Shady Side Academy
Encyclopedia
Shady Side Academy is a private
, secular coeducational PK-12 preparatory school
located on three campuses in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
, United States
, established in 1883.
. In 1921, the Senior School was established on its current suburban campus in Fox Chapel
. This move also resulted in Shady Side becoming a boarding school
, first with a traditional seven-day program and, later, with the weekday program the school offers.
A later merger in the early 1940s with another local boys' private school, The Arnold School, resulted in the creation of another new campus: a Junior School, located in Pittsburgh's Point Breeze
and serving kindergarten
through fifth grade
students.
In the 1950s, the Academy purchased an estate less than a mile from the Senior School campus, creating a middle school for grades six through eight.
In 1973, the Senior School embraced the concept of co-education and began admitting female students (popularly referred to, particularly in newspapers, as "The Shady Ladies") for the first time. The Junior and Middle Schools followed suit in the 1990s, with the first K-12 "Lifer" female students graduating in 2007. The last all male class at the Academy was the Middle School Form II (eighth grade) class of 1998, which upon entering the Senior School in 1999 became co-educated. It was also the last class at the Middle School to follow a tie and jacket dress code.
Opening in the fall of 2007, a pre-kindergarten was added to Shady Side, located on the Junior School campus. The total enrollment across all grades fluctuates but is generally slightly under 1000 students, with about 500 of them enrolled in the Senior School (grades 9-12 or "Forms" III-VI).
In recent years, the school has worked to implement "green", or environmentally-friendly, changes to its campuses. The 2006 renovation of Rowe Hall, the main academic building, put into use a number of "green" concepts. The $6.8 million renovation of this primary Senior School facility emphasized environmentally-friendly approaches, from glass that allows more light into classrooms (allowing the building to maintain lower electricity usage levels) to rainwater collected in an underground cistern, then used to flush toilets and urinals. In the fall of 2007, the Rowe Hall Complex earned Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
) Certification, becoming the only high school in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to have done so.
Shady Side Academy is a member school of the Chewonki Foundation
's Maine Coast Semester
, which was established in 1929 and consists of the top 20% of the senior class.
. At times nearly 200 students boarded at Shady Side, some as 7-day boarders, some as 5-day boarders, some as Senior Schoolers, and some as Middle Schoolers. Since the 1960s, Shady Side has hosted 5-day Senior School (Grades 9 through 12) boarding exclusively, and is one of only six schools nationwide to offer such an option for its students. With all boarding students going home for the weekend each week, boarders almost always come from the three-state area of eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and northern West Virginia. Today, two residence halls are in active use at Shady Side: male students board in Croft House and female students reside in Morewood House.
conferences, NAQT and other quiz bowl competitions, the Western PA Math League, Science Olympiad
, North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad
, National Science Bowl, and Forensics (Speech and Debate) competitions, principally the National Forensics League.
In 2004, Shady Side placed third in the nation at the National Science Olympiad Tournament at Juniata College, a tournament with over fifty schools from all around the nation. They did this after placing 1st at both the Regional and State Science Olympiad Tournament, which earned them a position in the National tournament. In 2005, the team also placed 1st in the Regional and State Science Olympiad Tournaments, which got them into the National Tournament again, this time held in the University of Illinois. In the 2007 State Tournament, Shady Side's team placed second, as runners up to Sewickley Academy
, once again securing a place in the 2007 National Science Olympiad Tournament in Wichita, Kansas. Also, in 2009 the middle school team placed second in the state tournament at Juniata College. They later went on to place 20th in the nation at Augusta State University in Georgia, in which 60 teams participated in.
In 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007, Shady Side was the season champion of Pittsburgh-based game show
Hometown High-Q. At the 2006 NAQT Nationals, the team finished 5th overall.
Shady Side also regularly sends students to the National Catholic Forensics League, Pennsylvania High School Speech League, and National Forensics League state and national competitions.
A sample of the clubs offered at Shady Side Academy includes: Chinese Club (Mandarin Chinese is taught at the senior school), Sign Language (ASL) Club, Speech and Debate (Forensics), Christian Fellowship, the Gay-Straight Alliance, Film Club, Service Learning, The Led Zeppelin
Club, Guitar Club, Robotics Club, and many others not listed here. Since 2008, the Robotics Club has sent a team annually to the Pittsburgh Regional event of the FIRST Robotics Competition, and they were an alternate to the elimination portion in 2010, having achieved their highest-ever seed thus far.
Additionally, Shady Side has numerous language and nationality clubs, i.e., Spanish Club, German Club, Latin Club, French Club, etc. While Italian is not offered at Shady Side Academy, there is an active Study of Italian Club. In the winter of 2007, an Arabic Study Club also formed. There are Black and Jewish Student Unions as well.
