METAIRIE PARK COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

College and Beyond
What colleges do Country Day students choose?
The list of colleges to which Country Day students have been accepted is provided as a separate document.
What careers do Country Day graduates pursue?
Country Day graduates have pursued careers in architecture, education, computer technology, medicine, neurobiology, engineering,
the arts, law, and business, to name a few.
Who are some of Country Day’s outstanding alumni?
Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University
Nicholas Lemann 1972 “...graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1976, where he concentrated in American history and
literature and was president of the Harvard Crimson. After graduation, he worked at The Washington Monthly, as an associate editor and
then managing editor; at Texas Monthly, as an associate editor and then executive editor; at The Washington Post, as a member of the
national staff; at The Atlantic Monthly, as national correspondent; and at The New Yorker, as staff writer and then Washington
Correspondent. 1 Lemann was appointed dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in 2003.
1http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/cs/ContentServer/jrn/1165270069177/JRN_Profile_C/1165270081963/JRNFacultyDetail.htm 2009 Emmy Award Winner
Michael Applebaum 1986 won the 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for Reality Programming with the camera
team that filmed the Discovery Channel’s Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment. Applebaum previously was a 2004 Emmy
Nominee for Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming – Survivor.
Co-Author of MATLAB for Neuroscientists
Tanya Baker 1992, a Junior Research Fellow in the Crick-Jacobs Center for Theoretical Neurobiology at the prestigious Salk Institute
in La Jolla, California, co-authored MATLAB for Neuroscientists: An Introduction to Scientific Computing in MATLAB. The book sold out
by the third day of the November 2008 Society for Neuroscience conference in Washington, which was attended by 25,000
neuroscientists. Baker graduated Cum Laude with University Honors from UCLA in Physics and Applied Mathematics (with a minor
in French) and received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Chicago.
2009 University of Pennsylvania Civic Scholar
Penn Civic Scholars commit to a four-year experience in civic service and scholarship that achieves certification as a Penn Civic Scholar
at graduation. The Scholars engage in community service or social advocacy work, special proseminars, summer internships, selected
courses, and capstone research projects aimed at public policy recommendations. The University invites select freshmen to apply to this
program. Manya Jean Gitter 2009 is one of only fifteen incoming freshmen who has been accepted as a Civic Scholar.
2009 Jazz & Heritage Festival Ancestor
In May 2009, photographer Michael P. Smith 1955 (1937-2008) was honored as a Jazz & Heritage Festival “Ancestor,” joining legends
Danny Barker, Ed Bradley, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Professor Longhair, and Allison Miner. Smith "…captured the heart and soul
of New Orleans's music, culture, and folkways. He documented the physical and social structures that helped shape the unique cultural
identity of his native New Orleans." 1 His many honors include the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities’ Lifetime Achievement
Award, Offbeat Magazine's Music Photographer of the Year award, the Arts Council of New Orleans’ Mayor's Arts Award, and a
Clarence John Laughlin Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Orleans/Gulf South chapter of the American Society of Media
Photographers (ASMP). Smith's photographs are in the permanent collections of the Bibliothèque National in Paris, the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution and, locally, the Historic New Orleans Collection, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the
Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the Louisiana State Museum. Five photography books feature his work.
1 http://www.michaelpsmithphotography.com/
Governance
Country Day, a not-for-profit independent school, is governed by a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees consisting of 22 members. The
Board sets major institutional policies, hires and evaluates the head of school, oversees the School's financial health and facilities, monitors
the needs, security and welfare of the School and plans for the future. Trustees serve three-year terms with a limit of two consecutive
terms. The majority of the Board, which meets a minimum of six times per year, is composed of current parents and former parents.
Committee membership includes non-board parents and community leaders. The Chairmen's Council, comprised of past board
chairs, serves as a resource for the Board, as does the Business Advisory Council, which is comprised of community business leaders.
The head of school leads an administrative staff that includes the lower school principal, the middle school principal, the upper school
principal, chief financial officer, the director of admission, the director of athletics, the director of development, and the director of
public relations. The school receives support from the annual fund, endowment, grants, and tuition payments. Facility improvements
are financed from capital fund raising. The Parents’ Association, Dads’ Club, and Alumni Association are all active organizations.
Country Day is a member of the New Orleans Independent Schools Exchange, the Independent Schools Association of the
Southwest, and the National Association of Independent Schools.
Metairie Park Country Day School 300 Park Road Metairie, LA 70005
504.849.3105 (Admission) 504.837.0015 (Fax) www.mpcds.com