Solebury School
Independent day & boarding school in New Hope, Bucks, Pennsylvania, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Solebury School is a co-educational private boarding and day school located on a 140-acre (57 ha) campus in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Solebury School's academic program features a college-preparatory curriculum with courses and electives in various subjects and a focus on interdisciplinary and experiential education models.[3]
| Solebury School | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | |
 | |
6832 Phillips Mill Rd , , 18938-9682 United States | |
| Coordinates | 40.3802°N 74.9892°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Independent day & boarding school |
Religious affiliation | Nonsectarian[1] |
| Established | September 1925 |
| Status | Currently operational[1] |
| Superintendent | Anette Miller |
| CEEB code | 392955 |
NCES School ID | 01197388[1] |
Head of school | Tom Wilschutz |
| Faculty | 47.9 (on an FTE basis)[1] |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Enrollment | 218[1] (2019–2020) |
| • Grade 9 | 43 |
| • Grade 10 | 53 |
| • Grade 11 | 60 |
| • Grade 12 | 62 |
Student to teacher ratio | 4.6[1] |
Hours in school day | 9.2[1] |
Campus type | Rural[1] |
Athletics conference | Penn-Jersey Athletic Association |
| Nickname | Spartans |
Annual tuition | $45,180 (day);[2] $66,920 (boarding)[2] |
| Affiliation | NAIS[1] |
| Website | solebury |
History
20th century
Solebury School was conceived by Robert Shaw,[4] Laurie Erskine, Julian Lathrop, and Arthur Washburn in the early 1920s. It opened in September 1925 in rented quarters with four boys and four teachers. A year later, the founders purchased Michener Farm, which remains the institution's site. In 1949, the school merged with another local school, the Holmquist School for Girls, which had a similar educational philosophy and often shared events and productions.[5] Solebury is often described as a socially progressive or liberal institution.
In the 1980s, a local activist and noted anarchist Abbie Hoffman would give speeches to the student body.[6]
21st century
The school hosts LGBTQ groups; it produced an entry about bullying for the It Gets Better Project in 2011 and has an active campus club focused on sexuality that students and teachers attend together.[7][8] By participating annually in a local AIDS fundraiser walk, Solebury School has raised thousands of dollars for AIDS organizations.[9]
Sexual abuse
In 2014, after several alumni claimed they had been sexually abused as students at Solebury, including by the current head gym coach, the school publicly issued a letter of acknowledgment and apology to them by mail in 2014. In a second letter to alumni and parents, the school revealed its chief founder, Robert Shaw, had sexual relationships with his students.
On January 26, 2017, Bucks County published the results of a 2015 grand jury investigation detailing testimony considered credible by the district attorney from six former students alleging sexual abuse at Solebury School from the 1950s through 2005,[10][11] identifying nine living adults formerly connected with the school who could be prosecuted.[12] The report was critical of the Solebury School's campus culture as facilitating the abuse.[13]
Before this, in the mid-1990s, there was a public sexual abuse scandal at Solebury between a music teacher and an underage student, which was settled in a civil suit in 1998.[14]
Notable faculty
- Anna Whelan Betts, Victorian style illustrator[15]
- Jonathan Miles - Novelist, Harmonicist (Writer-in-Residence)
Notable alumni
- Joyce Bulifant '56 - Actress[16]
- Andrew Bynum - NBA All Star[17]
- Shaun Cassidy - Actor and Producer[18]
- Peter Hobbs - Actor[19]
- Robert Kenner '68 - Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker[20]
- James MacArthur '56 - Actor
- Alexa McDonough ‘62 - Politician
- Margaret Mead - Anthropologist[21]
- Jill Nelson - Journalist and writer[22]
- Elizabeth Pitcairn '91 - Classical violinist[23]
- Peggy Shepard - Environmental justice activist[24]
- Langhorne Slim - Musician, songwriter[25]
External links
Sex abuse case
- Seymour, Kara (February 2, 2017). "Decades Of Sexual Abuse At Bucks County Prep School Detailed In Grand Jury Report". Newtown Patch. Patch Media.
- Bucks County Investigating Grand jury report on sexual abuse at the Solebury School