University School - University School Ohio

University School, commonly referred to as US, is a highly selective, prestigious all-boys K-12 school with two campus locations in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio, United States area. The campus located in Shaker Heights serves kindergarten through eighth grade students, and the campus in Hunting Valley serves grades ninth through twelfth grade students.

University School is a founding member of the International Boys' Schools Coalition and a member of the Center for the Study of Boys' and Girls' Lives and Cleveland Council of Independent Schools.

University School is notable for having the largest endowment of any day school in the United States.

§History and Headmasters

In 1890 the founding Headmaster of the school, Newton M. Anderson, established University School. The school's first building was erected on 10 acres (40,000 m²) at the corner of Hough Avenue and East 71st Street in Cleveland.

At the turn of the century, Headmaster George D. Pettee led the entire student body to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, in 1901. A few years later in 1908 Headmaster Harry S. Peters led University School during two World Wars, the Great Depression and, in 1926, to the 36-acre (150,000 m²) campus in Shaker Heights. He was the longest-tenured headmaster in University School history; however, ended up leaving the school in 1947. That same year Headmaster Harold L. Cruikshank oversaw the building of the Hanna Wing on the Shaker Campus and guided the school through the end of World War II to the beginning of the 1960s.

Under the leadership of McKinley, the Upper School moved, in 1970, from Shaker Heights to nearly 200 acres (0.81 km²) of meadows and woodland in Hunting Valley. Tragedy struck the school in 1966 when a junior student was attacked and had his long hair cut off by upperclassmen; he dropped out of the School and later committed suicide. The school drastically changed its disciplinary policies thereafter.

In 1988, Headmaster Richard A. Hawley, an author and educator, became the sixth headmaster of US. With the support of the US community, Conway Hall on the Shaker Campus and the William S. Kilroy '43 Field House in Hunting Valley were built during Dr. Hawley's tenure. After Hawley's departure from the school in 2005, Headmaster Stephen S. Murray became the seventh and current headmaster for University School.

It was announced in August of 2014 that current Headmaster Stephen Murray will leave US and become the 13th Head Master of The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey in July of 2015. Benjamin Rein of the Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia will assume the position of Headmaster in the fall of 2015.

§House System

University School has a House system, similar to that of the British tradition. Every student is assigned to one of ten houses, which integrates students from all grades and provides a structure for the boys to connect between grades with each other for companionship and support. Houses participate in community service activities and spirited athletic competitions. Every year, younger and older boys compete in Founders' Day, a tradition that celebrates the school's founding in 1890. Houses are organized to encourage greater interaction between students, especially students at separate campuses and in different grades. As such, the House System is a large part of student life at University School. House meetings occur regularly at the Upper School, in which faculty and students may plan activities and community service projects such as the annual Thanksgiving food drive. Each House elects a prefect from the senior class who acts as the House leader.

Houses are typically named after former Headmasters or notable alumni donors, and each House has a color to represent it. The numbers, names and colors of Houses have changed over the years.

The current House names are: Anderson (maroon); Cruikshank (white); Goodwillie (navy blue); Hawley (purple); McCarraher (orange); McKinley (royal blue); Peters (red); Pettee (black); Pickands (green); and Sanders (yellow-gold).

§Clubs and Activities

The special programs and activities offered by University School reflect student interests. If sufficient peer interest is present, a student may initiate a club or activity by gaining the support of a faculty sponsor.

