Good schools are good schools for many of the same reasons: an inspiring faculty, small classes, engaged students, and a rich and compelling curriculum.
As they design their own educational programs, boys’ schools are ideally positioned to shape their curriculum and co-curriculum with boys and their unique development in mind and heart.
In 1995 University School became a founding member of the International Boys' School Coalition (IBSC), and since that time our school has been a leader in understanding how boys learn, how they develop through adulthood, and how they mature into men of character.
An Expectation to Be More
In a boys’ school, away from the social energies and gender expectations often alive in co-educational schools, boys do not have to choose among activities traditionally associated with males or females. All of the school activities are simply what students do here. A boy will sing in the choir, play football or soccer, write poetry in English class, help publish the yearbook, or join the debate club. And seeing so many other students exploring a range of interests, he develops a broad sense of what it means to be male.
All we are striving for, in any and all goals, is to be more – more capable or adept at something not yet mastered, in some fashion more than we were before. In this spirit, we are committed at US to making better boys.
Patrick T. Gallagher Head of School
Challenging a Boy's Mind
As we design our educational programs, we are uniquely positioned to shape our curriculum and co-curriculum with boys and their development in mind. We have designed a learning experience that makes purposeful a boy’s energy, his impulse to move and play, and his interests. Additionally, we adapt that learning experience as he matures through the Lower, Middle, and Upper schools.
The US boy is asked to consider how he thinks. In his awareness, he is able to grow in his relative strengths while building skills to accept new challenges. This ability builds the foundation of a boy’s self-concept and influences his connection to learning throughout life.
Erin Esposito Peron Learning Specialist
Defining the 21st Century Man
Our purpose goes beyond boys we currently teach to the men they will become and the community they will serve.As a boys' school, our charge is to ensure boys possess an abiding balance of self-confidence and humility.
US taught me how to discover depth in each individual I meet and how to surround myself with those who will influence me in a positive direction. I don’t know where I would be today without the love of my classmates, teachers, coaches, and friends in the US community.
Seven Richmond '18 Harvard University
Modeling Excellence with Skilled Guidance
Sometimes we meet our students as boys and sometimes as young men. Sometimes we show them tradition and other times look to innovation. Sometimes we are supportive to the boys and other times we challenge them. The wisdom of our faculty and curriculum is to reconcile these opposites for the boys at the precise moment when they need it.
The teacher-boy connection does not merely contribute to or enhance teaching and learning; relationship is the very medium through which successful teaching and learning are carried out.
Dr. Richard Hawley Head of School Emeritus
Resources
There are a range of thoughts about raising and educating boys. These resources offer insight to some of these ideas.
At University School, our mission is our purpose, motivating all in our community—students, teachers, parents, and graduates alike—to work with and for our school's boys and young men.
University School is the best that it can be thanks to its dedicated faculty and a committed staff who ensure that the administrative structure of the school runs smoothly and efficiently.
