SCH
INTEGRITY courage THOUGHTFULNESS Our values
RESILIENCE
DIVERSITY
UNBOUNDED CURIOSITY. INDEPENDENT THOUGHT. A PASSION TO EFFECT POSITIVE CHANGE. These are the qualities we seek to instill in every SCH student, nurtured over time by SCH Academy’s dedicated teachers and coaches, stimulating discussions in and out of classrooms, and challenging self-directed projects where the answer is to be discovered, not given. Every day our students are asked to think boldly, to create, collaborate, and problem solve. To use their growing knowledge to deepen their understanding of themselves and the world around them. Through the hard but exciting work of learning, our students grow into self-aware, community-minded, confident young adults ready to apply their curiosity, skills, knowledge, and talents to making a difference. And they do.
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WELCOME TO SCH Like the sculptor Michaelangelo who carefully studied a stone before taking up his chisel to reveal the figure waiting within, our role as educators is to discover the potential innate in each child and to nurture it into being. An SCH education is both a journey and a commitment. Our students make their own path through learning, guided by what is most relevant to their interests and goals. We are committed to making sure that this path is abundant with opportunities for self-discovery and experiences that both challenge current understanding and offer new perspectives for consideration. This commitment is expressed through the five promises listed on this page, which we offer to each student who joins our SCH community. We hope that you will find SCH to be the right school for your child and family. Be assured that if you join our community, we will dedicate all of our resources to helping your student discover the exciting potential that lies within. Warmly,
WE PROMISE • We will welcome you into a joyful learning community bonded by trust, mutual support, and respect. • We will nurture your quest for selfunderstanding, meaning, and purpose. • We will encourage your pursuit and mastery of knowledge, as well as a healthy humility and openness to what you do not know. • We will teach you values and the
Stephen L. Druggan, Ed.D. Head of School
importance of character as well as intelligence. • We will prepare you to make a positive difference.
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My husband and I chose this school because it was clear to us that each student counts, whether or not they are an “A” student, a great athlete, an artist, or a musician. The school is dedicated to providing opportunities for all of its students and to giving talented individuals the ability to harvest those talents.
~ Claudia and Jay S., SCH Parents P’16
WHAT GUIDES US MISSION STATEMENT We are an inclusive community on a mission to inspire unbounded curiosity and independent thought in every one of our students. In a unique educational environment that extends well beyond campus, we nurture students’ knowledge of themselves and the world, expanding their full academic and personal potential while preparing them to lead lives characterized by thoughtfulness, integrity, and a quest to effect positive change.
DIVERSITY STATEMENT Diversity is a condition of excellence. Embracing a diverse, inclusive community is fundamental to providing the most rigorous, globally competitive education. At SCH, we aim to engage, understand, and celebrate the broad range of human experiences and perspectives. Through our curriculum, professional development, communitycentered events, and daily interactions, we are committed to cultivating empathy and inclusion, and to nurturing the authentic expression of every individual.
CORE VALUES A Lower School student shares the excitement of the school’s first Convocation with her 12th grade “buddy.” The SCH Buddy Program connects a senior with a Lower School student for the year, during which they participate in shared activities. The program provides our younger students with important role models and our oldest students with an opportunity to demonstrate leadership and caring.
Five values serve as the foundation for our teaching and community spirit: diversity, integrity, resilience, courage, and thoughtfulness.
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CHANGEMAKERS
SCH OUT IT OUT! SCH Students Create Safe Space for Their Peers to Explore the Challenges and Opportunities of Diversity In 2015, SCH Upper School students took action to address a long-standing social problem: how to promote greater tolerance of and respect for diversity in its many manifestations. Their solution was SCHout, an annual conference for area students interested in building a more inclusive society. The conference was designed, organized, and facilitated entirely by the students. This year’s event, which brought together students from 23 area schools, focused on the theme of freedom and how it is defined by different people. The program kicked off with a presentation by respected diversity speaker and trainer Rosetta Lee. This was followed by an empathy-building “story exchange” in which students paired up to share a personal story that spoke to a core aspect of their identity. The paired partners then returned to their home group where they retold each other’s story as if it were their own. After lunch, participants chose from a variety of student-led social action workshops with topics ranging from “Gender and Consent” to “Islamophobia in the U.S.” and “Toxic Masculinity.” “It was rewarding to see my efforts and the hard work of my peers come to life at this conference and for it to be so well received,” said senior Mel Graves, one of the conference organizers. “I truly believe that SCHout inspired its participants to build bonds, take action, and be fearless in finding a voice to do so.”
