Collegiate School (New York City)
Collegiate School is an independent school for boys in New York City. It claims to be the oldest school in the United States.[1][2] It is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and is a member of both the New York Interschool and the Ivy Preparatory School League. It is ranked one of the best private schools in the United States.[3]
Collegiate School | |
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Address | |
301 Freedom Place South , 10069 | |
Information | |
Type | Private, day, college prep |
Motto | Latin: Nisi Dominus Frustra ("Unless God, then in vain") Dutch: Eendracht maakt macht ("In unity there is strength") |
Established | 1638 |
Founder | The Rev. Jonas Michaelius and the Dutch West India Company |
Chairman | Jonathan Youngwood ’85 |
Headmaster | Lee M. Levison |
Faculty | 108 |
Grades | K-12 |
Gender | Boys |
Number of students | 661 |
Campus | Urban |
Color(s) | Orange and blue |
Nickname | Dutchmen |
Newspaper | The Journal |
Yearbook | The Dutchman |
Affiliations | Ivy Prep School League New York Interschool |
Website | www |
History
Collegiate was chartered as part of the Reformed Dutch Protestant Church in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam in 1638 by the Dutch West India Company and the Classis of Amsterdam.[4] Its initial incarnation was a co-ed school located south of Canal Street. The institution's location has changed 16 times over the last four centuries.
Founding Date Controversy
In 1984, Massimo Maglione, a historian and Upper School teacher at Collegiate, discovered a letter that Collegiate's founder—the Reverend Jonas Michaëlius, the first minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in America—had written in 1628 about his efforts to teach the catechism to Indian children. Based on this letter, the school controversially moved up the year of its establishment to 1628.[5][2] While Reverend Jonas Michaëlius did arrive in New Amsterdam in 1628 and may have worked as an educator at that time, Collegiate School was not chartered until 1638,[4] placing its founding two years after the founding of Harvard University and three years after the founding of The Boston Latin School.[6][7]
Location
On February 5, 2013, the Collegiate School board announced relocation plans for the institution. The school acquired land for a new facility, situated between West End Avenue and Riverside Boulevard and between West 61st and 62nd Streets in New York's Riverside South neighborhood. Board Chairman George R. Bason, Jr. '72 said the new 178,000-square-foot school would provide 30% more indoor space and over 600% more outdoor space (16,268 square feet) for its 648 students from kindergarten through 12th grade than the existing lodgings provided. He estimated the new school's construction cost at $125–$135 million.[8] On January 12, 2018, Collegiate officially opened its new location at 301 Freedom Place South.[9]
School seal and mottos
Collegiate's official seal is an adaptation of the coat of arms of William of Orange, who was the founder of the Dutch Republic and of the Reformed Church in that country and led the cause of independence and of freedom for the Reformed Church against Philip II of Spain. Included in the school's seal are two mottos: Eendracht Maakt Macht, Dutch for "In unity there is strength", and Nisi Dominus Frustra, Latin for "unless God, then in vain."
Organization
Campus
From 1892–2017, Collegiate resided at several buildings on 77th and 78th Streets on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The former schoolhouse on West 77th Street is, together with the adjoining West End Collegiate Church, an historic landmark in the City of New York.
In 2013, the school announced that it would be moving to a new location and in January 2018, Collegiate moved into a new facility at 301 Freedom Place South. It consists of an 11-story building (nine stories above ground and two below ground), with 180,000 square feet (17,000 m2) of classroom, athletics, theater, music, art, library, dining, and administrative space. The school features common areas dedicated to each division that provide space for independent study, social interactions, and divisional activities.
The Lower School is located on floors 2 and 3. The Middle School occupies floors 8 and 9. It has its own Maker Space, along with flexible classrooms, a Middle School Center and large, modern group study spaces. The Upper School is housed on floors 5 and 6. It is significantly larger than the division's previous space and is adjacent to the library. It features flexible classrooms and common areas that promote interaction among students and faculty.
Sciences for all three divisions are consolidated onto floor 7. Visual arts and music occupy floor 4, complete with music practice spaces, art studios, and a digital photo lab. Additionally, on the Lower Level, performing arts benefit from a 307-seat auditorium and a black-box theater, both of which support Collegiate's drama program. Collegiate's athletics are housed in the Lower Level and include a high school regulation-size gym that supports the basketball teams. The gym can be partitioned to provide PE classes and practice space simultaneously. An additional gym, the Alumni Gym, can accommodate regulation wrestling competitions and half-court basketball and features a retractable batting cage.