§Shaker Heights Campus (Grades K - 8)

• Center for Excellence: provides support and enrichment opportunities for students.
• Junior Pembroke Society. This group offers a safe space for African American-boys of the lower campus to express themselves without the feeling of being judged by their classmates.
• Junior Research Fellows Program. Through the Junior Research Fellows Program, middle school boys pursue research on topics of particular interest. Younger boys at US can also participate in Junior Model United Nations, Mock Trial, National Geographic Bee, Math Olympiad, Junior Great Books, and Kids' Philosophy Slam.
• Clubs. US offers a variety of clubs such as the Civil War Club, Chess Club, Cribbage Club, Entrepreneur Club, Flight Club, Maple Sugaring Club, Rocketry Club and Balsa Tower Construction Club. Fifth and sixth graders can participate in the Intramural Basketball League, which is coached and officiated by eighth grade boys.
• Community Service. Students are involved in community service throughout the year to learn the importance of making a difference in others' lives. Boys raise funds for "Harvest for Hunger", participate in a school wide Thanksgiving food drive, and collect clothing and toys for needy families and for an orphanage in Honduras. Also, they prepare and deliver soup to a Cleveland soup kitchen and provide help.
• Space Shuttle Simulations. The virtual space science facility allows boys to experience what it is like to live and work in space. The facility features a space shuttle simulator, a mission control area, a module of the International Space Station, and a flight simulator.

§Hunting Valley Campus (Grades 9 - 12)

• Academic Challenge. Interscholastic competitions in academic subjects ranging from history, science, and math to arts and literature.
• Anderson Scholars Program. Enables students to pursue a passion with structure, rigor, and depth. Students concentrate in science or entrepreneurship.
• Anime Club. A club for students interested in Japanese anime.
• Aurelian Society. Promotes community service at agencies and organizations outside US.
• Cadmean Society. Students help at events such as athletic contests, plays, and open houses and often provide leadership for school-wide service projects.
• Davey Fellowships in Creative Writing. Enables boys of special literary promise to undertake extensive projects in fiction, drama, and poetry writing.
• Dinosaur Club. Enables boys with a passion for the study of dinosaurs to meet and discuss the history.
• Entrepreneur Club. Students develop entrepreneurial skills.
• Investment Committee I Stock Market Challenge. Students learn about publicly traded companies and investment strategies through weekly meetings with an experienced stock market analyst and participate in a stock market competition.
• Latin Club. The school's Latin Club functions as a local chapter of both the Ohio Junior Classical League (OJCL) and National Junior Classical League (NJCL).
• LoPresti Board. Students engage in community service, learn the institutional skills necessary for philanthropy, raise funds to support their philanthropic goals, and solicit and make grants to help those in need.
• Mabian (Yearbook). The school yearbook derives its name from the school colors (maroon and black) and has been published every year since 1919.
• Mock Trial. Students practice for and participate in this statewide organization that helps them learn about the United States' trial system.
• Multi-Cultural Organization. Students of the school can participate in different affinity groups to discuss issues of diversity in the school and in society. It includes the Pembroke Society (for African-American students), the Asian Platform (for Asian-American students), and the Gay-Straight Alliance (for LGBTQ and Ally students). Additionally, there are general meetings for students that are not members of a particular affinity group. Every year, there are diversity assemblies and diversity days, with the focus on topics such as religion, gender identification, sexual orientation, socioeconomics, and other forms of diversity; the topics change from year to year.
• Outdoor Projects. Students can elect to work in the school's Outdoor Projects Program, which operates a nature trail, a full-fledged fish hatchery, a trout farm, a maple-syrup industry, and several foresting and erosion control projects.
• Record. Presents the best literary work of the school's Writing Forum.
• Science Olympiad. Team which participates in events in the Science Olympiad competition.
• Speech and Debate. Members learn Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum and Student Congress debate and compete with other schools throughout northern Ohio.
• Strnad Fellowships. Involves projects of original research beginning at the end of the junior year that are presented to the student body at the end of the next school year.
• Student Life Research Committee (SLRC). This selective committee pertains of students who design and implement research of student life at the school. The SLRC is most notable for being directly partnered with the Center for the Study of Boys' and Girls' Lives (CSBGL), which is located in the Ivy League Graduate School of Education at University of Pennsylvania.
• US News. Founded in 1898, the US News is the oldest school newspaper in Ohio and is published once a month.
• USPN. A product of the Strnad fellowship program in 2013, USPN provides students, faculty, and alumni with live play-by-play coverage of certain sporting events.

