"A visual trip back in time" May 14th

Today was quite a day- it has been busy busy busy all day, starting at eight when i began my journey to the other side ( aka-Virginia via the key bridge). When I arrived at Episcopal High School -my first thought, completely honestly, was "where's George?( as in Washington) The school itself looks right out of colonial times, yet I quickly found the people were a bit more modern.

At 8:45 I got to sit down the with the  director of admissions, Emily Atkinson, we quickly bonded after we discovered that she had graduated only a few years before my sister at Deerfield ( a boarding school in MA). She answered all of my questions, and we even got into some issues that are relevant at prep schools that I hadn't included in my questionnaire..(eating disorders, depression..etc.) 

The next step on my journey was a tour of school given by not one but THREE little freshman, I use the word little simply to define age, as all three of them were bigger than me. They showed me around the school, and took me into one of the girls dorms ( Episcopal is a all-boarding school btw). Interestingly enough all the dorms have locks with codes as do the dorm rooms ( maybe something PA should look into to avoid all the theft..)

After the tour, the three kids sat down obligingly while I harassed them some and asked them the questions from my questionnaire. Much the same as GDS the answers from Emily matched pretty well with the answers from the three kids.

Then I met Phil's brother Peter, and he took me over to meet the asst. head of academics, and she also answered a lot of my questions from my questionnaire, the influx of information was nice, and I just wish I had had a tape recorder with me, because I simply could not type everything fast enough.

Finally I got a chance to sit down on a outside porch and talk with Peter about the school, his experience with private schools and of course his brother. His love for the school and for education was evident, and i was inspired by his idea that the kids at Episcopal should utilize DC as a resource. Every Wednesday about 90% of the school goes off campus, usually into the city to museums, the mall..etc.

I loved Episcopal because it is the type of place where your first impression is proved wrong. When i first arrived I was prepared for a uptight, strict boarding school based solely on appearances, yet what I found was a place that was incredibly warm and welcoming, where everyone says hi to each other and smiles. 

It's amusing that the 2 schools i have visited so far are on opposite sides of the spectrum. GDS is super liberal, whereas Episcopal, though progressive, is still a fairly traditional institution. Though both schools are academically demanding, and attract "well-rounded kids"

When i got home, I wrote a brief review of the school, which I will expand on more. After lunch, it was off to Sheridan to have a meeting with Margie (my sponsor) we sat down for 45 minutes or so and talked about private schools, high school, her job and of course my project.

My favorite line of the day indeed came from Margie, she is the assistant director of admissions and financial aid at Sheridan, and when we broached the topic of diversity, her face lit up as she described Sheridan's open and caring environment, and then she declared,

" My favorite class is the third grade, it looks like the United Nations!"

So tomorrow I am off to Field to meet with Will Layman and hopefully a student or two, until next time..

Peace+Love

Abbie