Park School of Baltimore

The Park School of Baltimore, known as Park, is an independent, coeducational, non-sectarian, progressive day school for children in Pre-Kindergarten (age 4) through grade twelve. Located on a 100-acre campus in Brooklandville, Maryland, near the city of Baltimore, Park's current enrollment is approximately 823 students.

The Park School of Baltimore
Park's Athletic Center
Address
The Park School of Baltimore
The Park School of Baltimore
2425 Old Court Rd

Baltimore
,
MD
21208

United States
Coordinates39.3929°N 76.676°W / 39.3929; -76.676
Information
Founded1912
PrincipalMalika DeLancey (Lower School)
Joshua Wolf (Middle School)
Patricia Porcarelli (Upper School)
Head of schoolDaniel Paradis
GradesK-12
GenderCo-Ed
Age range4-18
Average class size15
LanguageEnglish
Campus sizeOver 100 acres
School color(s)Brown and white
SloganLearn to Think
SongPark School
MascotBruin
NewspaperThe Postscript
YearbookThe Brownie
MottoStrive On!
Websitehttp://www.parkschool.net

History

The school was founded in 1912 by a group of parents, primarily social and educational progressives in Baltimore's German Jewish community. It was determined that there was a need to provide a private school option, one that was nonsectarian, to accommodate Jewish students, who were either subject to a quota system or unwelcome at other private schools. They sought the counsel of noted educator Dr. Hans Froelicher, a professor of German languages at Goucher College, who advised them, "The school you want to found, to be a success, must be a better school, better than any now in existence. It must offer a superior type of education, so superior that... [no one] can ignore it."[1] A strong proponent of progressive education, Dr. Froelicher enlisted Eugene Randolph Smith, a well-known progressive educator and associate of philosopher John Dewey, to become the first headmaster.

The Park School opened on September 30, 1912 on Auchentoroly Terrace across from Druid Hill Park. In 1917, the school moved to Liberty Heights Avenue, now the site of the Community College of Baltimore City. In June 1954, Park became the first independent school in the area to accept African American students.

The school moved to on Old Court Road in 1959, and has undergone multiple renovations since then.[2] More recent renovations include a new wing for science, mathematics, and technology in 1997; an Athletic Center in 2001; and a new visual and dramatic arts wing in 2003.[3]

The average class size is 15 students. Park's faculty members have an average of 20 years of teaching experience, the highest of any independent Baltimore school, with an average of 11 years. Over 73 percent hold advanced degrees.[4]

Ninety-two percent of Advanced Placement test-takers from the Class of 2018 scored a three or better. Over the course of the last 10 years, Park has had more National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists than any other co-ed independent school in Maryland.[5]

In 2012, Park was selected to receive a $2 million endowment grant from the Malone Family Foundation.[6]

Athletics

In the Lower School, all students who wish to come out for a team are included and receive playing time. Beginning in the eighth grade, and increasing each year through junior varsity and varsity levels, coaches encourage all players, but skilled and dedicated athletes receive the majority of the playing time. Boys and girls play in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (IAAM) respectively.[7]

Park's Athletic Center is 42,000 square feet with three competition-length basketball courts, a 2,300 square-foot fitness center, an athletic trainer's room with whirlpool and treatment tables, and an 8-lane swimming pool. The school has five playing fields on the main campus for field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse, including an astroturf field with a conditioning track. Four additional athletic fields for baseball, softball, lacrosse, and soccer are located on Sugar Campus in Greenspring Valley.[8]

Notable faculty and staff
  • Laura Amy Schlitz, librarian and storyteller; won the 2008 Newbery Medal for her children's book Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village[9] and the 2013 Newbery Honor for her children's novel Splendors and Glooms.[10] Schlitz wrote the monologues in Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! for the 5th Grade curriculum. Her most recent book, Princess Cora and the Crocodile, published in 2017.

Noted alumni

Civil Rights Litigation

In 2018 the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit alleging that Park discriminated on the basis of gender in employment decisions it made about sports coaches.[11]

See also
  • Baltimore County
  • Educational progressivism

References
  1. 100: The Park School of Baltimore 1912-2012. Baltimore, Maryland: The Park School of Baltimore. 2013. p. 1.
  2. 100: The Park School of Baltimore 1912-2012. Baltimore, Maryland: The Park School of Baltimore. 2013. p. 85.
  3. 100: The Park School of Baltimore 1912-2012. The Park School of Baltimore. 2013. p. 89.
  4. "Park By The Numbers".
  5. "Park By The Numbers".
  6. "The Malone Scholars Program at Park".
  7. "Park at a Glance: Interscholastic Athletics and Physical Education".
  8. "Athletics Facilities".
  9. "2008 Newbery Medal and Honor Books | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)". www.ala.org. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
  10. "2013 Newbery Medal and Honor Books | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)". www.ala.org. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
  11. "EEOC Sues Park School of Baltimore Inc. For Sex Discrimination". Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.