Baylor School

Baylor School
File:Baylor logo.gif
Location
Chattanooga , Tennessee USA
Information
Type	Suburban, Private school
Motto	Amat Victoria Curam (Victory Loves Care)
Established	1893
CEEB code	430275
Headmaster	Dr. Bill Stacy
Faculty	133 teachers
Enrollment	1061 Total (6-12) 205 Boarding (9-12) 856 Day (6-12)
Average class size	13 students
Student to teacher ratio	8:1
Campus	670 acres (2.7 km2)
Color(s)	Red and Grey
Athletics	18 Interscholastic Sports Teams
Athletics conference	TSSAA
Mascot	Tiger
Website	www.baylorschool.org

Baylor School is a co-educational private secondary school on the outskirts of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Founded in 1893, and at the same 670-acre hillside site by the Tennessee River since 1915, the school has gone through several incarnations: moving from an all-male, military academy to today's coeducational college prep school. Today, Baylor attracts students from all over the world in grades (6-12), including boarding students in grades (9-12). The headmaster is Dr. Bill Stacy, former chancellor of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, who has announced he will retire; a search for a headmaster is under way.

The school maintains a rivalry with the crosstown McCallie School. A boys-only school for most of its history, Baylor historically had close ties with Chattanooga's Girls Preparatory School, until Baylor admitted girls in 1985. The two schools are now often considered rivals in girls' athletics.

Baylor's endowment was $70.7 million as of June 30, 2006.

Baylor's tuition for 2007-2008 was $17,623 for day students and $34,887 for boarding students. It offers need-based financial aid, as well as scholarships to a select group in the Distinguished Scholars Program.

History

File:Baylor old.jpg

Old Baylor School

Baylor School was founded in 1893 by John Roy Baylor. The school was originally named "Baylor University School" and did not change its name to "Baylor School" until 1925. Baylor began in a building in downtown Chattanooga, but then, in 1915, Baylor moved to its current location on the banks of the Tennessee River, still inside the city limits of Chattanooga. Baylor became a military school in 1917 and remained so until 1971. Baylor was a boys school (with the exception of 1900-1911) until in 1985 it admitted 41 girls. (Because one of the girls dropped out, this group is commonly referred to as the Fab 40.)

Headmasters

• 1893: John Roy Baylor
• 1926: Dr. Alexander Guerry
• 1929: Herbert B. Barks, Sr.
• 1964: Dr. Charles E. Hawkins, III
• 1971: Dr. Herbert B. Barks, Jr.
• 1988: L. Laird Davis, Jr.
• 1998: Jim Buckheit
• 2004: Dr. Bill Stacy

Programs

• Baylor students can participate in Baylor's Walkabout program, an outdoors program that takes students kayaking, rock climbing, bouldering, trekking, hiking, and caving. Walkabout also goes on an annual trip to Costa Rica for advanced kayakers and a biennial trip to India to trek.
• Baylor's community service program, which is known as "R.E.S.P.E.C.T." (Regard Every Soul Purely Embracing Compassionate Thoughts), goes to Jamaica every year to tutor children in a local orphanage and to Asheville, North Carolina twice a year to volunteer in a local homeless shelter.
• Baylor has more than 60 other extracurricular organizations.

Academics

• Baylor School's mission is to foster in its students both the desire and the ability to make a positive difference in the world.
• Baylor offers 22 Advanced Placement courses.
• Baylor's core curriculum consists of mathematics, English, science, history, and language classes. Baylor offers language classes in the following languages: Spanish, French, Latin, German, and Chinese (starting fall of 2007).
• 79% of Baylor's most recent senior class took at least one AP exam, while 48% of the most recent junior class took at least one AP exam and 8% of the most recent sophomore class took an AP class.

