Allen-Stevenson School

The Allen-Stevenson School
Motto	Fortiter et Recte (Strongly and Rightly)
Established	1883
Type	Private Elementary for Boys
Headmaster	David R. Trower
Students	400+ (2008)
Grades	Kindergarten to 9th Grade
Location	New York, New York, USA
Campus	Urban
Colors	Blue and Gold
Mascot	The Unicorn
Rival	Buckley
Website	Allen-Stevenson.org

Allen-Stevenson is a private boys elementary school located at 132 East 78th Street in New York City, New York.

History

The Allen School was founded in 1883 by Francis Bellows Allen at a home on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. Its first class enrolled only three boys. In 1885, the school moved to rented rooms at Madison Avenue and 44th Street with an enrollment of 20 boys. In 1904, Mr. Allen met Robert Alston Stevenson, a tutor, who by chance had taken a room at 509 Fifth Avenue, where the School was then located. In 1904, Mr. Allen and Mr. Stevenson joined forces and then moved to 50 East 57th Street with 100 students. By 1918 enrollment exceeded 200. The School published its first newspaper, The Spotlight, and introduced an exercise program and team sports.

In 1924, the School purchased two brownstones for a new schoolhouse and moved to its present location on the Upper East Side. In 1939, Mr. Allen retired at the age of 80, after 56 years of service. In 1947, Mr. Stevenson retired after 43 years of service. His son, Robert "Huck" Alston Stevenson Jr., who had taught at the School, succeeded him as Headmaster.

In 1950, Joseph C. Rennard became Headmaster of Allen-Stevenson and served for nine years. The School introduced team sports at Randall's Island and required boys to wear navy blue blazers and gray flannel pants. In 1959, Henry Dyer Tiffany, Jr. became Headmaster until 1974. Under his leadership, a modern science lab and a paneled library, a gift from the Bell family, were added. In 1974, Desmond Cole became Headmaster and served for 16 years. During his tenure, he created the Middle School division.

In 1983, The Allen-Stevenson School celebrated its first 100 years and published The Allen-Stevenson Centennial Album. Around that time an East 77th Street addition, designed by A-S parent Alfredo De Vido, was built onto the school.

In 1990, the Board of Trustees appointed Mr. David Trower as Allen-Stevenson's seventh Headmaster. In 2001, Allen-Stevenson launched its first website to improve communication about the School.

In 2007, a total renovation-expansion of the school interior was completed, which preserved the school's Classical Revival brick and Victorian brownstone facades according to New York Landmarks Preservation Commission guidelines for the Upper East Side Historic District.

Mission

"Allen-Stevenson’s distinctive “enlightened traditional” approach educates boys to become scholars and gentlemen. In the belief that there are many ways to be a boy, the School offers an ongoing commitment to each student and uses the best insights and tools available to understand him as a whole person. We inspire in each boy an appreciation of responsible citizenship and a lifelong love of learning."

"Allen-Stevenson’s vigorous, pre-secondary program of academics, athletics, and the arts teaches boys to value the gratifying process by which excellence is attained. By creating a joyful, safe environment for learning, the School seeks to ensure a productive, diverse community of learners. We challenge our students to take suitable risks, learn from their mistakes, and support each other. Ultimately, we encourage boys to move through life strongly and rightly—with confidence, knowledge, enthusiasm, resilience, and respect for all."

An Allen-Stevenson Boy is a Scholar and a Gentleman. The 2011 annual tuition is $37,850.00.

• As found on the School website

Academics

Allen-Stevenson is known for its vigorous but well-balanced academic curricula, which includes English, Spanish, Mathematics, Science, and History. Most A-S alumni continue at some of the finest schools in the country.

Common Boarding Schools to which A-S students matriculate: Hotchkiss, Kent, Choate, Exeter, Tabor, Lawrenceville, St. George's, Brooks, Taft, Loomis, Andover, St. Paul's, Groton, Middlesex

Common Day Schools to which A-S students matriculate: Collegiate, Dalton, Browning, Riverdale, Horace Mann, Trinity, Fieldston, Stuyvesant

Athletics

Although sports are played at all ages the Varsity teams are drawn from the Upper School grades. A-S competes against the other Manhattan Private schools in addition to a few nearby country day schools. The league varies by sport, but they field teams in the following:

Fall - Soccer (JV and Varsity), Football (Varsity) and Intramurals (JV and Varsity)

Winter - Basketball (JV and Varsity), Wrestling (Varsity), Ice Hockey (Varsity), and Intramurals (JV and Varsity)

Spring - Baseball (JV and Varsity), Lacrosse (Varsity), Track (Varsity), and Intramurals (JV and Varsity)

Daily afternoon sports are held outdoors on playing fields on Wards Island and Randall's Island and indoors in the school gymnasium, depending on the weather and the season. Afternoon sports and informal kickball games are sometimes played on "The Roof," the school's chainlink-fenced rooftop court.

