St. George's School, Newport

St. George's School
Motto Sapientia Utriusque Vitae Lumen
Established 1896
Type Private coeducational secondary, boarding
Affiliation Episcopal
Headmaster Eric F. Peterson
Students 342
Grades 9–12
Location Middletown, Rhode Island, USA
Campus Suburban
Mascot Dragon
Rival Middlesex School
Website StGeorges.edu

St. George's shield

St. George's School is a private, Episcopal, coeducational boarding school in Middletown, Rhode Island, USA, just east of the city of Newport. The school was founded in 1896 by the Rev. John Byron Diman, a member of a prominent Rhode Island family. It sits on a hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and is known for having a beautiful campus. It is a member of the Independent School League and one of five schools collectively termed St. Grottlesex.

Contents

Mission statement

In 1896, the Rev. John Byron Diman, founder of St. George's School, wrote in his “Purposes of the School” that:

"The specific objectives of St. George's are to give its students the opportunity of developing to the fullest extent possible the particular gifts that are theirs and to encourage in them the desire to do so. Their immediate job after leaving the School is to handle successfully the demands of college; later it is hoped that their lives will be ones of service to the world and to God.”

The Hilltop

The school's suburban campus is familiarly known as "The Hilltop", as it is located on a prominent hill just east of Newport. The campus is also known for its magnificent view of First, Second, and Third Beach (which was part of the campus during the early twentieth century).

There are five boys’ dorms and six girls’ dorms. Two or three faculty members live with their families in apartments within each of the buildings. All dorm rooms are wired for telephone and internet access, and each dorm has a common room equipped with a microwave, television, and DVD player.

Boys' Dorms

  • Arden Hall
  • Diman Hall
  • East
  • Eccles Hall
  • Wheeler

Day Rooms

  • Wheeler Day
  • Red

Girls' Dorms

  • Astor
  • Auchincloss (Auch)
  • Buell
  • Old School
  • Twenty House
  • Zane (formerly known as West)

Day Rooms

  • Buell Day
  • Astor Day

Daily life

Like most private schools in the ISL, St. George's operates on a six-day school week, meaning that classes meet on Saturday. Wednesdays and Saturdays, however, are half-days, with athletic games in the afternoons.

St. George's conducts the majority of its classes (with the exception of science and math classes) using the Harkness method, which encourages discussion between students and the teacher, and between students. The average class size according to the School's website is 10-12 students. Freshmen are expected to be assigned 50 minutes of homework due for each class. The amount of assigned homework increases by 10 minutes per year. Honors classes can be assigned an extra 30 minutes. AP classes can be assigned as much homework as the teacher feels appropriate.

Rather than offering a Physical Education class, St. George's requires all its students to play sports for at least four terms of their Third and Fourth Form years, and for any three terms during their Fifth and Sixth Form years. These sports range from a New England-champion hockey team to a thirds lacrosse team.

Students attend Chapel twice per week. Once a week, Chapel requires formal attire, and there is either a communion or evening prayer service in accordance with the school's Episcopalian tradition. During the second service, a senior or faculty member speaks to the school community, giving a Chapel Talk.

In the evenings, meetings are held for clubs and activities including music ensembles like the Brass Ensemble and Choir, a cappella groups (the all-female Snapdragons, and the all-male Hilltoppers), the Debate Team, and other extracurricular organizations.

Traditions

Sports

The school is a member of the Independent School League (ISL) and the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC).

Recent Championships:

In recent years, St. George's hockey and sailing programs have been especially successful with the boys hockey team winning New Englands three years ago and the sailing team placing third in the country at Nationals multiple times.

Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts is St. George's traditional rival. Three times a year athletes from the visiting school travel two hours by bus to compete against rival teams. The schools alternate each year to host the games, which conclude each regular, athletic season.

