Landon School, an independent, non-sectarian boys day school, prepares talented boys for productive lives as accomplished, responsible and caring men whose actions are guided by the principles of perseverance, teamwork, honor and fair play. In addition to a rigorous academic curriculum that features 17 Advanced Placement (AP) and 15 honors courses in the Upper School, students choose from 22 arts and 23 co-curricular athletics programs so that they can nurture all of their passions.
Landon embraces the teacher-coach mentor philosophy so that faculty members are also coaches, advisors and leaders who connect with students in multiple ways throughout the day -- in the classroom, on the athletics field, in the art studio, on the performance stage, and beyond.
For example, History Department Chair Bill Reed is also the head coach of our varsity soccer and baseball teams, a father of two (including one Landon boy), and a respected teacher who has such a lasting impact on his students that one alumnus nominated him for the University of Chicago's 2014 Outstanding Educator Award.
Studio Arts Department Chair Walt Bartman is head coach of our varsity swimming/diving and water polo teams, a father of two, a practicing artist and a mentor to our students as they undertake extracurricular projects -- this year, he provided guidance to a group of students as they painted portraits for at-risk Argentinian children and another group who painted pet portraits for patients at Children's National Medical Center.
Assistant Middle School Head Erin Duffy connects with her students as a history teacher and as head coach of the seventh grade basketball team. Grade 6 Dean Addison Hunt gets to know students as their math teacher and as head coach of the varsity, junior varsity and Middle School cross country and track teams. Spanish teacher Sarah DeCamps, also a Middle School tennis and soccer coach, has taken groups of her students to Honduras to experience the language and culture firsthand.
Lower School science teacher Beth Hughes bonds with our youngest Bears as a coach on the soccer field and as an advisor who helps students care for class pets as part of the after-school Animal Crew program.
In 2015, five seniors were recognized as National Merit Commended Scholars for displaying the potential for excellence in their college studies.
The 16 students in the 2014-15 Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry class had a 100% pass rate and averaged a 4.65 (out of a possible 5) on the AP exam, a full two points higher than the national average.
Two of our Upper School students were USA Water Polo Academic All-Americans.
A team of our Middle School boys built their own SeaPerch submersible remote operating vehicle and in 2015 qualified for SeaPerch Nationals.
A tech-savvy team of Lower School students, who worked together to learn to write computer code and program robots, finished first in the state of Maryland and 16th in the nation out of 1,150 teams in the Wonder League Robotics Competition.
In 2016, 13 Upper and Middle School artists earned honors in the National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards; the work of five artists was juried into the Congressional Art Exhibition; and 22 Landon artists were among the finalists (and four won awards) in the regional Best of the Independent Schools Art Awards, an independently judged contest held in our very own Landow Gallery. Our musicians also shined in competition: Members of our Upper School Strings Ensemble, Jazz Band, Chamber Singers, Bearitones and Concert Band earn four first places and one second place at the 2016 Big Apple Classic music festival in New York City.
On the athletics front, Bears varsity teams won five IAC championships in 2014-15, and the lacrosse team secured a No. 2 national ranking.
In addition, 16 athletes from the Class of 2016 have committed to compete in college athletics.
Our alumni, who frequently share their stories -- and praise Landon's teachers -- on our Bear Blog (www.landon.net/bearblog), have gone on to be Naval nuclear engineers, tech pioneers in Silicon Valley, college basketball coaches, investment bankers, award-winning writers and so much more.