Bolles School

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The Bolles School
Location
Jacksonville &
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA
Information
Head teacher John E. Trainer, Ph.D.
Students 1,800
Faculty 200
Type Private, Day, Boarding
Campus Suburban, 84 acres
Mascot Bulldog
Color(s) Blue & Orange         
Established 1933
Tuition $32,500 (7-day boarding)
$15,500 (Day Student 9-12)
$15,000 (Day Student 6-8)
$12,000 (4-5)
$9,500 (K-3)
$6,500 (preK)
Homepage www.bolles.org

The Bolles School of Jacksonville, Florida is a nationally known co-educational college preparatory day and boarding school serving grades Pre-K through 12.[1] In 2007, the school celebrated their 75th anniversary.

Contents

[edit] History

The school was founded as an all-boys' military academy in 1933 by Agnes Cain Painter, a friend of philanthropist Richard J. Bolles. The original campus is located on San Jose Boulevard along the east bank of the St. Johns River. Bolles dropped its military status in 1961 and began admitting women in 1971. Today, the ratio of males to females is close to 1:1. Boarding students come from more than 25 countries, but make up less than ten percent of the total school population. Boarders must be in grade 7 or higher, with male students living on the San Jose campus and female students living at the Bartram campus. Bolles enrolls 1,800 students (approximately 800 in the Upper School) spread across four campuses:

Upper School (grades 9-12) - San Jose Campus (Jacksonville)
Middle School (6-8) - Bartram Campus (Jacksonville)
Lower School (preK-5) - Ponte Vedra (Ponte Vedra Beach) & Whitehurst (Jacksonville) Campuses

[edit] Academics

Bolles has been a fully accredited Florida high school since 1934, and is known for its challenging college preparatory curriculum. The Bolles Faculty hold 13 doctorate degrees and 90 master's degrees, so almost 50% of the faculty holds an advanced degree. There is a ratio of one faculty member for every nine students. Bolles operates on a two-semester academic year.

For students looking to challenge themselves, Bolles offers Advanced Placement courses in:

In 2001, Bolles had 15 National Merit Finalists, the most in the Jacksonville area.

[edit] Art

Bolles offers a extensive program in five areas: dance, drama, instrumental music, vocal music, and visual arts. Artistic opportunities include both academic classes during the day and a range of activities after school. Mankind has expressed itself through philosophy, art, music, literature, religion, drama, and science, and we should value and preserve the greatest creative artistic and scientific achievements. The arts are seen as fundamental to understanding the past and to preparing for the future.

[edit] Athletics

Bolles is particularly well-known nationally for its athletics program. In 2005, Sports Illustrated named Bolles's athletic program the ninth best in the country, and second best in Florida. Of the top twenty-five schools, Bolles was the only one with an Upper School enrollment of under 1,000 students.[2] Bolles has received the Florida High School Athletic Association's Dodge Sunshine Cup/Floyd E. Lay All-Sports Award (given to the best overall athletic program in each school type/size classification in Florida) for eleven consecutive years.[3] The school has recently won state championships in baseball, cross country, football, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, crew, and wrestling.

The swim team, which established prominence under Coach Gregg Troy, who now coaches at the University of Florida, is arguably the nation's best. Bolles's boys and girls swim teams have been state champions every year since 1984, usually sweeping most events at state meets. The girls team has won the National Championship nine (9) times, while the boys team has won or been runners-up for the National Championship eleven (11) times. The school recruits swimmers sometimes from as far away as Asia. The school's swimming facility has its own offices, weightroom (apart from the weightroom that the rest of the school uses), and two swimming pools (one Olympic-sized). Bolles has had at least one alumnus or student competing in every summer Olympics since 1972. In recent Olympics, up to two dozen Bolles students and alumni have swum for their respective countries. The Bolles Sharks, Bolles's club swim team, compete and practice year-round.

