| Barrie School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 13500 Layhill Road Silver Spring, Maryland, 20906 United States |
|
| Information | |
| Funding type | Private |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Non-sectarian |
| Established | 1932 |
| Faculty | ~70 |
| Grades | Primary through Grade 12 |
| Enrollment | ~400 (grades PreK-12) |
| Campus | about 16 buildings |
| Campus size | 45 acres (180,000 m2) |
| Color(s) | blue and gold ██ |
| Mascot | Mustangs |
| Website | http://www.barrie.org |
Barrie School, formerly the Peter Pan School, is an independent school for all grades of pre-collegiate education located in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC.
The Barrie School has two divisions located on the same campus. The lower school, which serves children from age two through fifth grade, is Montessori based. The middle and upper schools are college preparatory institutions, however, teachers typically favor experiential learning over lectures. The students and faculty are on a first-name basis and the environment is one of openness and mutual respect.
The school is named for author J. M. Barrie. With student population slightly over 400 students, a wooded campus, and an average class size of less than 18, teachers can integrate the natural setting into the curriculum through hands-on experiments or holding class outside.
The school was founded in 1932 by Frances Littman Seldin. The school was first located on Allison Street NW; in 1934-1935 it moved to Decatur Street NW. In late 1939 or early 1940, the school moved to Fern Place NW in Washington D.C. It was originally a preschool called The Peter Pan School but the name was changed when older grades were added. In the 1950s, Mrs. Seldin purchased a 41-acre (170,000 m2) country estate on Layhill Road in rural Montgomery County, Maryland. The new site was added to continue the school’s mission of teaching in a natural setting. The Barrie Peter Pan Day Camp moved to the upper part of the property. In 1976, the Fern Place campus was closed and the remaining Middle and Lower School classes were moved to the Layhill Road property, with room for 265 students.[1]
In 1980, the Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies, offering graduate-level teacher education programs, was founded on Barrie School’s Layhill Road campus to provide a bridge between the traditional and Montessori schools of education.[2] The training programs have been completed by individuals from all across the United States and as far away as Canada, Trinidad, China, and Korea.[3]