Sayre School

Last updated

Sayre School
Sayre.jpg
Location
Sayre School
Lexington
,
Kentucky

United States
Coordinates 38°02′53″N84°29′38″W / 38.048°N 84.494°W / 38.048; -84.494
Information
Type Independent,Private
Motto"Make Your Mark."
Established1854
Head of SchoolStephen Manella [1]
Enrollment610 total (PS-12) [2]
Average class size14 students [3]
Student to teacher ratio7:1
CampusUrban; 10 buildings [4]
Athletics40 sports teams offered at the Varsity, Junior Varsity and Middle School level (grades 6-12) [5]
Mascot Spartan
Website sayreschool.org

Sayre School is an independent, private, co-educational school in Lexington, Kentucky, US. The school enrolls 610 students from age two through twelfth grade. It has 68 full-time faculty members. [3]

Contents

It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places under the name "Sayre Female Institute" since 1982. [6]

History

David A. Sayre, a New Jersey silversmith, migrated to Lexington where he eventually became a successful banker. He and his wife Abby founded the school as an all-female boarding school in November 1854 when he met with a group of businessmen in the offices of former Kentucky Secretary of State George B. Kinkead. Along with several other prominent members of the "McChord" (now First) Presbyterian Church, including John C. Breckinridge, the group drew up the school's articles of incorporation. [7]

In the fall of 1855, the school was moved to its current location on Limestone Street. [8]

The school remained an all-female boarding school until 1876, when boys were admitted as day scholars in the primary grades under the leadership of Major Henry B. McClelland, [9] who was the school's principal from 1870 to 1904. In 1914, the nearby preparatory school of Miss Ella M. Williams merged with Sayre, and the name was changed to Sayre College and Conservatory of Music. During the Great Depression, the school struggled, but in 1942 it grew with the incorporation of the Hamilton Grammar School, and changed its name to Sayre School, dropping its collegiate degree program. [7] The pillars outside the main entrance of the campus still show "Sayre College." In 1947 the high school grades were discontinued, and the boarding rooms were leased to the University of Kentucky. In 1961 an English teacher from Lafayette High School, Donn D. Hollingsworth, was appointed headmaster and the high school was reinstated, in addition to the grammar school, beginning the "New Era."

In March–April 2017, Sayre begun the demolition and reconstruction of the lower (elementary) school, only finishing in summer of 2018. [10]

Academics

The Sayre School consists of three academic divisions, covering ages 2 through grade 12. The Lower School consists of a preschool program for ages 2–5, [11] as well as Kindergarten through Grade 4. The Middle School covers grades 5–8, and the Upper School incorporates grades 9–12, like a traditional high school. The Upper School offers 17 Advanced Placement courses, and 85% of seniors who took an AP class earned a score of 3 or higher, with 60% being designated as AP Scholars; two were National AP Scholars. [12]

Notable alumni

Actress Ashley Judd attended Sayre. Ashley Judd - 2014.jpg
Actress Ashley Judd attended Sayre.

Notable past Sayre students include Nobel Laureate William Lipscomb, [13] woman suffragist Laura Clay, settlement school founder Katherine Pettit, [14] Josh Hopkins, [15] Byrd Spilman Dewey,[ citation needed ] pro tennis player Susan Sloane [16] , and actresses Ashley Judd [17] and Leah Lail. [18]

Athletics

Sayre's sports teams are called the Spartans. Their school colors are blue and gold. Notably, the school has a "no-cut" policy for its sports teams, meaning that any student can participate on an athletic team, regardless of ability, if he or she wishes to do so. [5]

Former NFL and Marshall University quarterback Chad Pennington was hired in 2018 to be coach of Sayre's new football team. In his first year of coaching, he led the team to a 3–5 record. In 2023, the team would go 10–0 during the regular season and making it to the quarter-finals in the 1A tournament. [19] This dominance would continue into the 2024 season, where the Spartans claimed their first Class 1A State Championship. [20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sayre: Headmaster's Welcome". sayreschool.org. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Fast Facts" (PDF). sayreschool.org. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Sayre: Fast Facts". sayreschool.org. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Sayre: Campus Map". sayreschool.org. Retrieved January 16, 2008.
  5. 1 2 "Sayre: Athletics". sayreschool.org. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Sayre Female Institute". NPGallery, Digital Asset Management System.
  7. 1 2 Coleman, J. Winston (1954). A Centennial History of Sayre School, 1854-1954. Lexington: Winburn Press. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Sayre Female Institute". National Register of Historic Places Inventory. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. February 10, 1982. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  9. ↑ Louisville Courier Journal. April 24, 1904, p. 4
  10. ↑ Grunwald, Thomas. "Founder's Day Tidbits" (PDF). Sayre School. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Preschool". sayreschool.org. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Fast Facts". sayreschool.org. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  13. ↑ Chapter: Process of Discovery (1977); An Autobiographical Sketch, William Lipscomb, 14 pp., Sayre is on page xv, in the book Structures and Mechanisms: From Ashes to Enzymes (Acs Symposium Series, vol. 827) Gareth R. Eaton (Editor), Don C. Wiley (Editor), Oleg Jardetzky (Editor), American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 2002, ISBN   9780841237360, 404 pp., online at pubs.acs.org.
  14. ↑ "Educators: Katherine Pettit". Women in Kentucky. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
  15. ↑ "Thomas Edward Hayden". intelius.com. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Alumni Hall of Fame". sayreschool.org. Sayre School. Retrieved August 16, 2025.
  17. ↑ Svokos, Heather (June 27, 2004). "Judd Thrives in Rich, Talented Company". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. . Retrieved June 26, 2025. "Judd's singing parts aren't big showcase performances like that of Cole or Williams; they’re more intimate. 'Just sitting around a piano and dunking out a tune,' she said. [...] She fell in love with the jazz age while she was a student at Lexington's Sayre School."
  18. ↑ Fortune, Beverly (October 17, 1999). "Wheel of Fortune: The latest on who's out and about". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. J3. Retrieved June 26, 2025. "Leah Lail made a glam appearance in a low-cut black velvet gown at last week's Philharmonic Guild Ball. Lail, a Lexington native, is in the cast of V.I.P. [...] She came with Paul O'Neill, a pal from sixth grade at Sayre School."
  19. ↑ "2023 Class 1A 2023 UK HealthCare Sports Medicine State Football Finals" (PDF). khsaa.org. Kentucky High School Athletic Association. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  20. ↑ Wilson, Coby; Hinkle, Payden (December 6, 2024). "Sayre wins first state championship in school history". fox56news.com. FOX 56 WDKY. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
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