Choate Rosemary Hall

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Choate Rosemary Hall

Headmaster Edward J. Shanahan
Established 1890
School type Private
Religious affiliation None
Location Wallingford, Connecticut, U.S.
Enrollment 847
Faculty 120
Campus Suburban
Mascot Wild Boar
Colors Blue, Gold

Choate Rosemary Hall (commonly referred to as Choate) is a New England preparatory school for students in grades 9-12, known as the third through sixth forms at the school. There is also a post graduate program. With both boarding and day students (who make up nearly 25 percent of the student body), the school has been co-educational since 1971. Today, students come from nearly all fifty states and twenty-four countries. A diverse pool of ethnicities represents almost 30 percent of the student body. The admission rate is approximately 24 percent. Nearly 30 percent of the student body receives financial aid to pay the substantial tuition, and the average amount of aid given is 70 percent of the tuition. Choate is located in Wallingford, Connecticut, fifteen miles north of New Haven, Connecticut.

Contents

[edit] Overview

From its shared roots over a century ago as The Choate School and Rosemary Hall, through their merger in 1974, Choate Rosemary is part of The Ten Schools Admissions Organization, along with several other New England-based boarding schools.

Choate offers courses in English, mathematics, science, foreign languages, history, ethics, political science, economics, and a range of electives. In addition, the school offers a concentration program in the arts and a science research program. The Capstone Project during senior year allows students to focus on one type of academic area (such as the Capstone for Creative Writing).

Choate also offers a range of extracurricular activities, including eighty-one interscholastic teams in thirty-two sports (the school has a traditional athletic rivalry with Deerfield), academic clubs, and student-run publications.

The campus encompasses a blend of architectural styles from colonial homes and Georgian buildings to dramatic modern structures designed by noted architect I.M. Pei. 116 houses, dormitories, and classroom buildings grace the 450 acre large campus. As of the June 30, 2007, the school's endowment was approximately $267 million. [1]

[edit] Traditions

There are many traditions kept by Choate Rosemary Hall. Among them are President's Day, Deerfield Day, the Physics Phlotilla, the Last Hurrah, the Garden Party, and Commencement.

President's Day is a day off from classes, declared by the headmaster on the night before. It is during the winter term, and is the subject of much speculation.

Deerfield Day, held during the last days of fall term, marks the end of the fall sports season. It culminates in matches between Choate and Deerfield in varsity girls and boys soccer, varsity boys' football, varsity girls' volleyball, and varsity girls' field hockey. Sub-varsity level teams also compete. Choate hosts a bonfire and pep rally the night before. During Dress Like Deerfield Day several days prior, the whole school dresses up in green or in very preppy outfits to make fun of Deerfield.

Another tradition, the Physics Phlotilla, takes place during the spring term. Students gather on the banks of the Science Center Pond to race makeshift cardboard boats, testing the principles of buoyancy—and often sinking.

The Last Hurrah, the year's last formal social event, is similar to a high school prom. Seniors prepare for the event by taking Senior Dance Lessons, where they learn ballroom dances. Each year, there is a dance contest, where students compete in the dances they have learned.

Garden Party, which is a Rosemary Hall tradition, takes place in the spring. Senior girls invite a junior girl and a faculty member. They exchange flowers, take pictures, and pass on Rosemarian traditions to the class of rising senior girls. A slideshow is also presented. Boys, in turn, have created a makeshift Garden Party, known as the "Parden Garty" and have recently been included for the slideshow portion of the event.

[edit] Weekend activities

On the weekend (Friday evening through Sunday, with the exception of a few Saturday classes per year), many students can use the opportunity to "hang out" around campus or enjoy the weekend trips offered by the Student Activities Center (SAC). The John Joseph Activities Center has the Tuck Shop (Choate's cyber cafe), mail room, and school store. It is also home to pool, foosball, and air hockey tables, as well as video games, TV, a PlayStation, and a dance floor used every Saturday for the weekly dances.

COSA (Committee on Student Activities) runs all weekend activities at the SAC. Many formal balls, dances, and festivals each year at Choate are held in the Hill House Dining Hall.

[edit] Sports

Choate offers a wide array of sports. Most sports are offered in varsity, junior varsity, and thirds sections. Thirds sections are for newcomers or first-timers to a sport. Also, there is a selection of intramural sports that act as fun exercise without the hectic schedule of an interscholastic sport.

Competitive fall sports consist of cross-country, field hockey, football, soccer, volleyball, and boys' water polo. Crew in fall is considered an intramural sport. Competitive winter sports are basketball, ice hockey, squash, swimming and diving, and wrestling. Intramural sports include aerobics, dance, senior weight training, yoga, winter running (winter only), rock climbing, fitness and conditioning, strength training for girls, and senior volleyball. Spring sports include co-ed archery, baseball, crew, golf, lacrosse, softball, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and girls' water polo.

[edit] The News

The News, previously known as The Choate News, is the weekly newspaper at Choate Rosemary Hall. Now in its 101st year, The News is one of the oldest high school newspapers in the country. The News has excellent coverage of both schoolwide and local events. Recently, The News covered the Choate-Karl Rove conflict in which Karl Rove was scheduled to be the commencement speaker but students strongly opposed. The News has also covered the access hole that was once found on the school's website in which confidential documents such as faculty salaries and student grades were open for public use.

[edit] Facilities and buildings

I.M. Pei, the prominent architect, designed two buildings on campus, the Paul Mellon Arts Center (known as the PMAC) and the Carl C. Icahn Center for Science (formerly the Paul Mellon Science Center). These buildings are near each other.

Other main buildings on campus include Hill House Dining Hall, Paul Mellon Humanities Center, St. John's Chapel (pictured above), St. John Hall (mathematics building), Steele Hall (language building), Andrew Mellon Library, Pratt Health Center, Worthington-Johnson Athletic Center (formerly the Winter Exercise Building, or "Winter Ex"), the Student Activities Center, and Archbold (admissions building and upper form dormitory).

Freshman year, students are generally housed in dorms next to each other, separated by gender. Girls are put into Nichols or Squire Stanley and boys into "Mem" (Memorial Hall).

[edit] Notable alumni

Paul Mellon Arts Center, designed by architect I.M. Pei.
Paul Mellon Arts Center, designed by architect I.M. Pei.

[edit] Fictional alumni

  • The fictional character of Charles Emerson Winchester from M*A*S*H* listed Choate as the prep school he attended before going on to Harvard Medical School.
  • The fictional character of Clifford Calley from The West Wing attended Choate before going on to Brown University and Harvard Law School.
  • The fictional character Al Pike, from Catcher in the Rye, who used to date Jane Gallagher and showoff at the swimming pool doing the same dive over and over wearing tight swimming trunks went to Choate.
  • The television show The Family Guy had a character who attended Choate during the episode Road to Rupert, in which Stewie and Brian traveled to Aspen, CO to retrieve Rupert, Stewie's stuffed teddy bear.
  • In the television show Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law one of Harvey's rival lawyers, Evelyn Spyro Archingduke, prepped at Choate before getting his law degree at Yale.
  • In the cartoon The Life and Times of Tarrnace Maas, starring "Cantinflas" (Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes), drawn by renowned cartoonist Shep Bryan, Tarrnace Maas is listed as attending Choate for his high school education.
  • Jimmy Bowman, all-football player in the book Jeff Bowman: The Bowman Story where Jimmy plays football at Choate, but tragically dies of cancer at the end.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin, Spring 2008, page 9

[edit] External links

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The Ten Schools Admissions Organization