Community School, Tehran
35°41′39″N 51°26′23″E / 35.694033°N 51.439627°E Community School (
The new campus had been an old Presbyterian missionary hospital during World War II where the last Queen of Iran, Farah Pahlavi Diba, was born. After the war, it was returned to the missionaries to be used as the school campus and J. Richard Irvine was hired as its headmaster in 1951. The large, tree-filled shady compound had several buildings, a small church, and walking paths.
History
The Presbyterian missionary school established itself in the early 1900s in Hamadan, Western Persia (as it was known by the West then), growing from a "home school" into a formal school. In the 1930s the school moved to Tehran due to logistical considerations, located on Qavām os-Saltaneh Street and had slightly more than 200 students. By the 1950s only a few of the students were children of missionaries as the number of Iranians and foreign students increased. It was commonly called the "American School" because students were taught primarily in English, with French and Persian as secondary languages. Classes met Monday through Thursday and on Saturdays, eventually switching to a permanent Saturday through Wednesday schedule (with Friday as the common holy day). With the exception of some of the Americans, most of the students spoke two or more languages.
The expatriate population of Persia in the early 1900s, in the reign of
New campus: Khiaban-e Jaleh 1935-1979
After the accession to power of
In 1953 Headmaster Richard Irvine stated that he was going to limit the number of Americans at Community School. The school did this to preserve a balance in the cultures among the student body. A separate
President Truman's Point-Four program put a heavy strain on Community School because it brought many more American students. It also brought Iran closer to the US politically, and marked the beginning of a period of economic growth; many Iranians were stimulated to seek a western education for their children.
Growing pains
In 1967 there was some tension in the school; the school population was about half Iranian and mostly non-Christian. Although the school atmosphere was open and tolerant, the Presbyterian missionary board thought the school was straying from its charter. By this time Mr. Irvine and board member, Dr. Khodadad Farmanfarmaian had come to the view that the Community should be developed into an International school, and should take on the role of secular college preparatory school. They formed a committee to explore the possibility. The missionary board thought Mr. Irvine and Dr. Farmanfarmaian were leading the school away from its missionary charter, and emotions flared up.
The need for international schools in Iran was certainly strong and was a natural source of conflict and turmoil for the board. At that time, chapel was voluntary, but bible class was required. The missionaries were unhappy: The school had largely become a school for upper-class Iranian children. The missionary board reacted negatively to the committee promoting an International school. Over the summer of 1967, Community School headmaster Richard Irvine and Dr. Farman-Farmanian left to found the Iranzamin School, with Irvine its new headmaster. This parting of ways caused many hurt feelings, and many of the people involved bore strong grudges lasting years. Ms. Sahakian, a school icon, went to Iranzamin School; Ms. Amin, another school icon, stayed at Community School.
After the departure of Mr. Irvine, the missionary board hired Douglas Hill as the next headmaster. Given the problems of running a religious school in Iran, including government objections and interference, Mr. Hill also moved the school in the direction of a secular international school.
School spirit
I pledge allegiance to my country, and to the United Nations of which it is a part, one world brotherhood of peaceful nations, with liberty and justice for all.
—The United Nations Pledge
Someone[
The school facilities on the new campus were a big improvement, but there was a downside. It was located at the end of a dead-end street in a dangerous part of the city where unrest and riots were particularly common during the late 1970s. The class of 1979 was the last and final class to hold a graduation ceremony on the main campus in June of that year, after which its doors were closed forever.
Notable alumni
- CMG- British High Commissioner to Jamaica and the Bahamas, formerly as British Ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines.
- Bob Barr (Class of 1966) - Member of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia from 1995-2003
- Ari Ben-Menashe - Diplomat for the United Kingdom
- Peter G. Levine - Medical researcher on strokes.
- Valentine Moghadam - Professor of Sociology and International Affairs, Northeastern University.[4]
- Yasmine Pahlavi - Wife of Prince Reza Pahlavi
- Scott E. Parazynski - NASA astronaut
- Darius Rejali - Chair of Political Science Department at Reed College
- Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.(1950–51) - U.S. retired General; was Allied Commander during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. Schwarzkopf's father was brought in during the early years of the Truman Point-Four program to organize the Iranian Gendarmerie (police).
References
- canada.com. 24 September 2006. Archivedfrom the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2013. ()
- ^ a b "Tehran Student Days Revisited". The New York Times. 7 August 2000. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2013. ()
- ^ http://modares12.mihanblog.com/post/4
- ^ Dr. Valentine Moghadam