BE BOLD. TAKE RISKS. FAIL. TRY AGAIN. AT SCH, STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO THINK BIG AND OUT OF THE BOX AND NOT TO BE AFRAID TO TRY NEW APPROACHES. BUT SOMETIMES THESE BIG, BOLD IDEAS DON’T GO AS EXPECTED.
Sometimes there are failures along the way. Our students are taught to see failure as a natural part of the problem-solving process. As one student explains it, “Just because we failed doesn’t mean we didn’t succeed. We don’t let it stop us; we grow from it. We call this failing forward.” Others call it resilience. By removing the fear of failure, by helping our students see it not as some inner deficiency but as an important opportunity for learning, we release their creative energy and help them develop the confidence to take intellectual risks, trust in their own capabilities, and more importantly, persist through disappointments to success.
I learned that it’s important not to give up and to understand that it might not be easy but you have to keep on trying. It pushes you to work hard. It was a challenge, but I really liked that challenge.
~ 4th grader Aanika B., CEL Venture Incubator student
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CHANGEMAKERS
ANIMAL TALK Kindergartners Help Educate Wissahickon Valley Visitors about the Area’s Native Species If you’re walking along a trail in the Wissahickon woods, you might come across small wooden signs engraved with a picture of a local wild animal and a QR code inviting you to use your smartphone to learn more. The signs are the handiwork of SCH Kindergarten girls and grew out of a multidisciplinary Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership project called Animals in Winter, which harnesses the natural interest of young children in animals to teaching important skills. Working in pairs, the girls chose an animal to study and did research on its habits and characteristics. They then conducted interviews with SCH teachers and staff to find out what kind of information people would want to know about their animal. Next, they used an app on their school iPads to create a slideshow about their animal involving pictures, photos, and an audio narrative that they wrote and recorded. The girls worked with faculty from the Engineering and Robotics Department to produce laser-cut signs featuring drawings of their animals and QR codes to connect interested trail walkers with their informational slideshows. SCH facilities staff helped the students post the signs along the trails. “This was a particularly meaningful experience for the girls,” explains Jennifer Culbert, one of three Kindergarten teachers involved in the project. “They were able to apply what they’d learned across a number of disciplines to a subject that they are very passionate about.”
ASK QUESTIONS. SEEK ANSWERS. AT SCH, TEACHERS ARE PRIMED TO LOOK FOR DOOR-OPENING MOMENTS—THOSE TIMES WHEN A STUDENT’S INTEREST OR CURIOSITY IN A TOPIC PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LEARNING AND DISCOVERY.
Letting students’ curiosity guide their acquisition of knowledge—what we call passion-based or personalized learning—is not a new concept in education. It was advocated by John Dewey, one of the early fathers of educational reform, who observed that interests are the “signs and symptoms of growing power” and “dawning capacities.” Our faculty understand the enormous potential of these moments and are always on the lookout for ways to build on a student’s curiosity. Supporting students in their passions and allowing them the freedom to explore a curricular topic using the pathway of a personal interest can be an empowering experience, one that often leads to deeper and more lasting learning about a subject. It is also through these independent knowledge-gathering activities that students learn the art of asking good questions and gain the confidence to navigate the unknown.
The teacher is not delivering content but helping students find it for themselves. We become facilitators in the discovery process.
