SEVERN SCHOOL

© 1997, Clayton Davis

There is a superior private school in Severna Park, Maryland. Go a block south of Dawson's store on Baltimore- Annapolis Boulevard and there sits a unique learning institution, Severn School.

Something seemed out of place on my first visit. A tall, rusty tower sitting in front of Boone House greeted me.

I had an appointment with Kristyn Stout to learn about the school. Her office is in a mansion left over from the days when the surrounding area was the Boone Farm.

There it stood, tall and stately, held together by rusty bolts and those old-fashioned square nuts made by hand. Its legs were intertwined with heavy twisted wire, holding tension against all wind that ever blew in the past or any future gale.

A ladder went all the way to the top. Nothing was up there for any climber to see.

"What is that old oil-well derrick in your front yard?" I asked.

"Sorry. Don't know." A staff member looked embarrassed.

Someone else spoke up, "Windmill over a well. To pump water when this was Boone Farm."

Kristyn Stout filled in the details. The well now contains only a time capsule buried by Severn students at the time of the School's 75th anniversary in 1989.

Several years ago, a student contest was held to determine what to do with the windmill. The winning entry suggested that absolutely nothing should be done to it -- the windmill stands as a tribute to the past.

My overall impression of the campus was pleasurable. The architecture and landscaping form a setting that is joyously harmonious. Standing in front of the windmill tower you have the sense that these buildings and grounds are an oasis far removed from the hustle and bustle of busy highways and clamoring voices. The shape of doors and windows, spacing between houses and buildings, placement of shrubs and trees, all cooperate to tell you this is a peaceful place.

A new student coming up the walkway to Boone House looking for the door marked Admissions Office may experience a tingle of dread and fear. That disappears as you step inside and find a sitting room like the one at your favorite aunt's house, that one you always liked to visit.

Her's was a house where loving arms hugged you and welcoming voices told you how they liked having you there. On her walls were portraits of people who mattered. Portraits hang here too. Their spirits permeate the room.

You know this school is an extension of all that was great and good, back there at home, and now you have been sent to Severn School. Your first impression will be favorable. This is not a bad place to study, not at all.

Cheryl Ritchie may have felt that way in September 1971, when the school first admitted girls. She stood there expecting to be teased by boys, instead she found them to be polite and considerate.

Leslie Passano started the same year as a junior and remembered the boys were like brothers, "Very cool brothers."

Six girls joined Severn School in 1971, Suzanne Cheek, Julie Greenebaum, Leslie Passano, Helen Passano, Cheryl Ritchie, and Janet Shenk Smith.

Their admission broke a fifty-seven year tradition, because Severn School, was founded in 1914 by Roland M. Teel for the specific purpose of preparing young men for entrance into the United States Naval Academy.

Mr. Teel had been teaching at Robert Werntz "War College" in Annapolis. It served to prepare Naval Academy applicants for examinations in English grammar, spelling, history, algebra, geometry, and geography. Grammar and spelling for the reports that were written, algebra and geometry for navigation and gun aiming, and the geography requirement so you could find other continents.

It was a loose arrangement. The young men lived in boarding houses with no supervision. Mr. Teel was teaching mathematics and English at Werntz's and found the whole situation unsatisfactory. He decided to rent a house in Severna Park and start Severn School. There were only twenty students, but they had regular meals, normal hours, and discipline.

In 1920, when the Academy altered its requirements to give preference to students from four year high schools, Severn expanded its curriculum to that of a four-year college preparatory institution, still maintaining its close ties to the Academy.

Today virtually one-hundred percent of graduating students enter four-year colleges or universities upon graduation. Many are inducted into the Cum Laude Society by Severn School. Founded in 1906 and modeled on Phi Beta Kappa, the Cum Laude Society recognizes both the quality of the schools that are members and the academic achievement of students. Only 14 schools in Maryland and 324 in the U.S. have been granted charters.

These students succeed mainly because of the philosophy of Roland M. Teel, Founder, Severn School, who said, "Education is not a means to the acquisition of material wealth, but the firm support of the basis of greater enjoyment of the material things you acquire thorough intelligent, industrious effort."

Roland M. Teel remained as Headmaster until retirement in 1955. He died in 1979, just shy of his 96th birthday.

William J. Creeden became Headmaster in 1993. Mr. Creeden's experience includes schools in New Jersey, Texas, and Florida, coming to Severn after seven years as Headmaster at Miami Country Day School.

Mr. Creeden is guiding Severn School toward the next millennium with a dedicated faculty, a strong student body, a respected curriculum, and full extra-curricular program, a vastly improved physical plant, and a rich tradition of excellence.

Representing this enduring tradition, the rusty windmill tower remains standing on the grounds of Boone House. Unassailed by buffeting winds of change, it will be here far into the ages to come. * * *

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