Maret School
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| Maret School | |
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| Maret School
"Noscere vivere est"
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| Location | |
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| Washington, D.C. |
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| Information | |
| Head of school | Marjo Talbott |
| Enrollment |
600 |
| Type | Independent school |
| Mascot | Frog |
| Color(s) | white, green |
| Established | 1911 |
| Information | (202) 939-8800 |
| Publications | Literary Arts Magazine Woodley Leaves |
| Homepage | http://www.maret.org |
The Maret School is a private, secular, co-educational, college-preparatory school located in the Woodley Park neighborhood of northwest Washington, D.C., USA. It provides K-12 instruction on one campus, and has several main facilities. The Maret School was founded in 1911 as a girls school. In 1952, it moved to its present location on Cathedral Avenue, purchasing the Woodley building and 8 adjoining acres. It has recently undergone two major renovations, including the addition of a 350-seat theater. The student enrollment is approximately 600 with small classes and a low student-teacher ratio (7:1). The school's goal is to value students as individuals and not define success for a student in any one specific way, as students are encouraged to explore different areas and success is measured relative to the individual student's interest and abilities.
Maret is also home to the Horizons program which is a program Maret runs in partnership with two other local public schools (H.D. Cooke Elementary School and Bancroft Elementary School)to provide summer enrichment programs to public school students from low-income families. The goal of Horizons is to prevent a summer decline in academic retention and increase school year attendance, as well as to boost student confidence and self-esteem. The Horizons program also provides a unique opportunity to Maret students by allowing them to assist in the teaching, counseling, and supervision of the kids who attend. (The Horizons program is not funded by Maret but by grants from foundations, gifts, fund-raising activities, private donations and financial support.)
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[edit] Campus
The school's historic central building, Woodley, was built in 1801 by Philip Barton Key.[1] Today it encompasses the main library and administrative offices, and in the past it was the summer residence for several US presidents as well as General George Patton, Secretary of War Henry Stimson, Lorenzo Thomas, and others.[2]
The rest of the school comprises several different buildings:
- The Activities Building (AB): middle school, two gyms, wrestling room, and a weight room.
- The Academic Center (AC): high school, cafeteria, art rooms, atrium, as well as the offices for most departments.
- The Lower School: lower school, a playground, and a library, as well as the 350 seat theater. The theater also serves as one of several links between the lower school and AC buildings.
- The Cottage: kindergarten.
- The Woodley Building: administrative offices as well as the main library.
[edit] Renovations
The school has undergone a major renovation, comprising two phases.
[edit] Phase one
During phase one, the AB building was redone, with new classrooms and a band room. The cottage was moved to a new location.
[edit] Phase two
Phase two was a much larger project. The AC building was connected with the new lower school building, replacing the old undersized building that had housed the lower school in past years. The other additions were a new art studio, a 350 seat theater, a new artificial turf field, a new cafeteria, and new offices for teachers.
[edit] Cost
As of 2007, the tuition fee of Maret School is US$ 21,975 for kindergarten to grade 4, $23,830 for grades between 5 and 8, and $25,300 for grades 9-12.
Currently 18% of the student body receives some financial assistance, ranging from $2,000 to nearly full tuition.[3] For comparison, the last census found the median household income for the District was $44,949 (2004/5 - US Census).[4]
[edit] Fire
A two alarm fire broke out prior to phase two. The fire started in one of the art rooms. The fire was put out quickly, but the water damage was extensive. The aftermath of the fire prompted a temporary renovation of the AC building which confused some students, noted for hallways that would cut off suddenly. These hallways ultimately were to connect old hallways with newly constructed ones from the renovation.[5]
[edit] Clubs at Maret
Maret is home to a huge variety of clubs in all different venues many of which give the students an opportunity to help in their community or take a broader view on many subjects. A club may be started by any student as long as there is a teacher sponsor. This allows the students a great deal of freedom in creating clubs to help and learn about world issues such as Darfur or focus on personal interests such as knitting, or chemistry. Many of these clubs hold school bake sales to raise money for their cause. As an example of the diversity these are some of the clubs from the 2007-2008 year: Knitting Club, Book Club, GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance/Discrimination), Current Events Club, Engineering Team, Tech Crew, Cheese Guild, and Veg Club. Again, these are just a few of the myriad of clubs offered at Maret.
[edit] Sports at Maret
All students are required to play on a team (or take an elective) at least 11 out of 12 seasons (in the high school). Because of this Maret attempts to have a very active athletics program. Each year Maret manages to field teams that try to compete for the MAC championship title. Most notable are the varsity baseball team and the Maret varsity volleyball team. Also, almost all of Maret's teams have a varsity and junior varsity level.
[edit] Prestige
Although not as renowned as other local D.C. schools such as Georgetown Prep or St. Albans, the Maret School is considered one of the best private day schools in the country, being ranked 26th in the 2008 edition of "America's Best Private Schools" by PrepReview.
[edit] Notes
- ^ District of Columbia: Office of Planning
- ^ http://www.washingtonhistory.com/ScenesPast/images/SP_1202.pdf
- ^ Applying for Financial Aid. Maret School website. Retrieved on 2007-04-12.
- ^ Income 2005 - Two-Year-Average Median Household Income by State: 2001-2005
- ^ DC Firefighters Battle 2-Alarm School Blaze - Firehouse.com Photo Stories
[edit] External links
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