Wooster School

Wooster School
Location
91 Miry Brook Rd Danbury , Connecticut 06810 United States
Coordinates	41°21′59″N73°29′58″W / 41.3663°N 73.4994°W / 41.3663; -73.4994
Information
Type	Private, coeducation
Religious affiliation	Episcopal
Established	1926(100 years ago) (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
Colors	White, maroon, black
Athletics	Interscholastic sports teams Housatonic Valley Athletic League
Mascot	The General
Team name	Generals
Tuition	$47,440 (2024) [2]
Website	www.woosterschool.org

Wooster School is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory school (grades 5 through 12) in Danbury, Connecticut. It is a member of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools.

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. ^[3] The school continues the legacy of the jobs program, in which the entire student body engages in a daily period dedicated to cleaning and physically maintaining the campus. ^[4]

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. ^[4]

The Wooster School Barn at the campus entrance

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. ^{[5] [6]}

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. ^{[7] [8]}

Tuition

Wooster offers a program of variable tuition to families unable to pay full tuition. Full tuition for the 2023-2024 academic year was as follows: ^[9]

Grade 5	$33,210
Grade 6	$37,160
Grade 7	$38,670
Grade 8	$40,260
Grades 9 - 12	$43,920
The Pathways Program	$51,920
The Bridge Program	$62,130

Notable alumni

• Tracy Chapman —folk singer and guitarist ^{[10] [11]}
• Andrew Stevovich —painter ^[12]
• Cyrus Mehri —trial attorney ^[13]
• Zachary Cole Smith —singer ^[14]
• Neil Rudenstine —president of Harvard University ^[15]

References

1. "Aaron Cutler Coburn, Priest". The Living Church. Vol. 25. December 20, 1942. p. 17. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
2. "Variable Tuition - Wooster School". www.woosterschool.org.
3. "American Revolution - Expedition of Wooster - Turning-point of war". Archived from the original on January 25, 2006.
4. Polk, Nancy (March 17, 1991). "Private Schools Struggle to Survive". New York Times. pp. CN:12.
5. 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.
6. National Association of Episcopal Schools, Awards, found at NAES official web site. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
7. "TSKP Architecture Firm web site".
8. The Stamford Hospital Web site. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
9. "Variable Tuition - Wooster School". www.woosterschool.org. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
10. 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."
11. About Tracy Chapmen, official biography web site. Accessed October 22, 2007.
12. 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.
13. 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.'
14. "How Does It Feel: DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith Rolls on". July 28, 2014.
15. Catherine E. Shoichet, Rudenstine's Book Hits Shelves, June 05, 2001, Harvard Crimson . 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

• Official website