Stone Ridge Upper School Profile

9101 Rockville Pike · Bethesda, Maryland 20814 301.657.4322 · www.stoneridgeschool.org Empowering leaders to serve with faith, intellect, and confidence.

Profile 2013-2014 Mission Statement

Head of School Catherine Ronan Karrels ’86

Head of Upper School Kate Morin

Office of College Counseling Telephone: 301.657.4322 ext. 337 Fax: 301.718.3660

Director of College Counseling Amy Ciccone aciccone@stoneridgeschool.org

Associate Director of College Counseling Kathleen Glynn-Sparrow kglynn-sparrow@stoneridgeschool.org

Registrar Michelle Cofiño mcofino@stoneridgeschool.org

Accreditation Network of Sacred Heart Schools Association of Independent Maryland Schools Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools Maryland State Department of Education

CEEB Code: 210252

Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart inspires young women to lead and serve, through lives of purpose that integrate faith, intellect, community, social action, and personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom.

Philosophy & Goals As a member of a worldwide network of Sacred Heart schools, Stone Ridge offers an education that is marked by a distinctive spirit. Central to its mission is the value Stone Ridge places on the development of the total person and, therefore, the school commits itself to building an environment characterized by seriousness of purpose, love of learning, creativity, beauty, and loving relationships. These elements are the basis for the five Goals of Sacred Heart schools. Stone Ridge, as a School of the Sacred Heart, commits itself to educate to: Goal I: a personal and active faith in God Goal II: a deep respect for intellectual values Goal III: a social awareness which impels to action Goal IV: the building of community as a Christian value Goal V: personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom

School Founded: 1923 in Washington, DC Relocated: 1947 in Bethesda, Maryland Catholic, independent, highly selective, college preparatory school for girls Pre-Kindergarten through seniors: 665 students Upper School: 318 students Class of 2014: 75 students Upper School Student/Faculty Ratio: 7 / 1 and average class size: 13 Graduates who attend four-year colleges or universities: 100% Upper School students who receive financial assistance: 30% Diversity representation among Upper School student body: 37%

Faculty Upper School: 53; Total: 71 Upper School faculty holding Master’s degrees: 35; Doctoral level: 6 Average teaching experience per Upper School faculty member: 16 years % of faculty who participate in professional development workshops and conferences: 100%

Academic Program Overview Graduation Requirements To be awarded a Stone Ridge diploma, a student must earn a minimum of twenty-five units. Of those units, twenty-two are earned in academic subjects; two are earned through satisfactory participation in Social Action and one is earned for physical education.

• World Language Program: All world languag-

Yearly Requirements

• Consortium Courses: Select upper level Hon-

A student must earn six units per year: five-anda-half academic units and a half unit in Social Action.

ors and AP courses are offered in a consortium with four independent schools in the area: The Bullis School, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, Connelly School of the Holy Child, and Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. Classes are held in the morning before the start of the school day.

Minimum Program of Study English Fine and Performing Arts World Languages History and Social Studies Mathematics Science Social Action Theology Electives Physical Education

4 units 2 units 3 units 3 units 3 units 3 units 2 units 2 units 2 units 1 unit

Academic Honesty and Personal Integrity Stone Ridge students are expected to answer honestly all college application questions and will notify the colleges within two weeks of changes in their records at any time during the college process. The Office of College Counseling will report any relevant documented incidents.

Stone Ridge will amend letters of recommendation in the event that the original letter no longer reflects a student’s standing within the school community.

Special Curriculum Features • Social Action: One full academic day, 12 times throughout the school year, is devoted to the Social Action program, making service a true part of the curriculum. All students travel off campus for service at area hospitals, schools, nursing homes, day-care centers, and community agencies. Thus, students accrue over 350 hours of service in completing their graduation requirements.

• Theology Program: Theology courses are as academically rigorous as other core courses and are a graduation requirement.

es are taught solely in the target language and predominantly by native speakers. These courses are highly rigorous, and students are expected to use the target language in classroom and discussion settings.

• Science Certificate Program: The Stone Ridge Science Certificate program recognizes those students who have completed Physics, Chemistry and Biology plus at least two Advanced Placement or Honors courses in a STEM subject area. Students must complete a research-based internship experience in a STEM field, and participate and lead groups in science related school competitions. In addition, upperclassmen work with younger students as science peer tutors. At the end of their senior year, students are required to produce and present a portfolio of their STEM related experiences to the faculty.

• Sacred Heart Network Exchange: Stone Ridge students have the unique opportunity to participate in academic and cultural exchanges for four to six weeks at Sacred Heart schools throughout world. The Network Exchange program allows students to independently explore a new culture, experience education from an international perspective, and perfect their language skills. Students are expected to maintain their course of study while on Exchange. Students have most recently participated in exchanges at Sacred Heart schools in England, Scotland, France, Spain, Colombia, and Australia.

• School Day/Schedule: The Stone Ridge schedule consists of eight periods that meet over the course of two days. Each school day is then comprised of four, eighty-minute periods where students are able to learn in an environment that better reflects the college classroom experience.

Honors and AP Placement Policy

Highest Level of Courses Offered

• Each student is reviewed carefully before enrollment in an Advanced Placement (AP) or Honors level class.

AP English Language AP Microeconomics

•

No AP/Honors courses are offered freshman year.

Honors courses are offered in the sophomore year in math, science, and English; AP courses are rarely allowed sophomore year.

• AP/Honors courses are offered in full, schedules permitting, in junior and senior year.