Shady Side's major rivals in academics are Central Catholic
, Ellis
, and Winchester Thurston
.
, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Better than Ezra
and Sister Hazel. The "Untucked" event is usually held at the end of the year and includes many activities beyond the band itself, including food and carnival games.
Shady Side Academy's main theater, the 650-seat Richard E. Rauh Theater, is named after local teacher, actor and arts patron Richard Rauh. It resides in the newly-constructed Hillman Center for Performing Arts
on the Senior School campus. There is also a blackbox theater (The Kountz Theater), which holds many smaller productions, such as the annual Children's Homecoming Play and the Senior One-Act Play Festival . Recent theater performances include: Amadeus
, Footloose
, A Midsummer Night's Dream
, Pygmalion
, South Pacific
, Oliver!
, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
, Kiss Me, Kate
, Babes in Arms
, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
. The debut musical in the Hillman Center for the Performing Arts was Oliver! which took place in the spring of 2005, starring Danielle Papincak (Nancy, Class of '05) and Bernard Balbot (Fagin, Class of '05). In 2006, the Academy launched a public performing arts series with the Golden Dragon Acrobats, River City Brass Band, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.
Shady Side Academy students also produce several publications. The Shady Side News, which is written and produced on campus by Senior School students, is published five times each academic year and contains campus news, commentary and political opinion, and photographs. The Egerian, the school's literary magazine, collects the best student-written prose and poetry and publishes it at the end of every year. It is released exclusively online by a committee of student editors at http://egerian.org/. Angles, the school's other literary magazine, collects the best of student-written nonfiction and also publishes at the end of every year. A science magazine, SSA Frontiers of Science, helps to relay to the community significant scientific advances; it is produced once per term under the leadership of a student committee. A political magazine, The Forum, is also published, sponsored by the Senior School History Department and a committee of student editors.
had his encampment on the site that now houses the senior school and no other high schools in the area are on grounds once occupied by Native Americans.
In 1924, Shady Side Academy was a founding member of the Interstate Prep School League (IPSL) -- a league composed of Mid-West preparatory schools. The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL), which is the league in which local public schools compete and is part of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association
(PIAA), was founded in 1906 by Headmaster Jones of Allegheny Prep and W. R. Crabbe of Shady Side Academy, but Shady Side did not join until 1993. This membership allowed them to compete for regional and state championships against local schools. Since this, Shady Side has won eight state championships: two in boys' basketball, two in girls' golf, two in boys' swimming, one in girls' tennis, and one in boys' tennis, along with numerous WPIAL championships, in several sports including baseball, field hockey, tennis, swimming, football and golf. The Shady Side Girls' Tennis and Field Hockey Teams won the 2005, 2006, and 2007. WPIAL Championship titles for AAA and AA, respectively. The Girls' Tennis team went on to place second in the 2007 PIAA Championships and first in the 2008 PIAA Championships. Shady Side's Lauren Greco also won the PIAA and WPIAL AAA girls' tennis singles championships.The girls' tennis team, again, won the WPIAL and state championships in 2010, while Sara Perelman placed second individually. In 2010, the boys swim team won the WPIAL championship for the 9th consecutive year (10th in 11 years). In addition, the wrestling team went on to place first in the PIAA Individual Championships of the 2007-2008 season, with both Dane Johnson placing first (his second time) and Roman San Doval placing first in the PIAA. They defended their state championship in wrestling with another championship in the 2008-2009 season, with Johnson winning his 3rd PIAA Championship and Matt Cunningham placing second in his weight class. Shady Side Academy wrestling is the first AA team in the WPIAL to have won the PIAA State Championship. The boys' tennis team won the WPIALs in 2010, and also placed second in states. Chris Mengel won the individual state championships as well in 2010.
Several teams do not compete in the WPIAL. The ice hockey
teams compete at the Division 1 Prep Level. The boys' team is a member of the Midwest Prep Hockey League
and the girls' team competes in the Women's Ice Hockey League of the Mid- Atlantic. The boys' lacrosse
team, which as of the 2009 season participates in the WPIAL's newly formed Lacrosse league, which won the Western Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association championship in 2004 and were State Runners-Up in 2004, participates in the Midwest Scholastic Lacrosse Association as well as the previously mentioned WPSLA. The squash
team also is a prep-level team, composed of top-rated junior players.
Shady Side Academy competes often with local schools, including Sewickley Academy
, The Kiski School
, Western Reserve Academy
, Fox Chapel Area High School
, University School
, and The Ellis School
.
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
, secular coeducational PK-12 preparatory school
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
located on three campuses in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, established in 1883.
