Cranbrook Educational Community – Director of Schools – Position Statement 2
THE SETTING
A commitment to innovation and design , coupled with an abiding love for aesthetics and education , inspired George Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth to found Cranbrook in 1904 . Their vision created a 319 acre campus that is now a National Historic Landmark and includes the Cranbrook Schools , the Institute of Science , the Cranbrook Academy of Art and the Cranbrook Art Museum . Each is renowned on its own merits and the collective entity is unrivaled as a center of integrated learning . From the point of view of generations of students , the glorious campus itself has been described as Cranbrook ’ s “ longest-serving teacher , a real and integral part of the curriculum . It boasts resources unequaled by any preparatory school environment in the world .”
Capitalizing on the natural beauty of the place , the five campuses that comprise the Schools are rich with history and reflect the devotion to architectural style that is evident throughout the Community . Each campus speaks to the developmental needs of the children it serves . From the cozy confines of Brookside School for the youngest students , to the gender-specific Cranbrook Kingswood Middle School campuses , to the architecturally diverse boarding campuses of the Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School , everything about the educational institution is
aesthetically and programmatically well thought-out and beautifully executed . The sum of the parts is breathtaking , described in the New York Times Magazine as “ one of the greatest campuses ever created in the world .”
Located in the picturesque community of Bloomfield Hills , Michigan , Cranbrook is about 45 minutes from the resurging city of Detroit to its south and the dynamic university community of Ann Arbor to the west , putting Cranbrook right in the middle of two world capitals – one of industry , the other of academia . The area offers a remarkable array of opportunities for visitors and residents alike , including fourteen museums and cultural centers ; symphony , opera , jazz and arts festivals ; professional sports teams in baseball , football , hockey , and basketball ; and more theater seats than any city east of the Mississippi other than New York . The area benefits from a true “ four seasons ” climate and the state of Michigan enjoys a glorious natural landscape , especially the vast Great Lakes shoreline that gives it the nickname , The Third Coast .