George School

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George School
Mind the Light
Established 1893
School type Private, Boarding
Religious affiliation Quaker
Headmaster Nancy Starmer
Location Pennsylvania, PA, USA
Campus 265 acres
Enrollment 532 total
293 boarding
239 day
Faculty 81
Average class size 14
Student:teacher
ratio		 7:1
Color(s) Green/White, Buff/Brown
Mascot Cougar
Conference Friends Schools League
Homepage www.georgeschool.org

George School is a private Quaker boarding and day high school near Newtown, Pennsylvania, USA.

Contents

[edit] History

George School was founded in 1891 and opened in 1893 as a school for Hicksite members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) who wanted an alternative to Orthodox Westtown School; Although most of the early boarding students were Quaker, day students have long come from outside the Friends community, and today Quakers represent a small but active minority of students.

[edit] Quaker influences

Quaker influences on the school are apparent in many of the Friends-derived procedures of the school, especially in the consensus format for faculty and other committee meetings, where all present must either agree to proposals or "stand aside" in order for them to be approved. A four-year course of spiritual study begins with a term of peer group meetings the student's first year, year-long "Health and the Human Spirit" class sophomore year, and trimester-long Bible and Quakerism classes during the junior and senior years, respectively. Additionally, all students and faculty gather for a half-hour Meeting for Worship once a week, and all boarding students and resident faculty attend a longer meeting on Sundays. Also in the Quaker spirit, since 1942 every student has a "co-op" job, the equivalent to other schools' work-study jobs, but shared equally among all students regardless of their financial aid status. Finally, in the most apparent difference to outsiders, teachers and students all refer to one another on a first-name basis.

[edit] Academics

Aside from the religion program, George School offers a rigorous academic course of study. One of the highlights of George School's academics is the International Baccalaureate program, which certifies students to attend colleges and universities around the world, or can give them an edge at U.S. college admission or early graduation. George School also offers Advanced Placement courses and examinations in Biology, Calculus (AB and BC), English, U.S. History, Physics, Environmental Science and the school's three foreign languages: French, Spanish, and Latin. Additionally, students in the Portfolio Preparation class have been known to submit their work for the Art AP.

Unusually for a high school science program, George School freshmen take a full year of Integrated Science 9, which serves as a general science class, before proceeding to Chemistry, Biology, or Physics. This is going to change during the 2006-2007 school year when freshmen can test into a freshman-level chemistry course instead of hydrology. Students must take four full years of a chosen art, of which George School offers a wide variety: ceramics (mostly pottery), chorus, dance, digital imaging, drama, music seminar, newspaper (The Curious George), painting and drawing, photography, stagecraft, video production, orchestra, woodworking (mostly carpentry), and yearbook. In recent years, the school has begun to offer an Arts Foundation course that offers one trimester each of three different arts, and encourages most freshmen to begin with this course.

[edit] Service

All George School students are required to complete a sixty-five hour community service project before they graduate. Students work actively in projects and programs which are consistent with Friends' practices and are organized to meet the needs of others through ongoing one-on-one contact.

Each project must take the form of direct interaction with people who are disempowered because of social, racial, economic, or health factors which limit their functioning easily within the mainstream of their own society. These projects vary from intense, two-week experiences in a school-sponsored, domestic or international work camp, to once-a-week experiences that extend throughout the school year, to preapproved independent projects.

By extending themselves to others, students develop a sense of commitment; learn the potential rewards and frustrations involved in service; learn how specific agencies, cultures, and institutions operate; develop an appreciation for complex social support networks; and gain insight into their own values and life goals.

Service projects may be completed during the school year or over the summer. Students can fulfill the service requirement any time after the completion of their sophomore year.

George School has offered service trips to India; Nicaragua; Cuba; Costa Rica; Boston, Massachusetts; Coastal Mississippi; France; South Africa; Arizona; New Orleans, Louisiana; Americus, Georgia; South Carolina, Virginia Beach, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; West Virginia; South Korea; and Vietnam.

Students may also design their own 65-hour service project, as long as it involves sufficient face-to-face contact with the community being helped.

[edit] Athletics

Students are almost always required to play a competitive sport or participate in a physical education program, thus the old saying "Doing nothing is not an option". Starting in the 1996-1997 school year, certain fully-scheduled students were permitted to take one trimester with no athletics. Still, underclassmen must play two competitive sports and juniors and seniors must play one:

Where possible, George School competes in the Friends School League, but in certain sports, such as equestrian, football, and swimming, this is not possible due to the small number of nearby Friends schools that also participate. There is an annual competition with Westtown which results in the awarding of the Patterson Cup, which most students and faculty refer to as "The Moose". The scores are based on the results of all varsity and junior varsity competitions between the two schools.

[edit] Symbols and logos

  • The school's seal is an oil lamp with the inscription "Mind the light," referring to the Quaker conception of God as the inner light within all people.
  • The logo consists of the two words of the name (the school is never referred to as "The George School") separated by a stylized tree, reminiscent of the large one on the south end of campus.
  • The school colors were historically buff and brown, but those proved harder and harder to find for sports uniforms. Since autumn 2000, the school colors have been green and white.
  • The mascot is a cougar, occasionally portrayed by one of the cheerleaders. Some say that the cheerleader's cougar costume is more reminiscent of a leopard, due to its spots.

[edit] Notable Alumni

[edit] Notable Faculty

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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