AP English Literature AP Calculus AB AP French Language and Culture

AP Calculus BC

Honors French Literature Honors Multivariable Calculus AP Latin—Vergil AP Statistics AP Spanish Language

AP Computer Science

AP Spanish Literature and Culture

AP Biology

AP Psychology AP Chemistry AP U.S. Government AP Environmental Science

• Stone Ridge recommends a maximum of three AP/ Honors level courses a year.

AP U.S. History AP Physics

All AP level students are expected to take the AP exam in May.

AP Macroeconomics and Biochemistry

Grading Scale and Rank

Advanced Placement Testing

• GPA is based on a 4.3 scale. AP and Honors courses receive a .5 weight. Cumulative grade averages are derived from final grades in all subjects.

results from 2013 exams

Letter Grade Numerical Equivalent A+ 97-100 (4.3) A 93-96 (4.0) A- 90-92 (3.7) B+ 87-89 (3.3) B 83-86 (3.0) B- 80-82 (2.7) C+ 77-79 (2.3) C 73-76 (2.0) C- 70-72 (1.7) D 65-69 (1.0) F 64 or below (0)

AP Art History Honors Molecular Biology

• Number of exams taken: 314 • Percent who scored a 3 or higher: 72%

• Highest current GPA of rising senior class: 4.254

20 0

• Mean GPA of rising senior class: 3.49

Standardized Testing and Honors results from 2013 exams

SAT I Test Scores Mean Critical Reading 625 Math 607 Writing 642

SAT II Test Scores

# of Students Mean Biology—Ecology 30 636 Biology—Molecular 6 628 Chemistry 11 627 Literature 24 660 Math I 16 576 Math II 29 663 Spanish 8 723 U.S. History 26 660

ACT Test Scores

Mean Composite 27.4 English 28.9 Math 26.7 Reading 28 Science 25.1 English/Writing 27.3

Honors for the Class of 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program 1 Semifinalist; 13 Commended Scholars

National Hispanic Recognition Program

1 Scholar Finalist

The Cum Laude Society

16 Members inducted from the Class of 2014

U.S. History (97%)

40

French Language (100%)

• Stone Ridge does not rank students

Biology (95%)

60

English Literature (97%)

80

English Language (100%)

100

U.S. Gov’t/Politics (95%)

Between 95-100% of students who took AP exams in Biology, English Language, English Literature, French Language, Spanish Language, U.S. Government and U.S. History earned scores of 3 or higher

Spanish Language (100%)

•

College Acceptances and Matriculations Below is a 3-year sampling of college acceptances for Stone Ridge students.

Names in bold are schools attended by members of the Class of 2013.

Regional Distribution of Matriculated Students from the Class of 2013

Highly Selective

Midwest (12%)

Amherst College Bard College Barnard College Boston College Bowdoin College Brown University Bucknell University California Institute of Technology Carleton College Carnegie Mellon University Colby College Columbia University College of the Holy Cross College of William & Mary Colgate University Cornell University Dartmouth College Duke University Emory University Georgetown University Georgia Institute of Technology Hamilton College Harvard College Haverford College Johns Hopkins University Kenyon College Massachusetts Institute of Technology New York University Northwestern University Pomona College Princeton University Rice University Skidmore College Stanford University Swarthmore College Syracuse University Tufts University University of California, Berkeley University of California, Los Angeles University of California, San Diego University of Georgia University of Michigan University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania University of Southern California University of Virginia Vanderbilt University Vassar College Villanova University Wake Forest University Washington University in St. Louis Wesleyan College Williams College

Selective American University Auburn University Beloit College Boston University Case Western Reserve University Clemson University College of Charleston Denison University DePaul University Dickinson College Drexel University

Mid-Atlantic (43%)

South (28%)

New England (10%)

West (3%) International (3%)

Duquesne University Eckerd College Elon University Emerson College Fairfield University Florida Institute of Technology Fordham University Franklin & Marshall College Furman University Gettysburg College Guilford College High Point University Hobart & William Smith Colleges Hofstra University Indiana University Ithaca College James Madison University Kalamazoo College Lafayette College Lehigh University Loyola University Maryland Loyola University Chicago Loyola University New Orleans Loyola Marymount University Marquette University McDaniel College Miami University, Oxford Mount Holyoke College Mount Saint Mary’s University North Carolina State University Northeastern University Occidental College Ohio Wesleyan University Pennsylvania State University Pitzer College Providence College Purdue University Reed College Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rhodes College Rollins College Saint Joseph’s University Saint Louis University St. John’s University St. Mary’s College of Maryland St. Olaf College Salisbury University Santa Clara University Sarah Lawrence College Scripps College Sewanee: The University of the South Southern Methodist University Spring Hill College Stonehill College Susquehanna University Temple University

Texas Christian University The Catholic University of America The George Washington University Towson University Trinity College Tulane University Union College University of Alabama University of Colorado at Boulder University of Delaware University of Georgia University of Kentucky University of Maryland, Baltimore County University of Maryland, College Park University of Miami University of Mississippi University of Pittsburgh University of Richmond University of Rochester University of San Diego University of South Carolina University of Tennessee University of Texas at Austin University of Vermont University of Wisconsin Ursinus College Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Wofford College Xavier University

Historically Black Colleges and Universities Hampton University Howard University Spelman College

International Schools

Bishop’s University Concordia College McGill University Queen’s University University of British Columbia University of Liverpool University of Toronto University of St. Andrews University of Edinburgh

Art Schools The Art Institute of Chicago Maryland Institute College of Art Pratt Institute Rhode Island School of Design Savannah College of Art & Design School of the Museum of Fine Arts