| St. Albans School | |
|---|---|
|
"Pro Ecclesia et Pro Patria"
|
|
| Location | |
| Washington, D.C. |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Independent College Preparatory School for Boys |
| Established | 1909 |
| Headmaster | Vance Wilson |
| Faculty | 100 |
| Enrollment | About 575 students (grades 4–12) |
| Mascot | Bulldog |
| Affiliation | Episcopal |
| Information | 202-537-6435 |
| Publications | * The Bulletin * The Saint Albans News (official student newspaper) * Albanian (yearbook) * Gyre (literary magazine) * Grace (Chapel talks) |
| Website | www.stalbansschool.org |
St. Albans School is an independent college preparatory school for boys in grades 4–12, located in Washington, D.C. The school is named after Saint Alban, traditionally regarded as the first British martyr. Within the St. Albans community, the school is commonly referred to as "S-T-A." It enrolls approximately 575 boys from grades 4 through 12 and is affiliated with the National Cathedral School for Girls (NCS) and the co-ed Beauvoir School for PK-3 students, all of which are located on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral on Mount St. Alban in Washington. St. Albans, along with its affiliated schools and the Washington National Cathedral, are members of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation.
The school was founded in 1909 by Harriet Lane Johnston, niece of President James Buchanan, as a school for boy choristers to the Washington National Cathedral,[2] a program that the school continues today. The school mascot is the bulldog, a symbol adopted under the school’s fourth headmaster, Canon Charles S. Martin, because of Martin’s fondness for his pet bulldogs. The St. Albans motto, "Pro Ecclesia et Pro Patria," translates to "For Church and Country." St. Albans requires all students to attend Chapel twice a week in The Little Sanctuary. The school develops in its boys a sense of moral responsibility through Chapel, its Honor Code, and a co-curricular social service program.
A 2004 article in the Wall Street Journal found that among U.S. schools, St. Albans had the 11th-highest success rate in placing graduates at 10 selective universities.[1] St. Albans graduates include former Vice President Al Gore, former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., former Congressman Harold Ford Jr., former Governor of Connecticut John Davis Lodge, Apollo astronaut Michael Collins, former NFL Baltimore Raven Jonathan Ogden, Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor Jeffrey Wright, journalists David Ignatius, David Plotz, Ian Urbina, former Washington Post publisher and CEO, and current director of the Associated Press Bo Jones, former Washington Post chairman Donald Graham, and Fox News host Brit Hume.
Seventy-three percent of the faculty at the school have advanced degrees. The school also maintains one writer-in-residence, who teaches English classes while developing his or her work. (A past writer-in-residence is Curtis Sittenfeld, who worked on her best-selling novel Prep while at St. Albans.) The school's seventh headmaster is Vance Wilson, who recently completed twelve years as Headmaster. Wilson currently serves as the President of the International Boys School Coalition (IBSC), a world-wide organization for all-boys schools.
The school opened its new Upper School building - Marriott Hall - at the start of the 2009–2010 school year after two years of construction. The firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill LLP, with lead architect Roger Duffy, designed the new building, which has been the subject of articles in numerous publications, including The Washington Post, The Architects Newspaper, Building Stone Magazine, Arch Daily, Architecture DC, Mid-Atlantic Real Estate Journal, Construction, School Planning & Management, and American Society of Civil Engineers.[2]
Contents |
The St. Albans application process begins in the fall prior to the student's intended year of attendance. In September, a family may schedule a tour and interview, both of which occur during a single visit and are a required component of the application process. In addition to the visit, a general application form, personal statement, teacher recommendations, standardized testing, and a school transcript are required for the application. Decisions become available in March.
St. Albans operates a need-blind admission policy. As a result, a student's application for financial aid has no bearing on his application for admission.
The St. Albans Skip Grant Program offers financial aid and other support to enrolled students from a diversity of socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. This program was started by former St. Albans teacher Brooks Johnson and is now named after the program’s second director, former teacher, coach, and athletic director, Oliver “Skip” Grant. The Skip Grant Program is now led by Malcolm C. Lester, English teacher and head lacrosse coach at St. Albans.
St. Albans is divided into the Lower School (Grades 4 through 8, known as Forms C, B, A, I, II) and the Upper School (Grades 9 through 12, or Forms III, IV, V, VI). Both the Lower and Upper Schools offer a rigorous curriculum that seeks the development of sound analytical skills and clear thinking, while encouraging intellectual curiosity and cooperative efforts.
The Lower School curriculum emphasizes the development of basic academic skills. Boys study English, mathematics, social studies, history, science, religion, ethics, art, drama, and music. Foreign language study begins with Spanish in Form C (Grade 4); boys may elect one of four foreign languages beginning in Form I (Grade 7). The rigorous yet supportive program encourages each Lower School student to develop his abilities to the fullest.
In the Upper School, graduation requirements include a minimum of seventeen credits, subject to the following minimum distribution requirements: English (4 credits), mathematics (through precalculus), science (2 credits), foreign language (3 credits), history (2.5 credits), and religion (1.5 credits). Students must also complete a minimum of two semesters in a fine arts course or the equivalent in a performance-based activity. Numerous elective courses are available at all levels, and Form VI (Grade 12) students may undertake independent projects with a faculty advisor of their choosing.
