Pinewood Preparatory School

Head of School	[http://teacherweb.com/SC/PinewoodPrep/DrGlynCowlishaw/index.html Dr. Glyn Cowlishaw]
School type	Private, Co-educational Day School
Grades	K4-12
Founded	1952
Motto	Periculum, Veritas, Exploratio (Risk, Truth, Exploration)
Location	Summerville, South Carolina
Enrollment	835
Faculty	70
Campus surroundings	Suburban
Campus size	43 acres
Sports teams	Panthers
Rivals	Porter-Gaud School

Pinewood Preparatory School is an independent, college preparatory school located near Summerville, South Carolina. Pinewood is jointly accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS). It is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the Palmetto Association of Independent Schools (PAIS) and the South Carolina Independent Schools Association (SCISA).

Approximately 275 Pinewood students are enrolled in grades 9-12. The average Pinewood student SAT is 1155 on a 1600 scale.

In 2005 and 2006, Pinewood was awarded the President's Cup by SCISA for fielding the best overall athletic program among South Carolina independent schools. In recent years, the Panthers have won SCISA state championships in Boys Basketball (2006, 2007, and 2008), Boys Golf (2006 and 2008), Boys Soccer (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008), Cheerleading (2007), Speed and Strength (2005), Boys Swimming (2004), Girls Swimming (2005 and 2006) and Boys Tennis (2007). Pinewood also fields competitive teams in Football, Baseball, Softball, Volleyball, Girls Tennis, Girls Basketball, Girls Soccer, and Boys and Girls Cross Country.

Pinewood is a member of the Network of Complementary Schools, a unique organization of 26 public and private schools, located in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, which organizes and sponsors individual student exchanges among member schools. Each of the schools in the Network has a unique and unusual program or programs. Students who visit another Network school have an opportunity to explore career options, to focus on scientific disciplines, to learn more about social institutions, to pursue artistic interests, and to learn about different lifestyles and cultures.

Pinewood School was founded in 1952 by Mrs. Henrietta M. Allan of Summerville. Mrs. Allan served as Pinewood's Head of School for twenty years until her death in 1972. She original Pinewood campus was located on the grounds of the Historic Brokaw Mansion on South Main Street in the Summerville Historic District. For many years, the Pinewood campus was home to boarding students from New England and the Middle Atlantic states as well as local students from the Charleston area. During this time, Pinewood also owned and operated a summer school and camp in the Adirondack High Peaks near Lake Placid, NY. For its first 40 years, Pinewood was a kindergarten and primary school (K4-8) with a small 9th and 10th grade. After completing studies usually in either the eighth or tenth grade, Pinewood students transferred to Charleston area high schools or to other independent schools around the country.

After Mrs. Allan's death, William E. McIntosh served as Head of School until 1980. From 1973 until 1977, Pinewood's student body grew from 184 students to 390 students. In 1980, Pinewood merged with The Summerville Academy and re-located to its present 43 acre campus four miles (6 km) from downtown Summerville. Beginning in 1981, William S. Coursey, III, served as Head of School for fourteen years, a tenure second in length only to Henrietta Allan. During the Coursey era, the high school grades and athletic program were added and the school was re-named Pinewood Preparatory School.

Pinewood School

Mrs. Henrietta Allan was born September 3, 1914, a daughter of Cantwell F. Muckenfuss and Vashti Daniel Muckenfuss, a school teacher. She was a graduate of Winthrop College with extensive postgraduate work at Columbia College, Cornell University, and Vassar College. In 1951, Mrs. Allan contracted tuberculosis and went to the Will Rogers Institute in Saranac Lake, NY, to recover. During this time, she developed the idea of starting a school with her mother as a key member of the teaching staff. She and her husband Stephen Ford Allan of Summerville acquired the Brokaw Mansion and opened Pinewood School in 1952 with 52 students in grades 1-8.

In 1955, the first "graduating class" of the following eighth graders received their certificates: Elizabeth Barshay, Beryl Anne Lanneau, Andrea Niederhof, Mark H. Taylor, Jr., Sandra Varney, Ellen Walker, and Mary Elizabeth Willis. In these days, Pinewood School "graduates" completed their high school education at local public and independent schools or they went off to boarding school. As it grew in numbers and reputation during the 1950s and 60s, Pinewood School added a pre-school, grades 9 and 10, a boarding department, and a summer school in the Adirondacks.

