The Pennington School

Infobox School
name = The Pennington School


motto = "Only The Excellent"
established = 1838
type = Independent school
Day and Boarding
affiliation= United Methodist Church
head_name = Head of School
head = Stephanie G. Townsend [ [http://www.pennington.org/press_kit/newsdetail.asp?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&LinkID=1261&ModuleID=40 The Pennington School Begins 170th Academic Year] , The pennington School press release dated September 12, 2007. Accessed October 24, 2007. "Students and their families had numerous opportunities to interact with Head of School Penny bo benny kenny Townsend and other members of the faculty and administration."]
city = Pennington
state = NJ
country = USA
campus = 54 acres
enrollment = 99 (Middle School)
373 (Upper School)
faculty = 102
year = 2006
colors = Red and Black
mascot = Harvey the Cawk
homepage = [http://www.pennington.org/ www.pennington.org] |

The Pennington School (TPS) is a private coeducational independent boarding school enrolling approximately 474 day and boarding students in grades 6 through 12. [http://www.pennington.org/about/index.asp Pennington at a Glance] , The Pennington School. Accessed October 24, 2007.] The Head of School is Stephanie Townsend. In recent years over 20 nations have been represented in Pennington’s student body, from Nigeria to Belarus and the People’s Republic of China. The school is located in Pennington, in Mercer County, New Jersey, a small community midway between New York City and Philadelphia in the eastern United States.

TPS was founded in 1838 as the Methodist Episcopal Male Seminary, in order to secure "the education of the physical, the training of the mental, and the grounding of the soul in character." [ [http://www.pennington.org/about/history.asp History of the Pennington School] , accessed October 13, 2006] However, while the school is still connected with the United Methodist Church and students are required to attend Chapel weekly, the school is effectively nonsectarian in nature. [ [http://www.pennington.org/about/chapel.asp Chapel] , accessed October 13, 2006]

The school is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools, the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools [ [http://www.njais.org/listing.html School Search] , New Jersey Association of Independent Schools. Accessed July 29, 2008.] , the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools, and the University Senate of the United Methodist Church.

History

Pennington was founded in 1838 in the midst of the Second Great Awakening as the Methodist Episcopal Male Seminary, a college preparatory school for boys. Pennington officially became a coeducational institution, The Pennington Seminary and Female Collegiate Institute, in the fall of 1854. The School was empowered by the New Jersey Legislature to confer the degrees of Mistress of English Literature and Mistress of Liberal Arts upon young women who had finished their course of study. However, in March 1910, it was announced that, with the coming fall, Pennington would again become a school for boys, reverting to the name Pennington Seminary. During the 1920s the school's name evolved to its present form, sometimes with the addition of "for Boys." It was not until 1972 that Pennington once again became a coeducational institution. In 1973, the Center for Learning, one of the nation's leading secondary school programs for children with language-based learning disabilities, was created within the school. [ [http://www.pennington.org/academics/center_learning_us.asp The Center for Learning] , Pennington School. Accessed October 13, 2006]

Admission

Pennington is a selective boarding school, with an acceptance rate of 39% of applicants. As required by other college preparatory schools, prospective students must take the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT), fill out an application, and go through an on-campus interview in order to be considered for admission.

Curriculum

In addition to multilevel courses in standard disciplines, Pennington offers such classes as German, Mandarin Chinese, and organic chemistry. Advanced Placement Program (AP) courses are offered in AP English Language and Composition, AP French Language, AP Spanish Language, AP Latin Literature, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics, AP United States History, AP United States Government and Politics, AP European History, AP Macroeconomics, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Studio Art and AP Music Theory.

Athletics

Pennington Football competes in the Independence League, which is a league consisting of small schools from Pennsylvania and includes Calvary Christian Academy, Bristol, Academy of the New Church, Lower Moreland, Jenkintown, and Springfield. Pennington also plays Hopewell Valley Central High School in an annual scrimmage. Pennington has one of the longest standing secondary school football programs in the nation, playing its first game in 1877.

