Doane Stuart School

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Doane Stuart School
Image:Doane Stuart Tower.jpg
Location
Albany, New York, USA
Information
Religion Episcopal
Headmaster Richard D. Enemark
Enrollment

270 students
Faculty 40 teachers
Average class size 14 students
Student:teacher ratio 7:1
Type Independent, co-ed
Campus 80 acres
Athletics 7 interscholastic sports teams
Mascot Thunder Chicken
Established 1975
Homepage www.doanestuart.org

The Doane Stuart School is an independent, coeducational school in Albany, New York. The School features a low student to teacher ratio and a rigorous college preparatory curriculum. The school also has an emphasis on community service and on interfaith tolerance. The school is a member of the National Association of Episcopal Schools http://www.naes.org/.

Contents

[edit] History

The Doane Stuart School was created in 1975 as a merger between the Roman Catholic Kenwood Academy (founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1852) and the Episcopal St. Agnes School (founded 1870). This unique merger is the first and only known merger of a Roman Catholic school and an Episcopal school in the United States.

The School was established on the grounds of the former Kenwood Academy. The name Doane Stuart was chosen to honor the First Episcopal Bishop of Albany, The Right Reverend William Croswell Doane, and the Roman Catholic educator, Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ. Doane Stuart was established as a co-educational school, the only independent co-ed school in Albany.

The school initially included both boarding and day students. In 1995, the school discontinued the boarding program.

In August 2006, The Albany Academy, Albany Academy for Girls, and Doane Stuart School announced their intent to merge into a single institution. After parent protest, Doane Stuart withdrew from the proposed merger in September 2006, announcing its decision to remain a separate institution.

On August 17, 2007, the school announced on its website the possibility of its relocation. This was followed by a story published in the Albany Times Union on August 21, 2007 about the matter.

On March 16, 2008, the Times Union published an article which announced the Board of Trustees' decision to end the school's affiliation with the Society of the Sacred Heart and the Network of Sacred Heart Schools.

In April, 2008, the Board of Directors sent a letter to school supporters stating that an offer it made to purcase a school building in Rennselear, NY had been accepted. The offer is subject to contingencies as well as approval by the Rennselear, NY Board of Education.

On Tuesday, May 20, 2008, "Rensselaer voters approved 463 to 74 the sale of the Van Rensselaer Elementary school and property for $4 million to the Doane Stuart School."

[edit] Mission

Doane Stuart School's Mission Statement: "The mission of Doane Stuart is education. In a college preparatory context, where the joy of discovery is valued, Doane Stuart emphasizes serious study, educates to social responsibility, and lays the foundation for a strong faith."[1]

The school was founded on the principles of ecumenism, co-education, and community service. In recent years, the mission has shifted radically. The school accepts students of all faiths and includes a non-doctrinal religious curriculum in which students can explore their own faith and the faiths of others. Doane Stuart students are very active in the community, completing more than 5,000 hours annually of volunteer community service in the Albany area. The school also emphasizes academic excellence and integrity. The Upper School has a rigorous college preparatory curriculum and virtually all of its graduates have continued their education at some of the nation's most highly selective colleges and universities.

[edit] Student Body

Doane Stuart’s Upper School has 110 students, while the Lower and Middle Schools combined have 160 students, split nearly 50:50 between boys and girls. Approximately 10 percent of the School’s students are from minority communities, and another 2–5 percent each year are exchange students from international programs, including the School’s unique exchange with Lagan College in Belfast. Doane Stuart students are primarily from the eight counties surrounding Albany, from as far south as the Berkshires to as far north as Saratoga Springs. Campus safety and behavior policies are provided to students each year via School handbooks for each division.

[edit] School Programs and Sports

The Doane Stuart School campus includes a full court gym and two athletic fields. Upper School intermural sports include fencing, soccer, basketball and softball. Required physical education classes take advantage of the School's rural campus to include such activities as cross-country skiing in addition to traditional gym activities.

The school's campus is home to a local Buddhist congregation. The School hosts an Irish American Exchange program, begun in 2003, which brings together Protestant and Catholic students from Northern Ireland to spend a year at Doane Stuart and live with local families.

[edit] Community Service

Students are encouraged to perform acts of community service, and are taught early on that this is a worthwhile activity. Starting in Middle School, the school organizes community service events for the students. Fifth and Sixth graders help out around campus, and Seventh and Eight graders are brought to local organizations such as the Ronald McDonald House. In the Upper School, all students are required to complete 25 hours of community service each school year.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The Doane Stuart School - Mission and History: http://www.doanestuart.org/mission.asp

2. Doane Stuart studies move With talks to buy current campus stalled, school mulls building on a new site

Albany Times Union Tuesday, August 21, 2007 Page: D1

ALBANY - Stalled negotiations to purchase its 80-acre campus from a religious order of nuns [the Society of the Sacred Heart] have the Doane Stuart School looking elsewhere for a new home. Headmaster Richard Enemark said Monday that the private school, unable to agree on a sale price with the Society of the Sacred Heart, may instead build a new campus by the time the school's lease expires in 2012.

The Albany Times Union Sunday, March 16, 2008 School ends religious affiliation This article reports that The Doane Stuart School's Board of Trustees voted to end the school's affiliation with The Society of the Sacred Heart and the Network of Sacred Heart Schools.

[edit] External links