Campuses
Shady Side Academy has three campuses in Pittsburgh.- Senior School: 423 Fox Chapel Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15238; Phone: 412-968-3000 40.5225°N 79.88278°W
- Middle School: 500 Squaw Run Road East, Pittsburgh, PA 15238; Phone: 412-968-3100 40.53028°N 79.88139°W
- Junior School: 400 S. Braddock Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15221; Phone: 412-473-4400 40.444000°N 79.896988°W
History
Shady Side Academy was founded as an all male day school in 1883, on Aiken Avenue in the East End neighborhood of Shadyside, PittsburghShadyside (Pittsburgh)
Shadyside is a neighborhood in the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It has zip codes of both 15232 and 15206, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 8...
. In 1921, the Senior School was established on its current suburban campus in Fox Chapel
Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania
Fox Chapel is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, and is a suburb of Pittsburgh located northeast of downtown.The population was 5,388 as of the 2010 census.-History:...
. This move also resulted in Shady Side becoming a boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
, first with a traditional seven-day program and, later, with the weekday program the school offers.
A later merger in the early 1940s with another local boys' private school, The Arnold School, resulted in the creation of another new campus: a Junior School, located in Pittsburgh's Point Breeze
Point Breeze, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Point Breeze, or South Point Breeze, is a largely residential neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.It is adjacent to the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Regent Square, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, and North Point Breeze, and the borough of Wilkinsburg. It includes the neighborhood of Park Place...
and serving kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
through fifth grade
Fifth grade
Fifth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fifth grade is the fifth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 10 – 11 years old, and are preteens...
students.
In the 1950s, the Academy purchased an estate less than a mile from the Senior School campus, creating a middle school for grades six through eight.
In 1973, the Senior School embraced the concept of co-education and began admitting female students (popularly referred to, particularly in newspapers, as "The Shady Ladies") for the first time. The Junior and Middle Schools followed suit in the 1990s, with the first K-12 "Lifer" female students graduating in 2007. The last all male class at the Academy was the Middle School Form II (eighth grade) class of 1998, which upon entering the Senior School in 1999 became co-educated. It was also the last class at the Middle School to follow a tie and jacket dress code.
Opening in the fall of 2007, a pre-kindergarten was added to Shady Side, located on the Junior School campus. The total enrollment across all grades fluctuates but is generally slightly under 1000 students, with about 500 of them enrolled in the Senior School (grades 9-12 or "Forms" III-VI).
In recent years, the school has worked to implement "green", or environmentally-friendly, changes to its campuses. The 2006 renovation of Rowe Hall, the main academic building, put into use a number of "green" concepts. The $6.8 million renovation of this primary Senior School facility emphasized environmentally-friendly approaches, from glass that allows more light into classrooms (allowing the building to maintain lower electricity usage levels) to rainwater collected in an underground cistern, then used to flush toilets and urinals. In the fall of 2007, the Rowe Hall Complex earned Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
) Certification, becoming the only high school in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to have done so.
Shady Side Academy is a member school of the Chewonki Foundation
Chewonki Foundation
The Chewonki Foundation is a non-profit institution in Wiscasset, Maine, that runs educational programs with an environmental focus.Founded in 1915 as a summer camp for boys, the Foundation now runs a four month high school program, Chewonki Semester School , boys and girls summer camp programs,...
's Maine Coast Semester
Maine Coast Semester
Chewonki Semester School formerly known as Maine Coast Semester, founded in 1988, is a semester-long, environmental education program for high school juniors run by the Chewonki Foundation and located in Wiscasset, Maine. The founding director was S. Scott Andrews, who currently teaches history...
Academics
For each class a student is enrolled in (a minimum of five per term), they are given a grade at midterm of the first term and the conclusion of each subsequent term. Each grade has two parts, a letter grade and an effort grade. The Quality Grade is the grade used to calculate the GPA, and the grade to which a letter is assigned. There is also an effort grade from one to five. One is "unacceptable," five is "exemplary effort," and a rating of three indicates "expected" effort. Each student with a GPA of 3.3333 or above, grades of B- or better, and an effort rating of 3 or above, is awarded honors. For high honors, a student must achieve a GPA of 3.6667, with grades of B+ or better and effort ratings of three or greater. Highest honors are awarded to all students possessing a GPA of 4.0000 or better with grades of A- or better and effort ratings of 4 and above. Shady Side Academy has a chapter of the Cum Laude SocietyCum Laude Society
The Cum Laude Society is an organization that honors scholastic achievement at secondary institutions, similar to the Phi Beta Kappa Society, which honors scholastic achievements at the university level. It was founded in 1906 as the Alpha Delta Tau fraternity and changed its name in the 1950s...
, which was established in 1929 and consists of the top 20% of the senior class.
