Lancaster Country Day School

Lancaster Country Day School
Location
725 Hamilton Road, Lancaster, PA 17603 Lancaster , Pennsylvania United States
Information
Other name	LCDS
Type	Private, secular, coeducational college prep school
Motto	'"Fax mentis et cordis incendium gloriae." (The spark that kindles the mind and heart illuminates a lifetime.) [1]
Religious affiliation(s)	Secular
Established	1908
CEEB code	392115
Head of School	Emilie Kosoff [2]
Gender	Coeducational
Enrollment	575 (PK-12) [3]
Average class size	14 students [4]
Student to teacher ratio	8:1 [4]
Campus	Suburban, 26 acres
Color(s)	Maroon   Gray
Athletics	Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association
Mascot	Cougar
Website	http://lancastercountryday.org/

Lancaster Country Day School (LCDS) is a private, secular, coeducational college preparatory school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. The school has 600 students in preschool through twelfth grade. ^{[3] [4]}

History

Founding

The school was founded in 1908 as a girls' school known as The Shippen School for Girls, the result of a merger between Lancaster College and Miss Stahr's School. ^[5] In 1943, with the closing of nearby Franklin and Marshall Academy for Boys, the Shippen School changed its charter to become coeducational and adopted its current name. In 1949, it moved to its present location on Hamilton Road. ^[6]

Headmasters

• Eleanor Fitzpatrick, 1943–1945 ^[7]
• Rebecca Walton Griest, 1945–1946 ^[7]
• Robert Holt Iglehart, 1946–1949 ^[7]
• John L. Byerly, 1949–1962 ^[7]
• Carl Denlinger, 1962 ^[7]
• Nathaniel Saltonstall II, 1962–1965 ^[7]
• John Jarvis, 1965–1990 ^{[6] [7] [8]}
• Richard Johnson, 1991–1999 ^{[7] [9]}
• Mike Mersky, 1999–2007 ^{[7] [9]}
• Daphna Ben-Chaim (interim), 2007–2008 ^{[7] [9] [10]}
• Steven D. Lisk, 2008–2022 ^{[4] [7]}
• Matthew W. Micciche, 2022-2024
• Lewis Thayne (interim), 2025 ^[11]
• Emilie D. Kosoff, 2025-present ^[11]

School seal

Lancaster Country Day School has a circular seal done in red ink which illustrates the Red Rose of Lancaster County. Bordering the seal is LCDS' motto in Latin, "fax mentis et cordis incendium gloriae," meaning, "the spark that kindles the mind and heart illuminates a lifetime."

School statistics

Faculty

84% of LCDS faculty and staff have advanced degrees. ^[12]

Diversity

34% of students identify as students of color. ^[12]

Tuition

33% of LCDS students receive need-based financial aid. ^[13]

Academics

LCDS places above the national average in standardized testing. Nationally, the average SAT score is 1068 and the average ACT is 20.8. ^{[14] [15]} Pennsylvania's average SAT score is 1086 and ACT score is 23.7. ^{[14] [15]} As of 2018, LCDS' average SAT score is 1288 and average ACT score is 29.

Co-curricular activities

Model United Nations

Since 1980, LCDS has regularly sent senior students to The Hague for International Model United Nations conferences. In 2018 it was one of just seven U.S. schools invited to participate in this annual program, and in 2019 they were the only U.S. school to attend an international conference in Qatar. ^{[16] [17]}

Athletics

LCDS competes in District III of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association ^[4] (PIAA) and is a member of the Lancaster-Lebanon League. The school sponsors the following sports: ^[18]

Fall

• (C) Golf
• (G) Field hockey
• (B, G) Soccer
• (G) Tennis

Winter

• (B, G) Basketball
• (B, G) Squash

Spring

• (B, G) Lacrosse
• (B) Tennis

The school has a cooperative agreement with the School District of Lancaster, through which LCDS students can participate in baseball, football, bowling, cross country, swimming, track and field, wrestling, and boys' volleyball for McCaskey. ^[4] LCDS students can compete on Lancaster Catholic High School's girls' volleyball team, while students from Lancaster Catholic may join the LCDS boys' and girls' lacrosse teams.

