Country Day School movement
The Country Day School movement is a movement in progressive education that originated in the United States in the late 19th century.
Country Day schools seek to recreate the educational rigor, atmosphere, camaraderie and character-building aspects of the best college prep boarding schools while allowing students to return to their families at the end of the day. To avoid the crime, pollution and health problems of the industrial cities of the early 20th century, the schools were sited in the 'country,' where wealthy families owned large homes in what would later be known as suburbs.
The Country Day School movement shared many values with the Arts and Crafts movement. School buildings and campus landscaping were designed with the goal of creating an inspirational atmosphere that would foster learning and culture. In keeping with this holistic view of the student learning environment, various "after-school" programs promoted student development, including athletic programs, choir and religious studies, and monitored study time. Students were given opportunities to develop leadership skills through clubs and student organizations.
The first Country Day Schools were Poly Prep Country Day School, in Brooklyn, New York, which opened its doors in 1917 on a 26-acre (110,000 m2) campus in Dyker Heights, after having been on Livingston Street since 1854; University School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, which opened in 1890; Detroit Country Day School now located in Beverly Hills, Michigan; The Gilman School in Baltimore, Maryland, which opened in 1897; The Summit Country Day School in Cincinnati, Ohio, which opened in 1890, and The McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Maryland, which opened in 1873. These six prestigious college preparatory schools provided the structure and campus location format that would guide many more country day schools that would be built around the country for the next 100 years.
Prominent Country Day Schools include the following:
- Beaver Country Day School
- Berkshire Country Day School
- Berwick Academy
- Bryn Mawr School
- Canton Country Day School
- Charlotte Country Day School
- Cincinnati Country Day School
- Costa Rica Country Day School
- The Country Day School
- Cranbrook Kingswood School
- Detroit Country Day School
- Evansville Day School
- Far Hills Country Day School
- Fort Worth Country Day School
- Forsyth Country Day School
- Fox Chapel Country Day School
- Gilman School
- Glenelg Country School
- Green Fields Country Day School
- Greenwich Country Day School
- Hamden Hall Country Day School
- Hawken School
- Keith Country Day School
- Kentucky Country Day School
- The Key School
- Kingswood-Oxford School
- La Jolla Country Day School
- Lake Forest Country Day School
- Lancaster Country Day School
- Madison Country Day School
- Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School
- Marin Country Day School
- Maumee Valley Country Day School
- McDonogh School
- Metairie Park Country Day School
- New Canaan Country School
- Newton Country Day School
- Miami Country Day School
- North Shore Country Day School
- The Park School of Buffalo
- Park Tudor School
- Pembroke-Country Day School
- Phoenix Country Day School
- Pingry School
- Poly Prep Country Day School
- Princeton Day School
- Providence Country Day School
- Riverdale Country School
- Roland Park Country School
- Rolling Hills Country Day School
- Rumson Country Day School
- Rye Country Day School
- Sacramento Country Day
- Scarborough Country Day School
- St. Croix USVI Country Day School
- St. Sebastian's Country Day School
- Seattle Country Day School
- Stuart Country Day School
- The Savannah Country Day School
- Shady Side Academy
- Shore Country Day School
- Summit Country Day School
- Westchester Country Day School
- University Liggett School
- University School of Milwaukee
- University School
- York Country Day School