Baldwin School

The Baldwin School
Location
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
United States
Information
Type Private, All-Girl
Motto Disce Verum Laborem
Established 1888
Head of School Marisa Porges '96
Faculty 73 full-time, 11 part-time
Enrollment 587 girls
Average class size 13 girls
Student to teacher ratio 7 to 1
Campus Suburban
Color(s) Blue and Gray
Athletics Baldwin Bears
Athletics conference Inter-Academic League
Mascot Winnie the Bear
Rival Episcopal Academy
Average SAT scores 2210
Website

www.baldwinschool.org

Bryn Mawr Hotel
Location Morris and Montgomery Aves., Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°1′23″N 75°18′46″W / 40.02306°N 75.31278°W / 40.02306; -75.31278Coordinates: 40°1′23″N 75°18′46″W / 40.02306°N 75.31278°W / 40.02306; -75.31278
Area 1.5 acres (0.61 ha)
Built 1890
Architect Furness, Evans, & Co.; Furness, Frank
Architectural style Renaissance, French Chateau, Other
NRHP reference # 79002300[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP April 27, 1979
Designated PHMC April 11, 2000[2]

The Baldwin School is an American all-girls independent school located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in Greater Philadelphia. Founded in 1888 by Florence Baldwin, it now consists of a Lower, Middle and Upper School totaling approximately 570 in enrollment.

The school occupies a 19th-century resort hotel designed by Victorian architect Frank Furness, a landmark of the Philadelphia Main Line.[3] The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 27, 1979.[1]

Baldwin's brother school is the Haverford School, in nearby Haverford.[4] Baldwin/Haverford compete with Springside/Chestnut Hill and the Episcopal Academy both in academics and athletics.

History

In 1888, Miss Florence Baldwin founded "Miss Baldwin's School for Girls, Preparatory for Bryn Mawr College" in her mother's house at the corner of Montgomery and Morris Avenues in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.[5] The first class was composed of thirteen girls.

"The Residence" (formerly Bryn Mawr Hotel) by Furness, Evans & Company. The second Bryn Mawr Hotel opened May 30, 1891).

The second Bryn Mawr Hotel was designed by Furness, Evans & Company and built in 1890-91. It is a five-story, "L" shaped stone-and-brick building in a Renaissance Revival / Châteauesque style. It features a large semi-circular section at the main entrance, topped by a conical roof and finial. It has a steeply pitched red roof with a variety of dormers, chimneys, towers, finials, and skylights.[6]

In 1896, The Baldwin School began leasing the Bryn Mawr Hotel during the winter months, then year-round in 1912. In 1922, the school purchased the building and the surrounding 25 acres (100,000 m2) for $240,000.

Today the school has added many additions but still manages to maintain the elegance and grandeur of the original building. The original building is known as "The Residence," and formerly served as dormitories for boarding students. It is now home to the dining hall, art studio, apartments for faculty and staff, music classes, and an Early Childhood Center, with renovations completed in 2014 specifically for the Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten classes. A two-story science building opened in 1961 and was enlarged in 1995 to accommodate the increasing number of students. The Upper and Middle Schools inhabit the three-story Schoolhouse, which was built in 1926 and renovated in 1997. Grades 1-5 are housed in the Lower School building which was completed in 1974.[7]

The school formally opened a new athletic center in 2008. The new building has a six-lane swimming pool, gymnasium, three-lane jogging track, 4 squash courts, fitness center and multipurpose meeting/activity space. It is accompanied by a five tennis courts and a practice field.[7]

Scholarships

$2.8 million in scholarships is distributed annually to 28% of the students. The average grant awarded was $18,261. [8]

Student body

Students of color represent 40% of the student body.[8] The Baldwin School is not religiously associated.

Academics

Twenty six percent of the Class of 2014 went on to attend Ivy league institutions. Twenty seven percent of the Class of 2015 was recognized by the National Merit® Scholarship Program.[9]

Baldwin has a high percentage of graduates majoring and working in math and science fields, about 1/3 greater than the national average for women.[10][11] In 2014, 28% of the graduates pursued a degree in science and engineering.[9]

Arts

Music

Baldwin's music education begins in the Lower School. Students receive twice weekly music classes and sing in weekly choruses in Grades 3-5. Students perform in musical plays once a year. In Middle School, chorus, orchestra and classes in guitar and hand bell care available. In Upper School, ensembles include a jazz band, classical chamber music ensemble Firenze, two hand bell choirs, chorus, select a cappella vocal ensemble Baldwin B-Flats, select singing ensemble Eliza-B-thans and an orchestra. Each ensemble is featured during multiple evening concerts throughout the year.

The Middle School Chorus participates annually in the Music in the Parks competition at Hershey Park in May. At the 2014 competition, the Middle School Chorus received a Superior rating and the Best Overall Middle School Chorus trophy for their performances. Every three years, the Upper School ensembles take a week and a half performance tour to a destination abroad. Past destinations include Vienna, Austria, Tuscany, Italy, Budapest, Hungary, Stockholm, Sweden, Oslo, Norway and Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Baldwin Conservatory offers weekly private instruction on piano, voice, violin, viola, flute, clarinet, saxophone, oboe, trumpet, trombone, guitar, ukulele, banjo and harp. The Baldwin Conservatory has had many accomplished musicians as faculty including pianist and composer Jean Paul Kürsteiner.

