Park School of Baltimore
The Park School of Baltimore is a private, co-educational K-12 school located in Brooklandville, Maryland, USA, just north of the city of Baltimore. The campus lies to the south of Old Court Road in Baltimore County. Park School's current enrollment is about 880 students.
Founded in 1912 by a group of parents, primarily social and educational progressives in Baltimore's German Jewish community, the school enlisted Hans Froelicher, Sr., a professor of German languages at Goucher College, to devise an educational plan for the school. Professor Froelicher lured Eugene Smith, a well-known progressive educator and associate of philosopher John Dewey, to become the first headmaster. Park's original site near Druid Hill Park gave the school its name, and provided students with outdoor experiences and hands-on learning activities espoused by leading progressives of the era. In 1917 the school moved to the west and north to a set of three buildings on Liberty Heights Avenue. Keeping its avowedly nonsectarian philosophy and liberal reputation, the school followed the migration of suburban life in Baltimore and in 1959 moved to its present location on 90 some acres just inside the I-695 Beltway. Enrollment has expanded along with the facility in recent years. A new Math and Science wing, a new visual and dramatic Arts wing, and a new Athletic Center have been added in the last twelve years to the existing campus. The philosophy of education the school attempts to follow is based on the assumption that learning is a natural consequence of an active mind, and, therefore, essential instruction requires no coercive tactics. Teaching at Park is based on two assumptions: that all children are capable of "rational self-discipline" and that learning is "an expression of positive energies, fulfills natural impulse, and enriches life." The consequence of this philosophy is a school in which student interests are cultivated, and collaborative and original work is strongly encouraged.
Park Philosophy
(This unsigned, uncredited statement, in two sections entitled "Philosophy" and "Objectives", is copied from a page at the school's official website [1].)
Philosophy
The Park School embodies both in its tradition and in its daily practice two assumptions: first, that human beings are capable and desirous of rational self-discipline and of acting towards others with respect, kindness, concern, and moral conviction; and second, that the activity of learning is an expression of positive energies, fulfills natural impulse, and enriches life.
As young people respond to the influence of these ideals, learning to trust and assert their own intellectual and moral powers as they develop, they acquire a sense of confidence in themselves and others which will inspire a productive adulthood. Since the quality of expectation is most important, the belief that positive expectations produce positive virtues is fundamental to the practice of the school.
The conviction that the child contains inner strength, talents, and powers which can be liberated and nurtured allows a variety of educational techniques and methods and is manifested in the school in different ways. Accepting this belief requires recognition of the excesses it may bring—occasional sentimentality, self-indulgence, disorder, and untidiness. Yet it insists that the teacher's authority as an adult and as a scholar should be used not to suppress or constrain, but to provide the skills, opportunities, challenges, and encouragement to bring about the flowering and fulfillment of the individual to think and act in the world with responsible freedom.
The academic process offers young people a dynamic view of the nature of knowledge and the experiences of learning, and supports their efforts to construct life-affirming meaning. In every area of the curriculum the school encourages substantial student commitment to reading, writing, enquiry, and focused discussion in order to secure the factual knowledge and conceptual structures essential for intellectual competence.
Thus considered, school activities become both ends in themselves and means toward more complex, more difficult ends. But however rigorous, school work need not be alienating or painful, nor need success be measured by comparison to others. Rather, achievement is the result of the use by the child, under proper stimulation and challenge, of the natural powers of mind and body which in their exercise and application provide pleasure and happiness.
To participate in the life of The Park School requires trust in these good prospects, effort to sustain these positive expectations, and confidence that, under their influence, children will grow to adulthood possessing the power to enact in their lives these beliefs about themselves and others.
Objectives
Individual and School It is the objective of the school to be a place where each person is respected and valued, and plain speaking, honesty, and authenticity govern all relationships.
It is the objective of the school to encourage discipline and student behavior based on reason, on a cooperative sense of community, and on a sympathetic understanding of the rights and needs of others. This approach, rejecting arbitrary authority and prescriptive codes, creates opportunities for moral and social growth and allows each student to acquire internalized discipline, autonomy, and self-control.