St. George's also shares a rivalry with Portsmouth Abbey School in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, as both schools were founded by John Diman. Once every season, the schools' athletic teams play each other on "Abbey Monday" (The Portsmouth Abbeyians call the event, "St. George's Monday.")

Fall Season

  • Cross-Country (|)
  • Field Hockey
  • Soccer (|)
  • Football

Winter Season

  • Basketball (|)
  • Ice Hockey (|)
  • Squash (|)
  • Swimming (*)

Spring Season

  • Baseball
  • Lacrosse (|)
  • Sailing (*)
  • Softball
  • Tennis (|)
  • Track (*)
  • Golf (*)

(*) -- Denotes Co-ed teams (|) -- Denotes separate, m. or f. teams

Geronimo

During the academic year, Geronimo carries students from St. George's School on six-week long voyages. She sails year round between Canadian waters and the Caribbean. Students are taught Nautical Science and Oceanography/Marine Biology while on board. During these trips, the students stand watch, learn the intricacies of handling a modern sailing vessel and conduct research on sea turtles working in conjunction with the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research University of Florida, Gainsville. In the summer months, the vessel makes three shorter trips along the east coast. Summer trainees range in age from high school to adult.

She is a Ted Hood designed 70 foot fiberglass sloop.

Music and drama

Currently, the school performs at least one major drama and one musical each year. Between major productions, students direct and perform one-act plays. In addition, students are able to take three different semester-long theatre courses, including two in acting and one in stagecraft.

Approximately half of the student body sings in one of the choruses. Chapel Choir, which requires its members to audition, is the school's largest musical group. The smaller male group, The Hilltoppers, and female group, The Snapdragons, audition motivated members from the school community. St. George's a cappella groups typically participate in Parents' Weekend and other school events.

The Schools maintains two ensembles and an orchestra. Playing for Chapel services and the New York Yacht Club's christening ceremonies, the Brass Ensemble plays mainly hymns and is led by conductor Tony du Bourg. The Orchestra plays classical music and is led by Jinny Chang, who also leads the Jazz Ensemble. The St. George's Jazz Ensemble plays jazz of various eras and composes its own pieces, which are then played at school functions.

At the Campus Center Grill, Coffeehouse Hours are held in the Great Room, and musicians frequently play.

"Jerusalem" (Hymn 110) is the school's preferred hymn. It is sung frequently in Chapel along with the School Hymn, set to Duke Street, and the St. George's Day Hymn (Melita).

Extracurricular Activities & Clubs

There are other options for students that are not athletically-inclined. The Theater Department has a production every season of the year: in the Fall, there is a dance troupe that puts on several shows, including one on Parents' Weekend. In the Winter, the School Musical occurs, and at the end, hosts the school community, parents, and the local community for a 3-show weekend in March. In the Spring, the School Play is held in May.

For any of the seasons, students can be a student trainer, assisting the Sports Trainer in the Training Room. Students can also perform community service, or a special project.

The School has over 50 clubs.

The Red & White

The Red & White is the newspaper of the St. George's School community. A student run institution, it prints nine times a year on a monthly basis. The paper is a half tabloid, and prints in black and white. The paper is available for free to students and faculty, and, at a nominal fee, any member of the school's extended community can subscribe.

Founded in 1906, its goals were "to amuse" students and to "maintain [a] high standard" of journalism. The second longest existing publication in the school (The Dragon, the school's literary magazine is bestowed with that honor), it has printed since its inception, with the exception of a ten year period between World War I and World War II.

The Editorial Board of The Red & White consists of the Editor-in-Chief, the Managing Editor, the Layout Editor, Photography Editor, the News Editor, the Opinions Editor, the Arts & Lifestyle Editor, the Sports Editor, and the Photography Editor. In addition, the paper also consists of Senior Writers, Staff Writers, Staff Photographers, and Contributing Writers. Jack Bartholet '12 is the most recent Editor-in-Chief.

Trivia

Notable faculty

Notable St. Georgians (Old Boys)

Rhode Island portal

References

External links