Olneyspeak 101
Olneyspeak 101
Advisories
Students meet weekly in groups with their academic advisor, who serves as a listener, mentor and advocate. Advisories are a social group within the larger community, and in addition, they plan social activities for the entire school. The academic advisor is a parent’s first point of contact regarding academic concerns.
All-School Sing
Happens weekly on Fridays before lunch. This year, favorites include “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard, to “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver, and many by the Beatles.
Back Two
Road behind the pastures behind the Girls Dorm
Captina Creek
The headwaters of this pristine creek are located on Olney’s campus, and students routinely work with the Belmont County Soil and Water Conservation District and others to monitor and protect the health of our local water quality.
Collection (Morning, Evening)
We start and end each school day with about 10-20 minutes of gathered community time in silent reflection.
DC
Short for Disciplinary Committee. A group of students and teachers who respond to major rule violations.
DCLs
Dish Crew Leaders. Students who train and oversee Dish Crew members, help cooks with meal preparation, and mop the kitchen and dining room.
Dings
Academic mistakes, such as failing to turn in homework or bring a textbook to class. Students who accumulate too many dings are assigned to structured study hall.
Dish Crew
Variation on office work: specifically, time spent cleaning up after meals.
East Porch
(1) Favorite gathering spot. (2) The student newspaper. (3) Online OFS community site.
Governor/Governess
Student leader of the Girls and Boys Dorms. Members of the Student Dorm Staff.
Graddy Box
Graduating seniors ask another student to make a box – whether of wood, or other materials – and the result is presented as a surprise to the graduate at the Awards Dinner in May. By then, the boxes (which come in all shapes and sizes, from giraffes to soccer balls to ukuleles) are filled with slips of paper recording good wishes from friends and teachers.
Graddy Essay
Seniors must write a 20-page original research paper on a subject of their choice – ranging from Oprah to pharmaceutical manufacturing costs to Jane Austen as a catalyst for feminism in China.
GymEx
Short for “Gymnastics Exhibition,” this tradition dates to the early 1910s. Third-quarter physical education for all students is focused on gymnastics, culminating in a performance for parents at the start of Spring Break. Students participate in one or more activities, from balancing (think: five-layer human pyramids), to tumbling, to rope jumping or swing dancing.
Harkness
Discussion method in which students learn to guide each other through college-level analysis of texts
Junior Auction
From a class on sushi-making to a home-cooked meal in a faculty member’s home, these goods and services are donated to the junior class as a fundraiser.
Junior Jesters/Gestures
Juniors earn class funds by allowing themselves (and enlisting teachers) to be “purchased’ by a fellow student or teacher for a day. Recent terms have included such things as requiring a student who prefers black, to wear bright colors for a day, or requiring the head of school to speak in rhyme for a day.
Kirk Barn
Home to goats (and their kids), pigs, and beef cattle.
The Main
The Main Building, including classrooms, science laboratories, library, gymnasium, Collection Room, kitchen, dining room, and faculty offices. In short, nearly everything you’ll need is in this building.
Majors
Short for “major office work.” Happens on late Friday afternoon, a deeper clean of a student’s assigned area of campus.
Meeting for Worship
A time for quiet reflection, prayer, and meditation that may also include spoken or musical messages shared by members of the community. Occurs twice a week, Wednesday mornings with the entire school community and Sunday evenings in separate groups in the Girls and Boys Dorms before Parlor Meeting.
Music Box
Originally known as the Power House (from when it provided heat to the campus), the building has taken on many roles over the years but currently it is a classroom building.
Office Work
Daily/weekly chores around campus, including cleaning of common spaces
Outings (Fall, Winter, Spring)
Surprise events involving a field trip of some kind for the whole community
Parlor Meeting
Meeting of all dorm residents and dorm faculty, on Sunday evenings (and as needed), in the Girls and Boys Dorms
Per
Permission to do (or not) do something, granted by an adult to a student
Pumpkin Festival
The biggest event of the year for the Village of Barnesville! Students bake and sell pumpkin bread downtown, earning funds for class projects. Olney students pitch in, as an entire school, to help the local street crew on Sunday night to clean the streets after the festival.
Raven Rocks
Nearby nature preserve of 1,260 acres founded 40 years ago by Olney Friends School teachers and alumni. Includes several gorgeous ravines. Popular destination for hikes.
Self-Gov
Short for Self-Government. Meets weekly to coordinate student involvement in decision-making at the school.
Signout
Signing out of campus to go into town. Popular destinations include Dollar General, Riesbeck’s Grocery, and various fast-food restaurants.
Slip
Small, pink, unpopular. Records of rule infractions by students. Issued by adults. Based on the cumulative number of slips a student receives within a three-week “slip term,” he or she is granted more or fewer privileges such as later evening dorm times and more weekend signouts.
Socials (Senior and Junior)
Large events planned by the upper classes for the whole school. A tradition at the late-springtime Junior Social is to roast departing faculty and graduating seniors with “funishments.”
Spiritual Life Committee
Students and staff meet weekly to consider the spiritual health of the community and plan meetings for worship.
Tech Crew
Informal advisory group on issues of technology and student life. Students also staff events, providing tech assistance to others in the community.