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The North Shore Country Day School - f • :.&nll i;h. .ii' -ts's '• 1 'A Community of Learning" I lived in Winnetka for many years before I first came to North Shore as a part-time Middle School English teacher. Almost immediately, I felt I had come home. I had spent most of my childhood on the campus of Swarthmore College, where my mother was director of dramatics, and the atmosphere was imbued with both the seriousness and the joy of learning. Dinner conversations could be both cosmic and comic. Intellectual acuity and creativity were often entwined. On weekends, the Astronomy professor played the piano to accompany silent Charlie Chaplin films. The professors I knew never seemed satisfied with the impressive store of information they had amassed; they kept learning and re- learning, thinking and rethinking. They seemed thirsty for questions that had moral implications, that enlarged their vision. As my father put it, "It's not the pursuit of happiness as much as the happiness of pursuit." My father had been a professor earlier in his life, as had my mother's father. I always knew I wanted to become a teacher, and when I did, it was in a "family" school, one that encouraged and expected intellectual inquiry while enveloping you in laughter and love. When I came to North Shore in 1976, I found that same kind of home. NSCDS, founded in 1919, is unique in today's complex world. As we near the 21st Century, we can look back and recognize how lon- glasting are the principles of our beginnings. Community, democracy, artistic and physical development, and global consciousness seem even more valid today as core values. The most forward looking educational philosophers speak in similar terms, with one addition: technology. It is an honor for me to be among teachers who love learning, love children, and feel called to combine those two loves in teaching. It feels right to be part of a school that inspires students to stretch their minds and hearts, to make their way in the world with courage and faith, and to be committed to making a better world. We may think we are sometimes standing in the dark, our view limited and our road rough, but we believe in our path and hold the candle high to light the way. Welcome to The North Shore Country Day School. Julia L. Hall Head of School The North Shore Country Day Schoot "A Community of Learning" 4 The \SCDS Community 20 All-School Programs Students, faculty, parents, trustees, and Ranging from a Master-in-Residence alumni, make NSCDS the special com to the International Students' Program, munity that it is. Special cross grade NSCDS offers programs each year which friendships forged by students in grades enhance the learning environment for JK-12 enhance the school community. the school community. 5 Mission 23 NSCDS Traditions In preparing students for the 21st Morning Exercise, Work Day, and other Century, NSCDS remains true to its traditions help to shape the character of four founding principles: Community, the School and of the educational experi Democracy, Artistic and Physical ence for all NSCDS students. Development, and Global Consciousness. College Counseling 6 NSCDS: Beginning in the junior year, two A Community of Learning college counselors begin working with In developing lifelong learning skills, students to help them ask the questions we encourage students in grades JK-12 and do the research necessary to find the to take intellectual risks. We foster their best college "fit." NSCDS graduates curiosity, exploration and playfulness. go to colleges and universities all over the country and abroad. 11 The Campus The sixteen-acre campus of NSCDS "51 Admission and Financial Aid houses three separate schools, a library, NSCDS students come from 25 sub a theatre, an art gallery, playing fields urbs and Chicago. Applications are and two gyms. encouraged by January 15. In admitting students, the admission office looks 15 Arts for students who display intellectual Artistic development is one of the core promise, positive behavior, and achieve principles of the School's philosophy. All ment. Several financial assistance students experience fine and performing programs are available. arts as part of a well-rounded education. The NSCDS Invitation 17 Athletics ^ For more information about the School, "Athletics for All" is the philosophy at or to schedule a tour of the campus, NSCDS. Through P.E. classes and athletic please contact the Office of Admission. teams, all students develop physical fitness and a sense of teamwork. The 1\SCDS Community K Community is the heart of Because our teachers serve as The North Shore Country Day School. The coaches for athletic teams, advisors for school is a size that works: everyone is a extracurricular activities, and academic part of this "community of learning," and advisors for individual students, they the friendship, camaraderie, and respect know and understand their students that develop among its members are as whole people. enduring and transforming. Parents founded NSCDS, and today There is a feeling of warmth on parents continue to play vital roles in the the campus. Our buddy program pro life of the school. The Parents' Association, motes relationships across grades, and a vehicle for communication between the our all-school assembly, Morning Exercise, school and home, and The Woman's Board, enables us to come together to learn a fundraising group, support and enrich as a whole school. the NSCDS community through dedica We work, play, experiment, discover, interact, tion and hard work. achieve, share and learn together. The Board of Trustees, the School's The Students at The North Shore governing body, is composed primarily Country Day School come from twenty- of current parents as well as parents of five suburbs and Chicago and represent alumni and alumni themselves. racial, cultural and religious backgrounds from around the globe. Each student Alumni also play an important brings individual character, strengths role in the life of the School. The Alumni and interests, and together students create Association, an organization committed a talented and motivated community. to keeping alumni connected to the school, plans and organizes several The Faculty is committed to events each year. excellence in teaching and comes to NSCDS from all over the country and abroad. More than 75% of the faculty has advanced degrees. With a school-wide student-teacher ratio of seven to one, individual attention is the hallmark of each classroom. 