Editing WtHQM:Holy Question Mark

Part of [[Welcome to Holy Question Mark]], a campaign set in the Amberverse using modified ''Lords of Gossamer and Shadow'' rules.

==The Socinian Institute of New York==

Often called Holy Question Mark by students (and occasionally staff), the Socinian Institute of New York is a private Unitarian-Universalist boarding school in Manhattan. It has a reputation as an academic sweatshop, as well as having excellent fine and performing arts programs and a vigorous involvement in public service activities. It is also extremely secure against monsters (and kidnappers), which makes it a desirable place for the wealthy and anxious to deposit their offspring.

[[WtHQM:Dr. Balthazar|Dr. Nicholas Balthazar]] has been Headmaster of the Institute since 2006.

===History===

Founded in 1887. Moved to current site in 2008.

==Student Body==

The Institute is a high school, comprising grades 9–12, graduating an average of 150 students per year. Though many of the students come from wealthy and/or influential backgrounds, a majority of the student body receives some degree of need-based aid. Most such funds come from Holy Question Mark's general endowment, which is unusually large for a school of its size, though outside scholarships contribute as well.

===Academics===

: ''[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17FAxa_EnbuICvGF-t1Dhzi9YUiRJq9wPHe4qvg1nU6Q/edit?usp=sharing Class schedule grid]''

Students generally take 7 classes per term (including arts classes, not including PE). Each class has 4.5 contact hours per week: three 55-minute classes and an 85-minute "lab" class. Classes move around in the day so that no class is always at the same time; the grid indicates this with numbered and colored blocks. (First-year students usually find this intensely confusing, and even seniors are likely to keep a copy of the schedule grid tucked in their notebooks.) Classes end five minutes before the labeled end time (thus, at 25 or 55 minutes after the hour) to allow for "passing time" to the next class.

There are two PE blocks. Team sports take up both blocks; classes such as swimming, physical conditioning and mixed intramurals take up only one block, with the other free.

Gray areas with nothing written in them are free time. The two-hour block on Friday evenings labeled "(FEI)" is the dreaded Friday Evening Inconvenience study hall, assigned as a punishment for various minor infractions; students not assigned a FEI have that time free. (The other minor disciplinary assignment is Saturday Morning Work Detail, which runs from 6–8 AM and therefore doesn't fit on the grid.)

Times marked "study" are for quiet study in your dorm room (door open) or in an approved study location to which you have been signed out by your floor counselor.

Check-in is 30 minutes before lights-out; students must be in the floor lounge of their dorm floor, where roll is taken by the floor counselor. From then until lights-out is free time as long as you don't leave your floor. At lights-out, you must be in your room, door closed, no lights. There are a couple of room checks per night, but most floor counselors don't bother randomizing them or anything.

===Athletics===

Interscholastic athletic teams include (girls' and boys') basketball, soccer, lacrosse, tennis and volleyball, and boys' wrestling, all through the [http://www.psaany.org/ Private School Athletic Association of New York]]. There are also the (mixed) fencing team and cheer squad. With the exception of the cheer squad (which is on a nationally competitive level thanks to its current captain [[WtHQM:Liz Pardew|Liz Pardew]]'s vigorous efforts) and the fencing team (which rests on [[WtHQM:Cleave|Cleave]]'s laurels), Holy Question Mark's teams are near the bottom of the rankings, simply because the administration does not prioritize athletic practices over academic requirements.

Various intramural teams and informal sports clubs also exist.

==Religion==

Though named in reference to 16th Century Unitarian theologian Lelio Sozzini, the school's guiding ethos today is Unitarian-Universalism (UU), not specifically Socinianism.

The UU ideals of tolerance, equality, and the free and responsible search for truth and meaning guide the school's administration and policies. Most faculty and staff are UU, though their personal spiritualities vary widely. Students are not required to have any specific sectarian affiliation.

Weekly attendance at a school-approved spiritual service is compulsory. Most students attend the general UU service on Sunday, but there is a sizable minority of Muslim students who attend Jumu'ah on Fridays, and another sizable minority who check in individually at a convenient weekly time for an hour of meditation in the chapel. Various smaller groups (such as Jews, Buddhists, Wiccans and humanist atheists) also exist, each with a faculty sponsor, much like extracurricular clubs.

Individual or small-group off-campus worship is not permitted for safety reasons.

==Campus==

The present site of the Socinian Institute is a single large building on Manhattan's Upper West Side, not far from the main campus of Columbia University. The main building is five stories high, with two dormitory towers. The enclosed garden atop the main building occupies the space between the towers, and is a popular place for students to relax in their free time on sunny days. There are two indoor gyms and a swimming pool; outdoor athletic facilities are off-campus and shared with two other private schools.

Dormitories are co-ed by floor. The vast majority of student dorm rooms are double-occupancy, with single-occupancy rooms reserved for students with special circumstances. About half the faculty and staff reside on-campus as well, including the Headmaster.

Each dorm tower has its own refectory, though everyone is welcome to eat in either for any meal. East Tower refectory has vegan and kosher-halal dishes, and the East kitchen also provides services to students with special-needs diets where such services are needed and feasible. West Tower refectory offers normal cafeteria food, albeit of a high standard of quality compared to the average high school. It is not permitted to take trays, dishes or silverware out of the refectories, but students sometimes load up on fruit, or bring their own containers into which to surreptitiously transfer food, and eat elsewhere in the school. ''(N.B.: the jocks, beautiful people, honors students, fine arts nerds and other "plus" cliques eat in West; performing arts nerds, lunchtime D&D players, computer gamers and other "minus" cliques eat in East, as do observant Muslim and Jewish students for obvious reasons.)''

Students (and faculty/staff) may also purchase a selection of snacks and groceries from the campus store. There are no vending machines on campus.

For safety reasons, students are not allowed off-campus except for school-approved activities or when signed out by a parent or guardian.

Personal weapons are stored in the school armory and may not be carried within the school building.

==Advanced Spirituality==

"[[WtHQM:Magic#Advanced Spirituality|Advanced Spirituality]]" is a special elective offered to students who have exhibited magic or magic-like abilities. [[WtHQM:Rev. Foley|Rev. Dr. Charlene Foley]], the school's UU pastor, is the current principal instructor for Advanced Spirituality. Other instructors sometimes participate.

The general student body is not aware of the nature of AdSpir (the course catalog merely says "Techniques of meditation and self-development in a spiritual context"), but [[WtHQM:Maple|Maple]] discovered it after some digging.

==Dress Code==

Holy Question Mark does not require uniforms. The school dress code is, more or less, "Don't embarrass your grandmother." And no, if your actual grandmother is a hippie or something that is not an excuse. Don't embarrass the archetypal grandmother.

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