Along with academics and social service, the athletic program at St. Albans is considered co-curricular and all students are required to participate. St. Albans competes in the Interstate Athletic Conference (IAC), a league of independent schools in the Washington, D.C. area. In addition to fielding varsity teams in fourteen sports: cross country, football, soccer, aquatics, basketball, indoor soccer, ice hockey, wrestling, track and field, lacrosse, baseball, tennis, golf, and crew, the school offers the Voyageur Outdoor Experiential Education program in which students can participate in such sports as indoor rock climbing on a climbing wall and white water kayaking. St. Albans rock climbers compete in the Washington Area Interscholastic Climbing League and kayakers no longer participate in interscholastic competition on the Great Falls rapids of the Potomac River, because the other schools decided to stop competing.
In recent years, programs that have experienced success and produced significant numbers of intercollegiate athletes include baseball, crew, cross-country, football, and lacrosse. The baseball team has won sixteen IAC titles in the last twenty years; crew won the Virginia State Rowing Championships in 2010 and 2011, placed second at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta in 2010 and first in 2011, and placed fourth at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America Regatta in 2010 and third in 2011; cross-country has won seven IAC banners in the last ten years, and in 2009, won the DC-MD Private Schools Championship; football has won three IAC banners in the last four years; lacrosse won the IAC in 2007.
Founded as a school for the Cathedral boy choristers, St. Albans maintains a tradition of strong musical education. Music class is required of boys in Forms C, B, and A (Grades 4 through 6), and performance ensembles are available to boys in every form. By Form III (Grade 9), various academic music courses are options, and many boys participate in the 170-member Chorale, the Orchestra, the Madrigal Singers, the Jazz Band, and a cappella groups. In addition, private voice lessons and individual instruction on an array of instruments are available.
Visual arts education is also provided in the Lower School. Working in a studio setting, boys gain experience with clay, colored pencil, marker, paper mâché, paint and textiles. This foundation is expanded upon in the Upper School years, with students ultimately finding their niche in paint and drawing, three-dimensional art, ceramics, or photography.
Beginning in Form I (Grade 7) and continuing through the Upper School, courses in drama introduce students to acting techniques, theater vocabulary, and stage production. In conjunction with girls from National Cathedral School, St. Albans students participate in two School-sponsored Lower School productions and three Upper School productions each year.
St. Albans has one official student newspaper, The Saint Albans News, founded in 1930. Students publish several books annually: the Albanian, the yearbook, Grace, a collection of chapel homilies, and Gyre, a literary magazine that includes a CD featuring music by the students and faculty. There is also one nonofficial student newspaper, the independent.
The school also sponsors many political clubs including the decades-old Government Club which encourages debates between liberals and conservatives, Young Democrats which campaigns for candidates, and a Foreign Policy Roundtable that facilitates discussions with foreign policy experts. Academic teams such as "It's Academic", Fed Challenge, JETS, and a math team are also popular. Fundraising groups for charity are commonplace at the school, and most dances held at the school donate profits to charity.
St. Albans has an active student vestry that gives homilies in Chapel and invites guest speakers to chapel services. Each grade elects three vestry members. Form VI (Grade 12) has three vestry members in addition to the Senior Warden, a student who presides over the vestry.
The Upper School has a student council that serves on the disciplinary councils and organizes social events and the annual school Diversity Day (every year a different topic regarding diversity is addressed though speakers, discussion groups, and films). Each grade has three prefects, one of whom is the class president. There is also a Head Prefect, always a Form VI (Grade 12) student.
St. Albans established its School of Public Service ("SPS") in 2002. SPS is a residential public policy, politics, and public service program that takes place for a four-week period each summer, beginning in late June. Nearly 40 rising high school seniors are selected to participate in SPS, located at St. Albans School. SPS admits both male and female students who have already shown a great deal of interest in public service, as well as an ability to positively influence others. While in the program, students gain experiences designed to heighten not only an interest in public service but also their probability of entering into and succeeding in a career in civic leadership. Students study at the highest level of scholarship, using Harvard and other case studies that are more commonly used at the graduate level.
In addition to using the case study method—used for graduate study in law, business, and public policy—SPS students continue the dynamic learning experience outside the classroom through policy simulations, speakers, and visits and meetings with public servants from State Department Foreign Service Officers to serving Army and Marine officers. In the past several years, SPS students have (in simulation) run congressional campaigns, negotiated their way through a dangerous crisis with North Korea, taken steps to contain a flu pandemic sweeping the nation, and argued and decided Supreme Court cases on First Amendment and national security issues. In the "real" world, the SPS students have, among other things, visited the White House to talk with the White House Chief of Staff, had lunch with the Governor of Maryland, hosted a formal dinner for Ambassadors from around the world, attended screenings of "Meet the Press" and talked with host David Gregory, met with members of the U.S. Supreme Court, and chatted about fiscal policy with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. For more information about this program, see School of Public Service.
St. Albans offers a number of camps and classes in the summer designed for children of various ages and interests and fostering both intellectual and physical development. The diverse curriculum consists of core academic classes, as well as specialty courses in such fields as technology and study skills. On the athletic front, St. Albans has once again partnered with Headfirst, a provider of sports instruction and other recreational activities, and Power Through Sports Basketball to offer an impressive variety of camps to students. The school also offers before and after care, as well as a daily “cool down” in the St. Albans indoor pool for full-day campers.
|
|
|
|||||