~ Sarah McDowell, Chair, SCH History Department
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CHANGEMAKERS
A FRIEND IN DEED Second Graders Design Friend-Making Spaces to Help Build Community Chess pieces. Checkers. X’s and O’s. These are just some of the game pieces assembled and in some cases made by SCH 2nd grade boys to equip their new friend-making spaces set up in key locations around campus. Growing out of an understanding that their new classmates and others new to the school needed a comfortable way to make friends, the boys devised these special spaces to help new students and everyone within the school community connect more easily. The boys worked on the project all year, using the design thinking process to discover what newcomers to the school might need and brainstorming ways to help them feel more at home. They raised funds through chores, bake sales, and lemonade stands to purchase the supplies they needed, and practiced their teamwork skills as they built on each other’s ideas and talents to bring their project to life. “It was a fun, collaborative project that brought together our creativity, planning, and problem-solving skills,” said 2nd grade teacher and project organizer Gerri Allen. “We hope our friend-making spaces will serve as opportunities for people to connect, engage, develop new friendships, and enjoy old ones.”
SEE THE PROBLEM. TRY TO SOLVE IT. AT THE HEART OF EVERY CREATIVE ENDEAVOR IS THE NEED TO SOLVE A PROBLEM. WHETHER IT’S COMPOSING A PIECE OF MUSIC, STARTING A BUSINESS, OR CODING A NEW APP, NOTHING IS CREATED WITHOUT HAVING TO OVERCOME OBSTACLES.
At SCH we teach our students to see obstacles not as impassable obstructions but as problems waiting for the right solution. From their earliest years, our students are presented with challenges that they are asked to solve using their creativity, ingenuity, existing knowledge, and collaborative skills. These problems can be open-ended in terms of solution—design a system to control rainwater runoff on a school building— or open-ended in terms of pathway—build a LEGO Eiffel Tower from a kit without using the instructions. Learning to define a problem, work around obstacles, and move past failures builds resourcefulness and perseverance. Most important, these skills enable our students to move confidently through situations that may not have a right answer, knowing they have the creativity, experience, and skills to find a solution.
Being flexible is really important, because you never know where your venture is going to go. Little things will come up along the way that might not be ideal, but you can always bounce back and keep going on the same track or even a different track.
~ 12th grader Annabel G., CEL Venture Incubator student
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THE SANDS CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP
THINK LIKE AN ENTREPRENEUR. THE SANDS CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP (CEL) PROVIDES SCH STUDENTS WITH UNIQUE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES THAT EMPOWER THEM TO TACKLE ANY CHALLENGE USING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET.
At SCH, we believe that developing the skills and habits of mind of the entrepreneur is important to a student’s personal and professional growth. This “entrepreneurial mindset” is at the core of our Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership program, but is also woven throughout the student experience at SCH, beginning in our Lower School classrooms. It’s an approach to learning that enables our students to see new possibilities in their work and in who they are, and to believe that they can make a lasting impact on the world around them. The CEL program complements the school’s core curriculum by offering classes in new areas of study that help build our students’ skill sets and mindset, preparing them for higher education and the world beyond. CEL classes are offered to students in 5th through 12th grade in five categories: Coding, Design, Research and Communication, Engineering, and Entrepreneurship.
LEARN MORE Go to sch.org/CEL to view a video about the CEL program.
A CLOSER LOOK
SCH 5th grade students get an opportunity to make a real difference in someone’s life when they partner with KIVA, an international nonprofit organization that connects investors with borrowers in developing countries who need funds to undertake a project or small business. The students develop business plans and create products to sell to raise funds for the micro-loans they make. To date, the students have made 83 micro-loans totaling $3,125 to entrepreneurs in 36 different countries, including the U.S.
One of CEL’s most popular offerings is the Venture Incubator, a semester-long program combining resources, project support, and direct one-to-one mentoring for students who want to pursue development of a venture of their own choosing.
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The most valuable skill that I learned was to problem solve. At first it was frustrating, but after testing solutions and experimenting with different ideas, it is that much sweeter when you succeed after you have put a lot of work into it.
