Profile 2020-21 975 Westtown Road West Chester, PA 19382-5700 (610) 399-7935 CEEB Code: 395230
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Profile 2020-21 975 Westtown Road West Chester, PA 19382-5700 (610) 399-7935 CEEB Code: 395230 Founded in 1799 by the Religious Society of Friends, to their inner selves. Westtown expects students to be Westtown School continues to be one of the nation’s critical, independent thinkers who can work with a spirit best-known Quaker schools. Situated on 600 acres in of cooperation, understanding, and tolerance of the Chester County, Pennsylvania, Westtown is accredited views of others. by the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools. The Westtown experience is defined by rigorous Students at Westtown are challenged to realize their academic preparation for college, community living in intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual potential. a diverse environment, weekly Meeting for Worship, Truth, openness, and honesty are values which undergird and participation in the school’s unique Work Program the school community. A spirit of inquiry reigns in (detailed below). These shared events reflect and teach the classroom and students are encouraged to think the fundamental Quaker values of consensus, nonviolent creatively, to feel the condition of others, and to listen resolution of conflict, and the dignity of physical work. Victoria H. Jueds, Head of School Joaquim M. Hamilton, Associate Director of College Counseling Veda R. Robinson, Upper School Principal Marjorie T. Ireland, Associate Director of College Counseling Jessica K. Smith, Director of College Counseling Debra A. Weaver, Registrar, College Counseling Coordinator ENROLLMENT — Coeducational since the school’s founding, Westtown’s student body consists of 732 students in grades Pre-K through 12. — Students come from 19 states and 18 countries. — The Upper School (grades 9-12) enrolls 383 students (115 day students and 268 boarding). — 7% are Quakers, 33% are American students of color, and 15% are international students. — Need-based financial aid is received by 56% of students in the Upper School. — All Westtown graduates enroll in college, some after taking a gap year. — The 87 members of the class of 2020 enrolled in 60 colleges and universities in 23 states and two countries. The class of 2021 totals 88. SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE CURRICULUM: Service Learning: Service is an integral part of the curriculum, Independent Research: A junior or senior with a defined area and students are required to complete 40 hours before graduation. of academic interest may propose and carry out a supervised Through Westtown’s Service Network, school trips, or other projects, semester or year-long advanced scholarly research project. students gain an understanding of the world around them, experience Scientific Research (Advanced) is a course that brings together with human service institutions, appreciation for lifestyles that differ students focused on long-term scientific studies. from their own, interpersonal skills, and the value of helping others. The service requirement was suspended for the class of 2021. Discipline Council: When major school infractions arise, consequences are determined by a panel of nine students and five Certificate Programs: Students may choose to participate faculty members. Elected by their peers, students serving on Discipline in one of five interdisciplinary programs of study: Social Council are seen as moral and ethical leaders in the community; this Entrepreneurship; Sustainability Leadership; Diversity, Inclusion, group is committed to understanding discipline as an opportunity & Justice; Global Citizenship; and Data-Driven Change. The for learning and growth. Westtown reports to colleges disciplinary programs include coursework, research projects, mentorship, incidents resulting in suspension, dismissal, or withdrawal. experiential learning, and leadership on campus. Work Program: In accordance with Quaker values, Work International Exchange and Service Trips: In addition to living Program reaffirms the goodness of service to others and the and learning in a dynamic, global community, Westtown offers dignity of all work. Students are exposed to a variety of working innovative international programming featuring cross-cultural experiences through helping with service, janitorial, recycling, immersion and service worldwide. These programs reinforce the and harvesting efforts in the kitchen, library, dorms, and garden. global competencies we expect of all our graduates. Students lead By taking part in the daily working life of the school, students activities in both classroom and community life, design projects that learn to respect what it means to be part of a community and put their beliefs and understanding of the world into action, and understand what impact their behavior has on others. collaborate