Outdoor space consists of a large roof deck on floor 9 with a large recreation area and a ground-level, 5,000-square-foot courtyard that allows for handball and basketball.[10]
Structure
Each grade has around 50 boys, who attend Collegiate for the full course of study, thirteen years (these students are nicknamed "Survivors"). The school is divided into Lower School (Kindergarten-Grade 4), Middle School (Grades 5-8), and Upper School (Grades 9-12). More than a quarter of Collegiate teachers hold a Ph.D.
The school is private, and it functions under a New York City non-profit statute enacted in the 1940s. Collegiate is controlled by a Board of Trustees, and the school is administered by a Head of School.[11]
Leadership
Collegiate School is currently headed by Lee M. Levison, who has held the title of Head of School since July 1, 2006. He was preceded by W. Lee Pierson, the interim Head of School following the departure of Kerry P. Brennan in 2004.[12] Levison announced his intention to retire in December 2018, effective June 30, 2020, causing The Board of Trustees to immediately commence a search for his replacement.[13]
On May 31, 2019, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to appoint David S. Lourie, Head of the St. Anne's-Belfield School since 2009, as Collegiate's 29th Head of School.[14][13] He will begin his tenure upon Levison's retirement in July 2020.
Rankings
In 2007, The Wall Street Journal ranked Collegiate number one in the world in terms of percent of the senior class matriculating to eight selective American colleges.[15] A 2019-20 survey concluded that Collegiate was the 3rd best boys school in the country, the 4th best K-12 school in the country, and the 13th best private high school in the country.[16]
Sports and co-curricular activities
The school's athletic success has mainly been with the varsity basketball, baseball, track and field, soccer, and cross country teams. The Collegiate soccer team won the NYSAIS state championship in 2010, 2011, and 2012.[17]| The Collegiate varsity basketball team won five straight state championships in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. [17] The Collegiate cross country team won 25 Ivy League Championships in a row from 1990–2014.[17] Collegiate also has wrestling and tennis teams. Students not participating in a sport take physical education. Yearly fitness tests are administered in the lower and middle schools.
The school has a number of clubs, especially in the Upper School, including The Collegiate Journal. its newspaper operating since 1932; The Dutchman, the yearbook published every year since 1906; and Prufrock. its literary magazine, first published in 1973.[18]
Mascot
The school's mascot, a depiction of Peter Stuyvesant, often called "Peg Legged Pete" by students, has been a subject of recent controversy, due to his pronounced lack of religious tolerance, especially towards jews[19] Due to this there has been a push to change the mascot either removing features that connect it Stuyvesant, or changing it entirely.[20]
Notable alumni
- George Axelrod, 1940, playwright[21]
- Jason Beghe, 1978, actor[22]
- David Benioff, 1988, author and screenwriter[23]
- Egbert Benson, 1760, a Founding Father of the United States, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1st Attorney General of New York, and founder of the New-York Historical Society[24]
- George Platt Brett, 1911, chairman of MacMillan Publishing[25]
- Peter Bogdanovich, 1957, filmmaker and author[26]
- Benjamin Bronfman, 2000, entrepreneur and musician[27]
- Edgar Bronfman Jr., 1973, CEO of Warner Music Group[28]
- Dan Cogan, 1987, producer and director[28]
- Jeff Cowen, 1984, American photographer[29]
- Joseph Cullman, 1930, businessman and CEO of Philip Morris cigarette company from 1957 to 1978[30]
- Matthew Daddario, 2006, actor[28]
- Christopher d'Amboise, 1978, An American dancer, choreographer, writer, and theater director[31]
- Samuel Dickson, c.1820 member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York[32]
- David Duchovny, 1978, Golden Globe-winning actor and director[33]
- Nabil Fahmy, 1968, Egyptian diplomat and politician and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2013-2014)[34]
- Douglas Fairbanks Jr., 1926, actor and World War II naval officer[35]
- Edward Glaeser, 1984, economics professor[36]
- Matt Haimovitz, 1989, cellist[37]
- Paul Hodes, 1968, U.S. Representative from New Hampshire[34]
- Zachary Karabell, 1985, businessman and writer, contributing editor for Politico[38]
- Bill Keenan, 2004, professional ice hockey player[39]
- Douglas Kennedy, 1972, novelist[40]
- John F. Kennedy, Jr., class of 1978 (left after 10th grade), son of President John F. Kennedy[41]
- John Kosner, 1978, writer[42] head of espn.com
- Bill Kristol, 1970, Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States (1989-1993) for Dan Quayle, and founder and editor of The Weekly Standard[43]
