University School
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2008-07-17T04:55:42Z
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{{Infobox Private School|
background = #f0f5ed|
border = #ccd2d9|
name = University School|
image = [[Image:USseal.jpg]]|
motto = Responsibility, Loyalty and Consideration|
established = 1890|
type = [[Private school|Private]]|
religion = None|
head_name = Headmaster|
head = Stephen S. Murray|
city = [[Shaker Heights, Ohio|Shaker Heights]] and<br>[[Hunting Valley, Ohio|Hunting Valley]]|
state = [[Ohio|OH]]|
country = [[United States|USA]]|
campus = [[Suburban]], {{convert|297|acre|km2}}<br>upper: {{convert|264|acre|km2}}<br>lower: 33 acres|
enrollment = 807 total<br>405 upper<br>402 lower|
faculty = 64 upper|
class = 17 students|
ratio = 6:1|
year = 2005|
SAT = 642 verbal<br>654 math|
athletics = 12 varsity sports|
colors = Maroon and Black|
mascot = Prescott the Prepper|
homepage = [http://www.us.edu/ www.us.edu]|
}}
'''University School''' is a private all-boys, day [[school]] located near the city of [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]]. The [[school]] has two [[campuses]], the Lower School located in [[Shaker Heights]], which serves grades K through 8, and the Upper School in [[Hunting Valley]], for grades 9 through 12. The school's historic athletic and academic rivals are [[Hawken School]], [[Western Reserve Academy]], [[Shaker Heights City School District|Shaker Heights Public School]] and [[Gilmour Academy]] in nearby [[Gates Mills, Ohio]], and its [[sister school]] is [[Laurel School]]. The school is commonly referred to as '''US''', and its main focus is as a preparatory academy; it prides itself on its perfect [[#College Matriculation|college matriculation]] percentage.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} University School is a founding member of the [[Cleveland Council of Independent Schools]].
== History and headmasters ==
The school was established in 1890 by Headmaster Newton Anderson, (1890–1900), who deplored the practice of sending boys away from home for the purely classical education of an Eastern [[boarding school]]{{Fact|date=April 2008}}. The school's first building was erected on ten acres at the corner of Hough Avenue and East 71st Street. Headmaster George D. Pettee (1900–1908) — notable for leading the entire student body to the [[Pan-American Exposition]] in [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] — first suggested the idea of moving the school to what later became the eastern suburbs of [[Cleveland]]{{Fact|date=April 2008}}. The school [[mascot]] is Prescot the Prepper.
=== Publications ===
University School publishes several publications. Most notable is the monthly school newspaper, The US News, which has been published for over a [[century]] and is actually older than the more well-known [[U.S. News and World Report]].{{fact|date=May 2008}}
Another [[popular]] publication is the annual Record, the school's [[literary]] publication.{{fact|date=May 2008}} Students may contribute their best work (done in or outside of school) in [[poetry]], [[short stories]], [[photography]], and more recently, [[drawing]]. [[Faculty]] members frequently host a Writing Forum, where students can meet after school to work on their [[writing]] and discuss each other's work{{Fact|date=April 2008}}.
The Upper School's [[yearbook]], The Mabian, has been published every year since 1919, and is nearly entirely student run. The name "Mabian" comes from the school colors, maroon and black. The Tower is the Lower School's counterpart.
=== Disciplinary policies ===
{{refimprovesection|date=May 2008}}
US's Upper School has a demerit based system for disciplinary action: any faculty member may give a [[student]] one or more demerits for [[misbehavior]]. After a student has accrued five demerits, he receives a [[Detention (Academia)|detention]]. The number of demerits a student has continues to accumulate, and twenty demerits is grounds for a [[Suspension (punishment)|suspension]]. Being late to school is customarily one demerit, and skipping a class is five. For conduct deemed especially unacceptable, teachers may issue immediate detentions.
For severe matters, the school will deliberate punishments with the Student Disciplinary Committee. The S.D.C. is a board of faculty members and two responsible students, as well as a senior head, from each grade who speak to the offending student and consider what disciplinary action should be recommended.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} The board's recommendations are referred to the headmaster who ultimately makes the final decision on disciplinary actions. Occasionally this will result in [[expulsion]].
In the Lower School, there is a merit and reminder system that begins in [[third grade]].{{Fact|date=January 2008}} Merits are rewarded to a boy who has done something above and beyond what is expected of him; reminders are equivalent to demerits, and boys who earn three or more reminders in a week must serve a detention the day that they receive the third reminder. However, each boy receives a "clean slate" at the start of a new week. Marks are recorded (as "M"s and "R"s) in students' assignment [[notebooks]], and boys with exceptional numbers of merits are rewarded annually.
== House system ==
In the 1990s, University School began observing a House System — a tradition historically associated with [[boarding schools]]. Each student belongs to a House that integrates students from kindergarten through grade twelve. At the Upper School, Houses are composed of roughly 40 students with even numbers of [[freshman]], [[sophomores]], [[juniors]] and [[Twelfth grade|seniors]]. In the Lower School, boys are assigned buddies with whom they participate in many activities. Most faculty belong to Houses as well, and upcoming freshman students are assigned an individual faculty sponsor who belongs to the same House.
Houses are organized to encourage greater interaction between students, especially students in different grades. As such, the system is a large part of student life: House meetings occur weekly 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's leader. Upper School freshman, sophomores, and juniors are required to sit with members of their House during lunch as well, but seniors may eat separately in the [[cafeteria]], or off-campus.
