Statement of Purpose

The fundamental purpose of Westridge School is to develop in girls their intellectual and creative powers and their unique qualities as individuals. Essential to the school’s purpose is the commitment to be a community that reflects and values diversity, respects individual differences, and responds to a changing, dynamic world.

An intellectually engaging and challenging curriculum prepares students to continue their education in college and beyond as discerning, motivated learners who are committed to excellence and goodness in everything they do. The program offers balance among humanities, mathematics and sciences, fine and performing arts, technology and athletics.

Westridge strives to develop young women whose joy in learning, personal ideals, commitment to ethical action, social and environmental responsibility, courage and compassion will lead them to meaningful lives as contributing citizens of the larger world.

 

Statement of Community Values

The word “community” includes everyone who is part of Westridge: students, parents, faculty, administration, staff, alumnae, and trustees. We intend these values both to serve as a context for expectations, rules, and guidelines and to permeate all we do and believe.

• We believe that a key ingredient of an ethical community is personal integrity, by which we mean that we should all live according to our basic values, even when there are costs involved.

• We are committed to right action as well as good intentions.

• We are committed to the values of personal responsibility and service to others.

• We are committed to honesty, tolerance, generosity of spirit and action, and the recognition of the unique gifts of each individual.

• We are committed to fostering a community grounded in mutual respect, civility, sportsmanship, teamwork, regard for tradition, and respect for personal property, the campus and the environment.

• We embrace diversity and respect the offerings of a culturally rich environment.

 

Fundamental Principles
A tradition of educational excellence for girls.

• Westridge has, from its inception, based all of its programs on the fundamental belief that women have a right to be fully educated in an environment that engages the heart, intellect, body and soul and that it is best for girls to be educated in a single-sex setting.

• Westridge intends to continue to maintain the commitment to diversity and inclusion.

• Westridge will maintain a position of leadership in the quality of the educational experience, building on a long tradition of educational excellence.

 

A legacy of leadership and service.

• As the lives of women have changed dramatically through the twentieth century, Westridge has continued to prepare students to help shape their worlds and to make a difference to those around them. This legacy of leadership will continue as Westridge prepares future generations to engage an increasingly complex world.

• Westridge will instill in its students a commitment to stewardship of the natural world and compassionate engagement with the human community.

 

Excellence and goodness in every part of the program.

• Westridge was founded on the principle that an informed life is a richer life, and this principle will motivate all decisions about the school’s expectations, standards, and requirements.

• Every part of the program will continue to embody the qualities of excellence as the school expects the best of itself and its students, and goodness as the school offers myriad opportunities for intellectual, social, physical, ethical and emotional growth.

 

The program.

• The project of preparation for college is much more complex and competitive at the end of Westridge’s first century than when Mary Lowther Ranney first opened the school’s doors in 1913. There is more to know, more competition for college acceptance, and more to understanding what it means to take one’s place in the world. All of these factors must inform the school’s decisions about the curriculum in all of its parts.

• In addition to areas considered to be traditionally academic, the school seeks to offer excellent programs in the following areas:

• Understanding and stewardship of the natural world

• Physical, emotional and spiritual health

• Understanding human communities and commitment to ethical action and social responsibility

• Creative expression through the development of artistic intelligence

• Global education and awareness

 

The campus.

• The aesthetic and functional qualities of the Westridge campus are inseparable from the school’s identity. It is critical to maintain and improve the physical plant and to maintain the beauty of the campus into the future in support of excellent programs and excellent teachers.

 

Understanding and stewardship of the natural world.

• Physical, emotional and spiritual health

• Understanding human communities and commitment to ethical action and social responsibility

• Creative expression through the development of artistic intelligence

• Global education and awareness