Students Pursue Wide Range of Independent Studies at MBS

At Morristown Beard School, a cornerstone of our academic philosophy is empowering students to take ownership of their education. This semester, Upper School students have been doing just that — pursuing Independent Studies in nearly 20 different courses, exploring such topics as: Rocket Propulsion Design, Asset Management, Sign Language, Social Media in Politics, Future Sustainable Cities, and Alzheimer’s Disease.

The Independent Studies Program at MBS, which was initiated in 2007, has grown significantly since its inception. The program offers motivated and high-achieving students the opportunity to work with expert faculty in delving deeply into an area of interest. The student’s strong commitment is translated into projects that demonstrate active learning, creativity, intellectual curiosity and the ability to work on one’s own.

The Independent Study Program encourages students to expand their intellectual curiosity and explore an intellectual area in depth, under the guidance of a selected faculty member with a special expertise or interest in the field.

One key feature of the program is flexible meeting times; students and teachers meet on a regular basis, but they are not tied to the School's daily schedule. While the Independent Study courses are self-directed, they have a clearly defined curriculum and must include a final product that may be a research essay, a web page, a musical composition, or another project depending on the subject.