Counseling
College, personal, and academic counseling are offered on the Senior School campus. College counseling is available to all students in the Kassling College Counseling Center in the main academic building (Rowe Hall). Personal counseling is also available. Academic counseling is also offered to all students in the form of the Advisory Program, in which all students are assigned an advisor, who also acts as a homeroom teacher. They are assigned a new advisor for each academic year, and each advisory group consists of 4-10 students on average. A homeroom meets once a week, and sits together in all-school assemblies, which are held at least twice a week. Additionally, however, each student also meets individually during a free period with their advisor to discuss any academic difficulties they may be having, and their academic life in general.Financial aid
Shady Side has a financial aid program. In 2008, over $2.0 million in need-based financial aid was distributed to qualifying families.Boarding program
Shady Side Academy has a long-standing boarding program. Bayard House (1924), Croft House (1931), Ellsworth House(1922) (now called Hunt Hall), and Morewood House (1922)-all at one time or another residence halls on the Senior School campus—have served as home to the many generations of Shady Side students since the school moved to suburban Fox Chapel from the city neighborhood of Shadyside in the early 1920s. Bayard, Morewood, and Ellsworth were named after streets surrounding the former campus, now the home of The Winchester Thurston SchoolWinchester Thurston School
Winchester Thurston School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school with two campuses: a Pre-Kindergarten through grade five North Hills Campus in Hampton Township and a Pre-Kindergarten through grade twelve City Campus in Shadyside, Pittsburgh...
. At times nearly 200 students boarded at Shady Side, some as 7-day boarders, some as 5-day boarders, some as Senior Schoolers, and some as Middle Schoolers. Since the 1960s, Shady Side has hosted 5-day Senior School (Grades 9 through 12) boarding exclusively, and is one of only six schools nationwide to offer such an option for its students. With all boarding students going home for the weekend each week, boarders almost always come from the three-state area of eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and northern West Virginia. Today, two residence halls are in active use at Shady Side: male students board in Croft House and female students reside in Morewood House.
Academic
Shady Side participates in Model United NationsModel United Nations
Model United Nations is an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims to educate participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the United Nations agenda....
conferences, NAQT and other quiz bowl competitions, the Western PA Math League, Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is an American elementary, middle, or high school team competition which tests knowledge of various science topics and engineering ability. Over 6,200 teams from 49 U.S. states compete each year. Most teams compete in three levels of competition: regionals, states, and nationals...
, North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad
North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad
The North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad is a linguistics competition for high school students in the United States and Canada that has been held since 2007. Around 1000 students participate annually. Since 2008 the contest has consisted of two rounds, the second being administered...
, National Science Bowl, and Forensics (Speech and Debate) competitions, principally the National Forensics League.
In 2004, Shady Side placed third in the nation at the National Science Olympiad Tournament at Juniata College, a tournament with over fifty schools from all around the nation. They did this after placing 1st at both the Regional and State Science Olympiad Tournament, which earned them a position in the National tournament. In 2005, the team also placed 1st in the Regional and State Science Olympiad Tournaments, which got them into the National Tournament again, this time held in the University of Illinois. In the 2007 State Tournament, Shady Side's team placed second, as runners up to Sewickley Academy
Sewickley Academy
Sewickley Academy is a private coeducational college preparatory day school located in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Located approximately 12 miles north of Pittsburgh, Sewickley Academy is the oldest independent school in the Pittsburgh area dating back to 1838...
, once again securing a place in the 2007 National Science Olympiad Tournament in Wichita, Kansas. Also, in 2009 the middle school team placed second in the state tournament at Juniata College. They later went on to place 20th in the nation at Augusta State University in Georgia, in which 60 teams participated in.
In 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007, Shady Side was the season champion of Pittsburgh-based game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
Hometown High-Q. At the 2006 NAQT Nationals, the team finished 5th overall.
Shady Side also regularly sends students to the National Catholic Forensics League, Pennsylvania High School Speech League, and National Forensics League state and national competitions.
A sample of the clubs offered at Shady Side Academy includes: Chinese Club (Mandarin Chinese is taught at the senior school), Sign Language (ASL) Club, Speech and Debate (Forensics), Christian Fellowship, the Gay-Straight Alliance, Film Club, Service Learning, The Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
Club, Guitar Club, Robotics Club, and many others not listed here. Since 2008, the Robotics Club has sent a team annually to the Pittsburgh Regional event of the FIRST Robotics Competition, and they were an alternate to the elimination portion in 2010, having achieved their highest-ever seed thus far.
Additionally, Shady Side has numerous language and nationality clubs, i.e., Spanish Club, German Club, Latin Club, French Club, etc. While Italian is not offered at Shady Side Academy, there is an active Study of Italian Club. In the winter of 2007, an Arabic Study Club also formed. There are Black and Jewish Student Unions as well.
