Introducing The Baldwin School

INTRODUCING

E S T. 1 8 8 8 B R Y N M AW R , P E N N S Y LVA N I A

Thank you for your interest in The Baldwin School.

As a Baldwin alumna, I know firsthand the lasting impact of a Baldwin education. It’s not just our renowned academic program, which provides students an intellectual foundation and passion for learning that propels them into college and beyond. It’s the nurturing community that you join while here. It’s a sisterhood that lasts a lifetime. My Baldwin classmates, teammates and fellow alumnae supported me during every pivotal moment in my life. They are the community I called upon when I served overseas, defended my Ph.D. dissertation and navigated personal and professional changes. It was always a Baldwin girl standing by my side, reminding me that I could achieve anything.

Since 1888, Baldwin has been dedicated to the utmost excellence in educating young women. Our faculty and staff are recognized experts in how girls learn and thrive, in and out of the classroom. It’s why Baldwin’s approach to all-girls education prepares our graduates to pursue their dreams at every stage of life.

I hope you enjoy the following overview of what Baldwin offers girls in PreKindergarten through Grade 12. If you think our academically rich programs and integrated approach to teaching a love of learning would benefit your daughter, please schedule a visit. There are many opportunities for you to join us on campus for an open house or we would welcome the chance to give you a private tour.

I hope to meet you and your daughter soon.

Marisa Porges ’96, PhD Head of School The Baldwin School

The

POWER of ALL GIRLS

Research demonstrates the positive, lasting impact of an all-girls education, while your daughter is in school and for the rest of her life. It effects how girls learn, what subjects they choose to pursue academically and professionally and how they see themselves as scholars and leaders. According to one recent study by the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools, students attending all-girls schools report:

 Having higher aspirations and greater motivation  Being challenged to achieve more  Engaging more actively in the learning process  Participating in activities that prepare them for the world outside school

 Feeling more comfortable being themselves

and expressing ideas

 Showing greater gains on core academic and life skills  Being and feeling more supported in their endeavors To learn more, visit www.BaldwinSchool.org/EducatingGirls.

P H I LO S O P H Y

THE BALDWIN SCHOOL is dedicated to a tradition of excellence in education for girls and young women. Each student is encouraged to develop scholarship, leadership and citizenship within a supportive community that emphasizes intellectual rigor, ethical integrity and independence of thought and action. A broad liberal arts curriculum is the basis for all scholarly discoveries and each girl has the opportunity to acquire the confidence, leadership and sense of responsibility she needs to be a thoughtful and constructive contributor to society.

A DELIGHT IN IDEAS, A SENSE OF CURIOSITY AND HUMOR AND A COMMITMENT TO HONORING THE DIGNITY OF OTHERS ARE AMONG BALDWIN’S HIGHEST VALUES. We strive to foster an awareness of self and recognition of other perspectives, as well as the knowledge and social-emotional skills each girl will need to meet the challenges of our widening and fast-changing world.

Ultimately, Baldwin cultivates in its students a love of learning, compassion for others and strength of character that stays with our graduates throughout their lives.

LEARNING TAILO RE D TO G IR L S It is well known that girls and boys learn differently. Baldwin has long been recognized for knowing how girls learn best. Our graduates achieve great outcomes because our faculty are experts in tailoring their teaching to girls. Below are just a few ways we shape our programs for girls at every stage of development.

WE COUNTER GENDER STEREOTYPES We dispel the notion that some fields are for women and some are for men. At Baldwin, our girls imagine themselves in every role possible. To reinforce this, our teachers use female role models throughout the curriculum - women scientists, women authors and so on – so that our students grow up with an unshakable confidence that any door is open to them.

WE CREATE A VIBRANT SISTERHOOD Baldwin’s close-knit community creates a deeply felt sisterhood amongst our students and teachers. Across all grades and disciplines, our girls engage in group work and learn to confidently present their ideas. This helps prepare Baldwin students not just for college, but for their careers and life.

WE ENCOURAGE A GROWTH MINDSET Through personalized and thoughtful feedback, faculty help our girls understand that when they struggle with a concept, it’s that they don’t understand it YET. “Yet” shifts the feeling of defeat and reenergizes their learning. Our girls are taught to try, fail, try again, maybe fail again, but keep trying.

O U T S TA N D I N G FAC U LT Y In a nurturing atmosphere, Baldwin’s faculty and staff instill in our students a love of learning and discovery, working closely with every girl to help her achieve her fullest potential. The experience, expertise and dedication of our faculty are reflected in the superior classroom experience each girl receives in every subject, every day.

Almost 80 percent of our faculty have advanced degrees, many of which are master’s or doctorate degrees in their disciplines. Through their own professional development and passion for the material, our faculty lead the way in creating new and exciting courses for our students.

H A N D S - O N , AC T I V E L E A R N I N G Select highlights of providing our students immersive, interdisciplinary learning include:

LOWER SCHOOL HEALTH FAIR Lower School girls will combine forces to explore topics in human health, culminating in a school health fair in the spring. Beginning their research by grade level with teacher guidance, small groups of girls will eventually take charge of topics of interest to them to pursue their passions. Whether a part of Grade 1’s focus on mindfulness or Grade 5’s investigations of health technologies, all students will become expert on an aspect of human wellness and share their expertise with the community at large.

COLLABORATIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASSROOMS Throughout Middle School, teachers help students expand their understanding of the application of different subjects by engaging them in interdisciplinary, project-based learning. A math teacher comes into Grade 6 anthropology to help students learn how to analyze statistical social science data – then they design projects and gather their own. Grade 7 students study the circumstances of different world refugee populations, then develop literature, poetry and art about the experiences of those refugees. Grade 8 science and English students research human-made environmental problems in science and develop short documentary films about them in English.

