The Cambridge School of Weston

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The Cambridge School of Weston is a private, coeducational high school in Weston, Massachusetts.

Currently the school has approximately 320 students, 25% of whom are boarding.

[edit] History

The school was founded in 1886 as The Cambridge School for Young Ladies in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Arthur Gilman, who had previously helped found Radcliffe College.

In 1918 The Cambridge School for Young Ladies merged with the Boston based Haskell School, and was renamed The Cambridge-Haskell School. Lebanese-born poet Kahlil Gibran, an intimate friend of headmistress Mary Haskell, designed a ring for her students depicting a flower growing in an open hand.

In 1931 the school was moved 20 miles west to its present campus in Weston by headmaster John French, became coeducational, and was renamed a final time as The Cambridge School of Weston. A follower of educational reformer John Dewey, French put in place many of the progressive educational underpinnings that still guide the school today, such as a focus on the whole student, experiential learning, community involvement, and a low student-to-faculty ratio. The school has gained recognition as a pioneer of the "Mod" system.

The Module or "Mod" system divides the year up into seven sections of 5 weeks. Students take three academic and one extra-curricular class per mod. These classes are every day for between 75 and 90 minutes. This leads to a very intensive, focused learning experience as students switch most classes every module. Some classes, such as those in mathematics or a foreign language, continue for multiple mods. As a result of this system, the school officially offers no Advanced Placement courses, although students may spend one mod preparing for the AP Calculus AB or BC test with a teacher and receive a mathematical credit for their work.

School Motto is "Truth and Gentle Deeds."

The School is currently in the process of building a "Green" (environmentally stable) Science/Art building called the Garthwaite Center for Art and Science.

The current head of school is Jane Moulding.