The Galloway School
Encyclopedia
Founded by Elliott Galloway in 1969, The Galloway School is a private, co-educational day school dedicated to offering a well rounded academic program for children ages 3 through grade 12.

History

Elliott Galloway’s long-held convictions about progressive education and the practices of John Dewey led him to found his own independent day school. In 1969, Elliott Galloway, his wife Kitty, and his friend Ross Arnold founded The Galloway School. There he emphasized individualized education, personal evaluation instead of traditional grading, and close working relationships between faculty and students. His hope was to teach students to learn how to learn, and how to love learning. “We must play the game of learning,” Elliott Galloway would often say, “not the game of school.”

In a statement published to its parent community, The Galloway School offered the following description of the school’s educational philosophy: “Central to the Galloway School’s philosophy are several assumptions: children learn best when they are drawn rather than pushed into learning, when they are comfortable, when they are respected and when they are challenged.”

In 1990, Elliott Galloway stepped down as the headmaster of The Galloway School. He was succeeded by Dr. Joe Richardson, Dr. Linda Martinson, and Thomas Brereton. On August 18, 2010, Dr. Beth Farokhi, assumed leadership for a one-year term.

The Galloway School opened its doors in 1969 to 380 students; the first class graduated in 1971. As of September 2010, the school has 700 students.

Campus

The central building on the Galloway campus, the Gresham building, was built by Fulton County in 1911 as an almshouse for the indigent elderly and stayed in operation until the early 60’s, when it experience a succession of short-term tenants and was then left abandoned. In the spring of 1969, Elliott Galloway enlisted the help of the prospective parents, incoming faculty, and trustees to clean out and restore the building before the first day of school. This building, which once housed the entire school, now holds the Upper Learning (traditionally high school) classrooms, the school library, and the administrative offices.

In 1988, the school constructed the Sims building to house their Early Learning program (traditionally elementary school) , and in 1996 it built the Arnold building for its Middle Learning program (traditionally middle school) as well as a gymnasium. In 2004, the campus was completed with the Chaddick Center for the Arts, a complete Arts Center that includes a 300-seat theatre, theatre classroom and rehearsal hall, fully equipped performance support areas, choral and instrumental classrooms and practice rooms, visual arts spaces, and a multi-media technology center. In 2007, the school opened the Galloway Athletics Complex, an off-campus athletics facility featuring two soccer fields and a full-sized track.

Traditions

Galloway does not have a school uniform or dress code.

At a Galloway graduation, any student who desires to take part may contribute to the ceremony through speech, song, dance, or performance. There is no valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...

, salutatorian
Salutatorian
Salutatorian is an academic title given, in the United States and Canada, to the second highest graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is traditionally based on grade point average and number of credits taken, but...

, or class rankings.

Historically, The Galloway School had only two rules: "Behave yourself and try." These first rules stated Galloway’s philosophical attitude toward rules. Galloway, by its philosophy, is a trust-based community that gives its students the freedom to discover how to behave themselves and also holds them accountable for the consequences of their actions.

Instead of traditional rank-and-quantify grades, Galloway measures student progress by the level of mastery they achieve and with progress reports, including personal feedback from the teachers.

Fine arts

In addition to a full complement of visual arts, instrumental music, and choral offerings at all levels, Galloway Upper Learning students have the opportunity to be involved in the Galloway Theatre Company, an after-school theatre class that performs one-act plays. Students participate in all the aspects of the theatre experience – acting, dancing, technical work and stage-managing. The theatre program is inclusive. Anyone who wishes to participate has a place to contribute.

Through the years, the Theatre Company has participated in the Georgia Theatre Conference and the Georgia High School Association One-Act Play Contest, winning multiple state and regional awards. In 2001, they gained international recognition as one of 24 U.S. schools invited to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. All of the Galloway actors and techies continue to work hard and produce magnificent shows under the direction of Jennifer Scott McNair. Isaac Ramsey is the newest technical director.

In addition, the 7th-and-8th-grade chorus visits New York City to sing at Carnegie Hall every other year.

Each spring, the Drama Department puts on a student-produced musical. Past musicals have included: Mame, Into the Woods
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...

, The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...

, Kiss Me Kate
Kiss Me Kate
Kiss Me Kate was a British sitcom that ran from 1998 until 2000. It followed the everyday life of a woman counsellor, Kate , who must not only manage her clients' problems, but must also help her neighbours and unsuccessful business partner, Douglas, played by Chris Langham. Amanda Holden played...

, Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...

, Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...

, and Once Upon a Mattress
Once Upon a Mattress
Once Upon a Mattress is a musical comedy with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer. It opened off-Broadway in May 1959, and then moved to Broadway...

. The most recent musical in the spring of 2010 was A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....

, as well as the smaller Upper Learning musical Charlotte's Web
Charlotte's Web
Charlotte's Web is an award-winning children's novel by acclaimed American author E. B. White, about a pig named Wilbur who is saved from being slaughtered by an intelligent spider named Charlotte. The book was first published in 1952, with illustrations by Garth Williams.The novel tells the story...

.

Each winter, Middle Learning students put on the Middle Learning Musical. Past musicals have included: Mulan
Mulan
Mulan is a 1998 American animated film directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, with story by Robert D. San Souci and screenplay by Rita Hsiao, Philip LaZebnik, Chris Sanders, Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, and Raymond Singer. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney...

, Alice in Wonderland, and Dr. Dolittle.

Athletics

The Galloway Athletics open participation policy allows every seventh through twelfth grade student, whether a beginner or an experienced player, the opportunity to take part in Galloway athletics. The school believes that each student should be given the opportunity to learn the lessons offered by team and individual sports, offering a program that promotes healthy competition and physical activity while stressing sportsmanship and teamwork.

The Scots have won three team state championships competing in single A. The Scots won the 2006 girls' golf championship.

Elliott Galloway

Before founding The Galloway School, Elliott Galloway attended Wake Forest University; he attended Union Theological Seminary from 1946–1948. He served in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1958, serving in World War II and the Korean War and achieving the rank of Commander.

He left the Navy in 1958 and came to Atlanta to continue his career in education, teaching at the Westminster School where he was selected as STAR Teacher in the state of Georgia. He later served as principal of the Westminster Middle School before becoming headmaster of Holy Innocents' in 1965.

In 2007, his wife, Kat Galloway, died. A special bell was tolled, and all of the students mourned in the school courtyard.

He died in the afternoon of July 5, 2008, at the age of 88. He had taken part in the Fourth of July Peachtree Road Race
Peachtree Road Race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race 10K is a 10 kilometer road race held annually in Atlanta, Georgia on July 4, Independence Day. The Peachtree Road Race was until recently the world's largest 10 kilometer race , a title it has held since the late 1970s...

, his 38th consecutive race, and got tired. He was on his way home, but at least wanted to finish the one mile he had given up on. On his way back out, he collapsed onto the sidewalk. A neighbor called for help. He was taken to the hospital, in his running shoes (he requested to be in his running shoes at the hospital), and was put on life support
Life support
Life support, in medicine is a broad term that applies to any therapy used to sustain a patient's life while they are critically ill or injured. There are many therapies and techniques that may be used by clinicians to achieve the goal of sustaining life...

. He later requested that he be taken off of life support, and he died later that day of a stroke. It has been said that he always wanted to die doing what he loved – running – and he did.

Legacy

In Galloway's 08-09 year, three students, one from 4th grade, one from 8th grade, and one from 10th grade, wrote speeches dedicated to Elliot Galloway. At the school's fun run, Elliot's Run '09, photos of him were sold.
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