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St. Anselm's Abbey School

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St. Anselm's Abbey School
File:Stalogo.png
Address
Map
4501 South Dakota Avenue NE

Washington, D.C.

USA
Information
TypePrivate all-male secondary
MottoPax in Sapientia
"Peace in wisdom"
Established1942
PresidentFr. Peter Weigand, OSB, MTS
HeadmasterMr. Louis Silvano
Faculty50 (approx)
Grades6–12
Enrollment242 (in 2007-08)
MascotPanthers
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools
AffiliationsRoman Catholic, Benedictine
PublicationsThe Priory Press, The Corbie Chronicle
Websitewww.saintanselms.org

St. Anselm's Abbey School is an exclusive boys preparatory school for grades six through twelve in Washington D.C.. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. The school sits on a forty-acre wooded campus in the Michigan Park neighborhood of the city's Northeast quadrant and is run by the Benedictine monks of Saint Anselm's Abbey.

History

The school was founded in 1942 as the Priory School by Fr. Thomas Verner Moore, OSB, the superior of what was then St. Anselm's Priory. The school was renamed St. Anselm's Abbey School in 1961, when the monastery was elevated to the status of an abbey.

St. Anselm's is home to the longest running high school basketball tournament in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The St. Anselm's Invitational, founded by former basketball coach Bob Dwyer and former headmaster Fr. Hugh Monmonier, OSB, has been a tradition at the school since 1948.

Although the school began as a high school, 7th and 8th grade classes (known as Form I and Form II, respectively) were added in 1955. A sixth grade, known as Form A, was added in 1990.

Academics

The school explicitly targets its program to "gifted and talented" boys. In 2004, roughly two-thirds of the graduating class achieved commendation or higher honors from the National Merit Scholar program, and the average combined SAT I score was over 1400. In 2003, roughly half of the senior class achieved the AP Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction, or National AP Scholar level as defined by the Advanced Placement Program. The graduating class of 2001 had at least one student accepted to each of the Ivy League schools with the exception of Cornell University.

Each student who has graduated from St. Anselm's Abbey School since its founding has been accepted to an accredited four-year college or university. For the five-year period from 2002-2006, the five most popular destinations for St. Anselm's graduates were Georgetown University, Columbia University, the University of Maryland, the University of Chicago, and the College of William & Mary.

The school's curriculum emphasizes classics and is somewhat idiosyncratic. Grades are called "forms," in accordance with the British school system. In addition to six years of science and five years of a spoken language, four years of Latin are required. Ancient Greek is also offered as an elective for students in the Upper School, as is Arabic for students in fourth and fifth forms. As in many other religious schools, theology is also a required course each year.

The school is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools.

St. Anselm's is consistently rated by its score in the Washington Post's Challenge Index as one of the top high schools in the Washington D.C. area. In a December 2006 online discussion, Challenge Index creator Jay Mathews said, "Saint Anselm's Abbey in NE D.C. has one of the highest ratings in the country, far above most private schools I know."[1]

Student life

Class sizes are small, and the school's student-to-faculty ratio is approximately 5:1. Classes are smallest in the Upper Division (Forms V and VI), and graduating classes are typically made up of 35 or fewer students.

The school makes available to students a large number of clubs and associations, many unique to the school. These include the Cultural Student Organization, Mythology Club, Latin Club, Greek Club, It's Academic, Chamber Orchestra, Jazz Band, Fencing Club, Biology/Forensics Club, Chinese Anime Club, and Beekeeping Club. In 2008, the school's Model UN team took the honor of "Best School" at Catholic University's annual conference in Washington.

St. Anselm's competes in the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference at the middle school and varsity levels in several sports each season. In Varsity Basketball, St. Anselm's last won the St. Anselm's Invitational in 2006, defending their title from the year 2005. In 2007, in one of the most competitive tournaments in recent memory, the Abbey squad placed as runners-up to St. Mary's of Annapolis; however, the 2007 team won the PVAC championship for the first time since 2003.

Another traditional athletic rivalry is the Bishop Ansgar Nelson Memorial Soccer Cup, an annual competition held between the varsity boys' soccer teams of St. Anselm's Abbey School and its sister school, Portsmouth Abbey School of Portsmouth, RI. The competition rotates each year between the two schools.

Campus and Facilities

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The Abbey Church, St. Anselm's Abbey

The school's campus is approximately forty acres and includes the monastic building of St. Anselm's Abbey, an academic building, and an athletics/performing arts complex. The campus is also home to several tennis courts, athletic fields, batting cages, a cemetery, and extensive woodland areas.

The academic building recently underwent a large renovation. A large stadium-seating multimedia room with a grandiose stage and technology upgrades is now complete. An earth science lab was recently completed, providing more space for experimentation in the science department. With its completion, the number of labs available to students is four, one for each of the major sciences. The largest and most noticeable upgrade is to the school entrance, with a new reception area and office space for student-teacher consultations. The rest of the school is also receiving minor technological upgrades.

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The St. Anselm's Academic Building

Notable alumni, faculty and students

See also

References

  1. ^ Mathews, Jay. "Challenge Index." Live Online Discussion. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/12/08/DI2006120800608.html
  2. ^ Dezmerolzy, Frumbions. "Monday Blues Day" http://www.mondaybluesday.com
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