Shady Side's major rivals in academics are Central Catholic
Central Catholic High School (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Central Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic college preparatory school for boys in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a part of the Diocese of Pittsburgh and is administrated and partially staffed by the Brothers of the Christian Schools....
, Ellis
The Ellis School
The Ellis School is an independent, age 3 – grade 12 college preparatory school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1916, the school is a private all-girls institution with a current enrollment of 470 students.-Notable alumnae:...
, and Winchester Thurston
Winchester Thurston School
Winchester Thurston School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school with two campuses: a Pre-Kindergarten through grade five North Hills Campus in Hampton Township and a Pre-Kindergarten through grade twelve City Campus in Shadyside, Pittsburgh...
.
Arts, theater, and music
Since 2003, the school has sponsored a benefit concert led and organized by a student group with the name "Untucked" as a homage to the school dress code which before 2004 required all shirts to be tucked in. Members of the Untucked Committee include students (chosen annually from an applicant pool) and a member of the faculty. The committee maintains a website at http://www.untucked.org. Recent bands to appear at Untucked include local favorites The ClarksThe Clarks
The Clarks are an American rock band from the Pittsburgh region, originating at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Over the course of twenty years, they have produced a total of 12 studio, live and solo releases, selling near a quarter of a million copies....
, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Better than Ezra
Better Than Ezra
Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock trio based in New Orleans, Louisiana.-Formation and early success:Better Than Ezra was formed in 1988 by its four original members - vocalist and guitarist Kevin Griffin; Joel Rundell, the lead guitarist; bassist Tom Drummond; and drummer, Cary...
and Sister Hazel. The "Untucked" event is usually held at the end of the year and includes many activities beyond the band itself, including food and carnival games.
Shady Side Academy's main theater, the 650-seat Richard E. Rauh Theater, is named after local teacher, actor and arts patron Richard Rauh. It resides in the newly-constructed Hillman Center for Performing Arts
Hillman Center for Performing Arts
The Hillman Center for Performing Arts is a multi-stage performing arts venue on the campus of Shady Side Academy's Senior School in Fox Chapel, a northern suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Featuring dedicated music and vocal practice spaces, the Richard E. Rauh proscenium theater, and the Peter J...
on the Senior School campus. There is also a blackbox theater (The Kountz Theater), which holds many smaller productions, such as the annual Children's Homecoming Play and the Senior One-Act Play Festival . Recent theater performances include: Amadeus
Amadeus
Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer.It is based on the lives of the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, highly fictionalized.Amadeus was first performed in 1979...
, Footloose
Footloose (musical)
Footloose is a 1998 musical based on the 1984 film of the same name. The music is by Tom Snow , the lyrics by Dean Pitchford , and the book by Pitchford and Walter Bobbie.-Act 1:...
, A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
, Pygmalion
Pygmalion (play)
Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
, South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
, Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
, Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
, Babes in Arms
Babes in Arms
Babes in Arms is a 1937 musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Rodgers and Hart. It concerns a teen-age boy who puts on a show with his friends to avoid being sent to a work farm.- Production history:...
, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
. The debut musical in the Hillman Center for the Performing Arts was Oliver! which took place in the spring of 2005, starring Danielle Papincak (Nancy, Class of '05) and Bernard Balbot (Fagin, Class of '05). In 2006, the Academy launched a public performing arts series with the Golden Dragon Acrobats, River City Brass Band, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.
Shady Side Academy students also produce several publications. The Shady Side News, which is written and produced on campus by Senior School students, is published five times each academic year and contains campus news, commentary and political opinion, and photographs. The Egerian, the school's literary magazine, collects the best student-written prose and poetry and publishes it at the end of every year. It is released exclusively online by a committee of student editors at http://egerian.org/. Angles, the school's other literary magazine, collects the best of student-written nonfiction and also publishes at the end of every year. A science magazine, SSA Frontiers of Science, helps to relay to the community significant scientific advances; it is produced once per term under the leadership of a student committee. A political magazine, The Forum, is also published, sponsored by the Senior School History Department and a committee of student editors.
Athletics
Shady Side's athletic team name is "The Indians". The name is not widely used, but attempts to change it have been thwarted by various alumni. However, some claim that the school's nickname has some substance to it in Shady Side's case because Chief GuyasutaGuyasuta
Guyasuta was an important leader of the Seneca people in the second half of the eighteenth century, playing a central role in the diplomacy and warfare of that era...
had his encampment on the site that now houses the senior school and no other high schools in the area are on grounds once occupied by Native Americans.