It is the objective of the school that students become deeply involved in intellectual endeavors and significant extracurricular activities. In addition to a stimulating, flexible curriculum and a varied program of activities, this objective is supported by a high degree of teacher involvement in advising and counseling students.
School and Society It is the objective of the school, through its identity as a co-educational, pluralistic community, to prepare students to participate in the public life of a democratic society.
It is the objective of the school that students develop sensitivity to the needs of others, within the school and in the larger community, and that they find personal satisfaction in helping others and addressing social problems.
It is the objective of the school to teach those skills and encourage those traits of character which enable achievement in a society undergoing constant social and technological change, changes which demand both accommodation and critical scrutiny.
It is the objective of the school to prepare students in the broadest sense, not only for further academic achievement, but also for the continuing process of choosing for themselves from the widest range of possibilities life offers.
It is the objective of the school that these values, reflecting the aspirations and goals of the original founders and benefactors, should be recognized as the central component of its communal life.
It is the policy of The Park School of Baltimore, Inc. to admit students; to carry out its admission and educational policies, scholarship and loan programs, academic, athletic and other school administered programs; and to offer all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school without regard to race, religious creed, ancestry, national origin, or sexual orientation.
Learning in Action
Among the core components of progressive education is the idea that learning in action is fundamental to the search for truth.
Park works towards the realization of this educational vision. Considerable resources are present within the community to create an environment in which students can learn through action.
Science experiments are conducted in the nearby forests where students are free to learn from nature. When learning foreign language, immersion is brought to bear to increase the actionable environment in which the student strives to develop linguistic skills.
Change
Some students and alumni feel that the Park School of Baltimore is drifting from its philosophy by placing more and more emphasis on the college process rather than the learning process.
Appalachian Challenge
The Park School's Appalachian Challenge course is an Initiative course (the marines would refer to it as an obstacle course) located on Park's campus. It is entirely run, built, and maintained by students (under the watchful eye of the program director, Mr. Howard). Completing the Challenge Course is a fun activity that is required for all Middle School students. There is a quarterly newsletter published by the Appalachian Challenge team.
"Park’s Appalachian Challenge program has more than 40 initiatives designed to build confidence, leadership, communication and teamwork skills, and character for Park Middle and Upper School students. Begun in 1974, the Challenge program is run by Park student leaders. These leaders continue to design and construct new initiatives each year."[1]
Notable faculty/staff
- Laura Amy Schlitz, librarian and storyteller. She is the winner of the 2008 Newbery Medal for her children's book entitled Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village [2]. The monologues in this book were written by Laura for the 5th Grade curriculum.
Noted alumni
- Edward Witten ('68), a mathematical physicist and one of the leading researchers in String Theory.
- Guy Blakeslee ('99) a.k.a. Entrance (musician), a musician currently signed to Tee Pee Records.
- David Hellman and Dale Beran, creators of the webcomic A Lesson Is Learned But The Damage Is Irreversible;
- Josh Dibb ('96) a.k.a. Deakin, David Portner ('97) a.k.a. Avey Tare, and Brian Weitz a.k.a. Geologist ('97), members of the experimental music group Animal Collective.
- Anand Wilder ('00) and Chris Keating ('00), members of the experimental music group Yeasayer.
- Jane Frank (Jane Schenthal Frank, 1918-1986) artist (as a child, her name was Jane Babette Schenthal)
- Penny Johnson Jerald, actress, appeared in Fox television show 24 (TV series) as the president's wife, Sherry Palmer.
- Alix Spiegel('89), radio journalist, founder of the America Project and contributor to This American Life.
- Heather Chaplin ('89), journalist and co-author of SMARTBOMB
- Robert Austrian ('34), developer of the pneumonia vaccine.
- Tom Rothman ('72), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment (The parent company of Twentieth Century Fox).
- Walt Handelsman ('75), Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist (1997 & 2007).
- Alex Trazkovich ('06), 2006 Presidential Scholar
- Julius Westheimer ('29), Financial advisor, television and radio personality.