The Galloway School

The Galloway School is a private, co-educational day school founded by Elliott Galloway in 1969 designed to offer an academic program for children ages 3 through grade 12.

History

In 1969, Elliott Galloway, his wife Kitty, and his friend Ross Arnold founded The Galloway School. There he emphasized individualized education, personal evaluation instead of traditional grading, and close working relationships between faculty and students.

In 1990, Elliott Galloway stepped down as the headmaster of The Galloway School. He was succeeded by Dr. Joe Richardson, Dr. Linda Martinson, and Thomas Brereton. On August 18, 2010, Dr. Beth Farokhi, assumed leadership for a two-year term. On November 28, 2011 the school's board of trustees announced Suzanna Jemsby as its next head of school,^[1] with a start date of July 1, 2012.

The Galloway School opened its doors in 1969 to 380 students; the first class graduated in 1971. As of June 2012, the school has approximately 750 students.

Campus

The central building on the Galloway campus, the Gresham building, was built by Fulton County in 1911 as an almshouse for the indigent elderly and stayed in operation until the early 60’s, when it experienced a succession of short-term tenants and was then left abandoned. In the spring of 1969, Elliott Galloway enlisted the help of the prospective parents, incoming faculty, and trustees to clean out and restore the building before the first day of school. This building, which once housed the entire school, now holds the Upper Learning (traditionally high school) classrooms, the school library, and the administrative offices.

In 1988, the school constructed the Sims building to house their Early Learning program (traditionally elementary school), and in 1996 it built the Arnold building for its Middle Learning program (traditionally middle school) as well as a gymnasium. In 2004, the campus was completed with the Chaddick Center for the Arts, a complete Arts Center that includes a 300-seat theatre, theatre classroom and rehearsal hall, fully equipped performance support areas, choral and instrumental classrooms and practice rooms, visual arts spaces, and a multi-media technology center. In 2007, the school opened the Galloway Athletics Complex, an off-campus athletics facility featuring two soccer fields and a full-sized track.

Traditions

Galloway does not have a school uniform or dress code. At a Galloway graduation, any student who desires to take part may contribute to the ceremony through speech, song, dance, or performance. There is no valedictorian, salutatorian, or class rankings in their worlds.

Historically, The Galloway School had only two rules: "Behave yourself and try." These first rules stated Galloway’s philosophical attitude toward rules. Galloway, by its philosophy, is a trust-based community that gives its students the freedom to discover how to behave themselves and also holds them accountable for the consequences of their actions.

Instead of traditional rank-and-quantify grades, Galloway measures student progress by the level of mastery they achieve and with progress reports, including personal feedback from the teachers.

Extra Curricular

The Galloway School offers a range of extra curricular activities for its students. Among these include Academic Team (which appeared on WSB-TV when the team qualified for the National Academic Quiz Tournaments in Chicago), Policy Debate, Spectrum, Book Club, and Music Appreciation Club. The Policy Debate program at The Galloway School was founded in 2013-14 and competes with the Atlanta Urban Debate League (AUDL).

Fine arts

In addition to offering visual arts, instrumental music, and choral offerings at all levels, Galloway Upper Learning students have the opportunity to be involved in the Galloway Theatre Company, an after-school theatre class that performs one-act plays.

Through the years, the Theatre Company has participated in the Georgia Theatre Conference and the Georgia High School Association One-Act Play Contest, winning multiple state and regional awards. In 2001, they gained international recognition as one of 24 U.S. schools invited to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Isaac Ramsey is the newest technical director.

In addition, the 7th-and-8th-grade chorus visits New York City to sing at Carnegie Hall every other year.

Each spring, the Drama Department puts on a student-produced musical. Past musicals have included: Mame, Into the Woods, The Music Man, Kiss Me, Kate, Cats, Fiddler on the Roof, and in the spring of 2010 was A Chorus Line, as well as the smaller Upper Learning musical Charlotte's Web.

Each winter, Middle Learning students put on the Middle Learning Musical. Past musicals have included: Mulan, Alice in Wonderland, and Dr. Dolittle.

Athletics

The Galloway Athletics open participation policy allows every seventh to twelfth grade student, whether a beginner or an experienced player, the opportunity to take part in Galloway athletics. The school has a strong middle school boys soccer team and high school cross country team.

Notable alumni

• Todd English
• Megan Hayes
• Martin Luther King III

References

External links

• The Galloway School