The Crefeld School

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The Crefeld School is a small, private school in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1970 as The Miquon Upper School. Its mission is to pioneer a progressive, alternative learning community for classroom secondary and middle school students. [1] Crefeld is guided by the principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools[1] - a high school reform movement with over 1000 member schools around the United States. The Headmaster is Dr Mark Piechota.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

The Crefeld School was founded as The Miquon Upper School in 1970 by Arnold Greenberg in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.[3][4] Greenberg, a former teacher at The Miquon School (a private progressive elementary school founded in 1932), created the new upper school partly in response to requests from many parents and former students from The Miquon School who wanted the opportunity to continue their schooling in the tradition of progressive education. Greenberg was granted permission by The Miquon School's board to include the "Miquon" name in the title of his new school, but the two schools were always entirely independent of each other. After some years of confusion, the upper school changed its name to The Crefeld School.[4] Currently, the school enrolls 105 students in grades 7-12. It is a progressive, college-preparatory school with strong programs in both the visual and performing arts. The Crefeld School

[edit] Facilities

The Crefeld building used to be a mansion. It was purportedly built in 1888 by Walter Rex and called "High Fields." Currently, the mansion is used for administrative offices. The classroom wing was added in the 1920's and the building has been a school ever since. In the 1940s through the 1960s, it was The Stevens School. The second building, which houses the gymnasium, theater and art studios (including a glassblowing studio) was built in the 1960s.

An unusual feature of the school is the Crefeld GlassWorks facility, an art glass studio used by Crefeld students and in beadmaking and glassblowing classes open to the surrounding community.[5]

Crefeld's campus is both wired and wireless. Students may bring laptops to school and can have access to the Crefeld Network both from school and from home. As of 2007-08, the school had two SmartBoards and several projectors for classrooms. The school has plans to add two more SmartBoards for 2008-09.

[edit] Notable alumni

  • M. K. Asante, Jr., poet, filmmaker, and professor[6]. Asante credits Crefeld with helping him blossom, after he experienced failures at other schools. He told a reporter, "There was a lot of intellectual and ideological diversity," noting that Crefeld encouraged his artistic sensibilities, stressed self-expression, and made classes optional.[7]
  • Bill Douglas, White House correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers (formerly Knight Ridder)[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b About Us - Philosophy. www.crefeld.org. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
  2. ^ About Us - Faculty & Staff. www.crefeld.org. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
  3. ^ Arnold Greenberg. EllsworthME.org. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
  4. ^ a b How are the Miquon School and Miquon Upper School related?. The Miquon School. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
  5. ^ Crefeld Glassworks website
  6. ^ Filmmaker from Hill thrills Crefeld School kids, ChestnutHillLocal.com, December 15, 2005
  7. ^ Annette John-Hall, "M.K. Asante, Jr. - Artist in Progress," The Philadelphia Inquirer, H1, Oct 30, 2005
  8. ^ Crefeld student attends national conference. ChestnutHillLocal.com (2007-07-12). Retrieved on 2007-08-10.

[edit] External links

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