- Christopher Krovatin, 2003, author and musician[44]
- John Langeloth Loeb Jr., 1940, businessman and United States Ambassador to Denmark[45]
- Nicholas M. Loeb, 1993, businessman
- Ben Lyons, 2000, film critic and TV personality
- Ian McGinnis, 1997, NCAA Division I men's basketball leading rebounder[46]
- Taylor Mali, 1983, poet and humorist
- Walter Murch, 1961 Oscar-winning editor, sound designer, and filmmaker, referred to as "the most respected film editor and sound designer in the modern cinema"[47]
- James M. Nack, 1825, poet[32]
- John Bertram Oakes, 1929, journalist known for his early commitment to the environment, civil rights, and opposition to the Vietnam War; creator of the modern op-ed page.[48]
- Alexander Olch, 2003, designer
- Jeffrey Orridge, 1978, commissioner of the Canadian Football League[49]
- Bill Perkins, 1968, New York State Senator (2007-2017) and member of the New York City Council[34]
- Dan-el Padilla Peralta, 2002, classicist[50]
- Alex Prud'homme, journalist[51]
- Ben Rhodes, 1996, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communication and speechwriter for President Barack Obama[52]
- David Rhodes, 1994, President of CBS News[52]
- Jack Richardson, 1951, essayist and playwright known for existentialist drama[53]
- John A. Roebling II (1867-1952), engineer and philanthropist.[54]
- Cesar Romero, 1926, actor[55]
- Mark Ronson, 1993, Grammy-winning producer and DJ[56]
- Andrew Rossi 1991, documentary filmmaker[57]
- Alex Rubens, 1996, writer for Key and Peele and Rick and Morty[58]
- John Rubinstein, 1964, actor[59]
- Jack Schlossberg, 2011, only male surviving descendant of John F. Kennedy[60]
- Serge Schmemann, 1963, writer and editor for the International Herald Tribune, Pulitzer Prize winner with The New York Times[61]
- Wallace Shawn, 1961, actor[62]
- Michael Shnayerson, 1972, contributing editor, Vanity Fair[63]
- Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., 1969, former publisher, The New York Times[64]
- Anthony Shorris, 1974, first deputy mayor of New York City[65]
- Sam Sifton, 1984, The New York Times restaurant critic[66]
- Robert F. X. Sillerman, 1966, media entrepreneur[67]
- Vivek Tiwary, 1991, writer and theater producer[68]
- Luis Ubiñas, 1981, former president of the Ford Foundation[69]
- Stephanus Van Cortlandt, c. 1655, member of the Board of Deacons (1672), Mayor of New York City[70]
- Cornelius Vanderbilt II, 1859, son of William Henry Vanderbilt and grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt[71]
- Andrew Wagner, 1981, filmmaker[72]
- Kenneth Webb, 1902, film director, screenwriter, and composer[73]
- John Weidman, 1964, playwright[65]
- Paul Weitz, 1983, filmmaker and playwright[74]
- Alex York, pop singer-songwriter[75]
- James Warren, 1971, journalist, Washington Bureau chief for the New York Daily News[76]
- David Wise, 1972, screenwriter[65]
- J. Peder Zane, 1980, journalist and author[77]
Affiliated organizations
- Ivy Preparatory School League
- National Association of Independent Schools
- New York State Association of Independent Schools
- Interschool
References
- "Colligiate's Arithmetic Makes it the Oldest School". The New York Times. May 5, 1985. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
- "Gifted Parents Help Collegiate School". The New York Times. May 24, 1988. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
The concert celebrated what Collegiate calls its 360th anniversary. Which year the school was actually founded - 1628, 1633 or 1638 - has created disputes among the nation's oldest schools that seem as enduring as the schools. In 1984, Collegiate moved its date from 1633 to 1628, because officials discovered a letter written in 1628 by the Rev. Jonas Michealius of the Dutch Reformed Church describing his efforts to teach catechism to Indian children. To Collegiate officials, that sounded as much like a preparatory school as anything operating in early 17th-century America. The change puts Collegiate in the position of marking its 360th anniversary 55 years after it celebrated its 300th anniversary, in 1933. "It was all thrashed out around 1910," the headmaster, Cornelius B. Boocock, told The New York Times in 1933. "The case is now settled."...
- Nolan, Caroline (March 1, 2016). "The top 25 private high schools in the U.S." TheStreet. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
- "Collegiate School in NY | The Oldest Independent School in the US". www.collegiateschool.org. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- "Colligiate's Arithmetic Makes It Oldest School". The New York Times. May 5, 1985. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- "History". Harvard University. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- "Boston Latin School | American secondary school". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- Anderson, Jenny (February 5, 2013). "Collegiate School, New York's Oldest Private School, Plans 17th Move". The New York Times.