Arts

A-S offers art, shop, and music programs for grades K-9. The orchestral and choral programs are esteemed features.

Orchestras

Allen-Stevenson hosts two orchestras for grades Five through Nine and two preparatory ensembles through Fourth Grade. The senior orchestra, called Philharmonia, typically travels and performs in the North East. Local performances have included the Brearley, Chapin, Collegiate, and Nightingale-Bamford schools, As well as Carnegie Hall, and Alice Tully Hall. Past trips have included Princeton University, Yale University, Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia, Mystic, Connecticut, and The White House in Washington, D.C. In 2002, both orchestras participated in an orchestral festival at Lincoln Center. The Philharmonia performed at Carnegie Hall in the winter of 2008. Currently an estimated 200+ boys are taking instrumental lessons during the school week, and an estimated 120 boys play in ensembles and/or orchestras. Just recently, both the Philharmonia and the Upper School Chorus performed on the stage of Alice Tully Hall, without any other schools present. 1000+ people attended this event

Choruses

Since 1990, the Allen-Stevenson School Choruses have established themselves as first-rate choral ensembles, performing at the White House, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and for many organizations throughout New York City. Recent professional engagements include a performance of the St. Nicolas Cantata by Benjamin Britten and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, both with the Musica Viva Chorus of New York City. The two Choruses include boys in the fourth through sixth grade and seventh through ninth grade, and stand alongside the Allen-Stevenson Orchestra as a testimony to the School's commitment to music and art.

Performances

In addition there is an annual fall play usually with sister school Nightingale, an annual performance of a William Shakespeare play, and, in March, the traditional all-male production of a rotation of 5 Gilbert & Sullivan operettas (Iolanthe, HMS Pinafore, The Mikado, Patience and Pirates Of Penzance). The Middle School does the Female Leads and the Upper School does the Male Leads.

Publications

School publications include

• Allen-Stevenson News, the periodic school newsletter
• The Unicorn, the annual yearbook
• The Lamplighter, the quarterly alumni bulletin
• "The Unicorn's Horn" monthly Upper School written newspaper

School song

Allen-Stevenson's school song, composed by music teacher Rolande Schrade in 1968, is as follows:

We hail thee, Allen-Stevenson,
Fortiter et recte.
With joy untold, the Blue and Gold
Will be with us always.
We hail thee, Allen-Stevenson,
Fortiter et recte.
The days grow short as we grow tall,
Our faith grows firm, our fears grow small.
We hail thee, Allen-Stevenson,
Fortiter et recte.
And as the lamplight shows the way,
We strongly, rightly live each day.
We hail thee, Allen-Stevenson,
Fortiter et recte.

Headmasters

1. Francis Bellows Allen (d. November 3, 1952) - 1883-1939, joins with Mr. Stevenson in 1904
2. Robert Alston Stevenson - 1904-1947, becomes full time Headmaster after Mr. Allen leaves in 1939
3. Robert “Huck” Alston Stevenson Jr. - 1947-1949, son of Robert A. Stevenson, Sr., takes over when his father retires after 43 years.
4. From 1949 to 1950, Cesido Ruel Simboli Ph.D. fills in as acting Headmaster while another one is being selected. He appears as “Acting Headmaster” in the 1950 yearbook.
5. Joseph C. Rennard - 1950-1959, introduces navy blazers and gray flannel pants.
6. Henry Dyer Tiffany, Jr. (b. 1910, d. 1994) - 1959-1974, adds modern science lab and a paneled library to the school. NY Times Obit
7. Desmond Francis Patrick Cole (b. 1924, d. 2008) - 1974-1990, expands the science program, introduces micro-computers, and creates the Middle School division. Website NY Times Obit
8. David Ross Trower - 1990–Present, appointed by the Board of Trustees.