~ 7th grade student survey response about CEL class experience CHANGEMAKERS
FOSTERING FITNESS Venture Incubator Student Helps Inner City Kids Learn the Importance of Exercise and Nutrition Through the CEL Venture Incubator, SCH student Annabel Grove found a way to exercise her passion for fitness and health while giving back in an impactful way. The Venture Incubator (CELVI) is a unique program at SCH that offers mentoring and one-on-one guidance to students pursuing an idea for a product, service, for-profit enterprise, or, like Annabel, a nonprofit. Her venture, Philly Phit, focuses on bringing nutrition and exercise to young students in underserved communities. Annabel, who began developing her idea as a sophomore, says she learned a lot from participating in CELVI, including “economic models, business plans, grant proposals, and how to manage a team.” She tested the market in her junior year by operating a pilot program for Kindergartners at a local elementary school where she and her SCH volunteers engaged the students in fun exercises and games with nutrition themes. The success of that initial effort enabled her to connect in her senior year with one of the Boys & Girls Clubs in the city, which contracted with her to provide an after-school program at their facility. Annabel, now in college, has turned over Philly Phit to other SCH students who were part of her volunteer cohort. “None of this would have been possible without the skills the Venture Incubator and my CEL classes taught me,” says Annabel. “It has been such an incredible resource.”
CEL COURSE SEQUENCE 5TH GRADE
Adventures in New Media
Introduction to Acting & Video
Acting & Video Production
Social Entrepreneurship
Collaboration & Teamwork
6TH GRADE
LEGO Robotics
7TH GRADE
Introduction to Coding
Media & Live Performance
Design & Prototyping
8TH GRADE
Creative Problem Solving
Digital Publishing
Money Matters
9TH GRADE
Electronics & Microprocessors
Intro to App Development
Research, Data & Analysis
CEL Venture Incubator
Design & Fabricating
Students in 3rd-12th grade are eligible to apply to participate in CELVI
Capstone Experience
10TH GRADE
11TH–12TH GRADES
Students choose one of the following studios in which to imagine, design, and create their Capstone project: Social Impact, Invention, App, Media, or Start-Up
Electives Entrepreneurship, Coding, Communication, Engineering, Collaboration, New Media
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SCH ACADEMY’S DISTINCTIVE OFFERINGS
DISCOVER NEW SIDES OF YOURSELF. THERE’S NO BETTER TIME TO EXPERIMENT AND EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS THAN WHEN YOU’RE IN SCHOOL. SCH ACADEMY’S EXTENSIVE CURRICULAR AND EXTRACURRICULAR OFFERINGS PROVIDE OUR STUDENTS WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPLORE NEW PATHWAYS, DEVELOP A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THEMSELVES, AND DISCOVER THEIR PASSIONS AND POTENTIAL.
EXPLORE
GREEN CAMPUS IN THE CITY
GLOBAL TRAVEL PROGRAM
ENGINEERING AND ROBOTICS
BE CLOSE TO CULTURE AND TO NATURE
MEET THE WORLD
IMAGINE, DESIGN, BUILD
SCH Academy’s unique campus lies between the rich cultural resources of one of the country’s most historic cities and the natural wonders of one of the region’s most rustic natural landmarks, the 1,800-acre Wissahickon Valley Park. Day trips to Chinatown to practice speaking Mandarin and to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to study medieval armor, excursions down to the Wissahickon Creek to conduct biology experiments, and nighttime trail walks to look for owls are all a part of an SCH student’s education. To attend SCH is to experience the best of both natural and historic environments. And to learn from both. The SCH campus is itself an oasis of green on the edge of Philadelphia’s historic Chestnut Hill with easy access via commuter train to Center City. Among its many features, are a 19th century inn, an athletic complex with nine playing fields and seven tennis courts, two field houses, an indoor rowing tank, and three gymnasiums.
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The Global Travel Program embodies our school’s commitment to fostering global citizenship in our students and to developing young people who are capable of interacting compassionately, ethically, and successfully with diverse peoples and cultures around the world. Through the program, students learn to think critically about their roles as global citizens in an increasingly interconnected world and gain a deeper understanding of new people, places, and cultures. Trips are focused in three areas: language and cultural immersion and exchanges, meaningful servicelearning experiences, and field research and experiential study. Trips are aimed at building international partnerships, enriching and extending students’ curricular studies and awareness of global issues, and providing experiences, such as field research, not available to students on campus. Since 2010, more than 700 students have traveled to 16 countries, including Cuba, Cambodia, Thailand, Ecuador, France, Peru, Italy, New Zealand, Mexico, Ethiopia, and Senegal.
