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Kent School
File:KentSchoolLogo.png
Location
Map
Kent
,
Connecticut

USA
Information
TypePrivate, Boarding
MottoTemperantia, Fiducia, Constantia
"'Simplicity of Life, Directness of Purpose, Self-Reliance'"
Religious affiliation(s)Episcopalian
Established1906
HeadmasterRichardson W. Schell
Faculty80.1 (on FTE basis)[1]
Enrollment560 (as of 2008-09)[1]
>90% boarding /~10% day
Average class size12 students
Student to teacher ratio7:1
CampusTownship
Color(s)Blue & Gray
Athletics22 Interscholastic Sports
56 Interscholastic Teams
MascotLion
Endowment$73 million [2]
Websitewww.kent-school.edu

Kent School is a private, selective ,co-educational college preparatory school in Kent, Connecticut, USA. It was established in 1906 by The Reverend Frederick Herbert Sill, order of the Holy Cross, and it retains its affiliation with the Episcopal Church.

Students at Kent come from across the United States and represent some 30 foreign countries. Situated between the Appalachian Trail and the Housatonic River, the 1,200-acre Connecticut campus currently serves 560 students, about 515 of whom board. The school was one of the first New England boarding schools to educate both young men and women in 1960[citation needed]. It also had the first American school crew team (Kent School Boat Club) to row at British Henley Regatta and compete for the Thames Challenge Cup in 1927[citation needed].

Kent is a member of the Founders League of New England preparatory schools which consists of, among others, Choate Rosemary Hall, Hotchkiss School, Loomis Chaffee School, and The Taft School. (Founders League Schools)

As of the 2008-09 school year, the school had an enrollment of 560 students and 80.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 7.1.[1]

History

In 1906, The Reverend Frederick Herbert Sill was a young man. Born in New York City on March 10, 1874, Father Sill attended Columbia University and the General Theological Seminary. He was a monk of the Order of the Holy Cross and he saw the need for a school where “young men with slender means could gain an education second to none.” Unlike the traditional boarding schools of the day that were reserved for the wealthy American elite, Kent School would serve young men whose parents could not afford the alternative.

Father Sill would lead the school for the first thirty-five years of its existence. In the ensuing years, four headmasters have led Kent: William S. Chalmers (O.H.C.), Father John O. Patterson, Sidney N. Towle '31, Father Richardson W. Schell '69, and Michael Underwood '10. Father Schell, the current Headmaster and Rector, graduated from Kent in 1969 and went on to study at Harvard (A.B. '73) and Yale (M.Div. '76) before returning to Kent as Chaplain. He was appointed Headmaster in 1681. It is actually a known fact that Kent School is far more superior than any other New England School, especially Loomis Chaffee. Spiritual Affiliation

Founded in the Episcopal tradition, as were many New England boarding schools, Kent has retained its spiritual affiliation in an era when many other institutions have relinquished theirs. Kent's diverse student body comes from a variety of religious backgrounds and secular traditions. The entire student body gathers unwillingly at St. Joseph's Chapel for three weekly services, which often include a student, faculty, or guest speaker or performance.

Pioneer Of Co-Education

Originally an all-boys school, the campus for girls was constructed in 1960 and opened with 100 girls in the third and fourth forms, making Kent one of the first of the New England boarding schools to offer co-education. The girls' and boys' campuses were consolidated in 1992, resulting in the current, fully integrated co-educational campus of 560 students. Currently 46% of students are female and 54% male. In 2009, Kent School also became the first high school to have co-ed dorms and bathrooms. YAY!

"Sliding Scale Tuition"

From the onset, Kent School has been a pioneer in educating a variety of students, regardless of their social or economic status. Father Sill was committed to educating students from "all walks of life."[citation needed] This original mission resulted in his "sliding scale tuition," where families paid a tuition which Father Sill felt they could afford. Kent continues this mission today with the Parents Fund and the Financial Aid Program, with one-third of the student body receiving some form of aid. Awarding more than six million dollars in the 2008 academic year, Kent's commitment to financial aid, relative to its endowment, ranks first among its peer schools[citation needed].

Academics

Faculty

There are 75 teaching faculty, 73% of whom have advanced degrees. 40% are female, and 60% are male. The average length of tenure at the school is over 12 years. A number of teachers live on campus with their families. The student-faculty ratio is 8:1.