In 1924, Shady Side Academy was a founding member of the Interstate Prep School League (IPSL) -- a league composed of Mid-West preparatory schools. The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL), which is the league in which local public schools compete and is part of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association
Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Inc. is one of the governing bodies of high school and junior high school sports for the state of Pennsylvania, United States....
(PIAA), was founded in 1906 by Headmaster Jones of Allegheny Prep and W. R. Crabbe of Shady Side Academy, but Shady Side did not join until 1993. This membership allowed them to compete for regional and state championships against local schools. Since this, Shady Side has won eight state championships: two in boys' basketball, two in girls' golf, two in boys' swimming, one in girls' tennis, and one in boys' tennis, along with numerous WPIAL championships, in several sports including baseball, field hockey, tennis, swimming, football and golf. The Shady Side Girls' Tennis and Field Hockey Teams won the 2005, 2006, and 2007. WPIAL Championship titles for AAA and AA, respectively. The Girls' Tennis team went on to place second in the 2007 PIAA Championships and first in the 2008 PIAA Championships. Shady Side's Lauren Greco also won the PIAA and WPIAL AAA girls' tennis singles championships.The girls' tennis team, again, won the WPIAL and state championships in 2010, while Sara Perelman placed second individually. In 2010, the boys swim team won the WPIAL championship for the 9th consecutive year (10th in 11 years). In addition, the wrestling team went on to place first in the PIAA Individual Championships of the 2007-2008 season, with both Dane Johnson placing first (his second time) and Roman San Doval placing first in the PIAA. They defended their state championship in wrestling with another championship in the 2008-2009 season, with Johnson winning his 3rd PIAA Championship and Matt Cunningham placing second in his weight class. Shady Side Academy wrestling is the first AA team in the WPIAL to have won the PIAA State Championship. The boys' tennis team won the WPIALs in 2010, and also placed second in states. Chris Mengel won the individual state championships as well in 2010.
Several teams do not compete in the WPIAL. The ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
teams compete at the Division 1 Prep Level. The boys' team is a member of the Midwest Prep Hockey League
Midwest Prep Hockey League
The Midwest Prep Hockey League is a prep school ice hockey league in the United States. The Midwest Prep League was founded in 2000; the original six league members were Culver Academies , Gilmour Academy , Lake Forest Academy , Park Tudor School , Shady Side Academy and St. Francis High School...
and the girls' team competes in the Women's Ice Hockey League of the Mid- Atlantic. The boys' lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
team, which as of the 2009 season participates in the WPIAL's newly formed Lacrosse league, which won the Western Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association championship in 2004 and were State Runners-Up in 2004, participates in the Midwest Scholastic Lacrosse Association as well as the previously mentioned WPSLA. The squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
team also is a prep-level team, composed of top-rated junior players.
Shady Side Academy competes often with local schools, including Sewickley Academy
Sewickley Academy
Sewickley Academy is a private coeducational college preparatory day school located in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Located approximately 12 miles north of Pittsburgh, Sewickley Academy is the oldest independent school in the Pittsburgh area dating back to 1838...
, The Kiski School
The Kiski School
The Kiski School is a private, all-male boarding school located in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh. It is the oldest remaining non-military all-male boarding school in the United States....
, Western Reserve Academy
Western Reserve Academy
Western Reserve Academy is a private, mid-sized, coeducational boarding and day college preparatory school located in Hudson, Ohio.-History:...
, Fox Chapel Area High School
Fox Chapel Area High School
Fox Chapel Area High School is a public school located in O'Hara Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA. It was recognized and honored with the title of "New American High School showcase site" in 1999 under the New American High Schools initiative.-Mission statement:-Accolades:In 2006...
, University School
University School
University School, commonly referred to as US, is an all-boys K - 12 school with two campus locations in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area...
, and The Ellis School
The Ellis School
The Ellis School is an independent, age 3 – grade 12 college preparatory school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1916, the school is a private all-girls institution with a current enrollment of 470 students.-Notable alumnae:...
.
Notable alumni
- Peter Ackerman, Class of 1988, Hollywood screenwriter on the animated film Ice AgeIce Age (film)Ice Age is a 2002 American computer-animated film created by Blue Sky Studios and released by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Carlos Saldanha and Chris Wedge from a story by Michael J. Wilson. The story follows three Paleolithical mammals attempting to return a lost human baby to its parents...
voice credits on Ice Age and Ice Age: The Meltdown. - Tunde AdebimpeTunde AdebimpeBabatunde Omoroga "Tunde" Adebimpe is an American musician, actor, and director best known as the lead singer of the Brooklyn-based band TV on the Radio. His vocal method often involves improvisation, the use of effects and repeating sampled loops....