- "Collegiate School - Private Boys K-12 Day School in NYC". www.collegiateschool.org. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 22, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Collegiate School | All Boys K-12 in NYC | School Facts". collegiate school. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
- Collegiate School, About Us: History, Retrieved October 9, 2019.
- Collegiate School, Head of School Search, Retrieved October 9, 2019.
- St. Anne's-Belfield School, Senior Administration, Retrieved October 9, 2019.
- Gamerman, Ellen (November 30, 2007). "How to Get Into Harvard". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
- "2020 Collegiate School Rankings".
- "New York State Association of Independent Schools Past Champions" (PDF). NYSAIS.org.
- "Collegiate School History". collegiateschool.org. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- Otto, Paul, "Peter Stuyvesant." in American National Biography, volume 21, 99–100. New York: Oxford University Press. 1999.
- Collegiate Journal March/April 2019
- Pat McGilligan (1997). "Backstory 3-Interviews with screenwriters of the 1960s(George Axelrod)". p. 50. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- Jason Beghe's Life After Scientology: 'I Was in a Cult', Marlow Stern, "He attended the Collegiate School, an elite private prep school for blue-blooded New York City boys, where his two best pals were John F. Kennedy, Jr. and David Duchovny."
- "Collegiate Yearbook auction(David Benioff)". Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- N.Y.), Collegiate Church School (New York; Dunshee, Henry Webb (February 15, 1883). "History of the School of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church in the City of New York, from 1633 to 1883". Print of the Aldine Press. Retrieved February 15, 2019 – via Google Books.
- GEORGE P. BRETT IS DEAD AT 91; HEADED MACMILLAN COMPANY, The New York Times, Wolfgang Saxos, https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/15/obituaries/george-p-brett-is-dead-at-91-headed-macmillan-company.html
- Miriam Jordan (2006). Illegal at Princeton. WSJ. p. 1. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- The Bed-Stuy Bronfman, Joe Pompeo, The Observer
- Wikipedia, Source (May 2010). The Collegiate School Alumni. ISBN 9781155286402.
- Peter Bogdanovich (2005). Who the Hell's In it: Conversations with Legendary Actors. Random House. p. 7. ISBN 9780307757838. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- Kluger, Richard, Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred Year Cigarette War, pg. 137, accessed from Google Books
- http://movingstory.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Chris-DAmboise-Resume.pdf
- History of the School of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church in the City of New York, Webb Dunshee, page 229, accessed from Google Books
- Duchovny, David (March 12, 2011). "What a Good Coach Does". Retrieved February 15, 2019 – via www.wsj.com.
- https://www.dartmouth.edu/~dvp/transcripts/hodes_paul.pdf
- Screen World 1997, Google Books :https://books.google.com/books?id=Z7JzuND1xFIC&pg=PT277&lpg=PT277&dq=Laurence+Fairbanks+Jr+Collegiate+School&source=bl&ots=u3aTyjQBo1&sig=5FuNkRLjV7QqAt24n85_QPAokwQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjL9aDdlsHbAhVlHzQIHUvtDQ4Q6AEIcjAP#v=onepage&q=Laurence%20Fairbanks%20Jr%20Collegiate%20School&f=false
- Economist Edward Glaeser '84 Speaks to Upper School at Adams Lecture: https://www.collegiateschool.org/page/news-detail?pk=597180
- https://oxingalerecords.com/matt-haimovitz/ "Haimovitz studied at the Collegiate School in New York and at the Juilliard School, in the final class of Leonard Rose, after which he continued his cello studies with Ronald Leonard and Yo-Yo Ma."
- Collegiate Book Fair Festival a Success: https://www.collegiateschool.org/page/news-detail?pk=519524
- Odd Man Rush (2016), Bill Keenan
- Entertainment Books, Delight and the world according to Douglas Kennedy
- Heymann, C. David (2008); American Legacy: The Story of John and Caroline Kennedy. Atria Books. ISBN 0743497392, pp. 145-146
- https://www.meetup.com/hatchery/events/87196202/
- "Weekly Standard Editor Always Stood Out as a Conservative," The Harvard Crimson, Jacquelyn Newmyer: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1998/6/2/weekly-standard-editor-always-stood-out/: "After graduating from the private all-male Collegiate School, Kristol headed to Cambridge."
- Kickin' Out Old School: Puffed Up Prepsters, Wolf: "Alumni have paid homage to the campus in films including House of D by David Duchovny (class of '77) and The Talent Given Us by Andrew Wagner ('81), as well as the novel Heavy Metal and You by Chris Krovatin ('03)."
