Shipley Stories
Sowing Seeds of Excellence: Shipley's Horticulture Program
Horticulture has deeply enriched Shipley’s history. Many of the School’s longest-standing traditions and events are steeped in horticulture, from the concept of ‘Acorns to Oaks,’ to Secret Gardens, and Sprouts’ decades-long involvement in the Philadelphia Flower Show. Even the farm fields on which athletic events are played originated as agricultural land used by the School. Horticulture is embedded in the foundation of Shipley. If tended to, it can provide immediate, continuous, and long-term benefits to the community, as well as tangible evidence of the pursuit of our strategic goals.
As society becomes increasingly urbanized and digitized, knowledge of and exposure to the natural world continues to diminish. The impact of this type of deficit has been thoroughly researched for years, and we now know that access to nature is of paramount importance in establishing and maintaining human well-being. This is especially true when it comes to the social and emotional health of children and adolescents.
Horticulture programming and Sprouts pervasively address the Vision 20/26 goal of Educational Excellence, specifically the strategy to “Re-envision ideas of where we learn, when we learn, and whom we learn from.” And as we broaden the use of horticulture in our School, we not only make a positive impact at Shipley, but on the world as well.
From Seed to Plant: Lessons in Sustainability Start in Shipley’s Pre-K
Back
As society becomes increasingly urbanized and digitized, knowledge of and exposure to the natural world continues to diminish. The impact of this type of deficit has been thoroughly researched for years, and we now know that access to nature is of paramount importance in establishing and maintaining human well-being. This is especially true when it comes to the social and emotional health of children and adolescents.
Horticulture programming and Sprouts pervasively address the Vision 20/26 goal of Educational Excellence, specifically the strategy to “Re-envision ideas of where we learn, when we learn, and whom we learn from.” And as we broaden the use of horticulture in our School, we not only make a positive impact at Shipley, but on the world as well.
Reaping the Benefits of Horticulture in Education
Horticulture is one way that schools have reconnected young people with the natural world and positively impacted students’ well-being. Studies have shown that:- Students who have access to horticulture programs report feeling “’calm,’ ‘safe,’ ‘happy,’ and ‘relaxed’ in a school garden.” (Habib & Doherty, 2007)
- Children who work in gardens are more likely to accept people different from themselves. (Dyment & Bell, 2006)
- Students who participated in horticulture-based programs had increased self-understanding, interpersonal skills, and cooperative skills when compared to students who lacked such programming. (Robinson & Zajicek, 2005)
Other Horticulture News from Shipley:
Sprouts Earn 1st Place in 2021 Philadelphia Flower Show Design ChallengesFrom Seed to Plant: Lessons in Sustainability Start in Shipley’s Pre-K
From the Beacon
-
From the Beacon: Shipley Theater Department Joins Broadway Green Alliance
Shipley’s theater program is excited to announce that it will partner with Broadway Green Alliance, a corporation that tries to bring more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices into theaters all around the country. Read more in this article originally published in the Beacon student newspaper.Read More -
From the Beacon - In Focus: Upper School Clubs and Activities
With over 70 clubs and activities to choose from, Shipley's Upper School students can enjoy a broad range of areas to discover and develop their passions and interests. Student writer Andrew McCarthy ’23 shares details about six of them in this article, originally published in the December 2022 issue of the Beacon, the Upper School student newspaper.Read More -
Forging New Paths: Interviews with the First Black Students Who Attended Shipley
It was the late 1960s, and with the fight for civil rights was at the forefront of everyone’s minds, a small all-girls boarding school in Pennsylvania decided to accept students of color. Up until that point, The Shipley School, since its foundation in 1894 and before it became the co-educational day school it is today, was mostly an all white girls’ boarding school. In the late 1960s, however, Shipley started accepting a few students of color, two of them being Ms. June Baldwin and Dr. Beverly Vaughn.Read More
1/3
The Shipley School is a private, coeducational day school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students, located in Bryn Mawr, PA. Through our commitment to educational excellence, we develop within each student a love of learning and a desire for compassionate participation in the world.
