Casady School
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Casady School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school, situated on an 80 acre campus in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Casady is affiliated with the Episcopal Church, and offers an education from pre-school through grade twelve. The school is a member of the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. Casady has a reputation for academic excellence and rigor. The School's mission is to educate its students spiritually, academically, and through athletics. Many Casady graduates attend the nation's most prestigious and selective colleges and universities, and virtually all graduating seniors go on to post-secondary education. While many Casady graduates remain in Oklahoma for college, approximately 65% attend colleges and universities out of state. In particular, a substantial number attend some of the most competitive colleges in the country.
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[edit] The Campus
The school has twenty buildings including one athletic center with two gymnasiums. The school is built around a lake, Casady Lake, with the upper division southwest of the lake, the middle division directly north of it, and the lower and primary divisions east of it. In the Upper Division, Foreign Language courses are taught in Miller Hall; Physical and Natural Science courses are taught in the Vose Building; English, History, and Classical Language courses are taught in the Hightower building; and Mathematics courses are usually taught in the Woods building. Freshman lockers are in Hightower, thus making it the freshman building. Sophomores are in Miller. Juniors are in Vose, and Seniors in Woods.
Casady is also home to St. Edward's Chapel. Many music and theatrical performances take place in Fee Theater, an aging but charming facility. The designated building for instrumental and vocal music is the Ford building, though the Upper division choir rehearses in the chapel. Many memories of alumni of the School take place in the Gaylord Student Center, which is connected to the Upper Division Office. The Upper Division office contains the offices of the Headmaster, the Director of the Upper division, the Director and Assistant Director of College Counseling, and the Dean of Students. The class of 2005 made the last day of that school year memorable by bringing a canoe to school. Students enjoyed riding the canoe in Lake Casady.
Casady students in the Middle and Upper divisions eat lunch in Calvert Hall. The cafeteria is located just East of Lake Casady, adjacent to the Lower Division.
[edit] Current Issues
Casady is one of the most generous and diverse private schools in the Southwest. Casady has a large number of Indian and Middle Eastern students as well as several students from Russia and the Orient. There is also a substantial number of Jewish.
Many students receive financial aid from the school's two million dollar scholarship fund, which is enough to provide 12 students with tuition for their entire Casady life (14 years). The students are very aware of other cultures, religions and those less fortunate than themselves. The International Club, in the Middle School, sponsors two children from Central America. The annual 'Casady Cans-do' project is going on right now, which will benefit the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. Speaking of the Food Bank, our leftover food from lunch is taken to several Food Bank locations around the city and provides nutritious meals to hungry children. Just recently, a group of Freshmen traveled to the Boys' and Girls' Club where they spent three hours with the kids. These and many other projects are being carried out because of Casady's deep commitment to helping their neighbors thrive.
The Casady Crier, the school newspaper, has recently been a source of debate. Former teacher sponsors of the paper were ordered to not print anything controversial, making the paper devoid of anything students would find interesting, but so far, the 2006-07 issue has ignored customary censorship rules imposed by the administration. With the advent of two leading senior editors and a new teacher sponsor, the paper has been transformed into something to be proud of. The question remains if the administration will leave the paper to its newfound success, or if it will attempt to impose rules of censorship.
The extent of senior privileges has also been a controversial issue in recent years. For a long time, Casady has allowed its seniors an annual "skip day" for the entire class at the end of the year, without any penalty. In return, it expects the seniors not to participate in any senior pranks. Recently, senior pranks have been growing, and include things like gathering every trash can on campus and stacking them into a classroom. There has been talk of removing the official skip day, however, nothing has been done as of yet.
The tradition of the Frosh Walk has also been eliminated for the 2006-2007 school year. It started out as a hazing for first day freshmen, but in the 2004-2005 school year it was toned down into a line where the seniors place relatively harmless stickers on freshmen, with such phrases as "Senior women are hot." While the previous version of the Frosh Walk was objectionable, this newer version was seen as "nothing bad at all," according to one then-freshman. Regardless, the administration has eliminated the Walk, perhaps indefinitely.
[edit] Athletics and The Arts
The Upper Division has ten varsity boys' athletic teams and nine varsity girls' athletic teams. The school mascot is the cyclone, and the school's colors are navy and white. Casady is a member of the Southwest Preparatory Conference[1], which includes 18 other secondary schools from Oklahoma and Texas.
Casady has a relatively diverse Fine Arts department, with courses ranging from photography to basket weaving. Casady's choirs, fine arts students, and instrumental musicians attend the annual Independent Schools Association of the Southwest Fine Arts Festival.
Casady's vocal music department consists of the Casady Choir, the Women's Choir, and Players, an auditioned group. The choir has enjoyed considerable success over the past few years at numerous contests.
Casady has a highly skilled and successful orchestra. Since 1998, the orchestra, consisting of string, wind, and percussion instrumentalists, has continued to grow and improve. The Casady orchestra routinely wins honors at the state level.
[edit] Casady Slang and Jargon
Book Barn- A storage building located on the northeast part of campus where academic books and supplies are kept.
Book Donor Day- A day designated in the Lower, Middle, or Upper division for students to donate books that will be re-sold by the School at the annual bookfair. The bookfair is one of Casady's major fundraising events.
The Courier- A newsletter sent to parents and alumni five times a year, containing information about current student life at Casady.
The Crier- The School's newspaper.
The Casady Cupboard- A souvenir and utensils store located in Calvert Hall.
"El Func"- Short way of saying "Elementary Functions," the title of the precalculus course.
"Fish Bowl"- Name given to the Casady college counseling room, which, though inside of the School's office, has windows on three of the four sides of the room.
Gales- An all female student organization that supports the school's athletic programs.
The Island- The area between the Lower and Primary divisions where a gazebo is located.
LOGOS, the Upper Division student literary magazine publishes annually poetry, prose, non-fiction, art, photography, and, for the past three years, a music CD.
"Off"- Slang for an academic period where a student does not have class. Only Upper division students have off-periods.
Twister- The school's yearbook.
"The Wing"- Slang for the Casady Wing, a part of Woolsey House (residence of the headmaster) where students, parents, faculty, and alumni are hosted for school functions