From their earliest years at SCH Academy, students learn to become creative designers and problem solvers through a school-wide engineering and robotics curriculum that is one of the most comprehensive in the country. Starting in Kindergarten, students participate in projects that challenge them to come up with creative solutions to a problem within the real constraints of time and available resources. Over the years, they become adept at using a wide range of design and fabrication tools, from Little Bytes and LEGOs to Arduino circuit boards, 3D printers, and sophisticated laser and milling machinery. Starting in Lower School, students have an opportunity to participate in the popular FIRST Robotics Program, which sponsors fun competitive events that celebrate students’ design, problem-solving, and teamwork skills. Whether it’s building LEGOBots, kit aircraft, or electric guitars, students in the engineering and robotics program at SCH are learning important skills for the 21st century while having a lot of challenging fun.
NEW MEDIA PROGRAM
BE A DIGITAL CREATOR
The new media program, part of the Arts and New Media Department, was created with the belief that all students need new media skills to be literate in our digital world— able to communicate, present, author/make, and behave as responsible digital citizens. We build these skills through creative projects driven by each student’s interests and passions and through classroom experiences designed to help students become digital creators. Students interested in furthering their new media skills can avail themselves of the latest technologies in video and music production, creative coding, design and fabrication, 3D design, interactive design, architecture, photography, and animation. SCH Academy was the first independent school in the area to offer video production as an Upper School elective in 2007 and the first to offer classes in design and fabrication beginning in 2014. SCH new media graduates have been accepted into major film, new media, music composition, and broadcasting schools and regularly win awards at area filmmaking competitions.
OUTDOOR AND TRIP PROGRAMS
GET OUTSIDE AND BREATHE DEEP
At the edge of the SCH campus is one of the nation’s 600 natural landmarks—Wissahickon Valley Park. All SCH students make regular trips to its creek and trails for science studies and general exploration. Being so close to one of Philadelphia’s treasured natural areas and being able to take advantage of the lessons and resources it offers has become an important and valued component of our academic program. Experiencing the outdoors firsthand helps students build confidence and independence, offers new perspectives on classroom studies, and develops a greater appreciation and respect for nature and their role in helping to protect it. SCH Academy’s outdoor and trip programs offer students exciting and increasingly challenging experiences, from simple day hikes in the Wissahickon to overnight trips in the Poconos and Chesapeake Bay to a culiminating five-day Outward Bound experience at the beginning of freshman year.
SUSTAINABILITY AND STEWARDSHIP
FIND YOUR INNER GREEN
SCH is proud of its significant and enduring commitment to environmental sustainability. Our green footprint—over two decades old—comprises sustainability and stewardship initiatives, large and small, that extend from our classrooms to our school roofs and from our cafeterias to the Wissahickon Watershed. Through active engagement in recycling, waste reduction, and interactions with nature, SCH students become passionate environmental stewards and thoughtful agents for change. By being active stewards of our gardens, campus, and the adjacent Wissahickon, our students learn hands on about the environment and how to care for it. Our green initiatives include a half-acre of solar arrays on the Cherokee Campus roof, a certified LEED Gold science and technology building, 3-Star Green Restaurant certification, extensive water management systems beneath our athletic fields, studentled waste-reduction initiatives, and designation as a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School.
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I love that SCH Academy’s 62-acre campus is located so close to the Wissahickon. My kids are often in the woods hiking, playing, and doing science experiments. They’ve raised trout, tapped maple trees, and learned how to cut back invasive plants. For my city kids, these types of experiences are priceless! ~ Katy F., SCH Parent P’25, P’29
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LEARN MORE Go to sch.org/NEWMEDIA to view a studentcreated video.
EXPLORE YOUR CREATIVE SIDE.
