Shipley is truly outstanding in that it simultaneously provides its students with a rigorous, academically challenging curriculum while also fostering intellectual exploration and creativity.

As I think back on my time at Shipley, it is hard to pinpoint one specific aspect of my high school experience that best prepared me for academic life at Princeton. Rather, it was the fact that I was able to indulge my love of literature, explore the wonders of the sciences, try my hand at leadership as class president, and build camaraderie with fellow students across class years through crew and basketball that aided in my being a versatile and dynamic student.

I especially credit the network of Shipley faculty and staff who made Shipley a home and showed me the value of mentorship. Being a confident, self-directed learner is one skill that Shipley students learn throughout their time in school, a skill that proved invaluable as I conducted my independent thesis work as well as carried out smaller course projects and assignments.

Yet, while my diligence and scholarship helped me to produce work that led to my nomination to the scientific honor society Sigma Xi, my attainment of the award for outstanding thesis work in Molecular Biology, and the ultimate reception of my bachelor’s degree with honors, it was my love of learning, which I cultivated at Shipley, that made my academic endeavors gratifying and enjoyable.

—Ishea Johnson ’19
Bachelor of Arts in Molecular Biology, Princeton University
Attending Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School