The Nora School

Downtown Silver Spring (DTSS) never ceases to amaze. Right here in the heart of DTSS lives The Nora School at 955 Sligo Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910. The Nora School is an exceptional, urban, privately funded school. Dave Mullen is Head of School.

Founded in 1964 as The Eberhard School the small, college preparatory school had occupied its former location in upper Northwest Washington since 1968. It was the Washington Ethical Society School from 1975 to 1987 and Washington Ethical High School from 1987 until 2000 when it was dedicated as The Nora School

The Nora School has 64 students in grades 9-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 6 to 1. Nora’s graduating students go on on to attend 4-year colleges and art colleges around the country.

Many students find their way to The Nora School because they became frustrated in large, impersonal institutions, while others are looking for a richer, more engaging education. The Nora School inspires their students to view the world more critically prepares them for college, work, and life.

Nora students enjoy coming to school, some feeling that way for the first time in years. Most say Nora allows them to be who they are, not who others say they should be. Nora offers, as one observer so aptly put it, “…a program that is magical for the nontraditional thinker.”

How to describe The Nora School? They describe themselves as, “an intentionally small college preparatory high school for bright kids who learn differently and want to be more engaged in their education.” I like that definition.

When you think of The Nora School, you must think differently. “Think Differently” is the school motto, which inspires creative and critical thinking in the classrooms. As you get to know this school, you discover that a real community exists here where students want to learn and achieve.

What makes this school such a special place? What makes it unique? To answer that, it is important to know that they start every school year with four lessons for life: Show up on Time; Do Your Work; Care for Your Health; and Treat Others Respectfully. Next take a look at their website, www.nora-school.org, which has sections on Admissions, Academics, Accreditation, Parent Education Series, Student Life, Teaching, and Mindfulness.

Admissions

The admissions process is individual, personal, and engaging. It includes: a discussion with the parent/guardian(s) and the Admissions Director; a half-day student visit; a parent and student interview with the Head of School; an application, multiple academic references; and an official transcript.

Deadlines: The Nora School believes there is no deadline to knowing when a different school choice is the right choice. Thus, there is no admissions deadline. The Nora School maintains a rolling admissions process as long as there are possible openings in the schedule. They often admit qualified students throughout the school year in addition to those who join at the beginning of the school year.

Academics

The Nora School is an informal school, but it is not an unstructured school. The academic program is challenging, but it is balanced with the arts, community service, and sports.

Everyone takes classes in English, social studies, mathematics, science, and foreign language, and chooses from a range of electives.

Teaching

The average class size at Nora is eight students; no class is larger than 12. Nora wants teachers who are enthusiastic about learning, experts in their subject areas, and dedicated to young people, grades 9-12. All faculty members have degrees in their primary teaching area; more than 80 percent hold advanced degrees. Staff includes administrators who teach, a college counselor, a learning disabilities specialist, an athletic director, a psychological consultant, and tutors. One can readily see that they are prepared for their callings.

Students and teachers know and respect one another on a first-name basis. Learning is very much a give-and-take experience; teachers want to hear students’ opinions and ideas. In the process, everyone learns. Most of all, teachers are role models for the idea that learning can take place anywhere and everywhere.

Accreditation The Nora School is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

The most recent Middle States Accreditation Team put it this way: “…we found a lively, nurturing, intently purposeful, safe, loving sanctuary in which students can blossom and develop skills and confidence to embrace successfully the harsh realities of the world outside this little oasis and to make a successful transition to college.”

That’s the kind of accreditation parents look for in a school. Nora’s graduating students are accepted to a wide variety of colleges and universities. Many of them receive strong scholarship awards.

Parent Education Series

The Nora School cares about the parents as well as the students. That is why they sponsor a parent education series:

• Mindfulness for Parents, Identifying Hidden Academic Issues: Understanding ADHD, Dyscalculia and Dyslexia with Lorrie Ness, Ph.D.

• College Decisions and Preparations for Students Who Think Differently, have ADHD, Executive Function or other Learning Disabilities

• The Emotional Life of Teens, with Bill Stixrud, Ph.D. and Ned Johnson

• Study Skills for the High School Years, with Paul Rivas

• Understanding Anxiety in Teens, with Rachel Singer, Ph.D.

These talks are free and open to the public.