House [[rivalry]] is commonplace, however both the Upper and Lower Schools do observe a traditional [[school sports day]] called Founder's Day, in which students have an inter-house [[sporting]] competition with the aim of winning the House Cup. Founder's Day often takes place in the early [[fall]], and activities include [[Ultimate (sport)|Ultimate]], [[tug of war]] and [[soccer]].
Houses are typically named after former Headmasters or notable [[alumni]], and each House has a color to represent it. The numbers, names and colors of Houses over the years have changed, but the current House names are Anderson (maroon), Cruikshank (white), Goodwillie (dark blue), Hawley (purple), McCarraher (orange), McKinley (light blue), Peters (red), Pettee (black), Pickands (green) and Sanders (yellow). Hawley House was formerly Brown House (with the color brown) until Dr. Richard Hawley retired in 2005.{{fact|date=May 2008}}
== Athletics ==
The school's athletic teams are known as the Preppers. US fields [[varsity teams]] in twelve sports, four per athletic season: [[American football|football]], [[soccer]], [[cross country]] and [[golf]] in the fall, [[ice hockey]], [[Scholastic wrestling|wrestling]], [[swimming]], and [[basketball]] in the winter, and in the spring, [[lacrosse]], [[tennis]], [[track and field]], and [[baseball]]. The varsity [[American football|football]] team is one of the top [[five]] most successful football programs in [[Northeast Ohio]]{{Fact|date=April 2008}}, while the varsity [[hockey]] and [[lacrosse]] teams are almost always state champion caliber.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} Varsity wrestling and Varsity swimming both produce many state, sometimes national caliber wrestlers and swimmers as well{{Fact|date=April 2008}}. In 2003, the {{convert|81000|sqft|m2|sing=on}} William S. Kilroy (Class of 1943) Field House was added to the Hunting Valley campus.{{Fact|date=January 2008}}The multi-purpose indoor practice facility features two [[basketball]] courts, three [[squash]] courts, a 200-meter cantilevered indoor track and practice areas for track events.
Beginning in the fall of 2009 University School will compete in the Premier Athletic Conference (PAC). The PAC is an 8-team conference including such schools as Willoughby South and Eastlake North high schools. The cross country, wrestling, basketball, track and field and baseball teams will compete in this conference in 2009. Football will begin it's PAC schedule in the fall of 2011 due to scheduling conflicts in 2009 and 2010.
The complex also includes a fitness center equipped with weight training and aerobic equipment. In addition, the Field House houses wrestling rooms, a gymnasium and an Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool with a separate diving well. Outdoor sports facilities include a [[American football|football]] stadium, an all-weather track, four soccer and other practice fields, a [[football field]], two baseball diamonds, and seven all-weather tennis courts. These outdoor facilities are spread over the {{convert|221|acre|km2|sing=on}} Hunting Valley campus{{Fact|date=April 2008}}.
The mascot is Prescott the Prepper, which was constructed by an acquired "[[Bob's Big Boy]]" head in 1998 coupled with a classic University School tie and blue blazer. It was supposedly stolen in 2006 by a graduated alumnus. However, it was returned in 2007{{Fact|date=April 2008}}.
=== Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships ===
* Boys [[Golf]]: 1990, 2003, 2006, 2007 <ref name="Ohio High School Athletic Association">{{cite web|url=http://www.ohsaa.org/|title=Ohio High School Athletic Association Web site|accessdate=2006-12-31|author=[[OHSAA]]}}</ref>
* [[Hockey]]: 2003 <ref name="Ohio High School Athletic Association">{{cite web|url=http://www.ohsaa.org/|title=Ohio High School Athletic Association Web site|accessdate=2006-12-31|author=[[OHSAA]]}}</ref>
=== Other State Championships ===
* [[Tennis]]: 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2005 <ref name="Ohio Tennis Coaches' Association">{{cite web|url=http://www.otca.us/|title=Ohio Tennis Coaches' Association Web site|accessdate=2007-03-08|author=OTCA}}</ref>
* [[Lacrosse]]: 1999, 2008{{fact|date=May 2008}}
== Notable graduates ==
{{refimprovesection|date=May 2008}}
*[[Chuck Seelbach]], former [[Major League Baseball]] pitcher for the [[Detroit Tigers]], class of 1966
*[[Henry L. Meyer III]], Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of [[Key Bank]].
*[[John Bell]], lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the southern rock band [[Widespread Panic]], class of 1980.
*[[Michael Seelbach]], male lead in the Chicago production of the [[musical]] [[Wicked (musical)|Wicked]], class of 1995
*[[Chris Rose]], host of the popular sports program [[The Best Damn Sports Show Period]], class of 1989
== External links ==
* [http://www.us.edu Official website]
* [http://upper.us.edu Upper School Intranet]
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
{{coor title dms|41|29|10|N|81|25|42|W|type:landmark_region:US-OH}}
{{coor title dms|41|28|56|N|81|31|57|W|type:landmark_region:US-OH}}
[[Category:Cuyahoga County, Ohio]]
[[Category:High schools in Ohio]]
[[Category:Middle schools in Ohio]]
[[Category:Elementary schools in Ohio]]
[[Category:Private schools in Ohio]]
[[Category:Preparatory schools in Ohio]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1890]]