Germantown Academy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Germantown Academy
Name

Germantown Academy
Address

340 Morris Road
Town

Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, 19034-0287
Established

1759
Community

Suburban
Type

Private (Independent)
Religion

Nonsectarian
Students

Coeducational (Originally Male)
Mascot

Patriot
Grades

Pre-Kindergarten to 12
Colors

Red, Black, and Blue originally Red, White, and Blue with the white being changed to black after the death of Abraham Lincoln
Motto

By Persevering we Shall See the Fruits
Website

Link

Germantown Academy is America's oldest nonsectarian day school, founded on December 6, 1759 (originally named the "Germantown Union School"). Germantown Academy (also referred to as "GA") is now a K-12 school in the Fort Washington suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, having moved from its original Germantown campus in 1965. In addition, the school shares the oldest continuous football rivalry with the William Penn Charter School, which will celebrate its 120th anniversary in 2006.

Contents

[edit] Academics

Germantown Academy has received recognition for its strong academic program. The school is divided into three divisions. The Lower School contains grades Pre-K through 5, the Middle School has grades 6-8, and the Upper School contains grades 9-12. Middle and Upper School students still often refer to their grades as "forms," a tradition left over from the school's British Public School heritage. Grade 7 is the equivalent to Form I, thus the graduating class is called Form VI. According to the GA website, the Lower School program is based on theory and practice. [The Lower School] strives for a school environment wherein children are respected as individuals, while also learning to be a part of a team. A progression of classroom expectations and curricular demands has been developed to address the varying needs of children who cover a broad span of ages and abilities. While the basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic are the principle work in all of the classrooms, our teaching requires that children are active learners. [The Lower School] believe active participation leads to discovery and internalization, and individual creativity and expression is strongly encouraged. Opportunities for social interaction are of paramount importance in the classrooms.

[edit] Dress Code

Recent controversy has arisen among the student body due to the implementation of a new conservative dress code that prohibits denim and requires shirts to bear the GA logo. When discussing the new dress code, one of the main concerns voiced by both the students and the faculty was the prevalence of designer apparel. As the school serves an affluent population, it was feared that many students would elect to wear a LaCoste or Abercrombie and Fitch or Ralph Lauren collared shirt. Because the school wanted to promote equity and modesty through their new dress code, the choice to require uniform shirts was made. The shirts are well-made and inexpensive (around $20/shirt), however many students continue to voice concerns over the style and price of the shirt. The rest of the uniform consists of a choice of khaki, navy, or black pants, a khaki, navy, or plaid kilt, red, black, or blue sweaters or vests, and appropriate footwear.

[edit] Alma mater

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Notable members of the class of 1760

Each year the Germantown Academy alumni society accepts nominations for and subsequently elects non-alumni into the honorary class of 1760. This class is named in commemoration of the founding of the academy. The honor is bestowed upon those who have had an outstanding contribution to the academy.

[edit] Notable faculty pre-dating the class of 1760

Please help improve this article by expanding this section.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. Please remove this message once the section has been expanded.

[edit] References and further reading

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../g/e/r/Germantown_Academy_bf85.html"