school was founded in 1978 by Clark's
mother, Sharon, and his late dad, Ron, who was
the business manager. It was the sixth school
Sharon Clark had either founded, or co-founded,
including Glen Urquhart in Beverly.
"They started the Clark School in the church in
Beverly Cove," Clark says of his parents. "My father
was a minister. When he would go to a
church, she (Sharon) would start a school."
The school functioned in two different locations
in Beverly before the Clarks bought the farmhouse
in Danvers in the mid-80s. Jeff Clark, who
later graduated from Alan Hancock College in
Santa Maria, Calif., was one of the students at the
school. He and his wife, Amy, the current business
manager, have two children who will be students
one day.
Sharon Clark used to teach several classes in the
past; she has cut it down to one class. Jeff Clark,
who had once thought of being on stage as an actor,
has become immersed in the school and education.
Though he's the director, he also teaches a
course on Shakespeare. And Amy Clark, as business
manager, has taken her father-in-law's place.
"There's nothing better than an ah-ha moment
(when a student really gets it)," Clark said of why
he stays. "If I didn't love it, I wouldn't be here.
We're a family business, and there aren't a lot of
family businesses in New England."
In the last few years, since Jeff Clark has come
aboard, admissions have gone up across the grade
levels, which led the Clarks to add a full high
school curriculum. For two years, 2002-2003, the
school rented space at Hawthorne Plaza North, on
Route 1, for grades 7 through 12 while a building
was being erected on campus. It was finished in
2003, and the kids returned. Just before New
Year's, another building was completed on the
campus, allowing for more students and more
room for a high school that goes through grade
12. Play to Learn Preschool and Daycare, which
partners with the Clark School, now has one of its
four locations on the Clark campus.
Of the 76 enrolled at Clark, 19 come from Danvers,
where children who live in town are entitled
to a $3,000 tuition break. Clark anticipates more
high school students will enroll next year.
"We went from 33 students to 76 in three years,
we must be doing something right," said the
pleased director. "This has been such a blessing
for me, being able to work with people including
adults, teachers and students, and creating those
ah-ha moments. Basically, I'm Mr. Mom for 76
(students)."