§Publications

• The University School Journal is published two times a year for the alumni, parents and friends of the school.
• The US News is published monthly by students. Founded in 1898, the US News is the oldest school newspaper in Ohio. In 2014, the US News became digital.
• The Record, released annually, is a compilation of the artistic and literary achievement of University School boys including poetry, short stories, photography, and more recently, drawing.
• The Mabian is the Upper School's yearbook published every year since 1919. The first three letters of the name "Mabian" come from the school's colors, Maroon And Black, and "...ian" means "of the" - "of the maroon and black."
• The Tower is the Lower/Middle School counterpart of The Mabian.

§Arts

US offers an art program for its boys that helps each student to grow and mature in their artistic pursuits. To participate in many of these programs, the freshmen at the upper school usually take Intro to the Arts, exposing them to fine arts, music, and drama. (This class is required to go into the next fine arts or drama levels, unless the student auditions for the Glee Club and is accepted.) At the lower school, all students are required to take some form of art class; different offerings are available to different grades.

§Fine Arts

At both campuses, the school offers a variety of fine arts courses, including painting and drawing and additional graphic design courses. Woodworking is also highly popular at the upper school. Many students qualify for local, state-wide and national art competitions.

§Music

The school's most famous performing staple is its Glee Club. The US Glee Club sings multiple times throughout the year in assemblies, concerts, graduation, and also throughout the city of Cleveland, collaborating with ensembles such as Choral Arts: Cleveland, the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and other surrounding schools. In the past, the choir has toured throughout North America and Europe, performing in various concert halls and churches throughout the world. The US Glee Club sings a variety of music, including traditional men's chorus pieces, and arrangements by contemporary composers.

The US Males is an a capella ensemble for students of the Glee Club who show high-performing potential. These students perform more frequently than the Glee Club at sporting events and gatherings for school officials, alumni, and parents. This primarily student-run ensemble sings pop tunes, such as Rolling in the Deep by Adele, but also classics like All My Loving by The Beatles.

The US Chamber Orchestra consists of a variety of instruments and plays a variety of music, from Vivaldi to Gershwin. Every school year, the orchestra has multiple collaborations, usually with Hathaway Brown in March and with the Glee Club in December and in May.

The school does not offer traditional band like most high schools, however the jazz ensembles are outlets for the boys to pursue further instrumental expression. The jazz program consists of the 1 O'clock Ensemble (the performing and touring group for advanced students) and the 2 O'clock Ensemble (for students in training). In March 2011, the touring ensemble had its second tour to New Orleans (commonly referred to as NOLA by students of the program).

One smaller one-semester ensemble is the Guitar Ensemble. This class helps students to gain a stronger sense of the guitar and the work involved in being a band. The boys perform for the school and in venues throughout Cleveland. They usually continue as a band independently from the school curriculum.

The lower school also offers programs for students similar to the Upper Campus, including a 3-5 grade choir, a 6-8 grade choir, a chamber orchestra, a jazz ensemble, and additional music classes for students. These classes include instrumentation, music theory, and music technology, in which students learn to be accomplished musicians.

§Drama

Every year, the drama department at US puts on a fall play and spring musical in collaboration with students from surrounding schools. The middle school offers drama starting in 6th grade and all students can participate.

§Athletics

Traditionally has a rivalry with Western Reserve Academy, with the football games being the highlight of each schools season throughout the 20th century starting with the first 1895 meeting.

US fields varsity teams in thirteen sports, five in the winter season and four in each the fall and the spring seasons: football, soccer, cross country and golf in the fall, ice hockey, wrestling, swimming, squash, and basketball in the winter, and in the spring, lacrosse, tennis, track and field, and baseball.

University School competes in the Premier Athletic Conference (PAC), 8-team conference. The cross country, wrestling, basketball, track and field and baseball teams began competing in this conference in 2009. Football began its PAC schedule in the fall of 2011.