, Class of 1993, actor, director, and lead singer of the alternative rock band TV on the RadioTV on the RadioTV on the Radio is an American art rock band formed in 2001 in Brooklyn, New York, whose music spans numerous diverse genres, from post-punk to electro and free jazz to soul music.... - Robert B. Allen, Class of 1969, EIC ACM TOIS (1983-1995) and Chair ACMAssociation for Computing MachineryThe Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
Publications Board (2001-2003) - Jerome "Jay" AptJerome AptJerome III "Jay" Apt, Ph.D. is an American astronaut and professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Before he became an astronaut, Apt was a physicist who worked on the Venus space probe project, and used visible light and infrared techniques to study the planets and moons of the solar system from...
, Class of 1967, astronautAstronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft.... - Eugene BakerEugene BakerEugene Keith Baker is a former American football wide receiver who was drafted from Kent State University in the 1999 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. He spent four seasons with the Falcons on their active roster and practice squad. He also spent time on the practice squads of the Buffalo Bills...
, Class of 1994, NFLNational Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
player - Jon BeckermanJon BeckermanJon Beckerman is a producer, director and writer best known for his projects with Rob Burnett. He was born in 1969. He graduated from Shady Side Academy in 1987.-Career:...
, Class of 1987, producer/creator of television series EdEd (TV series)Ed is an NBC television program co-produced by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants Incorporated, NBC Productions, and Viacom Productions that aired from 2000 to 2004....
and The Knights of ProsperityThe Knights of ProsperityThe Knights of Prosperity was a short-lived comedy series that premiered on ABC in the United States on Wednesday, January 3, 2007. It was created by Rob Burnett and Jon Beckerman, who also created the NBC comedy-drama Ed... - Christian BorleChristian BorleChristian Borle is an American actor. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Borle has been primarily featured as an actor in Broadway productions....
, Class of 1991, Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
and Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
nominated BroadwayBroadway theatreBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
actor. - Courtney Bress, Class of 1992, Colorado Symphony OrchestraColorado Symphony OrchestraColorado’s only full-time professional orchestra, the Colorado Symphony embraces a tradition of musical excellence by presenting a diverse array of symphonic performances throughout the year...
harpist - Deidre Byrne, Class of 1985, oceanographer
- Richard G. ColbertRichard G. ColbertRichard Gary Colbert was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy who served as President of the Naval War College from 1968 to 1971, and as commander in chief of all NATO forces in southern Europe from 1972 to 1973. He was nicknamed "Mr. International Navy" as one of the very few senior...
, Class of 1933, U.S. Navy four-star admiral - Tim DeChristopherTim DeChristopherTim DeChristopher is an American climate activist and co-founder of the environmental group . On December 19, 2008, he protested an oil and gas lease auction of 116 parcels of public land in Utah's redrock country, conducted by the Bureau of Land Management...
, Class of 2000, Environmental Activist Bidder 70 - Chris FrantzChris FrantzChris Frantz is an American musician and record producer. He was the drummer for both Talking Heads and the Tom Tom Club.-Career:...
, Class of 1970, drummer for the Talking HeadsTalking HeadsTalking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison... - Childs FrickChilds FrickChilds Frick was an American vertebrate paleontologist.He was a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History and a major benefactor of its Department of Paleontology, which in 1916 began a long partnership with him. He established its Frick Laboratory...
, invertebrate paleontologist and son of Pittsburgh industrialist Henry Clay FrickHenry Clay FrickHenry Clay Frick was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major role in the formation of the giant U.S. Steel steel manufacturing concern... - David Guy, Class of 1966, author of the semi-autobiographical Shady-Side-Academy-inspired novel Football DreamsFootball Dreams (novel)Football Dreams is a novel by the American writer David Guy set in 1960s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.It tells the coming-of-age story of Dan Keith as he negotiates the demands of American football culture at Arnold Academy, a boy's prep school in suburban Pittsburgh. ....
, Second BrotherSecond BrotherSecond Brother is a novel by the American writer David Guy set in 1960s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.It tells the coming-of-age story of Henry Wilder who must measure himself in the shadow of his older brother, a star athlete and scholar....
, and others. - Kerry Hannon, Class of 1978, writer for US News and World Report, as well as a Women and Finance writer for USA TodayUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
- Henry Hillman, Class of 1937, businessman and philanthropist
- Edgar J. KaufmannEdgar J. KaufmannEdgar J. Kaufmann was a prominent Jewish German-American businessman and philanthropist. He owned and directed Kaufmann's Department Store, the most prominent one in 20th century Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania...
, American department store magnate (Kaufmann'sKaufmann'sKaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of 'Fallingwater' and the Kaufmann's Desert House. In the post-war years the store became a regional chain in the eastern United States, and was last...