Campus

Baylor's 670-acre (2.7 km²) campus is located on the banks of the Tennessee River with red brick buildings scattered around the campus, some almost 100 years old. Some of the buildings and facilities include the following:

Academic facilities

• Katherine and Harrison Weeks Science Building, Baylor's science building, houses biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, forensic science, human physiology, environmental science, genetics, and Lower School science classes. Baylor's main computer lab, "the Bullpen," is located on the bottom floor of Weeks. This computer lab is open to the public and also hosts Baylor's computer science and computer applications classes in private computer classrooms.
• Barks Hall is one of Baylor's oldest buildings. It is the home to Baylor's Lower School. The top two floors of Barks belong to Hedges Library, Baylor's school library.
• Academic Hall, formerly known as the Lower School Building, is the home of Baylor's sixth grade. The bottom floor of Academic hosts Baylor's Spanish classes, one French class, and also contains Baylor's second largest computer lab.
• Trustee Hall, one of Baylor's oldest buildings, was formerly a girls' dorm. Currently, the building house various offices as well as classrooms for English, mathematics, and German. Baylor's Writing Center is also located in Trustee Hall.
• Baylor's Chapel was dedicated in 1992 by Rev. Franklin Graham. The main chapel is where weekly assemblies and chapel services are held. The Alumni Chapel, which is the campus' original chapel, is home to Baylor's upper-school study hall. Beneath the main chapel is a majority of the mathematics department. The Chapel also houses the Board of Trustees' board room.

Art facilities

• Ireland Fine Arts Center is Baylor's fine arts building. Ireland houses Baylor's pottery, drawing, painting, print making, and lower-school art classes. Ireland provides inspirational views for artists as it overlooks the Tennessee River.
• The Roddy Performing Arts Center is home to Baylor's performing arts. Dance, drama, photography, and film classes are located in Roddy. Roddy has a 148 seat black box theater, equipped with a state of the art Strand Lighting system. The building also houses a large scene shop, dance studio, photo studio, screening rooms, and a darkroom. Roddy is also used by outside production companies throughout the year to bring special productions to the Baylor community.
• Baylor's Music Building is a music studio with acoustically engineered rehearsal rooms, private practice rooms, a piano room, and a music library for Baylor's instrumental and vocal programs. The Music Building houses Baylor's choir, band, orchestra, and lower-school music classes.

Residential facilities

• Lowrance Dorm is one of Baylor's three girls' dorms. Lowrance overlooks the Tennessee River, and is home to students of all grades. Lowrance is also where Baylor's infirmary is located.
• Hunter Hall is home to Baylor's admission and administrative staff. Hunter is located at the center of campus and houses a girls' dormitory as well as two classrooms in Hunter.
• Probasco Hall is one of two boys' dorms.
• Riverfront Dorm is Baylor's newest building. It is a girls' dorm that overlooks the Tennessee River. Riverfront is Baylor's only dorm that is fully residential (i.e. no classrooms or offices).
• Lupton II, III, and Lupton Annex are the home to Baylor boys from all grades. Lupton III is known for having the largest dorm rooms on campus. Lupton also overlooks the Tennessee River. Latin, French, English, mathematics and history classes are also held in the bottom two floors of Lupton. Lupton Annex and Lupton are connected at the third and fourth floors.

Athletic facilities

• The Field House is Baylor's main home for athletics. It has three basketball courts made of a multi-versatile surface, a cardio-weight room, several men's and women's locker rooms, several coaches' offices, the training room, Duke Arena (Baylor's main basketball court), and the meeting room for Baylor's Honor Council. The newest addition to the Field House is Baylor's new Aquatic Center.
• The Parry Center is home to Baylor's Walkabout program. Walkabout keeps their supplies and clothing in the Parry Center. There is also an indoor climbing gym located directly behind the Parry Center.
• Baylor's Alexander Guerry Tennis Center is Baylor's state-of-the-art tennis center. It boasts 12 outdoor courts and 7 indoor courts.
• Heywood Stadium is home to Baylor's football team in the fall, and Baylor's track and field team in the spring.
• Baylor also has its own Short Game Center where Baylor's six-time state championship golf team practices.
• The Lower Fields are home to Baylor's varsity and junior varsity baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Baylor's cross country loop is also located at the Lower Fields.
• The Luke Worsham Memorial Wrestling Arena is Baylor's new wrestling arena. It was built in the structure of Baylor's former swimming pool, but is now a state-of-the-art wrestling arena.
• The Aquatics Center is Baylor's new multi-million dollar, Olympic-sized swimming pool. It was built after Baylor's old facilities failed to meet the needs of the growing aquatics program.

