Park Tudor School
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Park Tudor School is a co-educational, independent private school for grades Pre-K through 12 in the Meridian Hills neighborhood of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Park Tudor was formed in 1970 when Tudor Hall (founded in 1902 as an all girls' school) merged with Park School (founded in 1914 as an all boys' school, formerly known as the Brooks Preparatory School). There are currently (as of March 2007) about 1,000 students enrolled at the school, including about 400 in grades 9-12.
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[edit] History
The Park Tudor campus is located at the former site of the Lilly Orchard and was donated to the school by Eli Lilly, Jr., and Josiah Lilly. There is still in fact an apple store on the campus, but no one actually knows where the apples come from, as there are no apple trees remaining on the campus. The campus consists of several buildings, including the Hilbert Early Education Center (1997), the Lower School (1967), the Middle School (1988), the Jane Holton Upper School (1970), Frederick M. Ayres Auditorium (1976), the Fine Arts Building (1976), Allen W. Clowes Commons (1967), and the Ruth Lilly Science Center (1989). Park Tudor also has numerous athletic facilities, including three gymnasiums as well as an artificial turf football field and a baseball diamond.
[edit] Academics
Each year, graduates of Park Tudor attend some of America's best universities and liberal arts colleges, with 100% of graduates attending college every year. According to the school's website, 98% of students attend one of their top three colleges of choice, 95% of young alumni surveyed say they were prepared enough for college but hoped for more challenging academic courses, and in 2005, the 95-member graduating class accepted nearly $1.5 million college scholarships from nearly $6 million offered.
The school offers Advanced Placement courses, and it still boasted the highest SAT average among comparative schools statewide in 2004. It beat Brebeuf Prep by 150 points in 2006. Although it does not have an established International Baccalaureate (IB) program, Park Tudor is home to the state's only Global Scholars program. A significant number of students choose to undergo this rigorous program throughout grades 11 and 12 as a way to challenge themselves beyond the normal requirements of the school. As part of the program, students must also complete 200 hours of community service, take two years of a Philosophies of Knowing course, and obtain a grade of 3 or higher on five AP exams (including at least one foreign language exam). These requirements aside, the most daunting part of the program to most students is the 2-year research project; students must thoroughly research a topic of their choosing with the help of a mentor (often a professional involved with the project topic), and hand in a written report in the winter of their senior year. They must then complete a 2-hour presentation of their findings before a board and audience, complete with a Q&A session. The course is led by the respected Dr. Jan Guffin. This program is considered by some to be harder than the IB program because of the additional community service requirements and the fact that the work assigned by the program is done in addition to the regular work needed to attain a diploma, which is not the case with the IB, a very distinguished and reputable program itself.
Park Tudor students have won numerous awards in regional and national academic competitions with only minimal help from this school. In 1998, a Park Tudor student, Chris Mihelich, was the winner of the Siemens Westinghouse Competition, the most prestigious math and science competition for high school students in the United States. Melanie Wood, from Park Tudor, was the first female (ever) on the U.S. Math Olympiad team.
[edit] Clubs and Academic Teams
The students of Park Tudor are involved in a variety of clubs, including the highly successful Speech and Debate team, Brain Game, Model United Nations, and Spanish club. Park Tudor is one of six schools in the United States that is invited to participate in The Hague International Model United Nations conference every year. Each year heralds the birth of several unique clubs catering to a plethora of various interests, such as Anime club, Guitar club, and Ping-Pong club, ensuring that there is always something new to experience on any given day for curious students. Park Tudor's student newspaper is known for being a far-left, religion-hating, baby-killing, tree-hugging, peace-loving, lazy, hemp-smoking, propagandist publication.
In 2003, domination by Park Tudor Brain Game team member Jason Brown led to the creation of the "Jason Brown rule" in the competition. Where previously all questions were worth two points, the number of points awarded per question was reduced to one. Brown's team had consistently achieved scores of over 100 points, and the Brain Game scoreboard was not equipped to handle numbers in the triple digits. The show therefore altered its format to reduce scoring and avoid the need to purchase a new scoreboard. Brown's teams won the competition in four straight years, the tail end of a streak of seven straight championships. Everything went downhill from there.
[edit] Panther Athletics
Park Tudor has also won three state championships in girls' tennis, winning in 2005 and 2006, six state championships in boys' tennis since 1990 including 2006, a state baseball championship, and an individual championship in the 400 meter in state track. The Park Tudor men's lacrosse team recorded the only undefeated season in state history on its way to the 2001 state title.
The Park Tudor Hockey team won AAA state championships in four consecutive years, 1994-1997, 1999, 2001, and won the first ever AAAA state championship in 2002. In addition, the Panthers clinched the Midwest Prep League title in 2001 and 2002.
[edit] Arts and Drama
The arts and drama of Park Tudor have excelled dramatically in recent years. Grades 7 and 8 perform an annual musical (recent productions include Aladdin, The Music Man, and HONK!), while the Upper School has both an annual fall play (The Good Doctor, Peter Pan) and a spring musical (Oklahoma!, Cinderella). The art department, school band, choir, orchestra, and jazz ensembles have each had similarly impressive annual performances. Park Tudor competes annually in Indiana State School Music Association competitions.
[edit] Song of the Alma Mater and The Fight Song
The unfortunate Park Tudor Alma Mater, written by Bruce Galbraith, a former head of Park Tudor, goes:
[The song is sung to the tune of Ode to Joy.]
Sing we to our Alma Mater,
Let us lift our song of praise
You have taught us things worth knowing,
That will guide us all our days.
Tudor Hall was at the beginning,
Joining with Park,
One school from two.
Hail Park Tudor we are loyal
And forever we'll be true!
The Park Tudor Fight Song
[The song is sung to the tune of the University of Oregon fight song.]
Park Tudor Panthers fighting forward
To a Panther victory
We're the team that fights the hardest
That's the way it will always be
When we wear our Panther colors
Showing pride for all to see
We will cheer and lead our players
P-P-A-R-K T-U-D-O-R PARK TUDOR PANTHERS