The 81,000-square-foot (7,500 m²) Kilroy Field House at the Hunting Valley Campus is a multi-purpose indoor practice facility featuring two basketball courts, three squash courts, a 200-meter cantilevered indoor track, and practice areas for track events. The complex also includes a fitness center equipped with the latest in weight training and aerobic equipment.

Wrestling rooms, a gymnasium and 25-yard indoor swimming pool with a separate diving well complete the indoor facilities at the Hunting Valley Campus. Outdoors, there is a football stadium and a new turf football field, an all-weather track, four soccer and other practice fields, two baseball diamonds, and seven tennis courts.

The physical education facilities at the Shaker Campus include a football field, 400-meter track, three baseball fields, two soccer fields, eight tennis courts, a double-size gymnasium, wrestling room, a four-lane, 25-meter indoor swimming pool, and a rock climbing wall.

In 2013, University School's sports broadcasting network, USPN, started streaming live coverage of the football, soccer, basketball, hockey, lacrosse and baseball games.

§Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) State Championships

• Golf: 1990, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 University School currently holds the record for DII Lowest Score (Hunting Valley University School 289-275) - 564 set in 2003 on the OSU Gray.
• Hockey: 2003, 2009 Cleveland Baron Cup Champion 2010-2011, 2009-2010, 2008-2009, 2006-2007, 2005-2006, 1983-1984
• Wrestling: Individual State Champions Harrison Hightower 09-10 (152), 08-09 (140), 07-08 (130), Brad Wukie 2009-2010 (160), Dennis Roche 2005-2006 (112), Adam Kriwinsky 2004-2005 (112), Chris Tripp 2003-2004 (145)
• Swimming: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Note: Boys Division II Swimming and Diving was added in the 2008-2009 school year.
• Diving: 2013, 2014

§Boys Division II Swimming - Records

Records at the OHSAA.

§Other State Championships

• Tennis: 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2012
• Lacrosse (OHSLA): 1999, 2008, 2009

§Notable Alumni

• Austin Pendleton, actor, class of 1956
• Chuck Seelbach, former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, class of 1966
• Tom Griswold, radio host, class of 1971
• Lee Kravitz, author, former Editor-in-chief of Parade magazine.
• John Bell, lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the southern rock band Widespread Panic, class of 1980
• Bob Harris, author, TV writer (Bones, CSI:), eight-time Jeopardy! winner, class of 1980
• Michael Ruhlman, author, class of 1981
• Arthur Laffer, economist and creator of the Laffer Curve
• John Garrett (American football coach), former NFL wide receiver, class of 1983.
• Jason Garrett, former NFL quarterback and Offensive Coordinator and assistant head coach for the Dallas Cowboys, and current Head Coach of the Cowboys, class of 1984
• Derek Rucker, former international professional basketball player, class of 1984.
• Judd Garrett, former NFL running back, and the current Director of Pro Scouting for the Dallas Cowboys, class of 1985.
• Chris Rose, host of the popular sports program The Best Damn Sports Show Period, Class of 1989
• Warren Brown, founder of CakeLove, entrepreneur and former host of the Food Network show Sugar Rush', class of 1989.
• Anthony Doerr, novelist (All the Light We Cannot See), class of 1991
• Joshua Radin, musical artist, class of 1992
• Nick Caserio, New England Patriots Director of Player Personnel, class of 1994
• Tucker Kain, Chief Financial Officer of the Los Angeles Dodgers, class of 2001
• Jeff Terrell, professional football quarterback, class of 2003
• Chris Korb, Major League Soccer Major League Soccer, professional soccer player for DC United, class of 2006
• Clark T. Randt, Jr., former United States Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, class of 1963
• Craig Doerge, musician, class of 1962
• George Gund (philanthropist), Businessman, philanthropist
• Henry L. Meyer III, former Chairman and CEO, KeyCorp, class of 1968
• Patrick S. Parker, (deceased) former Chairman and CEO, Parker Hannifin Corp., class of 1947

§References

§External Links

• Official website

Interesting Informations

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