Park School of Baltimore
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{pp-pc}}
{{Infobox school
| name = The Park School of Baltimore
| image = Park gymnasium.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Park's Athletic Center
| location =
| streetaddress = 2425 Old Court Rd
| region =
| city = Baltimore
| state = MD
| county =
| postcode =
| postalcode =
| zipcode = 21208
| country = USA
| coordinates = {{coord|39.3929|N|76.676|W|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_map = Maryland#USA
| schoolnumber =
| schoolboard =
| district =
| authority =
| religion =
| denomination =
| oversight =
| affiliation =
| superintendent =
| trustee =
| founder =
| specialist =
| president =
| head of school = Daniel Paradis
| headteacher =
| executive_headteacher =
| acting_headteacher =
| head_label =
| head =
| chairperson =
| principal = Matt Doyle {{cite web | url=https://parkschool.net/faculty-staff/matt-doyle/ | title=Matt Doyle }}(Lower School)
Joshua Wolf (Middle School)
Traci Wright (Upper School)
| principal_label1 = Vice Principal
| principal1 =
| dean =
| administrator =
| rector =
| chaplain =
| director =
| custodian =
| staff =
| ranking =
| bar pass rate =
| faculty =
| teaching_staff =
| roll =
| decile =
| MOE =
| ceeb = 210812
| school code =
| LEA =
| ofsted =
| testaverage =
| testname =
| national_ranking =
| classes =
| classes offered =
| ratio =
| SAT =
| ACT =
| graduates =
| gender = Co-Ed
| lower_age =
| upper_age =
| houses =
| schooltype =
| fundingtype =
| type =
| system =
| fees =
| tuition =
| revenue =
| budget =
| endowment =
| enrolment =
| products =
| grades = Pre-K to 12
| age range = 4–18
| medium =
| language = English
| classrooms =
| campus =
| campus type =
| hours_in_day =
| athletics =
| conference =
| slogan = Learn to Think
| song = Park School
| fightsong =
| motto_translation =
| accreditation =
| rival =
| mascot = Bruin
| mascot image =
| sports =
| patron =
| team_name =
| nickname =
| school_colours =
| school_colors = Brown and White {{Color box|#522d24}} {{Color box|White}} {{cite web | url=https://parkschool.net/style-guide/ | title=Style Guide }}
| colors =
| colours =
| yearbook = The Brownie
| publication =
| newspaper = The Postscript
| established =
| opened =
| founded = 1912
| closed =
| reopened =
| students =
| sixth_form_students =
| pupils =
| alumni =
| nobel_laureates =
| enrollment =
| enrollment_as_of =
| gradeK =
| grade1 =
| grade2 =
| grade3 =
| grade4 =
| grade5 =
| grade6 =
| grade7 =
| grade8 =
| grade9 =
| grade10 =
| grade11 =
| grade12 =
| grade13 =
| other_grade_label =
| other =
| communities =
| feeders =
| main feeder school for =
| free_label1 = Motto
| free_text1 = Strive On!
| free_label2 =
| free_text2 =
| free_label3 =
| free_text3 =
| free_label4 =
| free_text4 =
| free_label5 =
| free_text5 =
| footnotes =
| picture =
| homepage = http://www.parkschool.net
}}
The Park School of Baltimore, known as Park, is a private, coeducational, PK-12, non-sectarian, progressive day school located in Baltimore, Maryland.{{Cite web |title=About Our School |url=https://parkschool.net/about/ |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=The Park School of Baltimore |language=en-US}} The school was founded in 1912 by Eli Frank Sr., Professor Hans Froelicher Sr., and General Lawrason Riggs as well as 13 other founding members.{{Cite web |title=History of The Park School |url=https://parkschool.net/about/history/ |access-date=2024-08-22 |website=The Park School of Baltimore |language=en-US}} Today, the school enrolls approximately 800 students and employs 115 faculty with 99 advanced degrees and 15 PhDs among them.{{Cite web |title=About Our School |url=https://parkschool.net/about/ |access-date=2024-08-22 |website=The Park School of Baltimore |language=en-US}}
History
