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Lowell School
Lowell students play on Lowell's 8-acre campus.
Location
1640 Kalmia Road NW
Washington, DC 20012
Information
School typeIndependent
Progressive
Established1965
Head of SchoolDonna Lindner
GradesPS-8
Enrollment340
Student to teacher ratio6:1
Color(s)Green, grey
PublicationsThe Lead (Annual Magazine)
The Lowell Loop (Weekly e-Newsletter)
Websitehttps://www.lowellschool.org

Lowell School is an independent, co-educational Pre-K–8th grade school located in the Colonial Village neighborhood near Shepherd Park Washington, D.C. Lowell was founded by Judith Grant and Susan Semple in 1965[1] during height of the Civil Rights Movement, and the progressive educational philosophies of Haim Ginott, Jean Piaget, Maria Montessori, John Dewey, and Friedrich Fröbel.

School history edit

Lowell began as nursery school in the basement of Cleveland Park Congregational Church at 34th and Lowell Streets, N.W. The annual tuition was $325.[2] Gail Shandler joined the staff in 1966 and went on to became the school's director in 1967. In 1975 the school added a kindergarten. Growing enrollment caused the school to move in 1978 to the Sixth Presbyterian[3] Church on 16th and Kennedy Streets, N.W., making it one of the first independent schools to be located on the east side of Rock Creek Park.

By 1987, Lowell expanded to 3rd grade. A year later, Abigail Wiebenson, formerly the head of the lower school at Georgetown Day School, became the third head of school. In 1989 Lowell purchased the Himmelfarb mansion at 16th and Decatur Streets, N.W. and moved into its own building in October of that year.

Lowell was accredited by the Association of Independent Maryland Schools in the 1990s, and moved to its present campus on Kalmia Road and 16th Street NW and expanded to 5th grade. By 2001, the expanded to 6th grade. In 2007 Lowell appointed its fourth head of school, Debbie Gibbs, who had been the assistant head at Marin Country Day School in California. During Gibbs's tenure, Lowell expanded to include a middle school, adding 7th grade in 2011 and 8th grade in 2012. The Parkside Building renovation was complete in the fall of 2014, and currently houses the Middle School.

Debbie Gibbs announced her retirement in 2016.[4]

In 2019, Donna Lindner, former lower school head at The Agnes Irwin School, joined Lowell as its fifth head of school.

Campus edit

 
The Main Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Marjorie Webster Junior College Historic District.

Lowell School occupies an eight-acre historic campus with three buildings, three playgrounds, two outdoor classrooms, an athletic field, gardens, a green roof, a springhouse, and Kalmia Creek. Main Building

  • Pre-Primary School classrooms
  • Primary School classrooms
  • Gym
  • Heated Swimming Pool
  • Two science labs, two libraries, two art studios
  • A makerspace, and a dance studio

Middle School Parkside, Lowell's Middle School, is located along 17th Street NW and next to Rock Creek Park.

  • Middle School classrooms
  • Black box theater
  • Berkeley Library
  • A science lab, engineering fabrication lab, a makerspace, an art studio, and a woodshop

Marjorie Webster House

  • Administrative offices
  • A woodshop

Campus History edit

The 8-acre (32,000 m2) campus bordering Rock Creek Park has a long history. Records show that the property was a working farm called Clouin Course in the 1840s.[5] Its history still exists on the campus: a 150-year-old spring house with a small pond beside it.[6] Today the 8 acres (32,000 m2) and the Kalmia Creek, which the school daylighted soon after acquiring the property, are used as outdoor learning spaces where students learn how to grow vegetables, and observe and care for the environment.

In 1928, the property became The Marjorie Webster School of Expression and Physical Education, which later became known as Marjorie Webster Junior College[7], a two-year, private junior college for women.[8] The school operated until 1971. Six years later, the property was purchased by the United States Fire Administration to house the new National Fire Academy.

In 1978, while the property was still vacant, a more suitable location was found for the National Fire Academy and other elements of the U.S. Fire Administration. The property was subsequently transferred to Gallaudet University, which made it a satellite campus.[9] In 1997, the property was acquired by Lowell School. The buildings were once again renovated, and the school moved in at the start of the 1999 school year.

The campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.[10]

Academics edit

The school-wide themes of community, diversity, and identity, ground the curriculum in the school’s core values of insight, empathy, inclusivity, and equity. Each grade-level has specialized, integrated units focused on an essential theme.[11] Lowell’s nationally known 6th grade humanities curriculum, which tackles questions of climate and culture, was developed in partnership with Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy official website and NOAA.

Athletics edit

Lowell fields 18 teams for students 4th grade and up including soccer, cross country, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, ultimate frisbee, track and field, and swimming. Three intramural teams are offered for K-3 students–water polo, swimming, and track and field.

Aquatics edit

The school offers an aquatics program and runs a USA Swimming community swim team known as the Lionfish.

Summer Camp edit

Camp is available for children ages 3 and up during two 3-week-sessions plus a one week mini-camp. Programs include horseback riding, outdoor adventures, Spanish, go-karts and scooters, and the CIT program which trains youth to become camp counselors.

Accreditation edit

Lowell is accredited by the Association of Independent Maryland and DC Schools (AIMS).

Affiliations edit

Lowell is a member of the following organizations:

Added Athletics, Aquatics, Accreditation, Affiliations sections. Broke campus section into bulleted lists. Trimmed down the School and Campus History sections.

References edit

  1. ^ Lowell School: The First Thirty Years, self-published booklet, August 1995.
  2. ^ Lowell School: The First Thirty Years, self-published booklet, August 1995.
  3. ^ "Sixth Presbyterian Church". www.sixthpresbyterian.org. Sixth Presbyterian Church. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  4. ^ "Head of School Search". www.lowellschool.org. Lowell School. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  5. ^ Legal Description of Property prepared in connection with sale of property from Gallaudet College to Lowell School, 1997.
  6. ^ Letter from Adrienne Coleman, Superintendent, Rock Creek Park to Lydia Gillman, Lowell School, July 16, 2001.
  7. ^ "Marjorie Webster School of Expression and Physical Education". www.dcpreservation.org. DC Preservation League. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  8. ^ See Baist's Real Estate Atlas Surveys of Washington, D.C., Plan 37 1937, 1954 (Washington, D.C.: Wm. E. and H.V. Baist).
  9. ^ Celebrating 30 Years of Service, the Creation of the National Emergency Training Center, United States Fire Administration, 2009.
  10. ^ "Marjorie Webster Junior College Historic District". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  11. ^ "Lowell School Academics". LowellSchool.org. Lowell School. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lowell School (Washington, D.C.).

38°59′07″N 77°02′19″W / 38.9852°N 77.0386°W / 38.9852; -77.0386

External links edit


Category:Educational institutions established in 1965 Category:Private elementary schools in Washington, D.C. Category:Private middle schools in Washington, D.C. Category:1965 establishments in Washington, D.C. Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.

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