Norwood's History
Founded in 1952 by Frances B. Marsh, Norwood began as a parish primary school with forty students and four teachers operating in available space in St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bethesda, Maryland. During its first nineteen years, the School met in four different locations. Notwithstanding its small size and limited facilities, Norwood provided a superior education and a warm and stimulating school experience.
As a result of the vision, will, and generosity of a small group of parents and supporters, Norwood moved to its current hilltop location. The Steuart Building, named in honor of Norwood grandparent Esther T. Steuart, first opened its doors to students in January, 1972. The following year, the Board of Trustees decided to expand the School through the sixth grade. A capital fund drive was launched for the purpose of erecting a new building to accommodate the School’s upper three grades, a science laboratory, administrative offices, and a multi-purpose gymnasium.
The new building opened in 1975, dedicated to the inspiration and leadership of Norwood’s founder and her husband. The Marsh Building resulted from the enthusiasm and commitment that have typified the School family. In 1977, the School’s first sixth grade graduated, and Mrs. Marsh retired after twenty-five years of outstanding service.
In the fall of 1978, through the efforts of music teacher Jean Lutterman and Headmaster Thomas C. Hudnut, Norwood received a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a three-year project to compose, produce, and publish children’s musicals based on American history. Students, faculty, and parents responded enthusiastically to the challenge the Living History program posed. The School community realized that separate and more spacious facilities for art and music were necessary. Again, generous contributions of time and money enabled the Amanda Murray Arts Center to open in January, 1982. The award-winning building, honoring a first grader who died of leukemia, provides bright, airy, and spacious quarters for music, drama, and art.
Over the next decade Norwood continued to expand and diversify its offerings, particularly in the areas of reading, mathematics, science, foreign languages, and educational technology. Responding to these changes and to the demand for more space, the Board of Trustees launched a capital campaign and building and renovation project that culminated in September, 1990 with the opening of the Ewing Building. The new building, named in honor of the Ewing family by Norwood grandparent and benefactor Frank M. Ewing, connects the Marsh and Steuart buildings and includes a spacious library, Lower School classrooms, office space, and outstanding facilities for science, math, reading, and educational technology.
In August, 1995 the School acquired the adjacent 16.7 acre estate, fulfilling a two-decade dream of the Founder and other School leaders and providing ample room for expansion. Subsequently, after two years of deliberation informed by Board committee work, faculty/staff planning, and parent meetings and surveys, the Board of Trustees made the decision in May, 1996 to expand the School to include grades seven and eight. It was widely felt that Norwood's structured, nurturing, yet demanding program was well suited to the developmental needs of early adolescence. The first seventh grade opened in September, 1998, followed by the first eighth grade in September, 1999.
The plan for the new grades built on Norwood traditions. The scope and the complexity of the existing School programs in the humanities, art, music, science, and educational technology were expanded. A two-year in-depth study of the twentieth century was chosen as the focus for an integrated seventh and eighth grade curriculum. An advisor system for these two grades was instituted. Latin became a language choice for the older Middle School students. The rest of the School benefited from the expansion as Spanish was added to French, beginning in second grade, as an additional language choice. Norwood's interscholastic sports program grew as well, offering fifth through eighth graders more choices and a stronger athletic and physical education program. Instrumental music and drama became part of the Middle School curriculum, beginning in the fifth grade.
To accommodate these new grades and programs, Norwood launched a highly successful capital campaign. The School community enthusiastically supported Norwood's expansion plans. By September, 1999, a little over three years after the decision to expand, Norwood opened its new Middle School Building, which provides classroom space for fifth through eighth grades, a library, two science laboratories, choral and instrumental music rooms, two light-filled art rooms, and lunch facilities. A new Athletic Center opened at the same time. Its facilities include two full basketball courts, a training room, locker rooms, and athletic offices. Extensive site and field work was done in conjunction with the building program. New and improved playing fields and playgrounds, parking areas, and a connecting road system were all in place for the dedication of the new facilities in early October, 1999. A long-sought traffic light, providing safe ingress and egress to the campus for the Norwood community, now marks the School's new River Road entrance.
The current Headmaster, Richard T. Ewing, Jr., was appointed in 1983. A former faculty member, Mr. Ewing is a graduate of Yale University and holds a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Since its founding, the School has been uniquely fortunate in the quality of its faculty. From the original four teachers to the current one hundred member faculty and staff, Norwood’s men and women have always been characterized by their high standards, strong background, and great enthusiasm. Norwood has continued to limit its enrollment to preserve the School’s exceptional student-teacher ratio as well as its tradition of individual attention in a warm and caring environment.
Throughout the changes brought on by the School’s growth and development, Norwood remains constant to its commitment to an education that emphasizes joy, respect, and mastery of the fundamentals, as well as broad exposure to physical education and aesthetic enrichment. A spirit of involvement and cooperation has characterized the Norwood family from its earliest days. Norwood and its teachers, students, parents, and faithful friends have always accepted every challenge and acted boldly to establish and maintain a preeminent independent school.