) and philanthropist. In 1935, Kaufmann commissioned famed American architect Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
to build his much-celebrated summer home, FallingwaterFallingwaterFallingwater or Kaufmann Residence is a house designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh...
, in the Laurel HighlandsLaurel HighlandsThe Laurel Highlands is a region in southwestern Pennsylvania made up of Fayette County, Somerset County and Westmoreland County. It has a population of about 600,000 people....
outside of Pittsburgh. - Carl KurlanderCarl KurlanderCarl Kurlander is an American television writer, producer and screenwriter. He grew up in Pittsburgh and attended Shady Side Academy and Duke University...
, Class of 1978, Hollywood screenwriter of the film St. Elmo's FireSt. Elmo's fireSt. Elmo's fire is a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a coronal discharge from a grounded object in an electric field in the atmosphere St. Elmo's fire is named after St. Erasmus of Formiae St. Elmo's fire (also St. Elmo's light) is a weather phenomenon in which luminous...
and the television program Saved By The BellSaved by the BellSaved by the Bell is an American television sitcom that aired between 1989 and 1993. The series is a retooled version of the 1988 series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was itself later folded into the history of Saved by the Bell... - Paul MarthaPaul MarthaPaul Martha is a former American football safety who played seven seasons in the NFL. He played his college football and basketball at Pitt. Some of his former teammates at Pitt included future NFL head coaches Mike Ditka and Marty Schottenheimer...
, Class of 1960, NFL player; Pittsburgh SteelersPittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
1964-69, Denver BroncosDenver BroncosThe Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
1969-71; NFL executive, Vice President and General Counsel of the San Francisco 49ersSan Francisco 49ersThe San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
1978-1983; Consensus All-American, University of PittsburghUniversity of PittsburghThe University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
1963 - Lenny McAllisterLenny McAllisterLenny McAllister is a conservative American political commentator for a number of newspapers and websites, including AOL and The Root.-Early life:...
, Class of 1989, conservative Republican political commentator, African-American social commentator and activist, and writer/author - David McCulloughDavid McCulloughDavid Gaub McCullough is an American author, narrator, historian, and lecturer. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award....
, Class of 1951, two-time Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning author and historian - Thornton Oakley, Class of 1897, turn-of-the-20th-century artist, illustrator and travel writer, most notably for Harper's and Scribner's magazines.
- Candace OttoCandace OttoCandace Otto is a pageant titleholder was Murrysville, Pennsylvania who held the Miss Pennsylvania 2003 title and competed in the Miss America pageant.-Pageants:...
, Class of 1998, Operatic Soprano and Miss PennsylvaniaMiss PennsylvaniaThe Miss Pennsylvania competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Pennsylvania in the Miss America Pageant. Pennsylvania, including early years' city representatives, has won the Miss American crown on 5 occasions....
2003. - David Aiken Reed, Class of 1896, United States Senator from Pennsylvania
- John B. TaylorJohn B. TaylorJohn Brian Taylor is the Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics at Stanford University, and the George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics at Stanford University's Hoover Institution....
, Class of 1964, Undersecretary of the Treasury for the George H.W. Bush administration - Tom VilsackTom VilsackThomas James "Tom" Vilsack is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and presently the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. He served as the 40th Governor of the state of Iowa. He was first elected in 1998 and re-elected to a second four-year term in 2002...
, Class of 1968, former governor of IowaIowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, Secretary of Agriculture for President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's administration - Catherine S. Vodrey, Class of 1981, author of A Centennial History of the Hall China Company, "The Squandered Green" and "Leap to Track"
- Christian K. WedemeyerChristian K. WedemeyerChristian Konrad Wedemeyer, FRAS is an American scholar and political and social activist. He is Associate Professor of the History of Religions at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, and an associate member of the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations...
, Class of 1986, professor of the history of religions and elected official of the Illinois Green Party - Owen Young, Class of 1982, Boston Symphony OrchestraBoston Symphony OrchestraThe Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
cellist - Jonathan ZittrainJonathan ZittrainJonathan L. Zittrain is a US professor of Internet law at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School, a professor of computer science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a faculty co-director of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society...
, Class of 1987, co-founder the Berkman Center for Internet & SocietyBerkman Center for Internet & SocietyThe Berkman Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, the Center was elevated to an interfaculty initiative of...
at Harvard Law SchoolHarvard Law SchoolHarvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
and Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation, Oxford University - Catherine HealdCatherine HealdCatherine Heald is a serial entrepreneur and founder of four software and travel companies in Asia and the United States since 1989. She is currently CEO of Remote Lands, a New York and Bangkok-based luxury travel company catering to celebrities and high net worth individuals travelling to Asia...
, Class of 1980, serial entrepreneur, founder of four software and travel companies in Asia and the USA