Established 1890 Headmaster Richard C. Bryan | Founder Newton M. Anderson | |
Coordinates (Upper School Campus) (Lower School Campus) Motto Responsibility, Loyalty, Consideration | ||
University School, commonly referred to as US, is an all-boys, private, K–12 school with two campus locations in the Greater Cleveland area. The campus located in Shaker Heights serves kindergarten through eighth grade students, while the campus in Hunting Valley serves ninth through twelfth grade students.
Contents
University School is a founding member of the International Boys' Schools Coalition and a member of the Center for the Study of Boys' and Girls' Lives and Cleveland Council of Independent Schools.
History and Headmasters
In 1890 the founding Headmaster of the school, Newton M. Anderson, established University School. The school's first building was erected on 10 acres (40,000 m2) at the corner of Hough Avenue and East 71st Street in Cleveland.
At the turn of the century, Headmaster George D. Pettee led the entire student body to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, in 1901. A few years later in 1908 Headmaster Harry S. Peters led University School during two World Wars, the Great Depression and, in 1926, to the 36-acre (150,000 m2) campus in Shaker Heights. He was the longest-tenured headmaster in University School history; however, ended up leaving the school in 1947. That same year Headmaster Harold L. Cruikshank oversaw the building of the Hanna Wing on the Shaker Campus and guided the school through the end of World War II to the beginning of the 1960s.
Under the leadership of McKinley, the Upper School moved, in 1970, from Shaker Heights to nearly 200 acres (0.81 km2) of meadows and woodland in Hunting Valley. Tragedy struck the school in 1966 when a junior student was attacked and had his long hair cut off by upperclassmen; he dropped out of the school and later committed suicide. The school drastically changed its disciplinary policies thereafter.
In 1988, Headmaster Richard A. Hawley, an author and educator, became the sixth headmaster of US. With the support of the US community, Conway Hall on the Shaker Campus and the William S. Kilroy '43 Field House in Hunting Valley were built during Hawley's tenure.
Stephen S. Murray became the seventh headmaster for University School in 2005 after Hawley’s departure. Murray led the School in the fundraising and construction of a nearly $100 million, 52,000 square-foot academic wing, which features classrooms and interactive technology. Extensive renovation of the original classroom building has allowed for a state-of-the-art facilities for the visual and performing arts.
After it was announced in August 2014 that Headmaster Stephen Murray would leave US to become the 13th Head Master of The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, Benjamin I. Rein of the Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia, assumed the position of Headmaster in mid-2015.
House system
University School has a House system, similar to that of the British tradition. Every student is assigned to one of ten houses, which integrates students from all grades and provides a structure for the boys to connect between grades with each other for companionship and support.
Publications
Athletics
Traditionally has a rivalry with Western Reserve Academy, with the football games being the highlight of each schools season throughout the 20th century starting with the first 1895 meeting.
US fields varsity teams in thirteen sports, five in the winter season and four in each the fall and the spring seasons: football, soccer, cross country and golf in the fall, ice hockey, wrestling, swimming, squash, and basketball in the winter, and in the spring, lacrosse, tennis, track and field, and baseball.
University School competes in the Premier Athletic Conference (PAC), 8-team conference. The cross country, wrestling, basketball, track and field and baseball teams began competing in this conference in 2009. Football began its PAC schedule in the fall of 2011.
The 81,000-square-foot (7,500 m2) Kilroy Field House at the Hunting Valley Campus is a multi-purpose indoor practice facility featuring two basketball courts, three squash courts, a 200-meter cantilevered indoor track, and practice areas for track events. The complex also includes a fitness center equipped with the latest in weight training and aerobic equipment.
Wrestling rooms, a gymnasium and 25-yard indoor swimming pool with a separate diving well complete the indoor facilities at the Hunting Valley Campus. Outdoors, there is a football stadium and a new turf football field, an all-weather track, four soccer and other practice fields, two baseball diamonds, and seven tennis courts.
The physical education facilities at the Shaker Campus include a football field, 400-meter track, three baseball fields, two soccer fields, eight tennis courts, a double-size gymnasium, wrestling room, a four-lane, 25-meter indoor swimming pool, and a rock climbing wall.
In 2013, University School's student-created and student-led sports broadcasting network, USPN, started streaming live coverage of the school's football, soccer, basketball, hockey, lacrosse and baseball games.
In 2014, University School's squash team won the Division IV national championship at the U.S. High School Team Squash Championships in Philadelphia, PA.