4 NSCDS The mission o/vie North Shore Country Day School is to educate students for the 21st Century, while preserving the values and culture of the School's founding headmaster; Perry Dunlap Smith. We build on the four principles which are the core of The North Shore Country Day School's philosophy: Community, Democracy Artistic f and Physical Development and Global Consciousness Community We also cheer for their athletic In essence the "school is a community"- endeavors-when they challenge them an extension of the family, an environ selves physically, when they work, not ment in which parents are the School's for stardom, but with and for the team. partners. Students are part of a challenging Global Consciousness learning community that encourages The School's motto, "Live and Serve," friendships and shared experiences across reminds us of the need to connect with grades, that values cooperation and com the world beyond ourselves and beyond mitment. Morning Ex. is a tradition that the School. We ask students to respect creates as well as expresses community. and value the richness of cultural differ Democracy ences. We hope they will contribute to Perry Dunlap Smith said, "Education the larger society as thoughtful and should be the presentation of conditions responsible citizens. for choice, for the exercise of reason." lit looking to the future, we want We want students to learn by partic students to be skilled in using the ipating, to be caught up in the world evolving technology of computers and of thought. telecommunications, as well as knowl We value them as individuals, cultivate edgeable in the disciplines of math their strengths, encourage risk-taking, and science. expand horizons. To be prepared for a multilingual world We have high expectations for them as of interdependent cultures, they must be critical thinkers and educational explorers, able to write and speak effectively and becoming independent learners. work cooperatively. Artistic and Physical Development We expect them to become adults The arts are the way of keeping "all the who continually ask probing questions, avenues of the soul open and in use." evaluate complex ideas analytically, We want students to create, imagine, creatively and ethically, are open to new and improvise. answers, and are capable of leadership. * We line the walls with their paintings and applaud their songs. J\SCDS: A Community of Learning 6 NSCDS Front their earliest years, children are in classroom settings that encourage imagination, exploration, educational excellence and playfulness. The size of North Shore makes education an active dialogue between teachers and students. "I encourage my students We have no shadows; all students to be creative thinkers and inventors. I want them to are expected to be engaged in their own learn as much as they can learning as well as in the learning of about the math and science their classmates. of life and integrate these We take enthusiastic, curious and subjects into the real world determined students and put them as much as possible." together with dedicated, passionate Barbara Zeien and demanding teachers. Our classes sixth grade math and are intimate, provoking, challenging and science teacher thoughtful. Students develop a positive self image by confronting difficult issues and meeting those issues with NSCDS 7 confidence, intelligence, compassion and Based on traditions established from resolve, and so our courses are about the earliest days of the School's founding inquiry-asking questions that if answered headmaster, Perry Dunlap Smith, NSCDS "On an individual and lead to more questions. has developed innovative programs class level, the technology In all endeavors we want our students that build on and enhance the School's has made us much more to take intellectual risks. Without fear of mission. independent, because we making mistakes, students try new things With the establishment in 1993 of have many more sources of and deepen their level of understanding. the 21st Century Fund, a one-million information to complement We create an environment with an dollar fund to achieve distinction in the what comes directly from the teacher. We developed overriding sense of respect where we areas of languages, global consciousness, a 'team' concept in class encourage participation. math, science and technology, we have that encouraged us to share We want students to learn to articulate designed new curriculum and courses our knowledge and work their opinions and to accept the opinions to prepare our students for the challenges together to achieve of others. By keeping their minds open that await them in the next century. our goal." and flexible, students are best able to In addition, a recently adopted three- Jeff Meyer '97 grasp new ideas, adapt to new ways of year plan for the School reconfirms our student in AP U.S. History learning, and effectively manage the bom commitment to the humanities and to Pilot Class which used lap bardment of information they face in this interdisciplinary, theme-based top computers in lieu of text books technological age. learning. We work to develop a student's sense We expect students to master core of discovery, responsibility, self-confidence concepts and also to explore connections and curiosity in a supportive, rigorous among the various subject areas in order and engaging setting. to develop deeper understanding. 8 NSCDS