Park was founded in 1912 as a private K-12 school based on the principles of progressive education developed by John Dewey and others.{{cite news |title=$100,000 For New School: To Be Co-Educational and To Ignore Religion |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=March 26, 1912 |ref=p.9}}{{cite news |title=The Park School At 40 |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=October 5, 1952 |ref=p. 8}}{{Cite web|last=September 2012|first=Jane Marion {{!}}|date=2012-09-09|title=Park Heights|url=https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/community/park-heights/|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Baltimore Magazine|language=en-US}}
The creation of the school was spurred by the firing of Baltimore City’s progressive Superintendent of Schools James Hixon Van Sickle by newly elected Mayor James H. Preston in 1911.{{cite news |title=Finney, Frank And Rowland Removed: Commissioners Ousted by Mayor for Standing by Van Sickle |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=June 29, 1911 |ref=pp. 1-2}} At the time the city’s private schools had quotas severely restricting the number of Jewish students admitted, and so Park adopted a policy of accepting all religions.{{cite news |last1=Waesche |first1=James F. |title=Park School's First 50 Years |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=April 21, 1963 |ref=p. A3}}
Park opened its doors to 98 students on September 30, 1912, in a three-story townhouse in the Auchentoroly Terrace Historic District across from Druid Hill Park. It was advertised as “A Country School in the City.”{{cite news |title=The Park School (advertisement) |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=September 17, 1912 |ref=p. 5}}{{cite web |title=Auchentoroly Terrace CHAP/National Register Historic District |url=https://chap.baltimorecity.gov/auchentorolyterrace |website=baltimore city.gov |date=14 November 2015 |access-date=February 6, 2021}}
As the school grew, it moved to a group of buildings on Liberty Heights Avenue in 1917.{{cite book |title=The Brownie (yearbook) |date=1917 |publisher=The Park School of Baltimore |pages=42}}
In 1950, Park’s student council passed a resolution calling for the school to "accept any applicant for admission, regardless of race, color or creed."{{cite book |title=100: The Park School of Baltimore 1912-2012 |date=2013 |publisher=The Park School of Baltimore |page=80}} In June 1954, one month after U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision desegregating public schools, Park's Board of Trustees voted "to receive any applications from any family suitable in interest and ambition," becoming the first private school in the city to do so. Black students began attending Park in 1955.
In 1959, Park moved to its current 100-acre campus on Old Court Road in Baltimore County. The school has undergone multiple expansions in recent years. More recent renovations include a new wing for science, mathematics, and technology in 1997; an Athletic Center in 2001; a new visual and dramatic arts wing in 2003; and a new science wing in 2023.{{Cite book|title=100: The Park School of Baltimore 1912-2012|publisher=The Park School of Baltimore|year=2013|pages=89}}{{cite web | url=https://www.hcm2.com/projects/the-park-school-science-technology-wing | title=THE PARK SCHOOL – SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY WING | publisher=Hord Coplan Macht | access-date=16 November 2023}}
Notable faculty and staff
- Laura Amy Schlitz is a librarian and storyteller who won the 2008 Newbery Medal for her children's book Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village{{Cite web|url=http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/2008newberymedalhonors|title=2008 Newbery Medal and Honor Books {{!}} Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)|website=www.ala.org|access-date=2015-08-14}} and the 2013 Newbery Honor for her children's novel Splendors and Glooms.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ala.org/alsc/2013-newbery-medal-and-honor-books|title=2013 Newbery Medal and Honor Books {{!}} Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)|website=www.ala.org|access-date=2015-08-14}} Schlitz wrote the monologues in Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! for the 5th Grade curriculum. Her most recent book Princess Cora and the Crocodile was published in 2017.
