The Park School of Baltimore, known as Park, is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

, non-sectarian, progressive day school for children in Pre-Kindergarten (age 4) through grade twelve. Park is located in Brooklandville, Maryland, near the city of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

History

Park was founded in 1912 as a private K-12 school based on the principles of

progressive education Progressive education, or protractivism, is a pedagogical movement that began in the late 19th century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term ''pr ...

developed by John Dewey and others. The creation of the school was spurred by the firing of Baltimore City’s progressive Superintendent of Schools James Van Sickle by newly elected Mayor James H. Preston in 1911. At the time the city’s private schools had quotas severely restricting the number of Jewish students admitted, and so Park adopted a policy of accepting all religions. Park opened its doors to 98 students on September 30, 1912, in a three-story townhouse in the Auchentoroly Terrace Historic District across from

Druid Hill Park Druid Hill Park is a urban park in northwest Baltimore, Maryland. Its boundaries are marked by Druid Park Drive (north), Swann Drive and Reisterstown Road (west and south), and the Jones Falls Expressway / Interstate 83 (east).Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

'' decision desegregating public schools, Park's Board of Trustees voted "to receive any applications from any family suitable in interest and ambition," becoming the first private school in the city to do so. Black students began attending Park in 1955. In 1959, Park moved to its current 100-acre campus on Old Court Road in Baltimore County. The school has undergone multiple expansions in recent years. More recent renovations include a new wing for science, mathematics, and technology in 1997; an Athletic Center in 2001; and a new visual and dramatic arts wing in 2003. In_2018,_the_United_States_Equal_Employment_Opportunity_Commission.html" ;"title="ref name="September 2012"/> In 2018, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission">ref name="September 2012"/> In 2018, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit alleging that Park discriminated on the basis of gender in employment decisions it made about sports coaches. The EEOC alleged that Park School violated federal anti-discrimination laws when it told a male softball coach that "it would not renew his contract for the 2017 softball season because of its 'preference for female leadership.'" Park School settled the lawsuit in 2019 for $41,000.

Notable faculty and staff

*Laura Amy Schlitz, librarian and Storytelling, storyteller; won the 2008 Newbery Medal for her children's book ''Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village'' and the 2013 Newbery Honor for her children's novel '' Splendors and Glooms.'' Schlitz wrote the monologues in ''Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!'' for the 5th Grade curriculum. Her most recent book, ''Princess Cora and the Crocodile'', published in 2017.

Notable alumni

Robert Austrian Robert Austrian (Baltimore, 12 April 1916 – Philadelphia, 25 March 2007) was an American infectious diseases physician and, along with Maxwell Finland, one of the two most important researchers into the biology of ''Streptococcus pneumoniae' ...

('33) – developer of the pneumonia vaccine *Guy Blakeslee ('99) a.k.a. Entrance – musician currently signed to

Tee Pee Records Tee Pee Records is an American independent rock music record label in New York City, prominent for releasing music by Sleep, Witch, Graveyard, Earthless, High on Fire and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. It has housed many stoner rock bands. R ...

Martha Clarke Martha Clarke (born June 3, 1944) is an American theater director and choreographer noted for her multidisciplinary approach to theatre, dance, and opera productions. Her best-known original work is ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' (1984, re-im ...

('62) – theater director and choreographer, MacArthur Award recipient * Josh Dibb ('96) a.k.a. Deakin, David Portner ('97) a.k.a.

Avey Tare David Michael Portner (born April 24, 1979), also known by his moniker Avey Tare, is a musician and songwriter who co-founded the American experimental pop band Animal Collective. He has released three solo albums, as well as three collaborative a ...

, and Brian Weitz ('97) a.k.a.

Geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

– members of the experimental music group Animal Collective *

Jane Frank Jane Schenthal Frank (born Jane Babette Schenthal) (July 25, 1918 – May 31, 1986) was an American multidisciplinary artist, known as a painter, sculptor, mixed media artist, illustrator, and textile artist. Her landscape-like, mixed-media ab ...

('37) (

Jane Schenthal Frank Jane Schenthal Frank (born Jane Babette Schenthal) (July 25, 1918 – May 31, 1986) was an American multidisciplinary artist, known as a painter, sculptor, mixed media artist, illustrator, and textile artist. Her landscape-like, mixed-media abs ...

) – painter, sculptor, mixed media artist, and textile artist (as a child, her name was

Jane Babette Schenthal Jane Schenthal Frank (born Jane Babette Schenthal) (July 25, 1918 – May 31, 1986) was an American multidisciplinary artist, known as a painter, sculptor, mixed media artist, illustrator, and textile artist. Her landscape-like, mixed-media abs ...

) *

Alan Frank Guttmacher Alan Frank Guttmacher (19 May 1898 – 18 March 1974) was an American obstetrician/gynecologist. He served as president of Planned Parenthood and vice-president of the American Eugenics Society. Guttmacher founded the American Association of Planne ...

