through the war years. Houses of the school were named after both men as well as Monk and Goddard, old Georgians who had died in the First World War. Names of the boarding houses: Crosthwaite, Keswick and Skiddaw come from locations near the Cumbrian school. In 1967 the school became a voluntary aided school under Hertfordshire County Council, initially as a Grammar School and then as a Comprehensive School in the mid 1970's. This period saw a large expansion of the school with many new buildings and numbers expanding to 800. On 1 July 2012 St George's became an academy, funded by the new St George's School Harpenden Academy Trust. It continues to be supported by the Cecil Grant Founder's Trust, a charity set up after Grant's death in 1946. The St. George's motto Levavi Oculos (Aim Higher) appears on the uniform badges. It derives from their School Hymn, Assurgit, which is sung in Latin. Levavi Oculos means "I have lifted up mine eyes" and alludes to Psalm 121, beginning "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help; my help cometh even from the Lord, who hath made Heaven and Earth." In the sense of "I have raised my sights" this is equivalent to the English motto Aim Higher, which appears over one archway at the front entrance of Keswick House. Christian ethos Admission to the school for day students is based mainly on location of students' homes, with students coming from many of the surrounding towns and villages. Regular attendance at a local church is required; however, the school itself is non-denominational and does not receive funding from any religious group or church. The school is centred on a late-nineteenth-century chapel, which is led by a resident chaplain and supported by a part-time organist. House system The school is split into four day houses: Grant (green), Watts (yellow), Monk (blue) and Goddard (red), respectively named after Rev. Cecil Grant, the founder of the school, Dr. Arthur Watts, the second headmaster, and Bertram Monk and Lister Goddard, two former pupils who died in the Great War. Academics In 2019 St George's was ranked third in examination results in the country for state schools and rivals some of the private schools. Its academic Sixth Form has the third highest progress score in the county, beating almost all local Independent Schools (Including St Alban’s School and