ARTS DISCIPLINES NEW MEDIA
In the belief that today’s students need to be digital content creators as well as consumers, the new media program offers training in video and music production, coding, design and fabrication, 3D and interactive design, architecture, photography, and animation. VISUAL ARTS
SCH ACADEMY’S ARTS AND NEW MEDIA CURRICULUM PROVIDES AN IMPRESSIVE BREADTH AND DEPTH OF CREATIVE EXPERIENCES FOR OUR STUDENTS IN PRE-KINDERGARTEN THROUGH
12TH GRADE.
Our faculty are working artists who not only teach integral skills but foster their students’ ability to take risks and develop ideas. Students have the opportunity to explore their artistic interests through regularly scheduled classes, after-school activities, and an innovative community arts program that takes students out into the world to share their creativity. Our new media program, offering courses such as 3D fabrication, interactive design, and coding, enables our students to extend their creative abilities into the newest dimensions of arts expression.
The heart of the visual arts program is the making of art, which allows students to be artists and experience the frustrations, risks, and joys of the creative process, to make discoveries, achieve something original, and experience pride of ownership. PERFORMING ARTS
MUSIC: Through the study of music and musical performance, SCH Academy students learn the joys of music making and essential skills, including how to communicate, collaborate, and listen while engaged in the musical language of world cultures. THEATRE: The performing arts curriculum combines a practical theatre education, both on and off stage, with the exploration of interdisciplinary connections and development of effective communication skills.
Through an appreciation of the arts and the making process, students learn to ride the wave of failure and success—an integral part of bringing ideas into the world and becoming the creative thinkers and doers of tomorrow.
~ Dr. Ellen Fishman-Johnson, Director, The Arts and New Media Department
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DIAMOND GIRLS Inter-Ac Softball Champs Show What Team Spirit Can Accomplish Diamonds are known for their superlative physical qualities, transformation under pressure, and the strong bond between their atoms. The same can be said for SCH Academy’s 2017 softball diamond champions, who displayed the kind of physical superiority, player cohesion, and ability to shine under stress that make a team to remember. But the team’s 16-4 winning season did not come without some daunting challenges. With many new players, six of them freshmen all new to SCH, and no seniors, the team looked to its three junior co-captains to assume leadership. It was a challenge they were up to. The three worked hard all season to build team spirit and trust and to promote a positive mental attitude. On game days, they organized team lunches in the cafeteria or out on the field, which helped ease nerves and get everyone ready. As the season progressed and they became the team to beat, they encouraged the players to keep their focus on the here and now and tackle one game at a time. The co-captains also practiced what they preached, says Varsity Softball Coach Stephanie Mill. “All three lived by example, day in, day out. They asked no more of their teammates than they asked of themselves. That was the core message of their leadership and what made this team a model of everything we try to teach through athletics.”
BE PART OF SOMETHING LARGER. AT SCH WE STRESS TEAMWORK, SPORTSMANSHIP, PERSONAL COMMITMENT, A STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE, AND HOW TO WIN AND LOSE WITH HONOR AND DIGNITY.
Knowing that participation in athletics improves students’ self-confidence and overall health, our coaching staff is committed to fostering each student-athlete’s decision-making and leadership skills, confidence, and sense of responsibility—qualities that will serve them well throughout life. The Athletic Department seeks to provide each student with a sense of affiliation, motivation, and accomplishment by balancing challenge and demand with support and encouragement. By taking advantage of the many positive experiences that sports have to offer, students enjoy their time on the playing fields and courts and will take with them memories that last a lifetime. By encouraging broad participation in sports, our Athletic Department also seeks to generate a sense of pride within the student body, the faculty, and the larger school community for its teams and the overall school.
Through athletics we work to create an environment for excellence that echos the mission of SCH as we meet challenges with courage, integrity, and respect.
~ Dave Wilson, Director of Athletics
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SCH takes pride in being a member of the Inter-Academic League, the oldest secondary school athletic league in the nation, formed in 1887. The Inter-Ac comprises nine private schools in the Philadelphia area, and although it is one of the most competitive leagues in the country, the core of its purpose is still to educate the student-athlete. Our goal at the varsity level is to win Inter-Ac championships but also to teach the principles of good sportsmanship. All of our coaches understand the profound impact they have on their athletes as they teach them how to prepare, compete, and react in victory and defeat. Through this philosophy, we are not only coaching them to be the best student-athletes they can be, but more importantly, to develop the strength of character needed for success throughout their lives. MIDDLE SCHOOL SPORTS
UPPER SCHOOL SPORTS
Middle School students are required to do a sport or PE two out of three seasons. Multiple team levels are available in most sports based on demand.