with others to learn from new cultures. CURRICULUM Course levels: The Westtown curriculum is not tracked. All courses are college preparatory; academic departments identify their most rigorous (college level) courses as Advanced. There are 50+ Advanced courses offered; it is impossible to take all of them. A complete description of our curriculum is available in our Curriculum Guide at westtown.edu. Course load: A normal course load for freshmen and sophomores consists of five year-long courses and one or more semester-long courses. The typical requirement for juniors and seniors is five courses per semester. The academic program offers students both breadth and depth of study across the curriculum; the faculty emphasizes the quality of study over quantity, especially in the junior and senior years. GRADING Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the upper school was in distance learning for the last quarter of the 2019-20 school year and the first semester of the 2020-21 school year. Students attended online classes daily, with adjusted assessments. Students chose pass or numeric grades for their transcripts during distance learning. Reflecting the Quaker testimony of equality, comparative statistics (GPA, rank-in-class, checkboxes) are not calculated. When students repeat a course, both grades appear on the transcript. Credit is awarded for the most recent course. ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH GRADE COURSES ENGLISH MATHEMATICS (cont’d) 20th Century Dramatic Literature 1, 2 (Adv) Multivariable Calculus (Adv) 20th Century Literature 1, 2 Statistics American Literature 2 (Adv) Website Development Contemporary Fiction 1, 2 Contemporary World Literature (English 11) FOREIGN LANGUAGE Creative Writing (Adv) Chinese 3, 4 (Adv), 5 (Adv), 6 (Adv), 7 (Adv) English Literature/Language Seminar: Int’l Students (Adv) French 3, 4 (Adv), 5 (Adv), 6 (Adv) Nonfiction Writing 1, 2 Latin 3, 4 (Adv), 5 (Adv) The Essay (English 12) Spanish 3, 4 (Adv), 5 (Adv), 6 (Adv), 7 (Adv) World Mythology SCIENCE HISTORY Anatomy & Physiology (Adv) African American Experience* Applied Chemistry Ancient World 1: Egypt, India, China* Astrophysics Ancient World 2: Western Africa, Europe* Biology of Disease Asian American Experience* Biology of Sexuality and Drugs Contemporary Affairs* Chem Bonding/Equilibrium (Adv) Holocaust & Genocide* Chemical Reactions (Adv) Hiroshima to 9/11: Part 1* Digital Electronics Hiroshima to 9/11: Part 2* Design Engineering 2, 3 (Adv) Latin American Experience* Electricity & Magnetism (Adv) Microeconomics/Macroeconomics Environmental Science 1, 2* Modern Africa* Environmental Research (Adv) Modern Asia* Evolution (Adv) Modern Europe: 20th Century Russia* Modern Physics (Adv) Modern Latin America* Scientific Research (Adv) World History* World History: 1300-1800* & 1800-2000* RELIGION Business and the Good Society (Adv) MATHEMATICS Environmental Justice* Calculus 1* Religion,Gender and Sexuality* Calculus 2 (Adv) Religion, Resistance, and Revolution* Computer Aided Design World Religions 1: Judaism and Christianity Computer Science 1, 2 (Adv) World Religions 2: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam Differential Equations (Adv) Linear Algebra (Adv) HEALTH Mobile Application Development Ethical Communication Graduation requirements include the following: 1.75 Religion 4 English 3 Mathematics 2 Lab* Science An asterisk indicates(World the Religions course is 1, offered World 2 History (including US 2 Foreign Language 1.5 Artat both the advancedReligions and standard2, & 1 elective) level COLLEGE MATRICULATIONS 2016-2020 American University 11 Kenyon College 3 The College of New Jersey Amherst College La Roche College The College of Wooster Babson College Lafayette College 6 The George Washington University 7 Bard College 4 Lehigh University 3 The New School - All Divisions 4 Barnard College 4 Lewis & Clark College The University of Alabama Bates College Limestone College The University of Arizona 3 Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania 2 Loughborough University The University of Edinburgh Boston College 2 Loyola Marymount University The University of North Carolina Boston University 3 Loyola University Maryland at Chapel Hill 2 Bowdoin College Loyola University New Orleans The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Brown University 2 Macalester College 2 The University of Texas, Austin 2 Bryn Mawr College 7 Manhattan College The University of the Arts 2 Bucknell University 3 Maryland Institute College of Art Tufts University 4 Caldwell University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Tulane University 3 Carleton College 2 Middlebury College 3 University of California, Berkeley 3 Carnegie Mellon University 7 Montana State University, Bozeman University of California, Davis Case Western Reserve University 2 Mount Holyoke College 2 University of California, Irvine 2 Chatham University New