| Maumee Valley Country Day School | |
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Touchstones: Respect, Kindness, Participation and Responsibility
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| Address | |
| 1715 South Reynolds Road Toledo, Ohio, (Lucas County), 43614 United States |
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| Information | |
| Type | Private, Coeducational high school |
| Religious affiliation(s) | None |
| Established | 1884 |
| Head of school | Gary Boehm[1] |
| Head of Upper School | Shiela Esten[1] |
| Grades | PK–12 |
| Enrollment | 500 (approx.) |
| Campus size | 72 acres (290,000 m2) |
| Color(s) | Navy and White [1] |
| Athletics conference | Toledo Area Athletic Conference[1] |
| Team name | Hawks[1] |
| Accreditation(s) | North Central Association of Colleges and Schools [2] |
| Head of Middle School | Stephanie Harman |
| Head of Lower School | Mark Baker |
| Admissions Director | Vicki Koelsch |
| Athletic Director | Jim Fish[1] |
| Dean of Students | Jarin Jaffee |
| Website | www.mvcds.org |
Maumee Valley Country Day School (or MVCDS, Maumee Valley or MV) is an independent and non-religious private school located in Toledo, Ohio. The school was founded in 1842 as an all-girls finishing school in Western New York and was moved to Toledo in 1884, where it became The Smead School for Girls.[3] The school became coeducational and adopted its present location and name in the early 1930s.[3]
Today, MVCDS has approximately 500 students from preschool through 12th grade and boasts academic achievements such as a 10:1 student teacher ratio. It is also accredited by ISACS and NAIS, and is widely considered the most selective and prestigious school in the Toledo area, sending one or two,sometimes three each year to Ivy League schools and to top liberal arts colleges. The school gets its name of "Maumee Valley" from the nearby Maumee River, which flows north through Lucas County and Toledo, finally emptying into Lake Erie.
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Maumee Valley Country Day School was founded in New York as Miss Seminary.[3] The school relocated to the Toledo area in 1884 and became The Smead School for Girls, run by Miss Smead [4] In 1934, the school relocated to its current location on South Reynolds Road in Toledo, Ohio with the construction of the Smead Building,[4] and became a co-ed school. In 1959, a new building to house the upper school was built near the Smead Building on the campus. In 1972, the current lower and middle school building was completed next to the upper school building and connected by a hallway that was known as the "International Hall". A large dining hall and kitchen were added in the area between the two buildings. In 1984, a new science center was added to the upper school classrooms which included. In 1988, a 400m running track was built next to the sports fields by Glendale Avenue. In 1991, the Wolfe Gallery was constructed next to the Smead Building to showcase student and professional art projects that were displayed at the school. In 1997, a new area known as the "Johnson Bayer Physical Education Complex" was added. This included new sports offices, a weight training room, and a new gymnasium that were added next to the existing upper school gym. The middle school was expanded with additional classrooms as well as a science lab, and the 300 seat "Millennium Theatre" with a lobby was built next to the dining hall. A large clock tower was built next to the new theatre lobby to establish a central location on the campus. In addition, the road on campus was extended to Glendale Avenue to provide a second entrance/exit and a parking lot was added next to the new gymnasium. In 2007, new outdoor adventure course challenges were built throughout the woods on the campus. They include both low and high ropes course challenges for students. In 2009, a renovation project began to rebuild the upper school building and connect all of the campus buildings under one roof.
The school has had a variety of headmistresses and headmasters over the years. The present headmaster, Gary Boehm, has been the head of school since 2006.
By the mid 2000s, it was becoming clear that the existing upper school building that was approaching 50 years of age, was too small and poorly heated/ cooled to meet the needs of modern students. In 2007, a massive capital campaign was launched to rebuild the upper school buildings. During the summer of 2009, the upper school commons area was demolished and construction on the foundation for the new building began. The old upper school class rooms were demolished in March, 2011.
It was also difficult to travel about the campus, as it is made up of several different buildings. The plan included a connector that joined all of these buildings as well through the addition of an enclosed hallway between the Lower school and Smead buildings. The balcony area around the lunch room was also enclosed in glass, which will enable students to access every building on campus without traveling outside. The Smead building, which is also the oldest on campus, was renovated to house the entire early childhood (Preschool-Kindergarten) program. Finally, a small roofed area was added next to the drop-off area for students to wait in the event of bad weather when they are dismissed from school. The entire operation was known as the "Under One Roof" project. The total cost was over 15 million dollars.
The new building was designed by the parents of one of the students. It is considerable larger than the old upper school building, with an average of 25% more floor space per classroom. It was placed on the footprint of the old upper school commons room and contains two floors. The new building incorporates natural lighting to reduce energy consumption. The class of 2015 will be the first group of students to occupy this new building during all four years of high school (the class of 2014 will occupy the building for about 3½ years).
There were no plans to renovate the lower and middle school building in the project.
The school is a member of the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) and competes in the nine-school Toledo Area Athletic Conference (TAAC). The school has co-ed teams in eight sports at the varsity and junior varsity levels including: field hockey, tennis, soccer, golf, baseball, lacrosse, and basketball. The school used to have a football team, but this was canceled in the late 1970s. In the 2005-06 school year alone, 13 student-athletes were named all-state and three were recruited for Division I athletics.[5]