INTERDISCIPLINARY INSTITUTE The chemistry of jewelry-making. Redrawing Pennsylvania Congressional districts. Designing a greenhouse. Developing data fluency in journalism. For a dedicated part of the school year, all Middle and Upper School students pause in their regular coursework to participate for ten days in Baldwin’s Interdisciplinary Institute. Each girl participates in a single class that studies one advanced topic in depth with expert faculty from different fields. The non-traditional schedule and intensive focus stimulate creativity and fresh perspective. Classes culminate in innovative final projects, often with real-world applications.

AC A D E M I C E XC E L L E N C E The Class of 2020 exemplifies all that is a Baldwin education.

91

%

accepted into their top choice schools

of class attended Baldwin since Kindergarten

OF STUDENTS

15

% National

IN MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS RECEIVED

Merit Finalists

% 1 1

RECRUITED NCAA ATHLETES

53 students received 229 acceptances at 123 unique institutions

of class admitted to an Ivy League school Cornell (2), Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton (2), University of Pennsylvania (7), Yale (2)

Distinguished Achievements: P The U.S. Military Academy (West Point) and the U.S. Naval Academy P Top-ranked theater and theater education programs P A prestigious, highly-selective architecture program P A prestigious, highly-selective dental program P The nation’s top-ranked small liberal arts colleges P Five students choosing to attend all-womens’ colleges

Average SAT score more than

350 POINTS higher than the national average

DREAM LAB® The DREAM (Design, Robotics, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) Labs® at Baldwin promote design thinking in our girls and underscore the interdisciplinary nature of our curriculum. Students experience hands-on learning and use state-of-the-art technology to build and test new ideas, creatively solve problems in small groups and reinforce the collaborative learning we promote throughout our curriculum.

LOWER SCHOOL Building a love of computer science begins in Pre-Kindergarten at Baldwin. Whether it’s learning to program a robot to navigate a maze, making bubble wands on the 3D printer, learning about circuitry by creating skirts that light up or honing their design and engineering skills using the 3D printer, our Lower School students complete projects that integrate skills and concepts from other subjects.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

By Middle School, students have acquired a solid foundation of logic, design and engineering skills. They now have the opportunity to experiment further with 2D and 3D design and work with more powerful tools. Projects in the Middle School challenge the girls to creatively solve real-world problems. Students design and build prototypes of refugee shelters, talk to professional game designers for inspiration while they’re programming their own mobile games and connect with their Science curriculum by building wind turbines to learn about solar energy.

UPPER SCHOOL Specialized equipment, including 3D printers, laser cutter, Computer Numeric Control machine and electronics, allows us to weave engineering and design into more traditional computer science classes. Students learn concepts such as recursion by programming graphic representations of fractals and laser engraving them onto wood. Student projects include pet rocks that receive tweets and respond accordingly, automated tissue dispensers, air quality detectors and plant monitors.

ARTS Integral to a Baldwin education, our arts instruction has long given voice to creative expression and artistic pursuits. Whether she’s a singer, an artist, a dancer, a painter, an actress or a musician, Baldwin provides girls every opportunity to pursue their passion and explore new avenues.

Knowing arts education contributes to developing critical thinking skills, art instruction begins in Pre-K where girls begin the exploration of different methods and mediums. As they grow, girls choose from drawing and painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography and our signature jewelry-making program.

Music is vital to the Baldwin community and resonates through the halls. Students learn melodic and rhythmic skills through clapping and singing exercises, playing instruments and creative listening activities.

Baldwin’s acclaimed B-Flats and Eliza-B-Thans a capella groups, the Firenze instrumental ensemble and Baldwin’s hand bell choirs perform locally and internationally.

Theater classes at Baldwin enrich a student’s education by providing an opportunity to learn through dramatic expression. Students can also choose to expand their experience in theater with different elective offerings. Baldwin offers everything from acting and improvisation to playwriting. Every year, our girls deliver awardwinning performances in our Simpson Center for the Performing Arts.

ATHLETICS The goal of Baldwin Athletics is to provide a safe and fun environment that supports each student-athlete and team as they strive for excellence, on and off the playing field. Whether pursuing team or individual goals, every girl develops her leadership skills, while improving her self-esteem and learning cooperation, teamwork and good sportsmanship. Through our physical education and athletics programs, our girls are taught important lessons of health and balance that they will carry throughout their lives.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

UPPER SCHOOL

• Basketball

• Basketball

• Lacrosse

• Cross country

• Crew

• Soccer

• Dance

• Cross country

• Softball

• Dance

• Squash

• Diving

• Swimming

• Field hockey

• Tennis

• Squash

• Golf

• Track & field

• Swimming

• Indoor track

• Volleyball

• Field hockey • Lacrosse • Soccer • Softball

• Tennis • Volleyball

A S U P P O R T I V E PA R E N T C O M M U N I T Y There’s something for every parent in the Baldwin community and you can be as involved as you’d like and as your schedule allows.

From specific parent groups for athletics and the arts, to the allpurpose Parents’ Association, there really is a spot for everyone.

Besides hosting memorable student events like the Lower School annual book fair or the Upper School Mother Daughter craft day, there is also a wide range of wonderful parent-focused events all year long.

There is also the opportunity to get involved in your daughter’s classroom. Parents serve as class representatives, work with our Division Directors on classroom activities and liaise with the other parents from their grade.

Baldwin’s annual gala and auction, includes a live band, dancing, amazing food and auction items ranging from student masterpieces to globetrotting trips.

701 Montgomery Avenue Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 (610) 525-2700 BaldwinSchool.org