Athletics

In 2005, Baylor was named the leading high school sports program in Tennessee and in the top 25 nationwide by Sports Illustrated. For the 2006/07 school year, SI once again named the Baylor athletic program as the top program in the state of Tennessee. Baylor's 1973 football team was tabbed mythical national champions by the National Sports News Service. Baylor's teams are nicknamed the Red Raiders. Baylor competes in the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) and its varsity sports are:

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Bowling
• Cheerleading
• Crew
• Cross Country
• Diving
• Fencing
• Football

• Golf
• Lacrosse
• Softball
• Soccer
• Swimming
• Tennis
• Track and Field
• Volleyball
• Wrestling

The Honor Council

Baylor students must abide by the rules of Baylor's honor code. Baylor School's honor code is based on the honor code at the University of Virginia. When students enter the school, they sign a pledge: "the Honor System is an understanding among Baylor student that they do not want among them one who will lie, cheat, or falsify information. I understand this principle, and I recognize that I shall be expected to live in accordance with it." After entry to Baylor, before every test, Baylor students sign their name, pledging "I hereby pledge that I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this test." Students who are charged with violating the honor code must stand trial with the Honor Council, consisting of two freshman, three sophomores, four juniors, and five seniors. Punishments for violation of the honor code range from a warning to expulsion.

Notable alumni and faculty

Alumni

• David M. Abshire, 1944, former ambassador to NATO, former director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and adviser to president Ronald Reagan.
• Coleman Barks, 1955, poet and world-renowned translator of the Sufi poet Rumi.
• Robert E. Cooper, Jr., 1975, Tennessee attorney general.
• Bill Dedman, 1978, journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner.
• William Duff, 1945, author, FBI counterintelligence specialist.
• Francis M. Fesmire, 1978, emergency physician, heart research scientist, "hero" of the American College of Emergency Physicians, winner of the Ig Nobel Prize.
• Arthur Golden, 1974, author, Memoirs of a Geisha.
• John Hannah, 1969, NFL football player for the Patriots, Hall-of-Famer. (After three years at Baylor, Hannah graduated from high school in Albertville, Alabama.)
• Tom Jolly, 1973, sports editor, The New York Times.
• Jon Kinsey, 1972, former mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• David Lowance, 1958, kidney transplant specialist, Emory University.
• Sandlin Mattice, Jr., 1972, judge, U.S. District Court.
• Barry Moser, 1958, artist, illustrator, publisher.
• Alan Murray, 1973, assistant managing editor and columnist, The Wall Street Journal.
• Blaire Pancake, 2000, Miss Tennessee 2006.
• Wendell Rawls, Jr., 1960, journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner.
• Roscoe Tanner, 1969, professional tennis player, Australian Open winner, Wimbledon runner-up.
• Morris Weinberg, Jr., 1968, former federal prosecutor, defense attorney.

Faculty

• Dan Kennedy, Cartter Lupton distinguished professor of mathematics, only high school teacher to chair the AP Calculus test development committee, author of five mathematics textbooks.
• Greg Maynard, Dorm Head of Probasco Hall, professor of History and coach of the Varsity Mens Crew team. Has led the team to state championships in the 8 and the 4 over the past two years.

Colleges attended

Students from the Class of 2008 attended top universities such as MIT, Yale, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Boston College. The Class of 2008 was considered one of the brightest ever to attend Baylor. The colleges chosen most often by members of the graduating class of 2007 were the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 31; University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, 13; Georgia Institute of Technology, 7; Sewanee: The University of the South, 7; University of Mississippi, 7; Auburn University, 6; University of Georgia, 6; and Vanderbilt University, 6.

Traditions

As an outgrowth of the Baylor/McCallie rivalry, the school week prior to the football game is referred to as Spirit Week. During this time, students may forgo wearing the uniform to wear themed costumes. The most commonly recurring of these themes is "Red Day," in celebration of the school's color, in which the theme is to dress in as much red as is humanly possible. Prizes are awarded to whichever student is deemed by the school to be wearing the most red.

Every year Baylor's Habitat for Humanity chapter hosts a festival known as "Habifest" to help raise money for the house Baylor builds every other year. It consists of many different activities including "dunk the teacher," a moonwalk, and several activities related to construction.

Other campus features

Perched in the quadrangle in the heart of the campus is a statue of the mythological character Icarus, placed in memory of a student, Johnson Bryant, who died in a car wreck while a student at Baylor. The statue stands as a reminder to students to always find balance to avoid a similar fate.

External links

• Baylor School website

---