With a commitment to ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE and personal integrity, The Spence School prepares a diverse community of girls and young women for the LIFELONG TRANSFORMATION OF SELF and the world with PURPOSE, PASSION AND PERSPECTIVE.
Offering a rigorous, liberal arts study, The Spence School develops high standards and character while creating an environment that fosters SELF-CONFIDENCE and the JOY OF LEARNING. Charging our students to meet the demands of academic excellence and responsible citizenship in a changing world, we teach that DIVERSE POINTS OF VIEW FUEL INQUIRY, engagement and deeper UNDERSTANDINGS OF COMPLEX TRUTHS. WE BELIEVE IN THE STRENGTH, INTELLECT AND VITALITY OF WOMEN.
When Clara Spence adopted this quotation from Seneca as our motto, she deepened her call for young women to keep learning even if the doors of higher education were closed to them at the time. Today, our motto and mission represent the forever appetite for intellectual adventure and the capacity to chart one’s own path.
Devise de l'École
Nous apprenons non pas pour l’école mais pour la vie.
Déclaration de Mission de l'École
The Spence School s’engage à poursuivre excellence académique et intégrité personnelle avec détermination, passion et délibération au sein d’une communauté multiculturelle de filles qu’elle prépare pour la transformation individuelle et celle du monde auxquelles elles auront à faire face tout au long de leur vie.
Declaración de la Misión Escolar
La escuela Spence, comprometida con la excelencia académica y la integridad personal, prepara a una comunidad diversa de niñas pequeñas y adolescentes para una transformación personal y del mundo con propósito, pasión y perspectiva a lo largo de sus vidas.
Dictum Scholae
Non scholae sed vitae discimus
Propositum Scholae
Pignere excellentiae scholasticae integretatisque propriae sponso, Schola Spenciensis conventum diversum puellarum atque feminarum adulescentium parat quae per totam aetatem suam et se ipsas et universum terrarum populorumque cum proposito consulto studioque animoso ac conspectu omnium integro permutent.
We commit to making Spence an inclusive, equitable and multi-identity community in which each student will build intellectual and moral capacity, not only for school but also for life. Spence young women enter the world as excellent scholars and engaged citizens, able to bridge differences and diverse points of view to meet the complex challenges of a changing world. Spence is an environment that embraces differences, honors identity and values full membership and belonging for all.
Guided by our Community Standards, we stand up against exclusion, bias, racism and prejudice in all forms. While deepening our understanding and appreciation of a diverse community, we recognize the ongoing opportunities and the challenges inherent in learning from one another. Together, we find power and joy in working collaboratively to ensure that Spence is a place of ethical stance and substance, a place in which students, parents, faculty and administration cultivate personal integrity in service to the collective values of respect and trust.
Approved December 17, 2019
At Spence, we value civil discourse, and believe in building our intellectual and moral capacity not just for school but for life. Civil discourse can be defined as conversations that are concerned with issues that are important for shared or common good. Spence commits to fostering the skills, values and habits required for mutually respectful conversations about issues that matter – conversations wherein students can bridge differences and diverse points of views to learn from one another. Understanding that civil discourse requires consistent practice, we aim to create and maintain environments where we are open to sharing.
Spence remains steadfast to its mission of educating a diverse community of girls and young women. We believe in the strength, intellect and vitality of women, and we understand that confidence in oneself is grounded in caring for others. We seek to build and sustain a community that embraces safety and inclusion for all, in order to nurture each student’s lifelong development of self, foster mutual care and respect, and prepare them for the future.
The Spence School adheres to a long-standing policy of admitting students of any race, color, religion, sexual orientation and national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship or athletic and other school-administered programs.
