St. Andrew's School (Delaware)

Infobox Private School


motto = "Pistis Kai Episteme" ("Faith and Learning")
type = Private, Boarding
religion = Episcopal
head = Daniel T. Roach
head_name = Headmaster
city = Middletown
state = Delaware
country = USA
established = 1929
name = St. Andrew's School
campus = Rural, 2200 acres
enrollment = 285 total
faculty = 65
class = 11 students
ratio = 5:1
year = 2007
SAT = 1320 verbal + math
athletics = 21 Varsity Interscholastic Teams
colors = Red, Black and White
mascot = Cardinal
conference = Independent
homepage = [http://www.standrews-de.org www.standrews-de.org] St. Andrew's School is an Episcopal, coeducational, University-preparatory boarding school located in Middletown, Delaware, enrolling 285 students in grades nine through twelve. The school has an endowment of 200 million dollars with over $700,000 per student. Still, it is socio-economically diverse, having dispensed 3.8 million dollars in financial aid in 2007.

Half the students receive some form of financial aid. They also offer financial assistance to upper income families, so they get the full range of family economic situations, not just the dumb bell effect of just rich and poor. The $40,500 tuition is high but in keeping with the cost of top schools. It is a need-blind application process. They accepted 1/4 of applicants in 2007.

"Dead Poets Society" was filmed there. The film portrays a competitive, dark, and elitist culture consistent with many of the negative stereotypes of American boarding schools in literature and cinema.

In contrast to that depiction, St. Andrew's prides itself on its "counter-cultural" philosophy. The whole school strives to create an idyllic community. It is a bright, positive, inclusive, nurturing environment. Student/faculty relationships are centered around trust and friendship.

The St. Andrew's honor code is the source of much of the trust between the faculty and students. It is not uncommon for a master to leave his classroom while his/her students are taking an exam.

Educational Philosophy

The purpose of St. Andrew's School is to provide secondary education of a Christian character at a minimum cost consistent with modern equipment and highest standards. In addition, St. Andrew's provides an interesting course in "nervous". The school cultivates in its students a deep and lasting desire for learning; a willingness to ask questions and pursue skeptical, independent inquiry; and an appreciation of the liberal arts as a source of wisdom, perspective and hope. Students are encouraged to model their own work on that of practicing scholars, artists and scientists and to develop those skills necessary for meaningful lives as engaged citizens.

St. Andrew's offers a full course curriculum in the liberal arts. The culmination of a student's English career is the Senior Exhibition. In the Senior Exhibition, a student will read a work of literature provided by his or her instructor, develop a thesis on that work of literature in the form of a 7-12 page paper and defend the thesis before members of the English department.

While admission to great colleges and universities is very much a part of the result of a Saint's education, there is less stress, emphasis and (overt) pressure than at some of the higher powered, more famous boarding schools. Classes of 2005 - 2008 Greatest number of matriculations:

Davidson: 13 Williams: 11 University of the South: 9 Harvard: 8 Middlebury: 8 George Washington: 8 University of Virginia: 8 Bates: 7 Hamilton: 7 University of Pennsylvania: 7

History

St. Andrew's was founded in 1929 by A. Felix duPont (1879-1948), a member of the Du Pont family. It was founded to provide a top education to students of all socio-economic backgrounds, regardless of the families' ability to pay. St. Andrew's originally was an all-boys school, but became coeducational in 1974.

Athletics

All St. Andrew's students are required to participate in a sport at the thirds, junior varsity or varsity level. Teams that frequently win state championships include the varsity girls' lacrosse team, winning the state title from 2002-2005, and the varsity tennis teams. The varsity boy's lacrosse team took states in 2004. In addition, the St. Andrew's rowing program is consistently competitive in both national, and world-wide rowing competitions. In 1997, the St. Andrew's women's rowing team won the School/Junior Eights class in the Henley Women's Regatta in England.

St. Andrew's is a member of the Independent Conference. Traditional rivals in conference include the Wilmington Friends School, Tatnall School and Tower Hill School. Every year, the football team battles the Tatnall Hornets for the coveted cannon trophy and often the conference title in the Cannon Game. Athletic rivals in other sports include the Hill School, Sanford School, Salesianum, Middletown High School and Westtown School.

Fall Interscholastic Sports *Field Hockey (W) *Football (M) *Volleyball (W) *Soccer (M/W)

Winter Varsity Sports * Basketball (M/W) * Squash (M/W) * Swimming and Diving (M/W) * Wrestling (M)

Spring Varsity Sports *Baseball (M) *Crew (M/W) *Lacrosse (M/W) *Tennis (M/W)

Film Appearances

The 1989 film Dead Poets Society starring Robin Williams was filmed almost entirely on the school grounds.

The episode of The West Wing entitled "Two Cathedrals" (#44) was partly filmed at the school.

Notable alumni

*Bulent Atalay (1958) - Physicist and author
*Admiral Dennis C. Blair (1964) - Retired Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command; President/CEO of the Institute for Defense Analyses
*William R. Brownfield (1970) - United States Ambassador to Venezuela for President George W. Bush
*Gardner A. Cadwalader (1966) - Rowed at 1967 Pan American Games and the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City
*Roy Foster - Irish academic, educator and historical writer
*Alex Handy - (1996) Journalist and writer
*Edward Strong (1966) - Producer of Tony-winning musicals "Jersey Boys", "Titanic" and "Big River"
*Kirk Varnedoe (1963) - American art historian and writer
*Loudon Wainwright, Jr. - "Life (magazine)" columnist
*Loudon Wainwright III (1965) - American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor
*George Welch (1936) - first pilot to break the sound barrier (before Chuck Yeager)
*Michael J. Whalen (1984) - Emmy Award-winning composer
*William H. Whyte (1935) - author of "The Organization Man"
*John Witwer (1958) - Colorado state representative
*Tom Verlaine - frontman of the band Television (did not graduate)
*Michael Zimmer - Columbia University Heavyweight Rowing Head Coach
*Erin Burnett (1994) - news anchor for CNBC

External links

* [http://www.standrews-de.org/ St. Andrew's School website]
* [http://libraryweb.standrews-de.org/ St. Andrew's School Library website]