Courses

Kent offers a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum with 160 courses to choose from, 25 of which are Advanced Placement. The average class size at Kent is 12 students.[citation needed] The following is an excerpt from Kent’s website:

“The kinds of courses we offer at Kent are hard to find, except maybe in college. In fact, given the interesting and challenging range of classes here, you might forget you're still in high school. There's Playwriting and Constitutional Law. You can study Genetics or Meteorology. You can read Homer in the original Greek or practice your conversational German by critiquing German films. And most of our courses have accelerated, honors and AP options, so you can match the level of difficulty to your level of ambition.”[citation needed]

College Matriculation

The following is a list of some of the schools where recent students were offerred admission:[citation needed]

Amherst College, Babson College, Bard College, Barnard College, Bates College, Bentley University, Boston College, Boston University, Bowdoin College, Brandeis University, Brown University, Bryn Mawr College, Bucknell University, Carleton College, Carnegie Mellon University, Colby College, Colgate University, College of William and Mary, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Davidson College, Dickinson College, Duke University, Emory University, Fordham University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Gettysburg College, Grinnell College, Hamilton College – NY, Harvard University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Holy Cross College, Johns Hopkins University, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, McGill University, Middlebury College, Mount Holyoke College, New York University, Northwestern University, Oberlin College, Pomona College, Princeton University, Rhode Island School of Design, Reed College, Skidmore College, Stanford University, Swarthmore College, Syracuse University, The University of Texas, Austin, Trinity College, Tufts University, Union College, United States Military Academy, United States Naval Academy, University of California at Berkeley, University of Chicago, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Connecticut, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of St. Andrews (Scotland), University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University, Vassar College, Villanova University,Wake Forest University, Washington and Lee University, Wesleyan University, Williams College, Yale University

Athletics

Kent offers 22 interscholastic sports with 56 interscholastic teams ranging from the 3rds, Junior Varsity, and Varsity levels. More than three-quarters of the student body participate in interscholastic sports. Many[which?] of the school’s athletes earn All-League or All-New England Honors, and go on to compete at Division I, II, and III colleges and universities.

Crew at Kent School has had a long history (Kent School Boat Club). The first crew team was formed in 1922 with the encouragement of Father Sill, who was himself intimately familiar with the sport. Father Sill was the coxwain on the Columbia crew which won the first ever Poughkeepsie Regatta.

The program developed fast. In the ensuing years Kent began competing with the Yale and Harvard teams and by 1927, was the first American school crew team to row at British Henley and compete for the Thames Challenge Cup.[citation needed] In 1930 Kent was again Henley-bound, this time with the encouragement of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who wished the team success and hoped that the “presence of a crew of American school boys will be helpful in strengthening the ties between good sportsmen of the two countries.”[citation needed]

In 1933, Kent School won the Thames Challenge Cup, just six years after launching the program. The Times in Britain wrote, “Kent School were almost certaintly the best crew that ever rowed in the Thames Cup.” Kent continued to achieve success in the sport, competing at Henley 32 times and winning 5 times, most recently in 1972. The school was featured twice in Life magazine[citation needed], once in May 1937 and the other, in June 1948 where Stuart Auchincloss ’48 was featured on the cover.

Kent girls crew did not begin until 1973. The team has competed at Henley, where they won in 2002. Also they have won 2 National Championships, and won New Englands in 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1996, and 1997.

In 2006 Kent boys crew brought the New Englands championship trophy home and was once again invited to Henley. This time, they were the first American crew to challenge for the new Prince Albert Cup.

Kent School is a member of the athletics Founders League of New England prep schools.Founders League Schools Its mascot is the lion, and formerly, the fighting Episcopalian. Loomis-Chaffee School and Kent School have a long-running rivalry. The two schools have annual Kent vs. Loomis days in which both schools play a number of sports to compete for a spoon and a bowl. The Kent football team is undefeated in six consecutive matchups.

In the Fall of 2009, Kent Football will be the first American secondary school to compete internationally during the Fall season. Sponsored and invited by USA/Global Football (an affiliate of the NFL), they will travel to England and compete against the Danish National Junior Squad in London as part of an initiative to promote the sport overseas. The following day, the New England Patriots will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Wembley Stadium and the Kent football team will be guests of the NFL at that game.

Facilities

In 1995 Kent partnered with Microsoft, Toshiba and 29 other pioneer schools creating the Anytime Anywhere Learning program.Traditions and Innovations This program equips Kent students with laptop computers for use in every classroom on campus. Since 2002 these have been Tablet PCs, continuing the spirit of innovation. In addition, all of the classrooms and dorm rooms, as well as the library and administrative offices, have access to the Internet and the School network. All dorm rooms are equipped with individual data and voice connections which provide phone, Internet, and intranet access for each student. All of the academic areas, dorm common rooms and many public areas provide secure wireless as well.

