Buckley School

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The Buckley School is a college preparatory day school, founded in 1933 by Isabelle Buckley. It is located in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, which is in the San Fernando Valley. It is the oldest co-educational independent day school in the Los Angeles area.

Buckley founded the school on the basis of a "4-Fold Plan of Education," which emphasizes equally academic training, creative self-expression, physical development and moral education. Evidence of that plan can be found in the high school's "Buckley Commitment," a type of honor code at Buckley that includes the values of

• honesty
• loyalty
• kindness
• respect
• self-discipline
• self-reliance

Buckley is a K-12 School and enrolls 750 students, which allows for an average class size of 17 students in the middle school, and 15 students in the high school.

Buckley's mascot is the griffin. The school colors are Red and Grey which stand for Courage and Perseverance.

The high school newspaper is the Student Voice, which was established in 1985. In 2007, it was named Best Newspaper by the American Scholastic Press Association among high schools with enrollments under 500 students.

Throughout the 1980s, Buckley became famous for its international studies program.^{[citation needed]} Led by John Welch, the initial programs sent Tim Hillman and the theatre department on tours of Australia and New Zealand. In 2002, the Performing Arts Department collaborated with Tony-nominated writer and director, Stuart Ross, to present the world premiere of The Sounds of Plaid, a large-cast, co-ed version of Mr. Ross’s international smash hit Forever Plaid. In the summer of 2004, The Sounds of Plaid was re-mounted and presented at the International Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Buckley has an active chapter in the National Honor Society and competes in the FIRST Robotics Competition. It is also the home of the student organization Kite Club, which was formed to advance and promote various forms of wind-propelled recreation, and Pre-med Club, the oldest club on campus.

Walter H. Baumhoff was Headmaster from 1978(?) - 1997. Paul Horovitz, was head of school between 1998 and 2005. Elizabeth McGregor served as acting head of school during the school year from 2005-2006. After an extensive search, the new selection for head of school is Larry Dougherty, formerly the headmaster of the American Overseas School of Rome. He took office in July 2006.

Campus history

During the early years, campuses were located in Beverly Hills, Tarzana, Encino, and on Woodman Avenue and Riverside Drive in Sherman Oaks. In 1964, Buckley purchased land that had been owned by the Glenaire Country Club and by 1973 was able to accommodate all divisions of the school on the new Stansbury Avenue campus in Sherman Oaks.

Notable alumni

• Jill Whelan
• Albert Hammond, Jr. of the Strokes
• Jacques Brautbar, Alex Greenwald, and Sam Farrar of Phantom Planet
• Kyle Sullivan
• Bret Easton Ellis
• Nicky Hilton
• Paris Hilton
• Nicole Richie
• Rob Kardashian
• Kim Kardashian
• Kimberly Stewart
• Matthew Perry
• Tatyana Ali
• Alyssa Milano
• Rashida Jones
• Natalie Cole
• Gaby Hoffmann
• Tevin Campbell
• Justin Shenkarow
• Meredith MacRae
• Nicollette Sheridan
• Melissa Gilbert
• Laura Dern
• Sean Hood
• Christopher Parkening
• Gunnar Nelson and Matthew Nelson of Nelson
• Christian Brando
• Paul Thomas Anderson
• Josh Zuckerman
• Taylor Ann Hasselhoff

External links

• The Buckley School