While pursuing graduate work each summer at Cornell, Mrs. Allen became a pioneer in the study of children with high intelligence who were unable to fulfill their educational potential due to "perceptual problems" later more commonly known as Learning Disabilities. In 1970, she chartered a sister school, Reading Research, Inc., that operated next door to Pinewood for the next decade. Reading Research provided students with learning disabilities with small classes, close supervision, and a strategic curriculum designed to allow its students to transfer to Pinewood's college preparatory program.

When Mrs. Allan died of cancer in October 1972, Mr. Allan persuaded Summerville businessman Thomas W. Bailey and Charleston businessman Richardson M. Hanckel to organize Pinewood's first Board of Trustees. In April 1973, the new Board named William E. McIntosh, who was then Dean of Students at nearby Trident Technical College, as Pinewood's second Head of School.

The Summerville Academy

In 1968, a small group of local residents was banding together to start another independent school in Summerville. The prime movers in launching the new school were J. Taliaferro Taylor, III, M.D., a family physician, and James D. Martin, a lumber company president. Their goal was to form a school that would offer college preparatory curriculum through 12th grade plus athletics and other extracurricular activities not available at Pinewood School. The Summerville Academy opened in 1969 in the old Miles house across from Azalea Park on South Main Street with 51 students in grades 1-9. Hillyer Rudisill, III, served as founding headmaster. Mr. Rudisill had an A.B. from Swarthmore College and M.A. degree from the University of South Carolina, and had been the founding headmaster of Charleston Collegiate School, then known as Sea Island Academy, and of St. John's Christian Academy, then known as Lord Berkeley Academy.

As The Academy began to outgrow its house on South Main Street, Hillyer Rudisill began looking for land to construct a new campus. He convinced the Board to purchase a 27 acre farm on Old Orangeburg Road four miles (6 km) northwest of Summerville. In 1974, The Academy opened its doors on its new campus which now serves as the heart of Pinewood Preparatory School's 43 acre campus.

Pinewood Preparatory School

Heads of School

*Henrietta Muckenfuss Allan (1952-72)
*William E. McIntosh, Jr. (1973-80)
*Cabell C. Heyward (1980-81)
*William S. Coursey, III (1981-95)
*William M. Reeves, Jr. (1995-97)
*Glyn Cowlishaw, Ed. D. (1997-Present)

Trustee Board Chairs

*Richardson M. Hanckel (1972-75)
*Thomas Waring Bailey (1975-79)
*William David Price, M.D. (1979-81)
*Joseph Taliaferro Taylor, III, M.D. (Co-Chair, 1980-81)
*Rutherford P.C. Smith, Esquire (1981-82 and 1987-88)
*Ronald L. Strawn (1982-83)
*Frances C. Welch, Ph.D. (1983-84)
*Wayne L. Phillips (1984-85)
*James R. Muscott, D.M.D. (1985-87)
*C. Dennis McKittrick (1988-91)
*J. Harry Robbins (1991-94)
*William B. Sheldon, M.D. (1994-96)
*Stephen F. Hutchinson (1996-97)
*George F. Milner (1997-2002)
*W. Kenneth Gibbs (2002-2006)
*Roy Strickland, C.P.A. (2006-Present)

State Championship Teams

*Boys Basketball 1993, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2008
*Boys Golf 2006, 2008
*Boys Soccer 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
*Boys Swimming 2004
*Boys Tennis 1993, 2007
*Cheerleading 2007
*Girls Swimming 2003, 2005, 2006
*Speed and Strength 2005
*Volleyball 1992,1994

Athletic Wall of Fame

In 2000, Pinewood established a Wall of Fame to honor outstanding student athletes who meet exacting requirements. To be named to the Wall of Fame, a Student must be a Pinewood graduate who played on a state championship team, and was named region player of the year.

*Dendy Engelman (Class of 1994)
*Mac Maguire (Class of 1994)
*Mike Spacil (Class of 1994)
*Maria Baratze (Class of 1995)
*Melissa Eidson (Class of 1996)
*Scotty Scott (Class of 1996)
*Chuck Eidson (Class of 1999)

External links

* [http://www.pinewoodprep.org Pinewood Preparatory School]
* [http://www.sacs.org Southern Association of Colleges and Schools]
* [http://www.nais.org National Association of Independent Schools]
* [http://www.sais.org Southern Association of Independent Schools]
* [http://www.scpais.org Palmetto Association of Independent Schools]
* [http://www.scisa.org South Carolina Independent Schools Association]
* [http://www.netcompsch.org Network of Complementary Schools]
* [http://www.summerville.sc.us Town of Summerville]
* [http://www.summervilletourism.com Summerville Tourism]
* [http://www.gsdcchamber.org Summerville-Dorchester County Chamber of Commerce]