Intro

Here are just a few features and benefits of joining the LCDS community. Some help make life more convenient for families and others provide opportunities to continue the learning process outside the classroom.

After School Care

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LCDS offers the After School Program (ASP) for Lower School students and the Middle After School Hours (MASH) for Middle School students as a service to working parents who want quality after school care for their children.

This program is available on any full school day except on:

• the first day of school;
• the final day of school before Winter Holiday Break;
• the last day of school.

The programs are staffed by LCDS faculty and are in session from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Children who are in the program for less than 10 hours per week are charged $5.00 per hour. Children signing up for 10 hours or more are charged a flat fee of $45 per week.

Upper School and Middle School students are also welcome to use the library for research purposes after school on Mondays through Thursdays until 5pm.

Enrichment

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LCDS offers a variety of enrichment classes for students and adults. While these programs usually take place after school, classes are also offered in the evenings, on weekends, and during the summer. Program offerings include such things as art, computer, Saturday preschool program, science, sports, and summer day and sports camps.

Enrichment offerings will be available in August for the Fall trimester.

Field Trips

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LCDS firmly believes that a well-rounded education must provide students with a variety of experiences that both challenge the students to excel and offer them opportunities for success. Throughout the LCDS educational experience, students are asked to grow and test the limits of their potential. From the kindergarten field trip to Gnome Countryside, the Middle School trips to outdoor school and Williamsburg, to the Upper School French class that dines at LeBec Fin in Philadelphia, field trips and expeditions play an integral part in the LCDS experience.

MUN

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Lancaster Country Day School is one of only six secondary schools in the nation invited to participate in the week-long International Model United Nations Conference (IMUN). This conference is officially recognized by the United Nations and held at The Hague, Netherlands (www.thimun.org). Each year, this prestigious event brings together over 4000 students from 130 countries to experience international politics and gain global perspective. LCDS has offered this program as part of its upper school curriculum since 1980.

A Student’s Perspective on MUN

One of the greatest scholastic accomplishments I have ever experienced

Dan Smith ‘06

Ever since I heard of the Model United Nations class at Lancaster Country Day School, I wanted to participate.

The reality of what I had gotten myself into didn’t hit me until I began working in the Model United Nations class. The idea of traveling halfway around the world to meet with about 3,800 kids of my age, who came from over 100 different countries to discuss world problems, was unnerving. To top it off, we discovered that this year we’d be representing China, one of the most powerful countries in the United Nations, and a member of the U.N. Security Council.

The amount of information we needed to learn was unbelievable. Under the direction of Mr. Smedley, we learned about China and its global agenda. Each of us wrote two resolutions, which are United Nations-style documents designed to offer specific solutions to pressing issues. The resolutions would be debated at M.U.N. in the committees and sub-commissions. Our class spent countless hours researching, writing and re-writing resolutions.

The months [of preparation] passed very quickly until our January trip to The Hague arrived.

I was worried that I was not prepared enough. On the first day of the conference, I felt scared, but my fears were soon lifted when I started talking with other students in the disarmament commission who felt the same way. I then decided to talk to as many people as possible and found many students working on the same resolutions as mine. After negotiating and merging resolutions several times, my group selected me to submit the resolutions.

Two days later, I gave a speech in front of two hundred people. I had never been a great public speaker, but I felt that the speech helped to win over the other representatives. After an hour or two of intense debate, my resolution passed by a margin of over one hundred votes. The next day, I had to present my resolution in front of five hundred people and again my resolution passed by a large margin.

This was one of the greatest scholastic accomplishments I have ever experienced. The feeling that accompanies creating something that people my age believed was worthy of approval provided me with a sense of pride and accomplishment. I saw these same feelings in my classmates, as well.

Music Lessons

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Group and private music lessons (depending on your child’s grade) are offered through our music department. For your convenience, if your child’s class schedule allows, private lessons are available during the school day.

• Preschool – Third Grade: We offer private instruction on piano, violin and cello. The Suzuki Method is also offered as a choice for young beginners in piano and violin. Distinctive features of Suzuki study include: daily listening to the music to be learned; parental attendance at all lessons and supervision of all practice; learning through imitation without note reading in the first stages of study; playing from memory; constant repetition and review; and using the Suzuki repertoire in order. A music reading text is later added to the study program of Suzuki method students

• Fourth & Fifth Grade: Group lessons (no extra fee) and private lessons are offered on orchestral instruments. Students may study violin, viola, cello, bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, baritone, French horn and drums. Private lessons are also available on piano.

• Sixth-Twelfth Grade: Beginning in sixth grade there are no group lessons, however private lessons continue to be available through twelfth grade on the instruments listed above as well as voice and guitar. Fees for half-hour private lessons are approximately $16-$21. The private teacher makes scheduling and financial arrangements with individual students and their parents.