Shipley School

History

In 1889, three sisters—Hannah, Elizabeth, and Katharine Shipley—founded Shipley to prepare girls for Bryn Mawr College, which is located directly across the street. The Shipley sisters were strong-minded, well-educated Quaker women and envisioned the school as far more than a mere finishing school. When the school opened in the Fall of 1894, with six students and nine faculty members, a philosophy of education was established that would guide the school for over a hundred years, up to the present time.

By the 1940s, Shipley had expanded its purpose and student body admitting approximately 340 students and sending its graduates to many traditional women's colleges. At this time, about half of all Upper School students were boarders hailing from all over the country and from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Shipley discontinued its boarding department and began to admit male students. The last boarders graduated in 1982, and by 1984 the school was fully coeducational with equal numbers of girls and boys. Starting in the 1990s, and increasingly since then, Shipley has augmented their traditional teaching methods and facilities with growing technological expertise and equipment.

Shipley's curriculum, increasingly interdisciplinary and project-based, is designed specifically to give students the tools to succeed in college and in life in the 21st century.

Mission

The Shipley School, a Pre-Kindergarten - grade 12 coeducational day school, is committed to educational excellence and dedicated to developing in each student a love of learning and a compassionate participation in the world. Through a strong college preparatory curriculum in the humanities and sciences, the school encourages curiosity, creativity, and respect for intellectual effort. Shipley upholds and promotes moral integrity, a sense of personal achievement and worth, and concern for others at school and in the larger community.

Campus

In 2009, Shipley embarked on The Campaign for Shipley: Foundations for Success.

Phase 1

Phase II

Phase III

Lower School

The Lower School enrolls about 239 students in Pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade with an average class size of 15 students. Teachers are aided by full-time teaching assistant, providing a student-to-teacher ratio of seven-to-one. In recent years the Lower School has added a character development component to its curriculum, designed to encourage and instill compassionate, respectful, and principled behavior. The Lower School also offers:

Middle school

The Middle School has about 213 students in grades six through eight. The average class size is 15. Students enroll in math, history, science, English, and foreign language (Latin and French, Mandarin, or Spanish) courses. Students also complete coursework in computer literacy, studio art, theater, and music. In seventh grade, the curriculum includes the "Generations Project," a several-week-long program during which students research their heritage. Every spring the Middle School puts on a musical.

Athletics change significantly during Middle School. In sixth grade, students have the option to participate in a physical education program or in an intra-school athletic league. In seventh and eighth grades, students are encouraged to join sports teams which compete against area schools. Middle School interscholastic boys' sports include soccer, basketball, squash, baseball, tennis, and lacrosse. Girls' sports include soccer, field hockey, tennis, volleyball, basketball, swimming, softball, and lacrosse. For many sports, students are subdivided into multiple teams based on ability.

Upper School

The Upper School enrolls about 394 students in the ninth through twelfth grades. The average class size is 12 students. In most courses, students can choose to take either a standard or honors level. Prior to the 2008-2009 academic year, Shipley offered Advanced Placement courses in most subjects. Like many other independent schools, Shipley has discontinued its Advanced Placement program to increase curricular latitude, although it still offers AP Studio Art. Students who desire to take Advanced Placement tests in other subjects continue to do so and do well in them.

While in Upper School, students must take four English courses, three math courses, three courses in the same world language, two history courses (including US history), and two science courses. Every year, students must enroll in five of these "major courses," each of which meets six times during the seven-day rotation. However, students are permitted to take six major classes. Students may also take major courses in studio art, music theory, philosophy, art history, economics, film, or humanities. During junior year, students can elect to take an interdisciplinary American Studies course, which fulfills both a history and English requirement. Interdisciplinary courses, in which ideas expand across multiple academic disciplines, are very common at Shipley. A wide range of interdisciplinary courses are offered to students. Additionally, "minor courses," which meet once or twice a rotation, are required in music, art, and health. Minor courses in theater and public speaking are also offered.

Every Upper School student is required complete a minimum of forty hours of community service in order to graduate. During the last several weeks of senior year, students volunteer with an area service organization of their choice, in lieu of taking classes.

College counseling is available to every senior and second semester junior. Students take a "minor course" taught by the college counseling office during their junior spring and senior fall semesters.

Athletics

Since the 2005-2006 school year, Shipley has competed in the Friends Schools League, which was founded in 1982 on the principles of the Religious Society of Friends. Abington Friends School, The Academy of the New Church, Friends' Central School, Friends Select School, George School, Germantown Friends School, Moorestown Friends School, and the Westtown School are the other eight members of the conference. Shipley is the only member of the league that is not a religious school.

Upper School students can choose from about 15 sports, most of which are offered at the varsity and junior varsity levels. Boys and girls compete on separate teams in the following sports: crew, soccer, cross country, tennis, basketball, squash, and lacrosse. The golf and swimming teams are co-ed. Additionally, there is a boys baseball team and girls softball, field hockey, and volleyball teams. Students who are particularly engaged in a sport that Shipley does not offer, may, with permission, engage in an independent sport for credit. Students who do not participate in at least two sports per year, are required to take physical education courses.

Shipley's colors are green and blue, and its mascot is the Gator. In recent years, the gym's student section has been dubbed "The Swamp," the alligator's natural habitat. Shipley teams have won 36 championships in the past 5 years.

The Arts

Lower School students perform in plays throughout the year and sing in the chorus. Lower School students are also encouraged to participate in the advanced chorus, recorder ensemble, orchestra, and string ensemble.

In Middle School, in addition to the chorus, the school offers handbell choirs, a wind ensemble, and a string ensemble. As of the 2009-2010 school year, students are no longer required to perform. The Middle School puts on a musical every spring.

In Upper School, while students are not required to perform, there are many more offerings in music and theater. Vocal groups include the Glee Club and The Shipley Singers (a select co-ed a cappella group). Instrumental groups include a jazz band, string ensemble, handbell ensemble, and opportunities for chamber music.

Upper School students can choose from a number of theater offerings. Traditionally, the theater department puts on a series of one act plays in the fall and a musical in the spring. The Shakespeare Program, started in 2002, presents a selection of Shakespeare scenes in the fall semester and a full Shakespeare play in the spring semester.

In 2010 a Shipley production, When Lilacs Last, written by the school's theater director, was performed at both the New York and Philadelphia Fringe Festivals.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Shipley students participate in many different club, activities, and publications. An incomplete list is included below.

School Profile

Trivia