• Home
• Articles
• Find Schools
• Find Classmates
• My Account

Springside School

School Overview:

School Notes:

• Springside School, founded in 1879, is the oldest school for girls in Philadelphia and the only all-girls school in the area that shares a co-educational partnership with all-boys Chestnut Hill Academy in grades 9 - 12, offering a "best of both worlds" education to girls and boys. Today, Springside is an independent college preparatory day school, enrolling 645 students in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12. The school's campus includes 30 acres of fields and woods adjacent to the Wissahickon watershed and Fairmount Park in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia. One large modern building, with wireless technology throughout, houses the school's three divisions: Lower School (Pre-Kindergarten–Grade 4), Middle School (Grades 5–8), and Upper School (Grades 9–12). Students learn to question what they discover and own what they know. A traditional curriculum, influenced by the research and knowledge of what works best for girls, provides a strong foundation, with a spiraling curriculum that presents skills and concepts in increasingly sophisticated and developmentally appropriate ways. In providing a broad and diverse range of course offerings, expanded still further by the coeducational Coordinate Program with Chestnut Hill Academy in Upper School, Springside offers each student numerous opportunities to discover her passion and develop her own voice.
• STATE-OF-THE-ART-FACILITIES: An ideal learning environment, seventy percent of Springside's campus is new or has been renovated since 2000
• First girls' school to offer outdoor ropes course . •
• New three-story academic wing with 20 classrooms, including seven science labs, two art studios, a broadcasting studio, and a 7,000 square foot library with technology suite; applied physics and engineering lab was added in 2009 . •
• Complete renovation of Middle School wing, with four new classrooms . •
• New Lower School addition with three classrooms, art studio, science rooms, and technology center; early ed physics and engineering lab and video production studio were added in 2009 . •
• New 52,000 square foot, solar paneled athletic field house with three basketball courts, four squash courts, fitness center, dance studio, and rowing tanks . •
• Five regulation athletic fields, including two new offsite fields . •
• SMART' technology in every classroom.
• CORE PRINCIPALS: . •
• A commitment to academic excellence . •
• A commitment to girls: Incubators of innovation, Springside teachers embrace best practices for the teaching of girls based on the latest research, decades of tradition, and the deepest understanding of how girls learn and succeed. . •
• A commitment to technological fluency for girls that is interdisciplinary and backed by both professional training for faculty and a mission-driven technology plan . •
• A commitment to visual and performing arts that allows space and time for girls to experience the full range of the arts as joyful and serious academic disciplines . •
• A commitment to athletics that promotes courage, discipline, health and fitness, sportsmanship, leadership,and teamwork in preparation for eleven interscholastic team sports . •
• A fully integrated environmental education program that uses the backyard Wissahickon watershed as an outdoor classroom to combine science, technology, and environmental stewardship.
• A commitment to diversity.
• Diversity Mission Statement: It is Springside's conviction that excellence in education thrives within a diverse and open community. We believe that acknowledging the variety of cultural experiences among students, faculty, staff, and parents fosters understanding and develops sensitivity to the world around us. Each girl must feel free to show clearly who and what she is; she must understand that variations of color, religion, ethnic background, class, and sexual orientation are a source from which she and the entire community may draw strength, wisdom, and a greater humanity.
• Profile last updated: 07/10/2009

In the News:

• Local families run to keep her memory alive (Springfield Sun)
  posted on November 17, 2009 at 11:30:42 pm
  Ina Lipman, 57, ran in the New York marathon Sunday not because she’s a runner, but to celebrate the memory of an inspirational neighbor and friend.
• Springside Turns Blue and Gold School Colors into Green with Philadelphia's Largest Non-Commercial Solar Array (Renewable Energy World)
  posted on November 12, 2009 at 01:38:24 pm
  Springside School, a Pre-K-12 school for girls committed to educating enlightened leaders for the 21st century, will unveil the largest non-commercial solar array in Philadelphia on Friday, November 20th. The "Flip the Switch" ceremony will take place at 12 Noon in the Vare Field House on Springside's Chestnut Hill campus.
• Philadelphia-area hospitals adjust to fight swine flu (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
  posted on October 29, 2009 at 10:00:00 am
  Confirmed cases of swine flu nearly doubled in the region the last two weeks, triggering a flurry of new hospital policies aimed at slowing the spread of infection. Yet, the devil is in the details.
• State hall to welcome 6 with midstate ties (The Patriot-News)
  posted on October 23, 2009 at 04:07:56 am
  The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame will hold its 47th annual induction ceremony beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Reading hotel in Wyomissing.
• The Future of Design Showcase: K-12 Learning Environments (Contract Magazine)
  posted on October 5, 2009 at 01:32:23 am
  What will the future K-12 classroom look like? Contract's Future of Design showcase, sponsored by KI, reviews industry submissions and discusses forward-thinking concepts as to what will define classrooms of the future

View all past news stories

School Zip Statistics:

School Map:

Get: driving directions Weather: 10-day forecast or monthly climate averages.

Tip: Zoom in/out using the slider below. View aerial photos using the Satellite or Hybrid buttons.

Note: Data has been gathered from schools, government and commercial data sources.

Find More Schools: Boarding Schools & Military Schools

Copyright 2003-2009 Private School Review LLC. All rights reserved.
Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy