Emerson Preparatory School
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Emerson Preparatory School is a small private high school in Northwest Washington, DC, founded in 1852 as the Emerson Institute. It is Washington's oldest co-ed college preparatory school. A student can typically complete an entire four-year high school education in as few as four semesters at Emerson. Its primary sources of students are the exceptionally gifted and the children of ambassadors who want their children to get an American high school education in the limited time they are stationed in Washington. The school is located at 1324 18th Street NW, near Dupont Circle.
History
Emerson was founded in 1852 by Charles B. Young as a school to prepare young boys for Harvard, and was named after Dr. George Barrell Emerson, a noted New England educator and Harvard professor. After the Civil War, the school started sending students to any college, and in 1920, started accepting young women as well.
It is presumed by many who know the school that John Wilkes Booth attended Emerson; all that is known is that he attended a preparatory school in Washington in the mid-18th century, and Emerson was likely the only preparatory school in Washington at that time.
Academics
Emerson achieves its rapid graduation (typically within two or three years) through a very small class size (typically never larger than ten students; the entire school rarely has more than eighty students at any given time). There are no extracurricular activities, and no athletics, both to focus purely on academics, and because of the school's location in a townhouse in crowded downtown Washington. The entrance requirements are very strict, requiring three letters of recommendation and a personal interview.
The school's schedule is modelled after the "British System", and has two terms per year instead of semesters. Each term includes four ninety-minute classes per day, with a break halfway through each class. Apart from the usual curriculum, a private tutor can also be supplied for non-standard courses.
Emerson has a diverse student body, with students as young as 11 years old, and students from all around the world.
External links
- Emerson Preparatory School (http://www.emersonprep.net/) - official website