Lachlan Gardiner
Head of school
Leads the school, teaches rhetoric to grades 7 and 8 and leads the Thursday seminar for the middle school.
A liberal arts day school in Easton, Maryland
Read it together, then talk it over
Athenaeum teaches kindergarten through grade 8 in an old building on Goldsborough Street. Children read the same books, sit around the same tables and learn to speak to one another about what they have read.
The seminar
How a seminar discussion runs
Once a week, and more often in the middle school, a class gathers around one table to talk about something they have all read: a short story, a speech, a poem, a page of a longer book. The teacher opens with one question and then mostly listens. Children answer one another, point to the page and change their minds out loud.
Nobody is graded on what they say, and nobody has to speak first.
The class reads the text twice, once alone and once aloud
One open question starts the talk
Children speak to one another, not to the teacher
Anyone who makes a claim says where in the text it comes from
The last few minutes are quiet writing: a sentence each
Lachlan Gardiner
Head of school
The year at a glance
When to visit, apply and hear from us
Families apply a year before the first day. Visits begin in the fall, and every family hears at the same time.
This school year
October and January
Most Wednesdays, October to March
TourVisit days
A morning in the grade your child would join, then a talk with the head of school.
Book a visitOctober
Applications open
For the fall a year away.
Early February
DeadlineApplication deadline
Applications arriving after this are read as places allow.
Early March
Decisions
By phone first, then by letter.
Late March
DeadlineEnrollment agreements
Signed to hold a place.
April
EventFamilies' seminar evening
Parents read a short text together and see how the talk runs.
Late August
First day
Sample dates.
Classes
Classes by grade and by day
Each pair of grades is taught as one class, and the size of each class is on its row.
| Ages | Class size | Monday to Thursday8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.4 days | Friday8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.1 day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early primaryKindergarten to grade 2Stories read aloud, poems said together and a first look at debate. | 10 | OfferedReading and poetry daily | OfferedArt and music |
| Later primaryGrades 3 and 4The first seminar, held at one table once a week. | 12 | OfferedWeekly seminar | OfferedArt and music |
| Lower middle schoolGrades 5 and 6Latin begins, and each child speaks to the class once a term. | 14 | OfferedSeminar twice a week | OfferedRhetoric workshop |
| Upper middle schoolGrades 7 and 8Formal debate on Fridays and a long essay each term. | 14 | OfferedSeminar three times a week | OfferedDebate until 12:30 p.m. |
Fees and what each is for
- Application
- Covers reading the application and meeting the child. Due when a family applies.
- Enrollment
- Holds a place once a family accepts an offer.
- Books and materials
- The texts on the reading list and the supplies for the year, ordered by the school.
- Uniform
- The dress code pieces on the office's list, bought from any shop.
- After care
- Billed by the month for the days a family uses.
- Field trips
- A few day trips in the year, billed when a family signs the permission slip.
Sample programs.
Faculty
Eight teachers share the grades
Three of them are here. Each knows every child in the school by name.
Vernice Rowe
Teacher of history and Latin
Teaches history and Latin to grades 5 to 8 and keeps the school library.
Bettina Hamer
Teacher of mathematics and science
Teaches mathematics from grade 3 to grade 8 and runs the science room.
On the faculty's shelves
What the teachers are reading with their classes
Each teacher keeps a short list for the grades they teach. The lists change from year to year.
- Grades 7 and 8
Lachlan Gardiner
Speeches and essays read aloud and argued over: a Lincoln address, Douglass's Narrative, which begins a few miles from the school, a few essays by Orwell, and Twelfth Night to end the year.
- Grades 5 and 6
Vernice Rowe
The Odyssey in a prose retelling, a handful of fables, a Shakespeare comedy read in parts, and Roman history told as a run of stories.
- Grades 3 to 8
Bettina Hamer
Short passages from Euclid worked one proposition at a time, a naturalist's field notes and the lives of a few scientists.
Enrolling
How to enroll
- 01
Step 1: Get in touch
Call the office, write through the form or come to an open house. Someone answers within a day or two.
- 02
Step 2: Visit the school
Spend a morning in the grade your child would join, sit in on a seminar and talk with the head of school. Children come along.
- 03
Step 3: Apply
The application asks about your child's reading and interests and for a note from a current teacher. Applications open in October.
- 04
Step 4: Hear from us
Families hear in early March, by phone first and then by letter. Places are held with a signed enrollment agreement.
Come and sit in on a seminar
Book a visit day, or come to an open house in the fall.