Christopher Ongaro

I am currently the Head of School at the Robert Louis Stevenson School, an independent college preparatory therapeutic school located in Manhattan.

After TCNJ I completed a degree in Gifted Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, and my first major position was then the founding staff member at an independent school’s new center, which aimed to merge the fields of Gifted Education and Special Education. Some of my other work before Stevenson included coordinating a blended learning program, and I’m currently chipping away at my dissertation.

The general approach and way with students that many TCNJ professors had was most important in my development towards my career.  To be sure, though, a comparative literature course put me way ahead of the game for graduate work, and I still draw on my experiences in Walt Whitman’s World, as well as several other American literature courses.  My decision to recently introduce an advanced high school senior to ecocriticism was clearly inspired by both Whitman work and an Ecocriticism seminar.

I’m thankful to have enjoyed many courses and clubs, but the Freshman Seminar course Walt Whitman’s World always stands as a defining memory for my TCNJ experience.

I’ll offer two points for anyone entering or interested in the Education field.  First, connect with and observe as many others, both in and out of the field, as you can.  Do this to expand your sense of what’s out there and of what works and doesn’t work for others.  Do this to better understand and promote diverse learning.  Second, always remember that work with a student is, first and foremost, work with a person.