Wooster School
| Wooster School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
 | |
91 Miry Brook Rd , Connecticut 06810 United States | |
| Coordinates | 41°21′59″N 73°29′58″W / 41.3663°N 73.4994°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Private, coeducation |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Episcopal |
| Established | 1926 |
| Founder | Aaron C. Coburn[1] |
| CEEB code | 070130 |
| Head of school | Matt Byrnes |
| Faculty | 61 |
| Enrollment | 336 (as of 2021) |
| Student to teacher ratio | 5:1 |
| Campus size | 125 acres (51 ha) |
| Campus type | Suburban |
| Color(s) | White, maroon, black |
| Athletics | Interscholastic sports teams Housatonic Valley Athletic League |
| Mascot | The General |
| Team name | Generals |
| Tuition | 39,550 |
| Website | www |
Wooster School is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory school (grades 5 through 12) in Danbury, Connecticut.[2] It is a member of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools.[3]
Overview
The Wooster School motto is Ex Quoque Potestate, Cuique Pro Necessitate, roughly, "From each according to ability, to each according to need". Founded in 1926 as a boys' school of 10 students by Episcopal priest Dr. Aaron Coburn,[1] it is named for General David Wooster, who fought at the Battle of Ridgefield with the Patriots in the American Revolution.[4] The school continues the legacy of the jobs program, led by 12th-grade prefects, in which the entire student body engages in a daily period dedicated to cleaning and physically maintaining the campus.
Girls were first admitted to the school in the fall of 1970. In 1990, Wooster School transitioned from being a boarding school, as it had been since its inception, to being a day school.[5] In 1991, a Lower School was established in addition to Wooster's Middle and Upper Schools, which now included grades 1 and 2, plus grades 3, 4, and 5 the following year.
21st-century changes
Since 2000, one of the National Association of Episcopal Schools' top two educator awards is named for former Wooster School head John D. Verdery.[6][7]
From 2001 to 2004, Wooster School made some improvements to its physical plant, notably the addition of a new gymnasium and a distinct Middle School building.[8][9]
In 2014, the school's Verdery Library received a grant of over $6,000 from U.S. Senator Chris Dodd's office to improve its Internet access through the E-Rate grants.[10]
In 2020, the school narrowed its range of grades from kindergarten through 12 to grades 4 through 12. In 2021, it narrowed to grades 5 through 12.
Notable alumni
- Tracy Chapman—folk singer and guitarist[11][12]
- Andrew Stevovich—painter[13]
- Cyrus Mehri—trial attorney[14]
- Zachary Cole Smith—singer and frontman of DIIV[15]
- Neil Rudenstine—president of Harvard University for a decade in the 1990s[16][17]
References
- ^ a b "Aaron Cutler Coburn, Priest". The Living Church. Vol. 25. December 20, 1942. p. 17. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
- ^ Wooster School Wooster School official website
- ^ Connecticut Association of Independent Schools web site
- ^ Danbury Historical Society web site
- ^ Polk, Nancy (1991). "Private Schools Struggle to Survive". The New York Times. p. 12.
- ^ Daphne Mack, Episcopal educators gathered in Hollywood for biennial conference: Peter Cheney roasted and three educators honored, Episcopal News Service, November 28, 2006, found at Episcopal Church, USA, Official web site. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
- ^ National Association of Episcopal Schools, Awards, found at NAES official web site. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
- ^ TSKP Architecture Firm web site
- ^ The Stamford Hospital Web site. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
- ^ Senator Chris Dodd's Government official web site. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
- ^ Darling, Cary. "Doing it her way: Tracy Chapman goes against the grain with her reflective songs", The Orange County Register, May 25, 1990. Accessed October 19, 2007. "She was a student at Wooster High School in Danbury, Conn., with a budding taste for folk music and a flair for songwriting who corralled her courage and hit the pavement."
- ^ About Tracy Chapmen, official biography web site. Accessed October 22, 2007.
- ^ Diehl, Carol (2007). Andrew Stevovich: Essential Elements. Anita Shreve, John Sacret Young, Valerie Ann Leeds. Lenox, MA: Hard Press Editions. p. 184. ISBN 978-1-889097-70-1.
- ^ FindJustice.com web site. Retrieved October 22, 2007. "His parents' educational aspirations led Mr. Mehri to the Wooster School. 'My years there had a formative influence on me,' he says. 'There probably isn't another prep school that has such a genuine commitment to diversity. Wooster really led the way in that respect. They had already integrated by the 1950s and the idea of diversity was embedded in the culture.'
- ^ "How Does It Feel: DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith Rolls on". 28 July 2014.
- ^ Gewertz, Ken. "Rudenstine's journey to Harvard began at 14", Harvard Gazette, May 17, 2001. Accessed October 20, 2007. "Now he was about to enter the Wooster School, a private, college-preparatory institution. Although it was located in Danbury, Conn., his hometown, he would live at the school rather than at home."
- ^ Catherine E. Shoichet, Rudenstine's Book Hits Shelves, June 05, 2001, found at Harvard Crimson web site. Accessed October 22, 2007. "In a 1998 speech given at the Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Mass., Rudenstine spoke of the root of his passion for reading—a meeting with a high school adviser during his first term as a scholarship student at the Wooster School in Danbury, Connecticut. “I don’t remember trying to articulate for myself, at the time, what this entire experience actually meant to me,” he says."
External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- Private high schools in Connecticut
- Buildings and structures in Danbury, Connecticut
- Schools in Fairfield County, Connecticut
- Educational institutions established in 1926
- Private middle schools in Connecticut
- Private elementary schools in Connecticut
- 1926 establishments in Connecticut
- Episcopal schools in the United States