Bolles's football team is coached by Charles "Corky" Rogers, the all-time winningest Florida high school football coach, and has won seven state championships since 1990. The football team works out in the weightroom and track several times a week. For the 2007 season, the Bulldogs went 12-1 and lost to South Sumter High School from Bushnell, Florida in the state tournament semi-finals. Before the loss to the Raiders, the Bulldogs had a 24 game winning streak. Interestingly, Bolles last loss prior to this year was also to South Sumter in the 2005 FHSAA semi-finals. Since that time, the Bulldogs have been dominating opponents all over the state. In 2007, Bolles won the 2A state finals against Clewiston.

[edit] Activities

Bolles places a particular emphasis on community service. Although there is no community service requirement, the majority of students devote serious time to service clubs like Dreams Come True, HabiJax and Magnolia Pointe after-school Day Care Center. Some are community organization-sponsored clubs, including Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Youth Against Cancer/March of Dimes, and Adopt-a-Grandparent. The school also hosts blood drives and food drives periodically.

The school has had significant success in academic competitions by their Foreign Language Clubs. Bolles perennially ranks among the best in state and national Spanish, French, and German competitions. Most recently, Bolles's Spanish Congreso team placed first in the state, and its French team placed second at the State French Competition.

Although Bolles's Superintendent's Academic Challenge team is the youngest in the Jacksonville area, it has quickly established itself as one of the best in Jacksonville, winning first place in 2005 and second in 2006. In its short history, Bolles's team has already placed four different individuals on Team Duval, which represents Duval County in the Commissioner's Academic Challenge, Florida's precursor to the Panasonic Academic Challenge. The Debate Club is also very competitive.

Bolles's drama program has had recent success, as well. Every other year the school performs a musical, every third year a Shakespeare play. There is also an annual night of one act plays, directed by students. Students frequently garner "Excellent" and "Superior" ratings at local and state drama competitions, and mainstage plays are often chosen to perform at the State Thespian Competition in Tampa. The Improvisation Group also performs regularly.

The OBC (Obnoxious Booster Club) is a tongue-in-cheek spirit organization founded in 1987 that has gained significant notoriety around campus. It leads school spirit efforts during Bolles's well-attended football games in the fall.

Student Publications include: the school newspaper, The Bugle; the literary agazine, Perspective and the yearbook, Turris.

Student Government is composed of Honor Council, Student Council and Class Officers.

Interest clubs exist, depending on participation. Chess Club, Young Life, Desi Club, Debate Club, League of International Students, Photography club, Sailing club, Horseback Riding, Weightlifting and Art Club. Environmental Club, Students Against Drunk Driving, Young Republicans.

Academic groups Mu Alpha Theta (Math Club) and Curie Society (chemistry club) and Computer club. The Alpha Society is a National Honor Society chapter at Bolles.

Service groups are Dorm Proctors, Peer Counseling & Peer Tutoring. Hey Bolles

Performing groups include Jazz Ensemble, Stage Band, Choir, Choral Music and Dance.[5]

[edit] Values Statement

Recognizing the unique opportunity to encourage moral growth, these values reflect a shared philosophy: • Respect—for the property and opinions of others • Responsibility for one’s actions—self discipline and accountability • Hard Work—to achieve mental and physical excellence • Concern for Others—especially for those less fortunate • Pride—in our community

Bolles logo
Bolles logo

[edit] Honor Code

Bolles's Honor Code reads:

"I will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate anyone who does."

The school takes its Honor Code very seriously, and students are often requested by their teachers to write "I have not cheated on this assignment" on their papers and examinations. Sometimes instructors simply require the word, "Pledge" on the upper left hand corner of a paper to acknowledge that the student pledged to uphold the Honor Code.

[edit] Notable Alumni

[edit] References

  1. ^ Boarding School Review: Directory/Florida/The Bolles School
  2. ^ Sports Illustrated Magazine: May 16,2005-Best High School Athletic Programs
  3. ^ FHSAA News Release: Jun 11, 2007-St. Thomas Aquinas, Bolles, P.K. Yonge, Port St. Joe, Maclay sweep Dodge Sunshine Cup all-sports awards
  4. ^ Bolles School website: Athletics
  5. ^ The Association of Boarding Schools website: The Bolles School

[edit] External Links

Bolles School Official website