BARNESVILLE -- A small school with a big vision this year seeks to determine how it can better prepare students for an unknown future and to collaborate with organizations throughout the region in developing a new, green economy.
The Summit
This week Olney Friends School, an independent college preparatory high school in the Quaker tradition, will host a summit with the goal of growing a network of innovative thinkers. "People, Planet, Place: Case Studies in Organizational Transformation" is expected to attract representatives of area colleges, local businesses, other independent schools and the public to discuss a variety of issues with the staff and students of Olney.
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Head of School Rich Sidwell said the summit, slated Thursday through Saturday in conjunction with the school's annual homecoming, may be "the biggest thing" Olney has ever done.
"It's designed to benefit much more than just Olney," he added.
Sidwell said the summit concept was born out of questions brought to the school's board, comprised mostly of concerned alumni who stepped up to save the school when its closure was considered in the late 1990s. Members were asked how the school could better reach its audience and serve its students; what is most important to prepare pupils for the future; how the school could better help the community and region; and how to make education there more affordable to families.
Students will play an active role in the strategic planning event by leading tours, listening to presenters and making video recordings to post on YouTube.
"It's their future ... as much as anyone's," Sidwell noted.
The public is invited to participate in the event at the school's campus, located at 61830 Sandy Ridge Road off Ohio 147 on the east end of Barnesville.
The History
Founded in 1837 in Mount Pleasant by the Ohio Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Olney made the move to Barnesville in 1876 with construction of the main building that remains in use today, according to Mary Ellen Newport, assistant head of school and director of admissions. The bricks that make up the structure were fired on site from clay dug from the property, likely in the area of the current soccer field.
In 1910, Newport said, fire claimed the top floor of the four-story building. The structure was saved, however, in three-story form and remains the primary space for classrooms and meals for the student body.
The Quakers who founded the institution came to Ohio with plans for a boarding school for boys and girls as early as 1814. They traveled to the Buckeye State mainly from the South, motivated to move by their opposition to slavery.
Newport noted doctrinal differences led to a split in the the Quaker community in 1854, prompting some members to relocate and build a new school at Barnesville. Until 1999, it continued to operate under the guidance of the Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative).
When the age and small number of that group's members made it clear it could no longer operate the school, several alumni decided to take matters into their own hands.
"In 1999, a group of alums picked it up and formed a new board," Newport said. "We've been growing ever since."
The School Today
Still drawing on its Quaker roots, Olney remains committed to values that include conservation and environmental stewardship, as well as noncompetitive, cooperative learning. The school provides a college preparatory education for co-ed students in ninth through 12th grades. Sidwell said enrollment usually numbers 60-70 students, drawn from across the nation and around the globe. He said the international diversity of the school is one thing that makes Olney's programs so rich.
"Your roommates and classmates come from all around the world," he noted.
College counseling is a major focus of the academic programming, especially for juniors and seniors. Students must be accepted to a four-year college in order to graduate.
Sidwell said students choose Olney for a variety of reasons -- some may feel something is missing from other educational environments, while others look at Olney as a chance to "step out on their own." What they find is a family-like atmosphere, he said, that allows them to form friendships that last a lifetime.
They also find opportunities to step into leadership roles and take responsibility for their own surroundings. The school has no janitorial staff, Newport pointed out, so students have duties to fulfill in cleaning up after meals and maintaining clean classrooms and dormitories.
The school's humanities program combines lessons in English and social studies with its farm and garden program, which stresses to ninth-graders the skills needed for survival. The staff and students raise grass-fed beef cattle and organic vegetables on site, along with a herd of goats. The school also has its own wastewater treatment system, offering further lessons in caring for the environment.
As part of the school's efforts to reach out to its neighbors, Sidwell said, student performed about 400 hours of community service in the first month and a half of the current school year. Their activities include working with the public library and youth sports organizations, tutoring and cleaning village streets following the Barnesville Pumpkin Festival.
At home on the 350-acre campus, students have the chance to study everything from Spanish to web design, conceptual physics, art, chemistry, vocal music, photography and Quakerism.