Upper School students can avail themselves of 18 sports, 15 of them offering junior varsity and varsity levels. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are required to do a sport or PE two out of three seasons; seniors are required to do only one season. Multiple team levels are available in most sports based on demand.
BOYS SPORTS Fall
Winter
Spring
Cross Country Football Golf Soccer
Basketball Ice Hockey (Coed) Squash Wrestling
Baseball Lacrosse Tennis Track
Fall
Winter
Spring
Cross Country Field Hockey Soccer Tennis Volleyball
Basketball Crew (8th/Developmental) Ice Hockey (Coed) Life Sports/Fitness Squash
Golf (Developmental) Lacrosse Softball Track
GIRLS SPORTS
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Fall
Winter
Spring
Boys/Girls Cross Country Field Hockey Football Boys Golf Boys/Girls Soccer Girls Tennis Girls Volleyball
Boys/Girls Basketball Boys Ice Hockey Boys/Girls Indoor Track Boys/Girls Squash Boys/Girls Swimming Wrestling
Baseball Boys/Girls Crew Girls Golf Boys/Girls Lacrosse Softball Boys Tennis Boys/Girls Track
52%
45%
48% 30%
28%
13% Bowdoin
30%
26% 10%
Bucknell
Colgate
Dartmouth
15% Georgetown
National Admit Rate vs SCH
47%
40% 12%
19%
9%
Johns Hopkins
Penn
Princeton
National admittance rate in 2017 compared to SCH 5-year average for selected colleges and universities.
6% SCH Academy
National Average
COLLEGE COUNSELING
FIND THE BEST FIT FOR YOUR FUTURE. WITH THREE FULL-TIME COLLEGE COUNSELING STAFF, THE EXCEPTIONAL COUNSELOR-TOSTUDENT RATIO AT SCH ENSURES THAT EACH STUDENT IS WELL KNOWN AND ENJOYS EASY ACCESS TO SUPPORT DURING THE COLLEGE PREPARATION PROCESS.
Although the search for the right college or university has the potential to be confusing and intimidating, our college counseling staff equip students with the right questions, information, and tools to navigate the process smoothly. They help to demystify the decision making behind college admissions and clarify the critical factors that colleges and universities consider when selecting a class. Most importantly, they help students focus in on what they want from their college experience and help them identify which institutions offer the best fit for their interests and goals. While each student is expected to take ownership of the process, our counselors are there all along the way to offer quality information, honest evaluation, and plenty of encouragement.
My college counselor was a rock star! I would not have made it this far or be so happy with my final decision without her. She helped me search for colleges that fit me as a student and as a whole person and motivated me to apply to schools that I thought were out of my reach. And next year I will be going to one of those schools! She was an advocate for my wildest hopes. LEARN MORE Visit sch.org/college to see more details about the college counseling process and our five-year college matriculation list.
~ Henny H., SCH graduate
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CAMPUS FEATURES A 19th century Inn listed in the National Register of Historic Places • 17 laboratories, including a 1,600-square-foot state-of-the-art Engineering & Robotics Lab with CNC mill and router • Vidcast Studio for video & music production • Imagineering Lab & Physics & Engineering Lab for Lower Schools • certified LEED® Gold science & technology building • 6 Sol LeWitt installations & a Violet Oakley mural • 1/2-acre solar array installation • low & high ropes challenge course • 5 performing arts venues • 4 fabrication & design spaces, including 13 3D printers and 2 laser cutters • 9 playing fields, including 2 turf • 10 squash courts • indoor rowing tank • stadium & sports pavilion • 3 gymnasiums, including 52,000-square-foot field House • one of the oldest continually used baseball diamonds in the country
SCH Academy’s 62-acre campus bordering the Wissahickon Valley
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1
1022 ENROLLMENT
WE’RE CLOSER THAN YOU THINK!