The school mascot is a cougar, and the school colors are maroon and gray. Teams from the school have competed in the PIAA District III and PIAA State playoffs.

Community outreach

• Beginning in the summer of 2015, Lancaster Country Day School began offering the national Horizons program to low-income elementary school students from the school district of Lancaster. ^{[19] [20]} Horizons partners with independent schools and colleges to help students keep pace with their peers by minimizing the amount of information they forget during summer vacation. ^[21]
• Lancaster Country Day's work with Lancaster Area Habitat for Humanity began in 2001 and continues to grow, with the school winning Habitat's 2013 Humanitarian of the Year Award, presented in a celebration dinner on World Habitat Day. ^[22]
• In addition to time Upper Schoolers spend volunteering at the center, in 2014 the boys' lacrosse team raised more than $1,000 for the Schreiber Pediatric Center in Lancaster. ^[22]
• The Bangla-Dash fundraiser and race benefiting the Carter Academy in Bangladesh were conceived and implemented by the class of 2017. ^[22]

Notable alumni

• Alice Rebecca Appenzeller 1915 — first American born in Korea; President of Ewha College (1922–1939) ^{[23] [24]}
• Victoria Curtin Gardner Coates 1986 — author and former national security adviser for Senator Ted Cruz ^[25]
• Michael Deibert 1992 — journalist and author ^[26]
• Mark Ibold 1980 — bass guitarist for Pavement and Sonic Youth
• Carla Kihlstedt 1989 — musician (violinist, vocalist)
• Rya Kihlstedt 1987 — actress: Nashville, Dexter
• Andrew J. Porter 1990 — author

References

1. "About LCDS: Mission and Philosophy". Lancaster Country Day School. Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
2. "Leadership". Lancaster Country Day School. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
3. "Lancaster Country Day School considers $21 million construction project". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
4. "Fast Facts | Lancaster Country Day School". www.lancastercountryday.org. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
5. Porter Sargent (1916) The Handbook of Private Schools, retrieved from Google Books, January 25, 2009
6. "School History". www.lancastercountryday.org. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
7. "Heads of School". www.lancastercountryday.org. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
8. "John A. Jarvis". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
9. "Country Day School head quits". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
10. "Change roils Country Day". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
11. "New leader of Lancaster Country Day School to focus on building community, restoring trust". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2025-09-11.
12. "Lancaster Country Day School | Lancaster Country Day School at a Glance". www.lancastercountryday.org. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
13. "Lancaster Country Day School | Tuition Assistance at Lancaster Country Day School". www.lancastercountryday.org. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
14. Cheng, Allen. "What Is the Average SAT Score?". blog.prepscholar.com.
15. Edwards, Halle. "Average ACT Scores by State (Most Recent)". blog.prepscholar.com.
16. "LCDS Upper School". Lancaster Country Day School. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
17. "The International Model United Nations". THIMUN. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
18. "Athletics Team Pages". Lancaster Country Day School. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
19. "Program works to stop the 'summer slide'". WGAL. 27 July 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
20. Writer, By KARA NEWHOUSE | Staff. "School's in for summer: Horizons program keeps Lancaster kids on track for first grade". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
21. "About The Horizons Approach & Our Program | Horizons National". www.horizonsnational.org. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
22. SCHOOL, LANCASTER COUNTRY DAY. "Service projects at Lancaster Country Day School help students give back". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
23. Davies, Daniel (1992). "Henry G. Appenzeller: Pioneer Missionary and Reformer in Korea" (PDF). Methodist History. 30 (4): 195–205. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
24. Kroehler, Kent. "A Century After: The Legacy of the Appenzellers, Pioneer Missionaries to Korea" (PDF). Journal of the Historical Society of the EPA Conference: 31–33. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
25. Writer, SAM JANESCH | Staff. "Ted Cruz's top national security adviser is a Lancaster native and art historian". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
26. "Notes from the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti". Seven Stories Press. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2015.

External links

• Official site

40°03′03″N76°19′40″W / 40.0508°N 76.3278°W / 40.0508; -76.3278