- Angela Balcita, a long-time Upper School English teacher, is the author of Moonface: A True Romance .{{Cite web |title=Angela Balcita |url=https://parkschool.net/faculty-staff/angela-balcita/ |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=The Park School of Baltimore |language=en-US}} She has also had essays published in The New York Times, The Wilson Quarterly, and elsewhere. Notably, her story "I See My Superhero" was recorded by comedian Sarah Silverman for her podcast The Modern Love.{{Cite web |title=Angela Balcita |url=https://parkschool.net/faculty-staff/angela-balcita/ |access-date=2024-08-22 |website=The Park School of Baltimore |language=en-US}}
Notable alumni
- Alan Frank Guttmacher ('15) – obstetrician/gynecologist, served as President of Planned Parenthood.{{Cite book |title=The Johns Hopkins Circular University Register 1915-1916 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1916 |series=1916, No. 4 |pages=83}}
- Julius Westheimer ('29) – financial advisor, television, and radio personality.{{Cite web |last=Ettlin |first=Albert Sehlstedt Jr and David Michael |title=Julius Westheimer |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2005-09-01-0509010001-story.html |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=baltimoresun.com |date=September 2005 |language=en-US}}
- Robert Austrian ('33) – developer of the pneumonia vaccine.{{Cite web |last=Rasmussen |first=Frederick N. |title=Robert Austrian |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2007-03-29-0703290030-story.html |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=baltimoresun.com |date=29 March 2007 |language=en-US}}
- Jane Frank ('37) (Jane Schenthal Frank) – painter, sculptor, mixed media artist, and textile artist (as a child, her name was Jane Babette Schenthal).{{Cite news |date=3 June 1986 |title=Jane Frank, three-dimensional painter, dies at 67 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=37590546&article=85cd7b3b-ed4f-4502-b54e-dab3c1b97a9e&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM3ODAyNzkxNiwiaWF0IjoxNTk5MDU2MDA5LCJleHAiOjE1OTkxNDI0MDl9.1T7mEicNqefP515H-s75QkaWTIOYE5HPP_4FrHQNzI0 |access-date=9 June 2020 |work=The Baltimore Sun}}
- Jeffrey Alfred Legum ('59) – President and CEO of The Park Circle Motor Company.{{Cite web |title=Jeffrey Legum Celebrates 50 Years of Professional Success |url=https://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/434000/jeffrey-legum-celebrates-50-years-of-professional-success |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=24-7 Press Release Newswire |language=en}}
- Martha Clarke ('62) – theater director and choreographer, MacArthur Award recipient.{{Cite news |last=Kaufman |first=Sarah |date=1999-10-17 |title=Choreographer Martha Clarke, Back on Her Feet |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1999/10/17/choreographer-martha-clarke-back-on-her-feet/83950fa8-f176-4f74-9582-6ba57696d007/ |access-date=2020-09-02 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}
- Edward Witten ('68) – mathematical physicist and one of the leading researchers in string theory.{{Cite web |last=Steinbach |first=Alice |title=Physicist Edward Witten, on the trail of universal truth Interview with the Genius |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-02-12-1995043206-story.html |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=baltimoresun.com |date=12 February 1995 |language=en-US}}
- Steve Krulevitz ('69) – professional tennis player, was ranked #42 in the world and a member of the Israeli Davis Cup team.{{Cite web |title=About Steve |url=http://www.krulevitztennis.com/about/ |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=The Steve Krulevitz Tennis Program |language=en-US}}
- Amy Berman Jackson ('72) – United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.{{Cite web |last=Hawkins |first=Samantha |date=2020-02-20 |title=Former Baltimore Colleagues Eager to See What Federal Judge Does in Roger Stone Case |url=https://www.marylandmatters.org/2020/02/20/former-baltimore-colleagues-eager-to-see-what-federal-judge-does-in-roger-stone-case/ |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=Maryland Matters |language=en-US}}
- Tom Rothman ('72) – Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Motion Picture Group.{{Cite web |last=Kaltenbach |first=Chris |title=Baltimore native, Sony Pictures head Tom Rothman donates $250,000 to Baltimore School for the Arts |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/features/baltimore-insider/bs-fe-rothman-bsa-20190918-gbjc5ks72zbyfbp72mwyxmxjpe-story.html |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=baltimoresun.com|date=18 September 2019 }}
- Walt Handelsman ('75) – Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist (1997 and 2007).{{Cite web |last=Shapiro |first=Stephanie |title=Native son proves once again pen is mightier than the sword Winner: Skewering public officials pays off for editorial cartoonist Walt Handelsman with one of journalism's biggest prizes. |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1997-05-29-1997149001-story.html |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=baltimoresun.com |date=29 May 1997 |language=en-US}}
- Penny Johnson Jerald ('78) – actress, appeared in Fox television show 24 as the president's wife, Sherry Palmer.{{Cite web |last=Kiehl |first=Stephen |title=The principled villain of '24' |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2004-06-17-0406170081-story.html |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=baltimoresun.com |date=17 June 2004 |language=en-US}}