10 miles or less
from Jenkintown, Lower Gwynedd, Bryn Mawr & Fairmount. SEPTA train stop is less than a 5-minute walk away.
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Wissahickon Inn
FOUNDED IN
1861 GREEN FOOTPRINT
SCH is a leader in school environmental sustainability efforts from our 3-Star Green Restaurant® rating for our school cafeterias to our native arboreta, rain gardens, certified LEED® Gold science & technology center, rooftop solar panels & schoolwide waste-reduction initiatives.
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students named to AllInter-Ac teams in 2016-2017. 18 interscholastic team sports offered. Alumni include a 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, a 2017 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee, and a player for the Cleveland Browns.
45+
green city campus bordering the Wissahickon Valley Watershed, including 1 1/2 miles of walking trails on school property & easy access to the Wissahickon Creek for science studies.
80+
electives available to Upper School students, including Forensics, Architectural Design, Advanced Creative Writing & Vector Calculus
ATHLETIC COMPLEX 9 playing fields, including 2 turf • 10 squash courts • indoor rowing tank • Maguire Stadium • Steel Sports Pavilion • 3 gymnasiums, including 52,000-square-foot Vare Field House • one of the oldest continually used baseball diamonds in the country
SCH students are consistent winners in youth film competitions, including the Greenfield Youth Film Festival, WHYY Media Awards & Scholastic Art Awards. SCH filmmakers have been accepted to top U.S. film schools, including NYU/Tisch, USC & Emerson College.
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SCH’s Upper School robotics team has competed in the FIRST Robotics World Championship since 2003, finishing in the top 10 worldwide 4 times & winning the coveted FIRST Chairman’s Award 8 times. Over the past 15 years, robotics students have been accepted into the nation’s top engineering programs, including Princeton, MIT, Caltech, Penn, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, Georgia Tech, Clemson, RPI, WPI, Rose Hulman & all three military academies.
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177
%
FOR-PROFIT & NON-PROFIT VENTURES LAUNCHED by
SCHOLASTIC ART AWARDS
In 2017, SCH students were honored for their talent in art & filmmaking.
un co t
in
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
111
4x IN TOP 10 WORLDWIDE
300 Middle & Upper School students through the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership’s Venture Incubator
FILM AWARDS
STUDENTS COME FROM
ZIP CODES
of sch faculty hold advanced degrees & an average of 17 years’ teaching experience.
s rie
STUDENT-LED CLUBS, BOARDS & ACTIVITIES
72%
62-acre
diverse student body including 35% students of color
students out of 123 in the Class of 2017 accepted into one of their top 2 college choices
REGISTERED
16
HISTORICALLY
7
r
s
SCH BY THE NUMBERS
yea
of sch students go on to study at select colleges & universities
700+
SCH students have deepened their global citizenship skills through meaningful immersion & service experiences in countries such as Cuba, Cambodia, Thailand, Ecuador, France, Peru, Italy, New Zealand, Mexico, Ethiopia & Senegal.
A 19th century inn listed in the National Register of Historic Places • 17 laboratories, including a 1,600-square-foot state-of-the-art Engineering & Robotics Lab, Vidcast Studio for video & music production, Imagineering Lab & Physics & Engineering Lab for Lower Schools • certified LEED® Gold science & technology building • 6 Sol LeWitt installations & a Violet Oakley mural • 1/2-acre solar array rooftop installation • low & high ropes challenge course • 5 performing arts venues • fabrication & design spaces, including 13 3D printers & 2 laser cutters
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admissions office 500 West Willow Grove Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19118-4198 215-247-7007 | SCH.ORG
Willow Grove Avenue
GPS Address: 498 West Springfield Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19118
Wissahickon Inn

Admissions Parking
Admissions Office Entrance
Springfield Avenue
INTEGRITY courage THOUGHTFULNESS Our values
RESILIENCE
DIVERSITY
springside chestnut hill academy 500 West Willow Grove Avenue • Philadelphia, PA 19118-4198 215-247-7007 | SCH.ORG