Other Pennington sports usually play in the Patriot Confrence, which consists of small prep schools throughout the state. When vying for state championships Pennington Athletics partake in the "Prep B" group, which also consists of small prep schools throughout the state, except for the Girls Soccer team and the Football team. Girls Soccer partakes in "Prep A" which consists of larger local prep schools, such as Peddie, Hun, and Lawrenceville. Football does not belong to a playoff system Pennington fields the following teams: Fall: Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Field Hockey, Football, Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer, Women's Tennis; Water Polo (club sport)

Winter: Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Men's Ice Hockey, Men's Swimming, Women's Swimming, Winter Track (coed), Ski Team (coed)

Spring: Baseball, Golf (coed), Men's Lacrosse, Women's Lacrosse, Softball, Men's Tennis, Track and Field (coed)

Notable alumni

*Grant Billmeier center for the Würzburg Baskets in Germany and is a former player of the Seton Hall University Pirates in the Big East. Billmeier attended The Pennington School for his freshman year. [http://www.shupirates.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=52792&SPID=5500&DB_OEM_ID=12600&ATCLID=669922&Q_SEASON=2006 Grant Billmeier] , Seton Hall University. Accessed September 16, 2007. "Attended Pennington School as a freshman, averaging 15 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks... Chosen to the All-Prep First Team... Transferred to St. Patrick’s after his freshman year."]
*Rudy Boschwitz (1947): United States Senator, former chairman Republican National Committee. [ [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000647 Congressional biography of Rudy Bochwitz] , accessed May 14, 2007. "BOSCHWITZ, Rudolph Eli (Rudy), a Senator from Minnesota; born in Berlin, Germany, November 7, 1930; attended the public schools in New Rochelle, N.Y., and The Pennington School in Pennington, N.J."]
*Stephen Crane (1887): Writer (never graduated). [ [http://classiclit.about.com/od/cranestephen/p/aatp_scrane.htm Stephen Crane profile] , About.com, accessed May 14, 2007. "Crane wrote his first short story, "Uncle Jake and the Bell Handle," in 1885, which was the year he enrolled in Pennington Seminary, where he stayed until 1887."]
*Samuel A. Dobbins (1814-1905), Republican who represented ushr|New Jersey|2.Fact|date=December 2007
*John Franklin Fort (1852-1920), 33rd Governor of New Jersey, from 1908-1911. [ [http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=339b3058be3f9010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD New Jersey John Franklin Fort] , National Governors Association. Accessed September 30, 2007.]
*Shane Henderson, lead singer of alternative rock band Valencia.Fact|date=March 2008
*William Mastrosimone (1966), Playwright. [Saltzman, Simon. [http://www.princetoninfo.com/200310/31008p04.html "Playwrighting for a Cause"] , "U.S. 1 Newspaper", October 8, 2003. Accessed May 14, 2007. "A native of the Trenton area, Mastrosimone says he caught the writing bug when he was a student at Pennington Prep."]
*James Fowler Rusling (Valedictorian, Class of 1852) Brigadier general in the American Civil War, author of "Men and Things I Saw in the Civil War Days", "Across America", and "European Days and Ways". [Lee, Francis Bazley. [http://books.google.com/books?id=6tcMAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA119&lpg=RA1-PA119&dq=%22pennington+seminary%22+james+fowler+rusling&source=web&ots=otlHYCY2p8&sig=ozK5svX9Qb6SgxDu-k3MwRow5D8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PRA1-PA118,M1,] . Accessed June 30, 2008.]

Trivia

*Pennington has one of the longest standing secondary school football programs in the nation. Pennington football played its first game in 1877. [ [http://www.pennington.org/student/newsarchive.asp?pageaction=ViewSinglePublicArchive&LinkID=559&ModuleID=36 Football's 125th anniversary at Pennington School November 1, 2004] , accessed November 13, 2006]

References

External links

* [http://www.pennington.org The Pennington School website]
* [http://www.pennington.org/about/history.asp History of The Pennington School]
* [http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolID=00869182&ID=00869182 Data for The Pennington School] , National Center for Education Statistics