The Patterson Cup (commonly known as "the moose" for the moose head at Westtown, where the tally was kept by hanging tea bags on alternating antlers) is awarded each year to the school which has won the most varsity and junior varsity contests between the schools.
[6] The first headmaster, George Maris, had been a strong voice in favor of "guarded education," separated from worldly vices, for Hicksite Friends.
There was little new construction during his term (the one major building was Bancroft Hall, built in 1931), but considerable social change.
[10] After retiring from George School, he was an instrumental figure in reconciling the Hicksite and Orthodox Philadelphia Yearly Meetings in 1955.
Following World War II, teacher Walter Mohr, who had also worked with the American Friends Service Committee, organized affiliations with two German schools, Jacobi Gymnasium for boys in Düsseldorf and Gertraudenschule for girls in Berlin, at first sending relief supplies and organizing student exchanges.
[13] During the mid-1950s, Julian Bond, later a prominent civil rights leader, attended George School.
[14] One event, in particular, involved Bond, a varsity athlete, going to Philadelphia with his white girlfriend while wearing George School apparel.
"[15] Eric Curtis, an Englishman and a former faculty member at Earlham College, was brought in to be the headmaster after McFeely, serving from 1967 (there was an interim head for 1966–67) until 1979.
A new emphasis on academic rigor was enforced, along with more focused activism: the school built an Alternative Energy Center in the mid-1980s and for several years hosted a regional "Peace Fair."
Buffett was a student of Anderson's father, David Dodd, an economist and professor at Columbia University School of Business.
Finally, in the most apparent difference between outsiders, teachers and students usually refer to one another on a first-name basis.
George School offers the two-year International Baccalaureate program, which certifies students to attend colleges and universities worldwide.
George School also offers Advanced Placement courses and examinations in Biology, Calculus (AB), English, U.S. History, Human Geography, Chemistry, Physics, Statistics and the school's four foreign languages: French, Spanish, Latin and Chinese.
Projects must be grounded in one-on-one contact with communities and persons who are disempowered because of social, racial, economic, or health factors.
Recent service trips include India; Nicaragua; Cuba; Costa Rica; Boston, Massachusetts; Coastal Mississippi; and The Palestinian territories; France; South Africa; Ghana; Arizona; New Orleans, Louisiana; Americus, Georgia; South Carolina; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; West Virginia; South Korea; Vietnam; and China.
[22] While more than half of the students at George School are on significant financial aid, proportionally few of those students can afford to go on international service trips as the maximum scholarship offered on most trips amounts to roughly half of the total costs, which range from $2000 to over $5000.
Still, first- and second-year students must play two interscholastic competitive sports, and juniors and seniors must play one: George School competes in the Friends School League, but in certain sports, such as equestrian, football, and wrestling, this is not possible due to the small number of league members that also participate.
There is an annual competition with Westtown which results in the awarding of the Patterson Cup, which most students and faculty refer to as "The Moose".
Shows range from conventional high school productions, such as Guys and Dolls, to more controversial pieces, such as the Laramie Project.
George School Community Chorus includes a mixture of students and adults and offers a yearly winter concert.
Built 1812–1814, it incorporated materials from the Greater Meeting House at 2nd and Market Streets dating back to 1755.
The land was sold, but the building was saved from demolition by being dismantled and relocated to George School, 1972–1974.