('15) – obstetrician/gynecologist, served as President of Planned Parenthood *

Adam Gidwitz Adam Gidwitz (born February 14, 1982) is the author of the best selling children's books ''A Tale Dark and Grimm'' (2010), ''In a Glass Grimmly'' (2012), and ''The Grimm Conclusion'' (2013), all published by Dutton Books for Young Readers, an im ...

('00) – ''New York Times'' bestselling children's book author of ''A Tale Dark & Grimm'' (Dutton Penguin, 2010) and Newbery Honoree for ''The Inquisitor’s Tale'' (Dutton Penguin, 2016) * Lydia Kay Griggsby ('86) – Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims and formerly Chief Counsel for Private and Information Policy for the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

Walt Handelsman Walt Handelsman (born December 3, 1956, in Baltimore, Maryland) is an editorial cartoonist for '' The Advocate'' in New Orleans. His cartoons are syndicated by Tribune Content Agency. He has twice won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartoo ...

('75) – Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist (1997 and 2007) * Ben Jacobs ('02) – journalist, political reporter for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' *

Amy Berman Jackson Amy Sauber Berman Jackson (born July 22, 1954) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Early life and education Amy Berman was born on July 22 ...

('72) –

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District ...

Penny Johnson Jerald Penny Johnson Jerald (born March 14, 1961) is an American actress. She played Beverly Barnes on the HBO comedy series '' The Larry Sanders Show'', Kasidy Yates on the syndicated science fiction series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', Sherry Pa ...

('78) – actress, appeared in Fox television show '' 24'' as the president's wife, Sherry Palmer *

Annie Karni Annie Karni is an American journalist who is a White House correspondent for ''The New York Times''. She is a contributor on MSNBC. Education Karni was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Barbara S. Karni and Edi Karni. She attended the Park Scho ...

('00) – journalist, White House Correspondent for the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' * Chris Keating ('00) and Anand Wilder ('00) – members of the experimental music group

Yeasayer Yeasayer () was an American experimental rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2006. The band consisted of Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton, and Anand Wilder. They announced their split on December 19, 2019. History Formation The band's thr ...

* Steve Krulevitz ('69) – professional tennis player, was ranked #42 in the world and a member of the Israeli Davis Cup team * Jeffrey Alfred Legum ('59) – President and CEO of The Park Circle Motor Company *

Amanda Lipitz Amanda Lipitz is an American director and producer of films and Broadway shows, including the documentary ''STEP''. She's also a former voice actress, best known for voicing Zoey in the English localization of the Japanese anime series Mew Mew ...

('98) – Tony Award-winning Broadway producer; director and producer of award-winning documentary

STEP Step(s) or STEP may refer to: Common meanings * Stairs#Step, Steps, making a staircase * Walking * Dance move * Military step, or march ** Marching Arts Films and television * Steps (TV series), ''Steps'' (TV series), Hong Kong * Step (film), ' ...

Matthew Porterfield Matthew "Matt" Porterfield (born October 6, 1977) is an American independent filmmaker. He has made four feature films to date, ''Hamilton'' (2006), '' Putty Hill'' (2011), '' I Used to Be Darker'' (2013) and ''Sollers Point'' (2017). ''Putty Hi ...

('95) – independent filmmaker;

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

(2006),

Putty Hill ''Putty Hill'' is a 2010 American independent drama film directed by Matthew Porterfield, and starring Sky Ferreira, Zoe Vance, and James Siebor. The plot focuses on friends and family who gather to remember a young man in the aftermath of his dea ...

(2011), and

I Used to Be Darker ''I Used to Be Darker'' is a 2013 independent drama film set and shot in Maryland, the third feature film directed by Matthew Porterfield. Plot Fleeing Northern Ireland after realizing she was pregnant, 19-year-old Taryn finds refuge with her au ...

(2013) *

Tom Rothman Thomas Edgar Rothman (born November 21, 1954) is an American film executive and current chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group. In this role, Rothman oversees all of the studio's motion picture production and distribution activiti ...

('72) – Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Motion Picture Group *

Josh Tyrangiel Josh Tyrangiel is an American journalist. He was previously the deputy managing editor of ''TIME'' magazine and an editor at ''Bloomberg Businessweek''.Stephanie Clifford (November 17, 2009"Josh Tyrangiel Named Editor of BusinessWeek"/ref> In Ju ...

('90) – Executive Vice President, Vice Media/HBO *

Matthew Weiner Matthew Hoffman Weiner () (born June 29, 1965) is an American television writer, producer, and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series ''Mad Men'', and as a writer and executive producer on ''The Sopranos''. ...

– creator of the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

television drama ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its f ...

'' * Julius Westheimer ('29) – financial advisor, television, and radio personality *

Edward Witten Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American mathematical and theoretical physicist. He is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Witten is a researcher in string theory, q ...

('68) – mathematical physicist and one of the leading researchers in string theory

References

External links

Official websitePark School on Google Street View
{{authority control 1912 establishments in Maryland Brooklandville, Maryland Private schools in Baltimore County, Maryland Private high schools in Maryland German-Jewish culture in Maryland Private middle schools in Maryland Private elementary schools in Maryland

History

Notable faculty and staff

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links