When prospective students, visitors and guests embark onto the campus of The Salisbury School for the first time, they soon realize that this is not a traditional place of learning.
The entrance driveway is carefully lined with colorful flags representing the countries of past and present exchange students. Beyond the drive, the award-winning architecture is visible — uniquely designed buildings which house the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools where an inventive, creative and fun environment awaits students who are hungry to learn and grow.

Each morning as the students arrive at The Salisbury School a unique ritual takes place. Dr. Fred Niell, second year Headmaster, greets each and every student with a welcoming smile and a friendly hand-shake – a congenial process that is duplicated daily at the Middle and Upper School entrances by the division heads.
“It’s a sweet custom that started 40 years ago,” stated Niell. “It kind of gets them going for the day. It builds character and gets their attitude right.” And at this private school with an enrollment of about 350 young people, it is all about an attitude to achieve in academics, in community and in life.

“The hallmark of our school is that these students have personal relationships with their teachers — demonstrated by our graduates coming back three and four years later to talk with the teachers and the students,” emphasized Niell. “We are intentionally small so that our ratio of teachers to students is small.”
In the Lower School for instance, each class, which averages about 20 students, is served by two teachers, giving the students an opportunity to receive personal instruction and affording teachers the necessary time to dedicate to each student’s needs.

The unique open-space architecture also plays a significant role in everyday life at the Lower School. The library is strategically located at the center of the surrounding, “non-traditional,” classrooms.
Students sometimes sit on the carpeted steps to absorb the lesson — something like the early Greek theatre. They can relax in an old claw-foot “reading bathtub” or on a comfy couch, or climb a ladder to reach the reading loft high above the classroom — an earned treat for those doing something special.

A three-minute classical music interlude piped through the intercom system replaces the traditional ringing bell to signify change of period — all to create a non-intrusive, welcoming and comfortable place to learn.

“We also have an active mentoring program,” explained Gail Carozza, director of admissions, “so by the time they reach the Upper School, the students already have a relationship with that community.”
Part of the culture and part of the everyday conversation at The Salisbury School is the focus on college. “The program is rigorous, it is college preparatory, and the idea that academic rigor and experiential education and nurturing can really go hand in hand to great effect is realized every day here at the school,” explained Melissa Johnson, dean of academics at the Upper School.

Academically, students are offered AP and honors courses, but co-curricular activities are a large part of each day at the school — developing character and responsibility by balancing a great number of commitments.
Musicals, like the recently performed “Beauty and the Beast,” involve much of the student body, as well as the parents and community. There is also an experiential week in the Upper School near the end of October, where students select one trip from a menu of eight, with journals and presentations required upon return.
Offerings range from traveling to Key West to study Hemingway or to New Orleans to help rebuild housing with Habitat for Humanity. “We want to graduate young people who have a sense of community and have a sense of how they can contribute to that community as well,” added Dean Johnson.

Highly competitive sports teams feature soccer and lacrosse and all students are encouraged to participate. “Our philosophy is that winning is good for self esteem, but being able to be a part of that is even more important,” stated Niell.
In essence, the entire program, from pre-K through Upper School is laid out to get the students into the best college. Recent grads are now attending schools like Harvard, Penn, and USC, with 100 percent of the graduates going off to college.

“It is a tremendous privilege for us to be able to take 3-year-olds, and 15 years later graduate them from high school and send them on to the college of their choice,” emphasized Niell. “It is a process that we think about constantly.”

For more information, visit www.thesalisburyschool.org. or attend an

Open House on Jan. 22, Feb. 18 or Mar. 19, 2009.
The Salisbury School, 6279 Hobbs Rd., Salisbury, Md., Phone: 410-742-4464