Holland Hall School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Holland Hall School is a university preparatory school located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States.
Founded in 1922, Holland Hall was named after the first Headmistress, Winnifred Shureman, who was of Dutch background. Holland Hall is affiliated with the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma and the Episcopal Church.
The school was initially coeducational in the lower levels, with the high school exclusively female. Since its founding, the school has moved four times. It is currently located on 81st Street in Tulsa. The campus is 162 acres (656,000 m²), consisting of Primary, Middle, and Upper School buildings, as well as the Walter Arts Center and a number of athletic facilities. Each of the three divisions has its own library. The school currently enrolls over 1,000 students.
Contents |
[edit] Arts
The Walter Arts Center at Holland Hall School is one of the city's finest arts facilities, and since completed over a decade ago, it has become a mecca for both the school and the community at large. The Walter Arts Center, or the "WAC" as it is commonly referred to, is a multi-venue facility. The Peter M. Branch Theatre - named in honor of a former headmaster - is the WAC's crown jewel. It boasts a proscenium-thrust stage with seating for over 1200, and its suspended fly-gallery and state-of-the-art electronics capabilities make it a favorite for visiting productions. The WAC is also home to a large studio theater (called the "Black Box"), an art gallery, a black-and-white photo lab, a digital imaging studio, a ceramics workshop, a dance studio, an orchestra/band rehearsal hall, a choir room, and a painting studio.
Arts are emphasized from an early age at Holland Hall, where children in gradeschool are no strangers to performance based activities. Beginning in the Middle School, students are given the opportunity to audition for the annual Middle School student/faculty production. While such productions have traditionally consisted of musicals, recent selections have included Shakespeare and other dramas.
In the Upper School, students are required to participate in a number of arts programs to satisfy graduation requirements, though many choose to continue their involvement in the arts long after this has been fulfilled. Several of the more popular disciplines include orchestra, choir, jazz band and modern dance, though the visual arts are also very strong.
[edit] Athletics
Holland Hall School belongs to the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest and the National Association of Independent Schools. The athletic teams, known as the Dutch, compete in the Southwest Preparatory Conference in twelve different sports. Beginning in grade seven, the students have a sports requirement rather than a physical education requirement. The Athletic Director of the school is Steve Heldebrand, who came to the school in 2006. The main rival of Holland Hall is the across-town Catholic school Cascia Hall. Their other big rival is Casady School, a preparatory school in Oklahoma City. Holland Hall's rivalry with cross-town foe Metro Christian Academy was discontinued following the 2003 football season, when the Dutchmen defeated Metro Christian, 24-14.
[edit] Football
The football program exhibits one of the better football traditions in the SPC. They are currently led by coach Tag Gross - a Holland Hall alumnus - and have recently played in the last three SPC Division I Championship winning the 2005 Championship, 24-10 over St. Marks School of Texas. This concluded their 10-0 season, which included regular season victories over St. Marks, Cascia Hall, and Casady. The football program was led by coach Charlie Brown until he retired in 1999 to become Holland Hall's athletic director. Charlie was replaced by Steve Heldebrand as athletic director in 2006 and remained on staff as the Athletic Director Emeritus and Assistant to the Headmaster for special projects.
[edit] Notable alumni
Notable alumni include actor Tim Blake Nelson and Leslie Berlin, author of The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley.