Mindfulness

The Nora School is a certified Mindful School and is part of the “Mindfulness in Schools Project”. Research from leading universities has shown the efficacy of a mindfulness practice in reducing stress, calming anxiety, reducing depression, and generally allowing more skillful responses to life’s difficulties. Over 350,000 primary and secondary pupils have already benefited from this program. All Nora students take these classes, usually in the fall semester. The evening Mindfulness Program allows parents to share in what students are learning.

Now you might ask, “What is mindfulness?” Glad you asked. Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you're sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress.

Student Life

Nora students learn and grow beyond classroom walls. Students participate in team sports, clubs, student government, school hikes, and trips.

Nora students shape student activities. The school values compassion, and the students devote time and energy to activities reflecting compassion. All students, with faculty advisors, volunteer in the community — entertaining the elderly, staffing food banks, and feeding the homeless. Some students serve as peer mediators. Many are politically active.

Senior and junior classes go on autumn retreats in preparation for the rigors of the year. Students may travel abroad on school-sponsored trips during spring break.

Community Service

The Nora School takes the idea of community far beyond the campus. The entire student body participates in community service. Every student completes 32 hours of service during the year. The school is deeply committed to making a positive impact on the greater Washington, DC area and beyond.

The school sets aside a day each month so that all students and teachers can participate in community service at a local social service agency. The Nora community has worked at Bread for the City, the Capital Area Food Bank, Food & Friends, Martha’s Table, Washington Animal Rescue League, Washington Hebrew Home, and many other worthy organizations.

An important point to note is that The Nora School encourages students to embrace the condition of their world and to use their knowledge and skills to support community needs. They graduate as responsible, civic-minded citizens.

Multiculturalism

This school is intentionally multicultural. When it was founded in 1964, most schools were segregated. As Dave Mullen, Head of School, told his students, “When this school was founded 54 years ago, you could not have attended school together in many parts of this country.” They teach the history of social freedom and equality daily, not just relegate it to a month or certain events. They seek students from all backgrounds.

Dave’s Blog

Dave writes an insightful, compassionate, amusing blog. In one of his blogs he wrote:

“Whether you’re doing fashion design or song design, renovating houses or renovating economic policy, creating art or creating comedy, fighting for justice overseas or in America, climbing Everest or climbing the corporate ladder, studying modern video or ancient wisdom, the world is full of amazing things to explore and fascinating people to meet. You are among them. Read, take action, stay curious, and take every opportunity to do the small things to make your corner of the world a better place. Goodspeed.”

What a wonderful sendoff to a young person going out to meet the world!

We have reached a point where you might like to hear what others say about The Nora School.

What Others Say

This is what you might hear when you listen to a parent:

• “Calm, nurturing environment for my daughter... a big change from the chaos she experienced in public school. Emphasis is on academics, problem solving, and community. Not much emphasis on sports, cliques, etc.”

This is what you might hear when you listen to a student:

• “The Nora School allowed me to think differently and comprehend my own style of learning. Personally, I think a school with a small and environment and class size makes it a lot easier to get around and converse with different people. I can officially say that I’m more than ready for college and it’s all thanks to this wonderful school.”

This is what you might hear when you listen to a senior:

• “We have a variety of different activities around the school. Our most competitive activity is the Student Government Association. Each year becoming an SGA Representative is very difficult because everyone wants to become a member and be a part of our event planning. We always have a number of sports such as Soccer, Volleyball, Baseball, and Softball. During each season we have a good number of people that participate in these events. For our superb students, we participate in the National Honor Society, which a selective number of students with a GPA of 3.25 or higher get to help and support the community around us.”

This is what you might hear when you listen to a sophomore:

• “The teachers are for the most part great. They are all very understanding and always willing to help.”

This is what you might hear when you listen to another sophomore:

• “This is the best school I have been to. The teachers are understanding and helpful plus I have made some really amazing friends.”

This is what you might hear when you listen to another senior:

• “Each year I've attended my school, I am continuously growing and bettering myself. I'm always finding myself talking to students who I usually don't talk to and getting to know about them. It's interesting because a lot of the time we have a lot in common and end up being really great friends.”

The Bottom Line

When you bottom-line it, The Nora School is not against our public schools, but is an alternative to them. They offer a different concept and approach to teaching and learning where every student realizes his or her unique potential of mind, body, and spirit. They think differently!

You can find The Nora School at:

955 Sligo Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910

Telephone: 301.495.6672 Fax: 301.495.7829