The Nora School is a private progressive college-preparatory

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

. A nonprofit school with

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

status, it was formerly known as The Eberhard School, Washington Ethical Society School, and Washington Ethical High School. The school's mission is to guide students to identify their talents, understand where their challenges lie, and honor their unique identities. It works toward this goal through a diverse, active curriculum that uses teaching and operational strategies to promote social equity, justice, and environmental stewardship. The school's social education program includes monthly community service projects; a student trip that follows the path of civil rights from Atlanta, Georgia, to

Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abou ...

; individual college counseling; and weekly advisory meetings. Students often attend leadership conferences in and out of the state. Classes include Future Issues, Global Communities, and Environmental Science.

History

Founded in 1964 by

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

educator Leon Eberhard as The Eberhard School,Leon E. Eberhard Dies at 78; Teacher and School Founder
. ''The Washington Post''. April 14, 1994. p. B7. the school has changed names and locations several times. In 1968, Eberhard moved the school from

Dupont Circle Dupont Circle is a historic roundabout park and Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th St ...

to the new Washington Ethical Society building at 16th Street and Kalmia Street NW, where it remained until 2000. Eberhard left the school in 1975 to found the Acton School in Northern Virginia. The school was adopted by the Ethical Society and renamed Washington Ethical Society School. Eberhard died in 1994. The school fell on hard times financially, and had only 12 students when Sally Fisher from Sandy Spring Friends School was hired as Head of School in 1981. Fisher restored the school to academic and financial health over the next decade. In 1988, the school was renamed Washington Ethical High School, as it no longer had a formal affiliation with the Ethical Society. David Mullen was hired as Head of School in 1991. The school gained its first accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in 1994. Outgrowing the space and enrollment limitations of the Ethical Society building, the school began searching for property in the mid-1990s, culminating in the purchase of land in

. With a donation from former faculty member Beau Kaplan and his wife Linda, the school built a new building and grew enrollment by 50% in 2000. That same year the school was renamed The Nora School in honor of the Kaplans' late daughter. As of 2015, Beau Kaplan was

Chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

. The school expanded again in the fall of 2016, adding a second floor to its building on Sligo Avenue, doubling its size to about 11,000 square feet and adding a second science lab, a music room, student lounge and seminar room among other spaces.

References

External links

*
Washington Small Schools AssociationNational Coalition of Small Schools

Middle States Association of Colleges and SchoolsNational Association of Independent Schools
{{authority control Downtown Silver Spring, Maryland Educational institutions established in 1964 Ethical movement Private high schools in Montgomery County, Maryland Preparatory schools in Maryland 1964 establishments in Maryland