Type Private school Established 1954 Color(s) Green and White Phone +1 410-531-8600 Founded 1954 | Religious affiliation(s) Nonsectarian Faculty 165 Founder Kingdon Gould, Jr. Mascot Dragons | |
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Address 12793 Folly Quarter Rd, Ellicott City, MD 21042, USA Similar Glenelg High School, River Hill High School, McDonogh School, Chapelga Christian Academy, Atholton High School Profiles | ||
Glenelg Country School is a nonsectarian, co-educational independent day school in Howard County, Maryland, adjacent to Columbia, Maryland and between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. The School offers a continuous, college preparatory program from age 2 through grade 12. GCS was founded in 1954, enrolling 35 students in grades one through seven. In the fall of 1985, the new Upper School division opened with 10 students. The first class graduated in June 1989. Today, Glenelg Country School enrolls over 750 students.
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History
The Glenelg Manor was built on a part of land patented as "Dorsey's Grove" in 1721. What is today known as "Glenelg Manor" forms the nucleus of a sprawling structure, which houses the Glenelg Country School elementary division. The "Manor House" portion was itself built in two sections: the old "L" wing dating from the middle or late 18th century, and the newer front section built in 1845. The original house is believed by many historians to have been erected by Ephraim Howard, son of Sarah Dorsey Howard who received the land from her father, John Dorsey, in 1735 as part of her dowry. Sarah's husband, Henry Howard, patented the property as "Howard's Resolution."
General Joseph Tyson, Assistant Postmaster General under President John Tyler, added the newer part of the mansion, which is of Norman Tudor style, in 1845. The massive granite blocks used as decoration in the addition were quarried near Ellicott City, while the marble at the entrance and in the fireplaces was imported from England. The spacious rooms were of such dimension that each had one or more fireplaces. General and Mrs. Tyson called their home "Glenelg" after an old estate in Scotland and "because it spelled the same from either end.".
The estate passed to Tyson's son Henry H. Tyson, followed by the Knox family in 1900. William Bladen Lowndes, son of Maryland governor Lloyd Lowndes, Jr., purchased the estate in 1915 and added amenities such as outdoor projectors, golf course, and diesel generators. After the death of Lowndes in 1941, the property was sold to Rowland D. and George R Zaiser of Wilton Farm Dairy for farming. In 1956, the estate was subdivided into a smaller parcel to be leased out as a school.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Glenelg Country School
The original building was rented in 1954 when the Glenelg Country School was founded by Kingdon Gould, Jr. and his wife Mary Thorne Gould, along with Mr. and Mrs. John T. Mason, Jr., Judge James Macgill and Mr. and Mrs. William Shippen. Miss Marjorie Dunn was the first Headmistress for Glenelg Country School and served from 1954-1956. Following Ms. Dunn were: Beatrice Pfefferkorn (1956–1959); Edward L. Jones (1959–1964); Peter T. Terry (1964–1966); Thomas J. Barlow (interim head in 1966 for Peter Terry); Frederic W. Rhinelander (1966–1977); Charles H. Miller, Jr. (1977–1990); Ryland O. Chapman III (1990–2007); and Gregory J. Ventre (2007–present day).
In 2014, County Executive Ken Ulman proposed CR-121-2014 in his last weeks of pre-election activities. The bill would finance eight million dollars of an expansion and revitalization of the athletic facilities, a new two story press box, grandstands and restoration of existing tennis courts and athletic center floors. It also included the renovation and restoration of buildings and the Historic Manor House.
Overview
Athletics
The Arts
Music and art classes begin at age 2 and continue through twelfth grade. Music classes include: chorus; recorder ensembles; bell choirs; bands; a jazz ensemble; a woodwind trio; a string quartet; Lower, Middle and Upper School plays; and an Upper School musical, with 50% of Upper School students participating in the performing arts. There are music rooms in each division and a 350-seat Mulitz Theater that includes a scene shop and spacious dressing rooms.
Art classes include: painting, drawing, film and digital photography, ceramics, wood-working, metals, and an array of other specialized classes. Each division has its own fully equipped studio space, and the Upper School has separate 2-D and 3-D facilities, along with a fully equipped black and white photography lab.