House System

Hundreds of years ago in England, 男孩的家庭会把他们的儿子送到家庭教师那里学习他们需要知道的东西. At times, these tutors would have the boys stay in their homes, 一开始的个人辅导变成了男孩们学习类似信息的小班. Occasionally, 住在一所房子里的男孩会和住在另一所房子里的男孩竞争, as one might expect, in cricket or rugby.

Over time, the houses near each other merged to make housing, dining, and "administration" more efficient. 最终这些房子变成了学校，我们知道的伊顿公学，哈罗公学和其他学校. 就学术监督和咨询而言，学院继续是组织系统. 男生的舍监在学生在学校的整个职业生涯中与男孩及其家人一起工作.

Because of the physical nature of dormitories, many American boarding schools now have House Systems, but not many day schools organize themselves this way. 日耳曼敦中学的校长吉姆·康纳(Jim Connor)认为，看看我们能否将学院制的概念应用于我们的高中男女生，这将是一件有趣的事情. 高中男生教务长兼英语老师泰德·海尼获得了一笔拨款，前往英国探索这个问题, 对学校的访问让他意识到House Systems的许多特性都与GA的文化有关. We looked at schools with House Systems, and with the leadership of then Upper School Head John Ball, we got to work.

高中行政部门在2006-07年讨论和规划实施. 为了做一些事情，我们尝试采用各种房屋系统的一部分. Some of these include the following: (1) streamline our administration so that one adult would oversee a child's progress for all four years of Upper School; (2) increase the involvement of advisors so that the work of advisors would take on added importance, making sure that all students receive acceptable care; (3) add to opportunities for faculty and students to take on leadership roles; (4) create a setting for more mentoring and tutoring among students; (5) increase opportunities for students to enjoy inter-house activities ranging from athletic tournaments to simple and fun contests (like Spelling Bees; Rock, Paper, Scissors contests, Knowledge Bowl, etc); (6) allow students to feel part of a select group rather than just be one of many (as one of seventeen freshmen in a house rather than one of 120 in a freshmen class).

The new program began with the 2007-08 school year. 开学第一天，七位新院长欢迎他们的68名学生来到他们的学院. 七个学院各有17名大四学生、17名大三学生、17名大二学生和17名大一学生. 每个学院有八名顾问，每个年级两名，每个顾问大约有八名顾问. Each junior was a mentor for a freshman new to the Upper School. Faculty worked together, discussing students and getting to know all the kids in the House, not only their own advisories. Students learned that they would remain in the House until graduation, where they would graduate by House. Seniors get a hug/handshake from the House Head, whom they have gotten to know very well, before receiving the diploma.

对教师和学生来说，重要的是我们也继续在我们学校成功的课堂活动. 舞会、班级旅行以及新生静修和高年级学生项目等传统活动每年都会继续组织.

The seven House Heads oversee each House member's schedule, attendance, family concerns, or anything else that might come up. House Heads also encourage activities initiated and run by the students. They work with two senior prefects who lead the House and run House meetings, which occur two mornings a week. The House Heads also meet twice a week as a group to discuss school issues, to plan for major events, and to strive for consistency among the Houses.

After the initial skepticism and uncertainty, most faculty and students came to appreciate the changes. All the Houses have specific colors (and rugby shirts in those colors); they share a meal together many mornings; the younger kids interact with older students in ways that never would have happened before; seniors give "What's Important to Me" speeches to their Houses; and the ultimate—the House "Olympics,在一个美丽的星期五，在学年结束时举行，让每个人都很高兴.

After more than a decade of the House System, it has become an integral part of GA's Upper School experience, and we can't imagine our school without it!