The Morton Deck:
A Place to Learn and Grow

In the fall of 1951, Potomac opened the McLean campus, its new location with 55 acres of rolling hills, to begin its first full year there. In her penciled notes, Headmistress Carol Preston wrote, “So now, as we start this forty-seventh year of our old school in its new setting, it is a good moment to assess our values and try to sort out those traditions that will help us define the present.”

Potomac had three academic divisions then, and students and faculty alike appreciated the expanded space for sports, scouting, science studies, and general enjoyment of the great outdoors. The following year, Miss Preston hired Dur Morton to develop a natural science curriculum. Later, with the help of students, Mr. Morton built nature trails that today wind through 10 acres of campus woodlands.

With additional land acquired over the years, Potomac’s campus now encompasses 90 acres. There are more buildings today than there were in those early years, but they are complemented by a robust forest, streams, ponds, and fields. In honor of Dur Morton's work, the Morton Deck was designed and built in 1998 by faculty and students. A raised wooden space with a firepit at the center, the Morton Deck can accommodate full classes for outdoor study, reading, and conversation in all seasons of the year. For more than two decades, Potomac faculty have used the deck to inspire a love of nature in their students.

This past spring, it was determined that the deck was showing significant wear and the time for a rebuild had come. Over the summer, Potomac’s environmental sustainability leaders, Albert Pingree ’01 and Sean Conroy, faculty member Cort Morgan, and several young alums who had seasonal jobs with the school’s Buildings and Grounds crew mapped out a plan and began reconstructing the deck so that it could be back in use later this fall.

To learn more about the decks history and restoration, Laura Miller, director of alumni relations, spoke with members of the team about the deck’s history and the restoration project.

Read the Q and A:

The Jury: A Very Short Introduction
By Renée Lettow Lerner '83

According to Oxford University Press, The Jury: A Very Short Introduction...
-charts the global use of juries throughout history
-considers the benefits and the challenges of using juries and analyzes why the jury trial has declined in English-speaking countries
-covers both civil and criminal juries, giving the reader well-rounded insight into court systems

Renée Lettow Lerner is the Donald Phillip Rothschild Research Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School. She writes about and teaches criminal procedure, legal history, and comparative law.  Renee is the author of two books: The Jury: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2023) and History of the Common Law: The Development of Anglo-American Legal Institutions (Aspen Publishers, 2009) (with John Langbein and Bruce Smith). 

To purchase a copy of the book, click here.

Alumni, do you have news to share about upcoming books, podcasts, film projects, albums, art exhibits, live performances, or other creative endeavors? Email alumni@potomacschool.org and tell us the details!

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