Beaver Country Day School

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Beaver Country Day School
Location
Chestnut Hill, MA, USA
Information
Religion None
Head of School Peter Hutton
Enrollment

419
Faculty 88
Average class size 15
Type Private
Tuition $31,450
Campus 17 acres
Athletics 13 sports
Athletics conference Eastern Independent League (EIL)
Motto Mente et Manu
(With Mind and Hand)
Mascot Beaver
Color(s) Blue & Gray
Established 1920
Homepage http://www.bcdschool.org/

Beaver Country Day School is an independent, college preparatory day school for students in grades 6 through 12 founded in 1920 and located on a 17-acre campus in the village of Chestnut Hill, in Newton, Massachusetts, near Boston. Recently the school has been moving toward calling itself only by its initials, "BCDS," although this is a somewhat controversial move within the student body.[1] BCDS is a member of the Cum Laude Society and the National Association of Independent Schools, an affiliate of the Coalition of Essential Schools, and is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Contents

[edit] History

BCDS was incorporated as an elementary school and an all-girls' high school in 1920 by a group of parents who were interested in progressive education and the Country Day School movement. The school took its name from The Beaver; the ship in turn (a Nantucket trading vessel owned by Joseph Rotch) was named for the North American beaver, the rodent whose pelt was valued in Europe as a source of felt for high-quality hats. one of the ships involved in the Boston Tea Party. The first head of school was Eugene Randolph Smith, a prominent progressive educator and a follower of the educational reformer John Dewey. Many founding families had been involved with a school for younger children situated near downtown Boston on Beaver Place. The school opened in a facility in Brookline, and moved to the present Chestnut Hill campus in the mid 1920s. Over the years the school has tried to remain true to its progressive roots while evolving with the times. The school adopted coeducation in 1971.

[edit] Students

Students and teachers at the fall Harvest Fest.
Students and teachers at the fall Harvest Fest.

BCDS offers grades 6 through 12. Current enrollment (2007-08) is 419 students, of whom 300 are in the upper school (grades 9–12). Classes average about 15 students; one hundred percent of Beaver graduates go on to four-year colleges and universities. The school community is diverse, with students coming from 45 towns in the metropolitan Boston area and speaking 20 languages besides English at home. About 26% of students and 20% of faculty are of color. Currently 26% of students receive financial aid.

[edit] Programs and facilities

BCDS prides itself on offering challenging, student-centered academics as well as in offering programs to inspire and engage the creative spirit and the body. Nationally regarded for professional development, BCDS trains all teachers in advanced elements of curriculum and assessment design as well as best practices for addressing individual student learning styles. The college preparatory curriculum, which emphasizes writing, includes advanced courses in mathematics and the sciences as well as the opportunity to do honors-level work in all disciplines; in recent years an increasing number of students have elected to do independent study in pursuit of active intellectual interests that fall outside the curriculum. BCDS also requires two full years of study in the visual and/or performing arts for graduation, and students must pursue an interscholastic sport or fitness activity each year as part of an extensive afternoon program.

The school's facilities complement the program. The main classroom building, dating from the 1920s, has been continuously upgraded to meet expanding curricular demands, and the science wing includes a fully equipped biotech laboratory. The comprehensive arts program is largely housed in the three-story Visual and Performing Arts Center, opened in 2004. The school integrates community service and social responsibility into its curriculum and extra-curricular program through its recently endowed Anne Hiatt Center for Social Change.

A new athletic center, completed in 2007, fulfills the second of the two major needs identified by the school's Strategic Plan of 2000. (The first was the Visual and Performing Arts Center.) The building consolidates athletics in one space and adds:

  • 24,700 s.f. to the existing gym (which remains in use)
  • 2 new full-size playing courts (for a total of 4 courts)
  • Expanded, separate locker rooms for middle school & upper school athletes
  • Fully-equipped fitness & strength training room
  • Offices for athletic director, trainer, and coaches
  • A new common courtyard between middle school wing & athletic center
  • Additional parking spaces and improved traffic flow

BCDS fields interscholastic teams in soccer, field hockey, golf, cross country, basketball, fencing, volleyball, wrestling, baseball, softball, tennis, ultimate frisbee, and lacrosse and is part of the Eastern Independent League.

[edit] School song

Stand we now to hail thee, Beaver,
loyal and united.
By the guiding spirit may our hearts and
minds be lighted.
May we know through rightful living
And the light of friendship true:
Ours the right to claim the motto,
Mente et Manu.
Stand we now to hail thee, Beaver,
loyal and united!

[edit] Notable persons who have attended Beaver Country Day School

Eliza Dushku
Eliza Dushku

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ David A. Mittell Jr. (February 3, 2005). Dum and dummer. The Providence Journal. Retrieved on 2008-05-13.

[edit] External links