Theater

In the 2013-14 school year:

  • a student won a gold medal at Alliance for Young Artists & Writers's Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for her dramatic script.
  • a student placed 1st in the Monologue Competition at the Zak-Pac Convention for Performing Arts.
  • Middle and Upper School drama students submitted plays to the Philadelphia Young Playwrights Festival and one student received a stage reading of her play as part of Pizza and Playwrights.
  • one student placed 2nd and another placed 3rd in the Philadelphia Young Playwrights’ Annual Play writing Festival.
  • an excerpt from a student's original work was featured in an Off-Broadway Dramatic Reading Series at the ART.WRITE.NOW 2014 National Exhibition in June.
  • a student was one of 30 American and international actors ages 12 to 19 who traveled to the Czech Republic to perform "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" within the walls of Terezin Concentration Camp.

Visual Art

Baldwin offers lessons in ceramics, computer graphics, photography, jewelry making, painting and sculpture. The School's Rembrandt antique-style etching press was restored during the 2013-14 school year and used extensively for Middle School and Upper School Art Exhibition student works. 2013-14 Upper School students had their work displayed in the Tyler School of Art's "Clay Programs of Excellence" and the After-School Enrichment Ceramics classes displayed their work at Bryn Mawr's Ludington Memorial Library.[12]

Athletics

The Baldwin School competes in the Inter-Academic League, most commonly known as the Inter-Ac. Interscholastic varsity sports are: Basketball, Cross-Country, Field Hockey, Golf, Lacrosse, Rowing, Soccer, Softball, Squash, Swimming and Diving, Tennis, Volleyball, and Indoor Track. Dance is also offered, and students also have the option of Independent PE if they are seriously committed to a sport outside of school such as fencing or ice skating.

Baldwin is especially strong in tennis, softball, and lacrosse, whose teams regularly travel to the Pittsburgh, New York, and Baltimore areas for heightened competition.[13] The Baldwin Bears have recently been Inter-Ac champions in softball, lacrosse, and squash. Its longtime local rival has been the Episcopal Academy in Newtown. Baldwin and Episcopal hold an athletic event in late October every year, known as EA Day (or Baldwin Day from the Episcopal Academy's viewpoint). The two schools compete every year for the banner, while Episcopal's boys teams compete with Haverford for the sweater.

The Baldwin School's recently built athletic center features an indoor track, swimming pool, fitness center, dance studio, squash courts, and basketball court. The building features solar reflective roofing, regionally sourced materials, Energy Star equipment and appliances, and an indoor air quality management system. [14]

Seven members of the Class of 2018 will continue their respective athletic careers at the collegiate level, playing squash, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, and rowing.[15]

Squash

Baldwin is best known for its squash program. Each class regularly consists of a couple nationally-ranked squash players, many of whom compete internationally across Europe, Canada, and South America. Several Baldwin Squash alumni have gone to play the sport at various Ivy League schools. Many of these players are also among the strongest academically at Baldwin, earning honors including National Merit and induction into the Cum Laude Society.

Baldwin's longstanding rival in squash has been Greenwich Academy in Connecticut. In 2015, the upper school team defeated Greenwich in the US Squash Championships at Trinity College. The school's middle school team won the national championship against Greenwich in 2016 and 2018. The upper school team again faced Greenwich in the 2018 national championships, but lost 1-6.[16]

Notable alumnae

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ "PHMC Historical Markers". Historical Marker Database. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  3. ↑ http://brynmawr.patch.com/articles/bryn-mawr-100-the-baldwin-school
  4. ↑ https://www.baldwinschool.org/page.cfm?p=526
  5. ↑ "The Baldwin School Archives". Baldwin School. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  6. ↑ "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Note: This includes Hyman Myers (n.d.). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Bryn Mawr Hotel" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  7. 1 2 http://www.baldwinschool.org/RelId/605788/ISvars/default/Philosophy_%2526_History.htm
  8. 1 2 http://www.baldwinschool.org/baldwin-fast-facts
  9. 1 2 https://www.baldwinschool.org/RelId/60777441/InfoGroup/11623/ISvars/default/Baldwin_Celebrates_Class_of_2014.htm
  10. ↑ https://www.baldwinschool.org/Customized/Uploads/Baldwin%20Class%20of%202013%20Release%206.7.pdf
  11. ↑ https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind14/content/chapter-2/at02-16.pdf
  12. ↑ http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-baldwin-school/baldwin-arts-317425/product
  13. ↑ http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/baldwin-highlanders-(pittsburgh,pa)/girls-lacrosse/schedule.htm
  14. ↑ http://www.baldwinschool.org/athletics
  15. ↑ https://www.baldwinschool.org/page.cfm?p=520&newsid=391
  16. ↑ https://www.greenwichtime.com/highschool/article/Greenwich-Academy-wins-another-U-S-team-squash-12553237.php
  17. ↑ http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2012/03/04/main_line_times/life/doc4f511206adff0669220898.txt?viewmode=fullstory
  18. ↑ http://www.archives.upenn.edu/faids/upt/upt50/mudd_family.html
  19. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-06. Retrieved 2014-12-04.
  20. ↑ http://www.cnn.com/CNNPromos/impact.promo.html
  21. ↑ http://geoweb.tamu.edu/profile/KMiller
  22. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/record-labels/6205164/jody-gerson-named-head-of-universal-music-publishing-group
  23. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1140091/
  24. ↑ http://english.columbia.edu/people/profile/385
  25. ↑ "2014 - 2015 Class of White House Fellows". The White House. Archived from the original on 2015-07-14.
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