- Lydia Kay Griggsby ('86) – Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims and formerly Chief Counsel for Private and Information Policy for the Senate Judiciary Committee.{{Cite web |title=Congressional Directory for the 115th Congress (2017-2018), July 2018. - |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDIR-2018-07-27/html/CDIR-2018-07-27-STATISTICALINFORMATION-20.htm |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=www.govinfo.gov}}
- Josh Tyrangiel ('90) – Executive Vice President, Vice Media/HBO.{{Cite web |date=2012-05-06 |title=Josh Tyrangiel - 2012 - 40 Under Forty {{!}} Crain's New York Business |url=http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/40under40/profiles/2012/josh-tyrangiel/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506163414/http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/40under40/profiles/2012/josh-tyrangiel/ |archive-date=2012-05-06 |access-date=2020-09-02}}
- Matthew Porterfield ('95) – independent filmmaker; Hamilton (2006), Putty Hill (2011), and I Used to Be Darker (2013).{{Cite web |last=Sun |first=By Jacques Kelly, The Baltimore |title=After years of struggle, Sondheim Prize winner celebrates |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/bs-md-sondheim-award-20110711-story.html |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=chicagotribune.com}}
- Josh Dibb ('96) a.k.a. Deakin, David Portner ('97) a.k.a. Avey Tare, and Brian Weitz ('97) a.k.a. Geologist – members of the experimental music group Animal Collective.{{Cite web |title=Dept. of Useless BKLYN Minutiae: Yeasayer and Animal Collective = High-School Bros {{!}} The Village Voice |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/01/24/dept-of-useless-bklyn-minutiae-yeasayer-and-animal-collective-high-school-bros/ |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=www.villagevoice.com|date=24 January 2008 }}
- Amanda Lipitz ('98) – Tony Award-winning Broadway producer; director and producer of award-winning documentary STEP.{{Cite web |last=McDonald |first=Soraya Nadia |date=2017-08-04 |title=Are films like 'Step' inspiring or are they inner-city uplift porn? |url=https://andscape.com/features/are-films-like-step-inspiring-or-are-they-inner-city-uplift-porn/ |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=Andscape |language=en-US}}
- Guy Blakeslee ('99) a.k.a. Entrance – musician currently signed to Tee Pee Records.{{Cite web |last=Byrne |first=Michael |title=Q&A: Guy Blakeslee of the Entrance Band |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/citypaper/bcp-blog-797-20090821-story.html |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=baltimoresun.com|date=4 June 2014 }}
- Adam Gidwitz ('00) – New York Times bestselling children's book author of A Tale Dark & Grimm (Dutton Penguin, 2010) and Newbery Honoree for The Inquisitor’s Tale (Dutton Penguin, 2016).{{Cite web |last=Nozick |first=Daniel |date=2017-02-10 |title=Park Alum Earns Prestigious Newbery Honor |url=https://jewishtimes.com/58648/park-alum-earns-prestigious-newbery-honor/news/ |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=Baltimore Jewish Times |language=en-US}}
- Annie Karni ('00) – journalist, White House Correspondent for the New York Times.{{Cite web |last=Karni |first=Annie |title=Annie Karni - White House Correspondent at The New York Times |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-karni-51263134?challengeId=AQFGcYOX-uBnjAAAAXRPOIDECWYGC-GLJEp47Njhx3NtHbwkgOVV-rcR0I5kJo8zj97Qg1SOH0vpkQJbDzcCQGU3VtR8T7AHtA&submissionId=5c963edd-cffd-3016-7264-fecd8990ac1a |access-date=September 2, 2020 |website=LinkedIn}}
- Chris Keating ('00) and Anand Wilder ('00) – members of the experimental music group Yeasayer.{{Cite web |last=Redfern |first=Mark |title=My Firsts: Chris Keating of Yeasayer |url=http://undertheradarmag.com/interviews/my_firsts_chris_keating_of_yeasayer |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=undertheradarmag.com |language=en}}
- Matthew Weiner – creator of the AMC television drama Mad Men.{{Cite web |last=September 2010 |first=Jess Blumberg {{!}} |date=2010-09-01 |title=Q&A with Peyton List of Mad Men |url=https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/artsentertainment/q-a-with-peyton-list-of-mad-men/ |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=Baltimore Magazine |language=en-US}}
- Ben Jacobs ('02) – journalist, political reporter for The Guardian.{{Cite web |last=Pearce |first=Matt |title=Reporter from Baltimore says he was slammed to ground by Montana politician |url=https://www.capitalgazette.com/bal-reporter-from-baltimore-says-he-was-slammed-to-ground-by-politician-20170525-story.html |access-date=2020-09-02 |website=capitalgazette.com |language=en-US}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.parkschool.net Official website]
- [https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3925199,-76.6760298,3a,75y,332.85h,73.45t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sckP6h9iIyEch-NIvXfiLoQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en Park School on Google Street View]
{{Baltimore County, Maryland Schools}}
{{authority control}}
Category:1912 establishments in Maryland
Category:Private schools in Baltimore County, Maryland
Category:Private high schools in Maryland
Category:German-Jewish culture in Maryland