Notable alumni

• Peter Benchley - Class of 1954 - Author of Jaws, son of humorist Nathaniel Benchley
• Gerald Warner Brace (1901–1978) - Writer, educator, sailor, boat-builder
• Michael Douglas - Class of 1959 - Actor and film producer; won Academy Awards for Best Picture for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and for Best Actor in Wall Street (1987); received American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009
• Hugh W. Downe - Class of 1969 - Broadway producer, produced Star Wars Concert with a Laser Light Spectacular in 1978
• Michael Eisner - Class of 1957 - CEO of The Walt Disney Company from 1984 until 2005
• Paul A. Friedland - Class of 1977 - Associate Professor of History, Bowdoin College
• James Garfunkel - Class of 2004 - Son of singer Art Garfunkel
• Charles Horman - Class of 1957 - Journalist, victim of the Chilean coup of 1973
• James MacArthur - Class of 1952 - Actor, best known for the role of Danno Williams in Hawaii Five-O
• John Negroponte - Class of 1953 - Diplomat, research fellow and lecturer in international affairs at Yale University's MacMillan Center, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and first-ever Director of National Intelligence
• Matthew Remick, son of actress Lee Remick
• Christopher Rowland - Class of 1977 - Washington bureau chief, The Boston Globe
• Richard Thomas - Class of 1966 - Actor, best known for playing John-Boy in The Waltons
• Luis Ubinas - Class of 1978 - Current director of the Ford Foundation
• Alexandre von Fürstenberg, son of Diane von Fürstenberg
• Bradford A. Warner (1912–1994) - Class of 1924 - Banker; vice president for planning, Gilman Paper Company; chairman, National Society for the Prevention of Blindness; trustees chairman, Woodlawn Cemetery; president of Allen-Stevenson's board of trustees [1]
• Chris Weitz - Class of 1984 - Film producer, writer, director and actor; co-directed American Pie and About a Boy with brother Paul (below); they are sons of actress Susan Kohner
• Paul Weitz - Class of 1980 - Film producer, writer, director; screenwriter for Antz
• Norval White - Class of 1940 - Architect, architectural historian, best known for authoring the AIA Guide to New York City
• David Yazbek - Class of 1975 - Emmy-winning writer, musician, composer, and lyricist; wrote the songs for the Broadway musicals The Full Monty (2000) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005)

Notable faculty

• John Gardner, 1904 to 1943, Math and Science
• Charles McLaury, 1904 to 1948, Latin, Greek, and Assistant Headmaster
• Anton Muller, 1904 to 1929, Director of Physical Education
• Walter Bligh Woodbury, 1909 to 1943, Latin
• Cesidio Ruel Simboli, 1915 to 1953, History, Latin, and Assistant Headmaster
• Ben Stinchfield, 1923 to 1962, French
• Esther Davis, 1929 to 1961, Second Grade
• Charles Wagner, 1940 to 1956, Math and Science
• Mildred Green, 1943 to 1975, First Grade
• Thomas Baker, 1944 to 1960, Physical Education
• Stanley Dorance Gauger, 1948 to 1987, Director of Music
• Elizabeth Bounds, 1952 to 1982, Third Grade
• John Morgan, 1953 to 1969, Assistant Headmaster
• William Landis, 1959 to 1982, English
• Donald Judd, the noted modern artist, taught shop in the 1960s, while attending graduate school at Columbia University.
• Paul Kellogg, 1960 to 1975, French and Lower School Head
• William Curtis Holdsworth, children's book illustrator, taught art in the 1960s and 1970s. Works include The Gingerbread Boy (1968), The Little Red Hen (1969), Bugaboo Bill (1971) and The Woman Who Lived in Holland (1973).
• W. Scott Harlan, 1962 to 1990, History
• John Suter, Jr., 1965 to 1982, Latin and Assistant Headmaster
• Rolande Schrade, 1968 to 1989, Music
• David Kersey, 1969 to present, History
• John Pariseau, 1970 to present, Mathematics
• Anne Russo-Meyer, 1975 to present, Reading & Learning

Allen-Stevenson in the News

• Allen-Stevenson Gymnastics - 1911 [2]
• Allen-Stevenson Boxing Matches - 1912 [3]
• Mr. Cole refuses to close Allen-Stevenson during the Blizzard of 1978 [4]
• A story in The New Yorker about Allen-Stevenson and dances. [5]
• A legal battle being waged that could have a major impact on how community facilities - schools, churches and doctors' offices - are built in New York City's residential neighborhoods - 1987 [6]
• Parents Protesting the End of Standardized Testing at Private Schools [7]
• An article about private school tuition [8]

Timelines

• https://www.allen-stevenson.org/ftpimages/163/download/download_group10615_id368147.mov
• https://www.allen-stevenson.org/ftpimages/163/download/download_group10615_id334573.mov
• https://www.allen-stevenson.org/ftpimages/163/download/download_group10615_id334273.mov