Pomfret School

Last updated

Pomfret School
PomfretSchool.jpg
Address
Pomfret School
398 Pomfret Street

Pomfret
,
Connecticut
06258

United States
Coordinates 41°53′10″N71°57′54″W / 41.8862°N 71.9651°W / 41.8862; -71.9651
Information
Type Private, Coeducational, Secondary, Boarding
MottoCerta Viriliter
(Strive Valiantly)
Established1894(130 years ago) (1894)
Founder William E. Peck
CEEB code 070615
ChairmanJustin P. Klein
Head of schoolJ. Timothy Richards
Grades9–12, postgraduate
Enrollment350 [1]
Campus typeRural
Student Union/AssociationOlmsted Student Union Pomfret Alumni Association
Color(s)Red and black
  
Athletics42 interscholastic teams
Mascot Griffin
NewspaperPontefract
Website www.pomfret.org

Pomfret School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory boarding and day school in Pomfret, Connecticut, United States, serving 350 students in grades 9 through 12 and post-graduates. Founded in 1894, it is located in the Pomfret Street Historic District. The average class size is 12 students with a student–teacher ratio of 6:1. Over 80% of faculty hold master's degrees or doctorates. Typically, 40% of students receive financial aid, 20% are students of color, 21% are international students. [1]

Contents

Historical background

Architectural rendering and facilities plan of Pomfret School c. 1906 Pomfret School 1916 facilities plan.jpg
Architectural rendering and facilities plan of Pomfret School c. 1906
Construction of the George Newhall Clark '04 Memorial Chapel at Pomfret School c. 1908 Pomfret School Clark Chapel Construction, c.1908 sized.jpg
Construction of the George Newhall Clark '04 Memorial Chapel at Pomfret School c. 1908

The school opened on October 3, 1894, [2] [3] founded by William E. Peck and his wife Harriet. [3] In the first decade of the 1900s, Pomfret was transformed from mainly Colonial Revival buildings to a "planned institution." [4] By 1906, architect Ernest Flagg had designed a master plan for the school. [4] The pavilion arrangement reflected the influence of Thomas Jefferson's design for the University of Virginia.

For the chapel, commissioned by Edward Clark in 1907, Flagg chose Norman architecture as an appropriate model and emulated the rich textures of the unpolished stone-work characteristic of that style. [5]

Following a visit to the campus in 1910, when construction was nearing completion, Flagg compared Pomfret to his design of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, remarking, "The school is better architecturally than Annapolis." While his design for Annapolis had been repeatedly altered by the Navy during construction, the work at Pomfret scrupulously followed his design. [6] Flagg hoped that his work for Pomfret would set a trend and lead to a "national style of architecture." [6]

The Pomfret's coat of arms was designed by Harriet Peck Jones. She had contacted members of the Fermor family, holders of the earldom of Pomfret in England. They suggested the school's coat of arms should be that of their family: Argent, a fess sable (black) between three lions' heads erased gules (red). [7]

Adam Hochschild, who attended Pomfret in the 1950s, described it in 1982 as one of about twenty select American schools, all built around 1900 or before, which were until the 1960s "upper-class single-sex boarding schools". He added that it was, at the time, "basically a school for the rich." [8]

Hochschild's perspective may have been accurate in the 1950s, but the school gradually attracted a significantly more diverse student body. In the 2023-24 school year, for example, Pomfret awarded $5 million in financial aid to 37% of the student body. [9]

Campus

The 500 acre campus, established in 1894, was designed by landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted, [10] and expanded over the years to its current size through gifts and acquisitions. The facility's master plan was designed in 1906 by American architect Ernest Flagg. [11]

Notable buildings

A number of Pomfret's buildings and houses are listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). [12] [13]

Holiday Carols in Clark Chapel Pomfret School Clark Chapel Carols 2009.jpg
Holiday Carols in Clark Chapel
The 13th century rose window from St. Julien Cathedral, France, Clark Memorial Chapel Clark Chapel St. Julien Rose Window 120815.jpg
The 13th century rose window from St. Julien Cathedral, France, Clark Memorial Chapel

Memorial Chapel

Dedicated on St. George's Day, 1908, and consecrated on May 16, 1909, [14] the chapel was designed by Ernest Flagg [15] and houses three extraordinary stained glass windows from 13th century France. [16] [17] [18]

The ten-foot-high rose window above the chapel doorway and two of the arched-top, oblong windows along the walls are apparently from the 13th century cathedral, Saint Julien of Tours, on the Loire river in France. The ancient windows were donated to Pomfret in 1947. They are recorded as having been imported to the U.S. in 1904; they were auctioned in New York to an anonymous bidder and installed in Clark Chapel in 1949. [16] [17]

du Pont Library

It was designed by Cambridge Seven Associates, finished in 1969, and won many awards.

Jahn Ice Hockey Rink

In 2005, Brown Rink, the original name of the rink, underwent a major renovation and was renamed Jahn Rink after Helmut Jahn, the architect who helped design it. Jahn's son had attended Pomfret. [19] [20]

Parsons Lodge

It won the 2010 AIA Connecticut People's Choice Award for “the building in which people would most like to study” and the 2009 Best Fireplace Award from Masonry Construction magazine. [21]

Athletics

Pomfret Crew Regatta 2011 Pomfret School Crew Regatta 2011.jpg
Pomfret Crew Regatta 2011

A member of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC), [22] Pomfret fields 42 teams in 15 different sports [23] and has won numerous championships during its history in both men's and women's sports. [24] Recently, Girls Varsity Volleyball won the 2015 NESPAC Class B Championship. [25] Boys Varsity Hockey won the 2017 NEPSAC Small School Championship. [26]

Arts

Pomfret's arts programs are guided offer training and participation in visual and performing arts. There are performance facilities and art studios on campus, as well as a photography laboratory.

The Pomfret Grifftones and Chorus give concerts in the United States and overseas; in 2015 they performed in Florence, Lucca, and St. Stephen's School in Rome. The same year, they performed at the University of Connecticut (March 2015). [27]

Crisis in the 1960s and 1970s

Pomfret went through a crisis in the 1960s and 70s, making "desperate fundraising appeals" necessary. Pomfret alumnus Adam Hochschild claimed that since "Pomfret had never been quite in the top rank of New England boarding schools," the economic crisis was even more dire for them. One year, the entering class did not reach the expected (small) number of students. Teachers were compelled to take ten-percent less in pay. Some started planning for the school's closing. In a men's toilet on campus, someone scrawled on the wall over the toilet paper dispenser: “Pomfret diplomas. Take one.” [8]

Sexual misconduct allegations

In 2016, an independent investigation found that four teachers had "likely engaged in sexual misconduct" between the 1970s and 2000s. [28] [29] A letter sent out from the school to the community said that the investigation "found four teachers 'more likely than not' engaged in sexual misconduct," and there were "nine other 'credible reports' that teachers engaged in inappropriate behavior," but concluded there was "insufficient information". [29] [30] An investigation conducted by the Connecticut State Police into the allegations was closed with no criminal charges being filed. [31] [32]

Notable alumni

Edward Stettinius EdwardRStettiniusJrSoS.jpg
Edward Stettinius
Ridley Pearson Ridley Pearson Coffee Pot 2013.jpg
Ridley Pearson
Sarah Vaillancourt Sarah vaillancourt.jpg
Sarah Vaillancourt

Notable faculty

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  3. 1 2 Pearson, Brad (1993). Stone, Emerson (ed.). The Spirit That Is Pomfret (First ed.). Kashino Design Enterprises. pp. 3–5.
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