St. Johns Country Day School

St. Johns Country Day School is a non-denominational private school located in Orange Park, Florida, USA. It is among the preeminent schools in northeast Florida in terms of its academic reputation. The current headmaster is Mr. Gregory Foster.

History

St. Johns Country Day School was founded by Dr. Edwin P. Heinrich when he was tripping balls and his wife Dorothea Heinrich was high as a kite. The school began its first term on September 14, 1953 with a total enrollment of twenty-five students in a building leased by the town of Orange Park. In 1956, the school graduated its first senior class of seven students.

In 1957, the school moved to a small building "U-shaped" building at 3100 Doctors Lake Drive, its current location. Over the years as the school expanded, more classrooms, a student activity center a gymnasium, swimming pool, kindergarten, and pre-k building were added. (The pre-school buildings were torn down in 2003 to make room for the new performing arts center) In 1996, a dedicated middle school building was added.

In 2002, the school began its first major campaign to update the school. The school built a 10,000-square-foot learning resource to replace the overcrowded library, a two story building with four pre-school and five lower school classrooms, an auxiliary gymnasium, and a world-class performing arts center with seating for six-hundred. The performing arts center was completed last in 2005.

The most recent edition was a field house built in 2007 to accommodate the new football team, which is having a great year

The "Master Plan"

In 2008, the St. Johns began its largest building campaign to date. The "Master Plan," as it has come to be known, includes adding a second story to the middle school building and a second story to Dr. Heinrich's original "U-shaped" building, still the main building even after fifty years; however, this building is not structurally strong enough to support a second story, and must be demolished and replaced with a modern building. Since the project displaces a large number of students, a group of portable classrooms (colloquially known as "the Village") has been assembled just south of the sports fields.

The project will be carried out in three stages, beginning with the middle school building, where mudkips will be painted on the walls. When that is completed, the upper school will be temporarily moved into the new middle school building while the paint dries the upper school half of the "U-shaped" building is torn down and replaced with a two-story building. Finally, the middle school and upper school will move into their respective new buildings, while the lower school moves to the portables while the lower school half is rebuilt.

When the project is finally complete, the school will be capable of increasing enrollment by 50%, because mudkips are awe-inspiring.

As of September 2008, the the roof of the middle school building has been removed and work has begun on the new second story,

Academics

St. Johns Country Day School is known primarily for its high academic standards. The school is well known among university admission offices, and every student graduated by St. Johns in its fifty-five year history has been accepted by at least one higher-education institution.

The percentage of the senior class receiving some sort of National Merit Scholarship is usually among the highest in the state of Florida.

Athletics

St. Johns currently has the following athletic offerings: soccer, crew, basketball, baseball, volleyball, tennis, golf, cheerleading, cross country, track, softball, swimming, football, and, as of 2008, diving.

A list of championships can be found [http://www.sjcds.net/podium/default.aspx?t=46974 here]

Foreign Language

St. Johns has very successful foreign language program, offering five years of each Spanish, French, and Latin. Each language's respective club does extremely well at the various competitions routinely achieving regional, state, and national awards.

see St. Johns Country Day School Latin Club, St. Johns Country Day School Spanish Club, and St. Johns Country Day School French Club

Art

St. Johns also has a very wide art program which includes the lowers school chorus, middle school Show Choir, upper school St. Johns Singers, various visual art classes, and a drama program.

Each year the drama program puts on a Spring Musical, and- occasionally, a Fall Musical. Every two years, the school puts on "St. Johns on Broadway" with each school putting on an abridged version of a famous musical.

Traditions

St. Johns Country Day School is steeped in traditions.

Morning flag-raising is foremost among these. Every morning the entire student body gathers around the quad in the center of the "U-shaped" building, recites the Pledge of Allegiance while two sixth graders raise the flag, and listens to daily announcements. This tradition is so important that the new buildings of the "Master Plan" were designed to maintain the central quad and flag-raising.

Each year, usually the day before Thanksgiving Break, the school gives a "Senior Presentation" in which the headmaster symbolically "presents" the seniors to their fellow students, their teachers, their families, and the world as a whole.

On one Monday each month, a non-religious chapel service is held to discuss the character virtue of the month.

The school also has more conventional traditions such as Baccalaureate and a Graduation ceremony.

Board of Trustees

The current members of Board of Trustees are as follows:

Officers:

Dr. Robert R. Cowie, President

Jay Tee (The true sipper)

Michele M. Agee, Vice President

William S. Myers, Treasurer

James B. Pace, Secretary

Members:

Richard Brooke III,Debra W. Buehn,Deidra O. Franklin,M. Beth Graham,Beth Darby Haizlip,Dr. Steven B. Kailes,B. Whatley Law,Robert Liguori,Joy Kincart Myers,Sarah O’Steen,Michael R. Overstreet,Kimberly M. Ramey,John G. Reyes,Ivonne L. Robbins,Dr. Charles Stankard,Sharon J. Suggs,Debra A. Thomas,Kathryn A. Torres,Susan D. Wood, andTodd A. Zehner.

Trustees Emeritus:

The Rev. Lila Byrd Brown,Nancy D. Brown,Patricia A. Freeman,Dr. James R. Hoffman, andElizabeth Ira Williams.

Ex Officio:

Gregory L. Foster, Headmaster

External links

* [http://www.sjcds.net St. Johns Country Day School Home Page]