- Collegiate Book Festival a Great Success
- January 24, Joe Schad; Pm, 1999 7:00. "A LOOK AT THE LOCALS / McGinnis Tops in Rebounding". Newsday. Retrieved February 15, 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- October's Featured Sound Designer: Walter Murch, The Art and Technique of Sound Design, Miguel Isaza: "He went to The Collegiate School, a private preparatory school in Manhattan, from 1949 to 1961."
- http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/nny/oakesjb/transcripts/oakesjb_4_1_337.html, Columbia University Libraries Oral History Office, "At Collegiate School, which I went into from first grade, in 1918, to last in 1929, as my son did, too, 50 years later."
- Winter Convocation Hears Jeffrey L. Orridge '78, https://www.collegiateschool.org/page/news-detail?pk=528484
- Undocumented: A Dominican Boy's Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League (2015), Dan-el Padilla Peralta
- "Book Festival kicks off with Authors Night". Collegiate School. October 28, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ben-rhodes/gIQATbvW9O_print.html
- Callens, Johan, Double Binds: Existentialist Inspiration, Page 1, accessed from Google Books
- Lohrer, Fred E. "John A. Roebling, II (1867-1952), Builder of the Red Hill Estate (1929-1941), Lake Placid, Florida" Archived April 2, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Archbold Biological Station, October 2, 2006, last updated July 17, 2017. Accessed October 24, 2018.
- https://www.biography.com/people/cesar-romero-9542350 Archived June 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, "Romero was first introduced to acting while attending Collegiate and Riverdale Country schools, where he starred in a stage production of The Merchant of Venice."
- Phull, Hardeep (January 17, 2015). "6 things to know about breakout star Mark Ronson". nypost.com. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- Ivory Tower documentary puts a spotlight on the student loan crisis, Mark Stucker: https://schoolmatch4uproducts.com/ivory-tower-documentary-puts-a-spotlight-on-the-student-loan-crisis/
- Meet The Man Behind Key & Peele's 'Keanu, Complex Magazine, Eric Abbriss'
- Santa Fe Chamber Music, Artist Spotlight: Actor John Rubinstein: https://www.santafechambermusic.com/artist-spotlight-actor-john-rubinstein/
- Oppenheimer, Jerry (February 27, 2013). "JFK's heir apparent". nypost.com. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- Matushka Juliana Ossorguine Schmemann, Orthodox Church in America
- https://livre.fnac.com/mp16751579/The-Collegiate-School-Alumni-Peter-Bogdanovich-Wallace-Shawn-John-F-Kennedy-JR-Jason-Beghe-Mark-Ronson-Bill-Kristol-David-Duchovny
- Miss Stuart Weds Michael Shnayerson, The New York Times: The bridegroom... graduated from the Collegiate School and Dartmouth College."
- "Notable New Yorkers". www.columbia.edu. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- Miller, Tom (December 27, 2016). "Daytonian in Manhattan: The Collegiate School -- 241-243 West 77th Street". daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- Kickin' Out Old School: Puffed Up Prepsters Warily Eye Collegiate's Modern Move, Jonah Wolf, The Observer, '"I will always remember the school's red door and the tumult of running up its narrow stairs to English class," New York Times national editor Sam Sifton ('84) wrote in an email. "I still have nightmares where I awaken in one of those classrooms at the start of a test I didn't know was coming."'
- "Board Members". Viggle. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- https://thefifthbeatle.com/team/vivek-j-tiwary/ :"Vivek is a magna cum laude graduate of both the Wharton School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania's College of Arts and Sciences, and a cum laude graduate of the Collegiate School in New York City."
- Spring Convocation Features Luis Ubinas '81: https://www.collegiateschool.org/page/news-detail?pk=601114
- Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, John N. Ingham
- https://search.proquest.com/docview/91489327
- Kickin' Out Old School: Puffed Up Prepsters Warily Eye Collegiate's Modern Move, Jonah Wolf, The Observer: "Alumni have paid homage to the campus in films including House of D by David Duchovny (class of '77) and The Talent Given Us by Andrew Wagner ('81), as well as the novel Heavy Metal and You by Chris Krovatin ('03).
- Rhodes, Gary D. (2001). White Zombie: Anatomy of a Horror Film. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-7864-2762-8. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
- Money Changes Everything, New York Magazine
- "An American Boy Lost in Japan". The Daily Rind. December 18, 2012. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- https://www.poynter.org/search/James%20Warren%5B%5D, "New York City native, graduate of Collegiate School, Amherst College and Roosevelt University. Married to Cornelia Grumman, dad of Blair and Eliot. National columnist, U.S. News & World Report. Former chief media writer, The Poynter Institute.
- "J. Peder Zane and Granata". granta.com. Retrieved February 15, 2019.