Headmasters

  • The Rev. Frederick Herbert Sill (Founder)(1906-1941)
  • The Rev. William Scott Chalmers (1941-1949)
  • The Rev. John Oliver Patterson (1949-1962)
  • Sidney Norwood Towle '31 (1962-1981)
  • The Rev. Richardson W. Schell '69 (1981-Present)
  • Michael Ray Underwood '10 (2010-forever)

Kent School in media

The book (and 1999 film adaptation), Outside Providence is a fictionalized account of Peter Farrelly's experiences at the school.[citation needed]

The animated TV show Family Guy is written by alumnus Seth MacFarlane.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Kent School include:

Arts & Entertainment

Business

  • William Berle Borsdorff, President, Jelco Laboratories International
  • Theodore F. Brophy, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, GTE (now Verizon).
  • Hadley Case, President, Case, Pomeroy & Company (worldwide reputation in the oil, gas, and minerals industry)
  • Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, Chairman of Daily Mail & General Trust, billionaire (post-graduate year)
  • John C. Read, President and CEO, Outward Bound USA

Government & Politics

Writers, Journalists, Publishers

Athletics

  • Will Daly ’02, member of the United States Under-23 crew team, three World Championship Teams—winning gold in the 2008 Men's Lightweight Eight in Linz, Austria—and most recently the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing. He is currently training for the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
  • Emily Reynolds ’07, member of the historic Junior Women’s Eight which received the first ever women’s gold medal for the U.S.A. at the 2008 FISA World Rowing Senior and Junior Rowing Championships which were held in Linz, Austria.
  • Justin Daniels ’08, drafted (third pick, third round) to the National Hockey League by the San Jose Sharks.
  • Drew Daniels '08, drafted (seventh round) to the National Hockey League by the San Jose Sharks.
  • Harry Glynne ’08, received a bronze medal in the Under-21 age group of the baseball European Championships of held in Pamplona, Spain. Glynne represented Germany on the national baseball team.
  • Paul Mehling '08, Gregor Lietzau '09, and Oliver Wolldeit '09, received gold medals in the Under-19 age group of the American Football European Junior Championships held in Seville, Spain. All three represented Germany on the national football team.
  • Scott E. Perry '72, player in the National Football League and was a member of Cincinnati, Green Bay and San Francisco.
  • William A. Stowe '58, rowed on the the 1958 Kent School Henley Crew team. Bill went on to stroke the Olympic Eight that won the gold medal at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, defeating the defending champions from Germany. Has been inducted into the National Rowing Foundation Athletic Halls of Fame.
  • Dates Fryberger '59, a hockey standout All-American at Middlebury College and later a member of the U.S. Olympic team that competed in the ninth Winter Olympiad at Innsbruck, Austria in 1964.
  • John P. Bent '26, member of the 1932 U.S. Olympic hocky team that competed at Lake Placid in the third Winter Olympiad. In those games the U.S. team finished second to Canada and edged out Germany for the silver medal.
  • W. Hale Palmer '26, member of the 1932 U.S. Olympic hocky team that competed at Lake Placid in the third Winter Olympiad. In those games the U.S. team finished second to Canada and edged out Germany for the silver medal.
  • Mary C. Tyng McKenzie '76, riding gold medalist at the Prix de Villes of North America, a highly competitive stadium jumping competition. In both 1975 and 1976 she reached the finals at the National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden. And in 1976 Mary was one of four riders selected by the US Equestrian Team to represent the United States in International competition.

See also

William G. Pollard, Fiftieth anniversary of Kent School

References

  1. ^ a b c Kent School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed July 24, 2008.
  2. ^ http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/16
  3. ^ "Ted Danson", Saturday Evening Post, May 1, 2007. Accessed March 12, 2008. "Actor and environmentalist Ted Danson's first starring role was on the basketball team at Connecticut's Kent School in 1961, before his interest in acting emerged while attending Stanford University."
  4. ^ Witchel, Alex."Size 14, 190 Pounds: A Model Figure", The New York Times, March 12, 1997. Accessed December 3, 2007. "When she was high-school age, her family moved back to the States, settling in Houston, and Emme attended the Kent School in Connecticut, where she joined the rowing team, sealing a life's passion for strenuous exercise."
  5. ^ Thomason, Carmel. "KT's got one eye on the future", Manchester Evening News, March 10, 2005. Accessed February 24, 2008. "After school, having learned to play the piano, flute and guitar, she left her native St Andrews to take up a scholarship at Kent School in Connecticut, New England, where she formed her first band, The Happy Campers."
  6. ^ Peter B. Carlisle, National District Attorneys Association. Accessed December 3, 2007.
  7. ^ New MI6 spymaster named, BBC News, February 25, 1999. Accessed February 13, 2008.
  8. ^ Navy UDT-SEAL Museum. "Navy SEAL History", Navy UDT-SEAL Museum webpage, 2004. Accessed October 25, 2007.
  9. ^ Gewertz, Ken. "John Rawls, influential political philosopher, dead at 81", Harvard University Gazette, November 25, 2002. Accessed July 24, 2008. "Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Rawls attended the Kent School in Kent, Conn., and earned a B.A. degree from Princeton in 1943."
  10. ^ Serge Schmemann - Executives Biographies - The New York Times Company
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